Nick Scott says Jordan Battle “can contribute right away”

As veteran safety Nick Scott continues to nurse a right shoulder injury, he gets to watch the Cincinnati Bengals’ younger safeties in practice.

And the free agent signing from the Los Angeles Rams is already impressed with what he’s seen from the rookie filling in for him, Jordan Battle. Here’s what Scott told Bengals.com’s Geoff Hobson:

J.B. is going to be fine. He’s going to be a guy that can contribute right away. It’s pretty evident he’s there mentally. He understands concepts and everything like that and he’s physical enough … I can’t stress enough how good of an understanding he has of the things going on.”

That’s exactly what a team in contention wants to hear about its rookies.

In other uplifting news, Scott is almost ready to go himself. “It took six months to heal,” he told Hobson. “I’m 98 percent there. All I have to do is go back to L.A. to get cleared.”

Combine all that with the fact that Dax Hill has taken over one safety spot, and the Bengals seem to have a solid trio of safeties in the wake of losing Jessie Bates and Vonn Bell in free agency.

At cornerback, Cincinnati is getting back Chidobe Awuzie, Cam Taylor-Britt is in his second year (and learning quickly), and DJ Turner will add a ton of speed.

So is it fair to say that secondary is no longer a weakness for the Bengals? We debate:

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