‘He gave us way more than I thought’ — Bengals DC Al Golden’s best player exceeded his expectations in their first game back together
Golden was mightily impressed on Sunday.
There weren’t even two weeks until the start of the season when Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson finally got paid. Hendrickson had missed the entire offseason workout program, training camp, and preseason before suiting up for practice with 12 days remaining before Week 1 arrived.
It was an entirely fair expectation for Hendrickson, now 30, to be limited in his first game with very few practices to get him ready for action.
That was the expectation for defensive coordinator Al Golden had, and his All-Pro DE had other plans.
Al Golden heaps praise on Trey Hendrickson’s big day
Hendrickson ended up with the most snaps out of the entire defensive line for Cincinnati, playing 57 of a possible 76 plays in the team’s 17-16 close call against the Cleveland Browns. Most of those snaps were of the pass-rushing variety, and the All-Pro won on 41.7% of them while amassing eight pressures, two hits, and a sack according to Pro Football Focus.
How much did Golden expect Hendrickson to do?
“Not that much, he gave us way more than I thought,” Golden told reporters Monday. “And that’s an amazing human being, to be able to do that. But his play count, he kept wanting more, and he did a great job when he was in there. He impacted the game, impacted the quarterback.”
It’s on the coaches to protect their players. Golden had the right mindset of wanting to hold Hendrickson back after he had just a handful to truly prepare for the body blows he was taking and giving, but you have to wonder what the game would’ve looked like if the four-time Pro Bowler was truly on a pitch count.
Browns quarterback Joe Flacco spent most of the first half dealing with clean pockets. It wasn’t until the last two quarters when Hendrickson and Co. turned up the heat and affecting the pocket. Golden also remarked how Hendrickson impacted the other part of the job.
“The thing about Trey in that game is he worked hard to get us into those downs, on early downs,” Golden said. “He didn’t just come out on third down, when we were in that down. He worked really hard for us, to get us into those downs. We always talk about earning the right to rush the passer, and he did that.”
Hendrickson has more than earned the right to rush opposing QBs for the Bengals. He’s going on five years of being the best free agent signing in franchise history. Golden hasn’t seen it firsthand since he was the linebackers coach back in 2021.
Four years later, the new play-caller of the defense now knows exactly what he’s getting in his best player.
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