The Bengals are opening training camp with a clear message hanging over the building: last season is over, and nobody in Cincinnati wants to keep reliving it.
Before camp even got rolling, Zac Taylor had “6-11” written on the board in the team meeting room, according to Dalton Risner. It was a blunt reminder of where the Bengals finished and what Taylor wants that record to do - sting enough to fuel a sharper response this year.
DJ Turner said the same frustration is already running through the locker room.
"We're putting last year behind us, I'm tired of hearing about last year," Turner said of his frustrations of last season.
That mindset lines up with what Taylor said during the Bengals’ annual media luncheon. The head coach made it clear the 6-11 finish still sits with him, along with the team’s third-place division result.
"We were 6-11, 3rd in the division. That's what sticks with me," Taylor said.
"It does piss you off to an extent. That's what we did and that is how people should see us until we prove until we prove them otherwise."
Taylor enters this season with more pressure than ever in Cincinnati, but he described it as something he wants, not something he’s trying to escape. With the front office giving him the talent needed to chase a Super Bowl, he said the expectation is part of the appeal.
"I felt the pressure after the Super Bowl to get back to the Super Bowl. I don't feel it as pressure, it's exciting to me. You want to feel something, and, in this profession, you feel something," Taylor confirmed of his excitement to compete this season.
The message inside the locker room matches the one from the head coach: the Bengals know they have to start acting like a team that belongs with the league’s best again. After years of missing the playoffs, Taylor is pushing urgency from day one.
In Other News...
Noah Thomas Is Giving Bengals Fans A New Camp Receiver To Watch
Training camp always creates a few new names for fans to track, and Noah Thomas has already worked his way into that conversation. During a Bengals practice, the rookie wide receiver made a notable contested catch that turned heads, then added another grab on a shorter pass from Joe Flacco. It was the kind of early-camp sequence that can matter for an undrafted or late-round player trying to show he belongs in a crowded receiver room.
Ja'Marr Chase noticed, too, and his praise carried some weight. Chase pointed to Thomass ability in jump-ball situations and even drew a comparison to Tee Higgins, which is the sort of endorsement that can get attention quickly around camp. For a Bengals offense built around proven pass catchers, Thomas is still very much in the proving stage, but he has at least given fans a reason to keep watching every rep. [Read more 🡒]
Bengals May Have An In-House Answer To Shemar Stewarts Absence
Shemar Stewarts injury has pushed the Bengals to look harder at their edge-rush depth, and Isaiah Foskey has emerged as a name worth watching in camp. The former Notre Dame standout joined Cincinnati last season and already has a built-in connection to coach Al Golden, which gives him a familiar foothold as the team sorts through options for shoring up the pass rush.
Foskey flashed in limited action a year ago and has been working toward a bigger role, with the kind of versatility that can matter when a roster spot is up for grabs. For Cincinnati, the question now is whether that early promise and his comfort in Goldens defensive system can translate into the chance to help replace what Stewart was supposed to provide. [Read more 🡒]