Cincinnati Bengals send a clear message to the rest of the AFC North
The Cincinnati Bengals sent a clear message to the rest of the AFC North on Tuesday — vacation time is over, it's game on starting now. That might be a strong message for June — after all, NFL teams are going to have a long break once minicamps are finished this week (training camps will […]
The Cincinnati Bengals sent a clear message to the rest of the AFC North on Tuesday — vacation time is over, it's game on starting now.
That might be a strong message for June — after all, NFL teams are going to have a long break once minicamps are finished this week (training camps will start in late July) — but the Bengals are clearly determined to win the final game of the season in 2022.
"It’s go time," said starting quarterback Joe Burrow on Tuesday. "Time to lock in. I’m thinking about football every day."
Bengals head coach Zac Taylor echoed Burrow's sentiment during his media availability on Tuesday.
"That’s a great message for our team," said Taylor. "The time for vacation was in March and April. That doesn’t mean you can’t get away for a couple of days but physically you need to come back and be in the best shape of your life when we hit training camp.”
This is just another example of the way Burrow has helped change the Bengals' culture. This team isn't messing around. And if you think this is the typical tone that comes from an NFL team in June, you'd be wrong.
Longtime NFL reporter Paul Dehner Jr, who covers the Bengals for The Athletic, noted on Tuesday that this isn't a common theme that usually comes out of OTAs/minicamps.
The Bengals are obviously on a mission. There might be plenty of folks in the national media who think Cincinnati's a one-hit-wonder, but this group is determined to prove the doubters wrong in 2022.
Featured image via Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK
