Trey Hendrickson discusses his strong start to the 2023 season

The Cincinnati Bengals are coming out of the bye week with a 3-3 record and a massive road matchup with the San Francisco 49ers.

The Bengals defense was stellar in the must-win over the Seahawks last week. A key piece to the Bengals' success so far this season has been the dominant performance from Trey Hendrickson.

During the bye week, Hendrickson chatted with Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com.

Hendrickson was asked why he was in the building during the bye week, unlike most of the team.

“As far as this week, sharpening the details. Get away from the football side. Not so much film, not so much breaking down opponents. Getting good recovery. Getting my feet back under me. Making sure I’m not on a plane. I’m actually using this week for benefit,” said Hendrickson.

A large majority of the team will go home or take some time away from the game, but Hendrickson did not. The star pass rusher has been dominant to start the year and was asked about how he approached the most recent offseason.

“The goal is to improve every offseason, right? Every football player in the offseason should have goals they want to get better on. There’s always room for improvement. I feel that every player, even if you’re an All-Pro, should still strive to be better than next year. And if you think you’ve made it, the train is going to continue going, and it’s your choice to get on or get off and mentally to stay locked in,” he said.

One of the biggest goals for Hendrickson this year was to get faster.

“There are exercises that you can do. There are constantly things that you can improve. I think jumping is important,” he said. “I think you should be flexible and be able to do those things. Basically, I worked on strength and conditioning.”

So far this season, Hendrickson has posted seven sacks, in comparison to eight sacks all of last season.

“There are two ways to look at it. There are some people who look at last year and just see the statistics and think I made this amazing jump. But I think there’s a lot of consistency to my game. A lot of consistency to football. I think sacks are a team stat as much as it is an individual achievement. I can’t do it on my own,” Hendrickson said when asked about production this year compared to last year.

As the Bengals search for some key wins in the next few weeks, Hendrickson will be a crucial piece to the team's success.