Bengals Head Coach Zac Taylor Announces 2 of the 3 Starting Positions That Were in Flux

CINCINNATI – Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor confirmed who will start at two of the three positions that have been in flux leading up to the season opener.

Trent Brown will get the call at right tackle, while Dax Hill will be the starting cornerback opposite Cam Taylor-Britt.

As for the starting wide receiver opposite Tee Higgins, that’s either a question Taylor isn’t willing — or isn’t able — to answer six days away from facing the New England Patriots.

Bengals Coach Taylor Says Ja’Marr Chase Is Day-to-Day

Ja’Marr Chase refused to practice again Monday for the team’s bonus practice.

Asked whether he expects Chase to play Week 1, who has practiced just twice since the end of last season due to frustration with the lack of progress toward a contract extension, Taylor said the situation is fluid.

“We’ll see,” he said. “We’ll just take it day-to-day.”

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That’s been the go-to line since the Chase saga began in OTAs and rolled through minicamp, training camp, and now the start of the regular season.

Does Taylor need to have two game plans for the Patriots, one with Chase and one without?

“Yeah, we’re always ready,” he said. “There are always injuries and things you have to deal with, so we’ll adapt to him.”

If Chase does play, would he be able to handle a full snap load after not practicing all offseason except for two light walk-throughs last week?

“It’s impossible for me to say with 100% conviction, but I feel good about the shape that he’s in,” Taylor said.

What is certain is that Brown will make his ninth consecutive opening day start, the last three of which were with the team he and the Bengals will face Sunday — the Patriots.

“Trent has done a great job for us,” Taylor said. “We have managed him throughout this training camp. He’s a pro. He’s done a really good job, and so I am excited to watch him work.”

Had first-round pick Amarius Mims not injured his pectoral in the preseason opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Brown’s streak of consecutive season opener starts might have been in jeopardy. Brown began training camp on the Non-Football Injury list with what was described as tightness. He came out early in the joint practice against the Chicago Bears and the one against the Indianapolis Colts with lower-back tightness.

The Bengals didn’t put Mims on Injured Reserve, so he is close to returning to full participation in practice. But whether he is close to unseating Brown as the starter is not something Taylor wanted to address.

“We’ll manage that situation as we continue to go,” he said. “But with a rookie not practicing today, certainly that would be a hindrance to starting a game.”

Taylor wasn’t ready to announce whether Mims will be available to play at all Sunday, saying “we’ll take it through the week.”

Taylor’s declaration that Hill would start was expected after he surged ahead of DJ Turner II a few weeks ago and never relinquished the first-team reps. This will be Hill’s second consecutive opening-day start but his first at cornerback after playing safety in 2023.

“He just keeps competing. It was a great battle,” Taylor said. “It wasn’t [that] a guy failed so the other one is the starter. It was two guys I really felt like getting the best out of each other. For Dax to be able to assume that responsibility I think is good.

“It doesn’t mean DJ is not playing, that there is not roles we have for these other guys,” Taylor continued. “It’s a long season so guys got to be ready for their opportunity to come.”