Cincinnati Bengals Practice Report Day 4: Ja’Marr Chase Sits Again, Sam Hubbard Leaves on Cart

CINCINNATI – The first, and only, evening practice of training camp was rather uneventful until late in the session when Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Sam Hubbard left on a cart.

His departure came toward the end of the second 11-on-11 period when he appeared to bang knees with tight end Mike Gesicki.

Hubbard walked to the sideline, then walked about 70 yards alongside trainer Matt Summers to a waiting cart. After sitting next to director of rehab Nick Cosgray on the cart, Summers had a close-up conversation with Hubbard before Cosgray took the defensive end off the field.

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Bengals head coach Zac Taylor is scheduled to talk to the media at 1:45 p.m. on Monday and should provide more information on Hubbard’s status.

Injury Report

In addition to Hubbard leaving early, there were several other players not participating today, but none are injury-related … unless you want to count cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt’s recovery from a tonsillectomy.

Taylor-Britt had the procedure done right before the start of camp and has missed the first four days.

Wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase missed his fourth consecutive practice as part of his hold-in as he awaits a new contract, and defensive end Trey Hendrickson missed his third in a row after participating fully in Wednesday’s camp opener.

Safety Vonn Bell and linebacker Germaine Pratt did light work but did not participate in 7-on-7 or 11-on-11 drills.

The biggest injury news of the day was rookie tight end Erick All Jr., who tore his ACL nine months ago, passing his physical and getting cleared to practice, which he did on a limited basis.

All’s departure from the rehab field leaves just three players doing side work — cornerback DJ Ivey (knee), offensive tackle Trent Brown (tightness), and defensive tackle Devonnsha Maxwell (knee).

Quarterback Report

After not throwing Friday ahead of Saturday’s off day, Joe Burrow was back running the first-team offense today.

His first pass of the day, which was intended for Tee Higgins, was broken up by cornerback DJ Turner II. And his third attempt was a deep shot for Trenton Irwin that Burrow overthrew with Turner again in tight coverage.

After the 1-for-3 start, Burrow finished 3-for-4 in the regular 11-on-11 periods.

Burrow to Higgins comin’ atcha pic.twitter.com/sZ3EriTfyJ

— Jay Morrison (@ByJayMorrison) July 28, 2024

Late in the practice, the Bengals ran an 11-on-11 drill in the red zone, where Burrow went 2-for-4 with a touchdown to Kendric Pryor, who beat Dax Hill.

Burrow’s final throw of the day went to tight end Mike Gesicki in the end zone, but safety Jordan Battle, running with the first-team defense with Vonn Bell resting, made a nice play on the ball.

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Jake Browning had a rough start. His first pass for tight end Tanner McLachlan was batted away by linebacker Joe Bachie.

And on the next snap, he nearly tripped over running back Chris Evans’ feet before scrambling and throwing on the run. The pass was off the mark to a wide-open Shedrick Jackson, who reached for it and bobbled it a couple of times before it fell to the ground.

But Browning came on the next play and hit newcomer Hakeem Butler on a deep shot, beating rookie corner Josh Newton. A couple of plays later, cornerback Jalen Davis picked him off.

Browning finished 2-for-5 before moving into the red-zone drill, where he was 0-for-2. He also couldn’t find a receiver on another player and elected to scramble, drawing a barb from cornerback Mike Hilton.

“C’mon, throw the f—kin’ ball. We’re trying to get work in, too,” Hilton chided Browning.

Mike Hilton was quick to run over and show Charlie Jones where his second foot landed on this near red-zone TD pass from Jake Browning. pic.twitter.com/3KA5DCujtc

— Jay Morrison (@ByJayMorrison) July 28, 2024

Stock Rising

The lack of pads makes it hard to evaluate the run game, but B.J. Hill had an impressive sequence in the second 11-on-11 period, recording tackles for loss on back-to-back run plays.

All didn’t do much in his first practice after passing his physical earlier in the day, but his stock still rose. That’s because, simply by practicing, he no longer is eligible to start the year on the non-football injury or physically unable to perform list, and the Bengals are likely to expose a fourth-round pick to waivers. So All’s spot on the 53-man roster seems fairly secure.

Wide receiver Pryor not only made a couple of big plays, including a touchdown pass from Joe Burrow, but he did it by beating Hill.

Stock Falling

The yang to All’s yin is McLachlan, the rookie sixth-round pick. The Bengals aren’t keeping five tight ends, and Gesicki and Drew Sample are locks, and All is close to it. That leaves McLachlan to battle Tanner Hudson for the final spot, and Hudson continued to make plays tonight.

Charlie Jones had an early drop in a route on air, then had a less-than-accurate pass from Browning go off his hands in 11-on-11. In the red-zone drill, he bobbled a pass from Browning and was unable to get his second foot down for the touchdown.