Bengals News (6/24): Living in fantasy

Former Bengals say owner told them not to kneel
The day after President Donald Trump told NFL owners to fire any “son of a bitch” who kneeled during the national anthem to protest police brutality and racial inequality, the Bengals were like many teams which suddenly had an important choice to make.

Joe Burrow, A.J. Green still trying to plan offseason workouts
Easier said than done — players still aren’t allowed at team facilities and state-by-state handlings of coronavirus response make getting guys from all over the country to one spot tough.

Bengals owner 'begged' players to not kneel in 2017
Seeing NFL players, coaches, teams and even the league itself support the idea of kneeling during the national anthem to bring attention to racial injustice in 2020 is uplifting and also surprising, given what happened in 2016 and 2017.

The best and worst-case scenario for the Bengals' offensive line in 2020
Unlike most other position groups on the roster, the offensive trenches have relatively the same players from a year ago. The only exceptions being former first-round pick Jonah Williams, free-agent addition Xavier Su’a Filo, and sixth-round selection Hakeem Adeniji.

Bengals' Drew Sample: Clean bill of health
Sample's rookie season with the Bengals was cut short after he suffered a high-ankle sprain in Week 10, but prior to that he had accrued just 30 yards on five receptions. The 24-year-old was selected by Cincinnati in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft. Despite playing a limited role on offense last season, Tyler Eifert's departure for Jacksonville could open up an expanded role in 2020. Sample will presumably compete with C.J. Uzomah for playing time and targets.

‘We had to be as inventive as we could’: The Bengals’ Zooming of Joe Burrow
Even in a world where every day feels like a surreal alternate universe, it’s hard to find much more surreal than Joe Burrow screaming cadence and audible calls to his teammates, designed for use around 65,000 fans, against the walls of his parents’ house in Athens.

Bengals coaching staff already impressed with Joe Burrow's progress in virtual offseason
Joe Burrow is the 15th quarterback since 2000 to be selected with the No. 1 overall pick, joining the likes of Kyler Murray, Baker Mayfield, Andrew Luck, and Michael Vick, among others. But unlike the No. 1 picks that proceeded him, Burrow did not enjoy the luxury of a rookie minicamp. Instead, the new Bengals starting quarterback has spent the last few months engaged in virtual meetings with his coaching staff, as the COVID-19 pandemic has forced teams to communicate remotely.

Fantasy Football: Which Bengals to draft and which to avoid
As the 2020 NFL Season approaches, anticipation among fans is rising. If you’re like me, you have been counting down the days to your fantasy football draft. Researching teams and finding draft targets before the time comes can be crucial to your success in the upcoming year. Here, we take a look at which Bengals are worthy of a pick and which ones you should pass on.

Around the league

Eagles, Cowboys among top trade fits for N.Y. Jets' Jamal Adams
Personally, I don't think Adams will actually leave New York despite formally asking for a trade last week as he attempts to leverage his status as one of the NFL's best safeties into a market-setting extension. The Jets are aware that he is a special do-it-all force who makes their defense significantly better, and they have plenty of time to at least reach a truce with Adams, or potentially hammer out a new deal before the preseason begins. Even if a new deal isn't reached, the 24-year-old Adams is under contract for two more seasons, with the franchise tag looming as an option to keep him around for three.

Dr. Fauci: 'Impossible to call' NFL season right now
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in remarks reported Tuesday that whether an NFL season -- or college football season -- takes place this fall is "impossible to call" at this juncture, per Sports Illustrated.com's Jets Country.

Lions owner Martha Ford stepping down, will be succeeded by daughter
"It has been a great honor for our family to be associated with the Lions and with the National Football League," Firestone Ford wrote in a statement. "I am gratified that this family tradition, which my husband and I began almost six decades ago, will continue under Sheila's guiding hand. It is clear to me that Sheila will provide superb leadership and is fully committed to competitive excellence and community involvement."

Seahawks, Ravens have discussed signing Antonio Brown
"Teams are sniffing around," Silver said. "I would keep an eye on the Seattle Seahawks. Antonio Brown has been doing some offseason workouts with their backup quarterback Geno Smith. They are absolutely interested in having him potentially as a late-season addition ... assuming there is a suspension. And the Baltimore Ravens -- his cousin Marquise Brown is on that team -- they have sniffed around in the past. They are mulling that over too. So internal discussions in both of those organizations. Keep an eye on Seattle and Baltimore."

Coaching Summit offers positives, but major diversity issues remain
What struck a nerve was, after several years of backsliding on diversity hires, with only three of the last 20 head-coaching vacancies being filled by a person of color, many of the owners still don't seem to take the imbalance seriously. What else to make of the fact that despite their poor recent track record -- and at a time when people are marching across the world for racial equality and social justice -- only 22 of the 32 clubs were represented at the Summit?