Bengals News (8/14): Defense showing improvement

Camp Report: Taylor Closes First Edition
A defensive stand in the four-minute drill reflected the competition he seeks. A new center and left guard on the first offensive line showed the perpetual “no incumbents,” depth chart. A position experiment that came about because of communication between coach and player.

Defense Looks To Rebound...And Fast
The Bengals defense, so good in training camp but not so good in Saturday night’s preseason opener, is going back to basics Thursday night (7:30 p.m. - Cincinnati’s Local 12) in Washington. Defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo likes how is unit is coming together, but he also knows the NFL is all about current events.

Quotes 8/13/19: Taylor Previews 2nd Preseason Game At Washington
“I think both running backs (HBs Joe Mixon and Giovani Bernard) will be available. We’ll create a plan of how much we want to see them play. There are still a couple decisions to make, on Eifert (TE Tyler Eifert), and the two running backs. We still won’t play Carl Lawson. We’ll talk defensively about what else we want to do. That was the plan coming into training camp with Carl — (rest) him for the first two games and not participate in them, so we’ll stick with that. We’ll talk about Geno (DT Geno Atkins) as a staff. We’ll make that decision tomorrow.”

Madden NFL 20 Unveils 2019 Player Rankings for Bengals
The Bengals' top rated offensive players included wide receiver A.J. Green (90), running back Joe Mixon and tight end Tyler Eifert (88) and wide receiver Tyler Boyd (83). Quarterback Andy Dalton earned an overall rating of 80.

Bengals Waive OT Kent Perkins
Perkins, a first-year player, was originally a college free agent signee of the Bengals in 2017. He played in one game for Cincinnati, and spent most of his two seasons with the team on the practice squad.

Graziano - Fantasy tips and nuggets from Colts, Bengals, Browns and Steelers camps
Back at home after this year's training camp trip, and I thought I'd pass along some notes from my final few stops. Last week, I filled you in on what I learned at Vikings, Packers and Bears camps. After that, I hit four more stops in Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania before wrapping up the trip.

Bengals' Jeff Driskel latest QB-turned-WR experiment
"I'm still competing at quarterback," Driskel said, per The Athletic's Jay Morrison. "That's what I want to be. That's what I think I can be. But I just want to show that I can add value to this team in other ways and show that I want to contribute and can contribute."

Redskins players to watch in Thursday night’s preseason game against the Bengals
The home game against Cincinnati is likely to see some (not all) first-team players see the field on a limited basis, and that will mean fewer snaps for the guys at the bottom of the roster. By the end of the game, some NFL careers may have already come to an end in the form of ‘dead men walking’ — some players may remain on the roster simply for the purpose of playing in Game 4 to avoid potential injuries to starters.

Cincinnati Bengals: Free Agents and trades to make the Bengals better
The Cincinnati Bengals front office is notorious for being conservative and refusing to do much in free agency or on the trade market. Now is the time for the team to do some soul-searching. They may be content with their current roster but the first preseason game showed major weaknesses among the linebackers. The first unit offensive line performed well, but in such limited action, it is hard to believe they improved significantly from last year. Early in this preseason, they still have options to strengthen their team before Week 1.

Around the league

Colts GM: Andrew Luck's calf injury is high-ankle issue
On Tuesday evening, Indianapolis Colts general manager Chris Ballard told reporters on a conference call that the team's medical staff and training staff believe Luck's calf strain has developed into more of a high-ankle injury, per multiple reporters.

Matt Nagy: Trubisky 'way past' last year on reading D's
NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported on NFL Total Access Tuesday night that Nagy told him Trubisky is "way past" where he was last year in terms how he's seeing the defense -- blitzes, fronts, coverages, things the signal-caller was not always in tune with a year ago because he was so worried about getting the play called. Now the QB is playing off instincts.

Jerry Jones preaches patience with Cowboys contracts
"Picture if you were the driver of a car, and you had a wreck and your hand was almost severed off, but you didn't understand your anatomy. You look down, you're spurting blood, you open the door and run to the woods and either die of bleeding to death or shock. The educated man looks down, knows his anatomy, squeezes and knows his best chance is to wait for help. That's because he's been there a lot and done that. And so I'm squeezing and waiting for help. That's my lesson for today."

Jay-Z's Roc Nation entering partnership with NFL
The NFL formally launched the Inspire Change initiative in early 2019, after more than two years of work with NFL players, with the goal of creating positive change in communities across the country. Through this initiative, NFL teams and the league office work with the Players Coalition and other NFL players to support programs and initiatives that reduce barriers to opportunity, with a focus on three priority areas: education and economic advancement; police and community relations; and criminal justice reform.