The Bengals brought in help for their defensive line this offseason, and one of the newest additions is already leaning hard on Jerry Montgomery.
After Cincinnati used the second round of the 2026 NFL Draft on Cashius Howell, the team added Landon Robinson in the seventh as a developmental piece for Montgomery’s room. Robinson has been open to everything the defensive line coach has thrown his way since arriving in the NFL, and he says that trust started building well before he got to Cincinnati.
On First Word With James Rapien, Robinson pointed back to the East-West Shrine Bowl during the draft process and made it clear Montgomery left an impression.
"He's a great coach. I got to work with him at the East-West Shrine Bowl, so I have a little bit of background with him," Robinson said of Montgomery's coaching.
That background seems to have helped Robinson buy in quickly. Montgomery’s style, as Robinson described it, is direct and unforgiving when the technique isn’t right.
"If you're not doing something right, he puts it out there for you and he's real blunt about it, and I love coaches like that because that's how you grow," Robinson said. "They don't sit back, watch you struggle, and then you figure out later on that you weren't doing it the right way, so he teaches you right then and there."
Robinson also said the communication hasn’t stopped just because the offseason workouts did. Since OTAs ended in June, he’s stayed in touch with Montgomery and has been using that time to sharpen his game and get a better handle on the playbook.
"I've been in contact with him over this past month where we've been off, and asking things that I can get better at, and different things in the playbook that I can look at just to myself that edge when we come back," Robinson noted.
For Montgomery, that kind of response is the point. Robinson’s willingness to take coaching and keep asking questions is exactly the sort of development the Bengals are hoping for as they try to strengthen a defensive line that struggled last season.
Montgomery has already built a reputation for getting production out of players, with T.J. Slaton and Rashan Gary standing out from his time in Green Bay. Cincinnati is counting on him to keep adding names to that list.
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