Bengals News (7/28): Cautiously optimistic

Quick Hits: Bengals Locker Room Cautiously Optimistic On Burrow; Grateful Hendrickson Extends Family Stay
Cautious optimism prevailed in the Bengals locker room after they watched Pro Bowl quarterback Joe Burrow leave the field late in Thursday's sweltering practice at the Kettering Health Practice Fields with a calf issue.

Bengals Training Camp Observations - July 27
Here are five observations after Thursday's training camp practice.

Ken Anderson Makes Hall of Fame Senior Finals For Second Straight Year
Anderson, the only man to win at least four NFL passing titles not in the Hall of Fame, has again survived the gauntlet that last year yielded induction for Super Bowl XVI teammate Ken Riley. The 12-person committee meets Aug. 22 to cut the field to three, which pretty much guarantees election when the full 49-member board of selectors meets in January.

Joe Burrow injury: Bengals star carted off field with calf strain; Ja'Marr Chase says QB gave him positive nod
The Cincinnati Bengals suffered a significant scare at training camp -- involving franchise quarterback Joe Burrow. During Thursday's practice, Burrow was carted off the field after he went down with a non-contact injury. He grabbed at his lower leg before being removed from the session. Head coach Zac Taylor said after practice Burrow is dealing with a calf injury and the team confirmed to ESPN Burrow suffered a strained calf.

Three Thoughts on Joe Burrow's Calf Injury, What it Means for Him and the Cincinnati Bengals
The 26-year-old looked sharp. After connecting with Tee Higgins for a long touchdown on Wednesday, Burrow found Ja'Marr Chase for a 60-yard score on Thursday.

Bengals sign DE Trey Hendrickson to contract extension
The move comes as a mild surprise given Hendrickson’s age (28), the selection of defensive end Myles Murphy in the first round this year and the need to get extensions done for Joe Burrow, Tee Higgins, Logan Wilson and others.

Bengals will wear alternate white helmets during MNF in 2023
At the start of training camp, the Bengals announced that the team would don the popular alternate helmets during a Week 3, Monday Night Football game against the Los Angeles Rams.

5 sleepers who could make Bengals roster at training camp
Behind Chase and Higgins is Tyler Boyd, who might be the best third option in the league. From there, the Bengals have a pair of rookies in fourth-round pick Charlie Jones and sixth-round pick Andrei Iosivas. Depending on how you see the current roster or which outlet you trust, veteran Trenton Irwin might be ahead of both those guys just as a veteran courtesy, for the moment.

Bengals Training Camp 2023: 5 takeaways from Day 2
The biggest news of the day was obviously Joe Burrow hobbling off after a non-contact injury that then resulted in him getting carted off. Players getting carted off in training camp isn't the same as when it happens during the regular season but it's never good news to see your quarterback hobbling off the field.

Orlando Brown Jr. apologizes for the Bengals training camp scuffle
“I apologize to Trey and my teammates for what I did,” Brown said, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Charlie Goldsmith. “You just black out. One of those situations for me.”

Around the league

Dolphins CB Jalen Ramsey (knee) to undergo surgery, expected to miss at least 6-8 weeks
NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported it's likely Ramsey will require a full meniscus repair, which would put his return date all the way back to December. Ultimately, doctors will determine how severe the injury is, and therefore what course of action they must take to fix it. If the ligament can just be trimmed, Ramsey could be back as soon as six weeks, setting him up to return just around the Dolphins' season opener versus the Chargers on Sept. 10. But if they must remove the meniscus, that would increase the cornerback's recovery timeline, per Pelissero and Garafolo.

Top 10 running backs entering the 2023 NFL season
Five running backs are among the players ranked between Nos. 40-21. With that in mind, NFL Network analyst and former NFL quarterback David Carr provides his own ranking of the top 10 running backs heading into the 2023 NFL season.

Colts owner Jim Irsay says RB comments not aimed at Jonathan Taylor; adds no contract talks have occurred thus far
"The comment wasn't really directed at Jonathan," Irsay said, via ESPN's Stephen Holder. "We haven't exchanged any contract numbers with each other or anything like that. So, it's not like we're in the midst of that. I think we had a tough season last year. Didn't win a lot of games. This is a year about coming back together and having a great year and we're really depending on Jonathan to team up with [quarterback] Anthony Richardson to try and pull together to have a great year."

Sean Payton takes shot at Nathaniel Hackett-era Broncos, vows to do opposite: 'One of the worst coaching jobs'
"Oh, man," Payton told Bell. "There's so much dirt around that. There's 20 dirty hands, for what was allowed, tolerated in the fricking training rooms, the meeting rooms. The offense. I don't know Hackett. A lot of people had dirt on their hands. It wasn't just Russell. He didn't just flip. He still has it. This B.S. that he hit a wall? Shoot, they couldn't get a play in. They were 29th in the league in pre-snap penalties on both sides of the ball."