Bengals News (7/27): Pressure mounts for Zac Taylor

Mike Brown’s Two Quarterbacks, Burrow and Taylor, Have Him Bullish On His Bengals
Mike Brown advised Paul Brown to draft Ken Anderson. He told head coach Sam Wyche before his first draft he would feel like it would be a success if they came out of it with Boomer Esiason. And he’s been at the fulcrum of the Bengals drafting the most homegrown quarterbacks since the merger, four with at least 97 starts for the team that drafted them.

Bengals Notebook: With Burrow Cleared, Training Camp Starts Under Full Sail
“Our players have done a great job. We are 90 percent in the process of being fully vaccinated,” Taylor said. “Really, two weeks from now there’s another 10 that will be considered fully vaccinated. We are in a good spot. We have had great conversations with all these guys and proud of the way they have attacked it and communicated it. They have allowed us to be put in a really good position to be as normal as possible going forward.”

Joe Burrow unlikely to play in preseason, Cincinnati Bengals owner Mike Brown says
“We probably aren’t going to put him out there until we get to the season because we don’t want to risk anything with him,” Brown said in his first news conference since 2019. “But his effort rehabbing was A-plus.”

Cincinnati Bengals training camp: Five most intriguing position battles
Taylor and the Bengals coaching staff have several interesting position battles on both sides of the ball heading into training camp. Jobs will be up for grabs on offense, defense and special teams.

Training Camp Three Down Look: Bengals Defense Under Pressure to Produce Pressure in 2021
We have chopped up the offense and special teams already in this series. Now it’s time to focus on Lou Anarumo’s unit as they complete the transition from the Marvin Lewis leadership core to this year’s group that’s full of fresh faces. Anarumo has to bring some semblance of consistency to this defense that ranked near the bottom of the league in most categories last season.

‘You better win’: Bengals’ faith in Zac Taylor arrives at season of truth
CINCINNATI – Bengals president Mike Brown, director of player personnel Duke Tobin, head coach Zac Taylor, defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo and offensive coordinator Brian Callahan made the rounds on Monday through the expansive East Club Lounge of Paul Brown Stadium during the annual media luncheon kicking off the season.

Around the league

Aaron Rodgers, Packers close to agreement on reworked deal to bring him back for 2021 season
Earlier on Monday, Rodgers indicated to people close to him that he intended to play for the Packers this season, Rapoport reported, after months of speculation that he was so unhappy with the club and management that he’d never play for them again. The news dropped during the Packers’ annual shareholders meeting at which general manager Brian Gutekunst and president/CEO Mark Murphy expressed optimism that an agreement could be reached with the reigning AP NFL Most Valuable Player and that a trade was off the table.

Houston Texans listening to offers for quarterback Deshaun Watson
Interested teams have done homework on Watson’s legal situation; the Texans QB is under both NFL and police investigations after being accused in 22 separate lawsuits filed in March and April of sexual assault and misconduct during massage sessions. The NFL hasn’t placed him on the exempt list and the civil cases won’t go to trial this year. If a team gets comfortable with that piece, it’s a rare opportunity to acquire one of the NFL’s best young QBs.

‘No. 2 is not an option’ for Jaguars QB Gardner Minshew
Minshew, meanwhile, was in his second season with the Jags. In his first, he came on in relief of an injured Nick Foles and for a time dazzled the Duval faithful and Minshewmania was born. However, Minshew’s never been able to truly grasp the starting reins, as they were given back for a time to a returning Foles in 2019 and tossed about to Minshew, Mike Glennon and Jake Luton in 2020 with Minshew garnering eight starts.