Bengals News (8/5): Ken Riley Induction Day

Hall of Fame Emotion For Riley Family In Freeze Frame Moment
CANTON, Ohio _ Late Bengals legend Ken Riley has his Gold Jacket emblematic of enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and thanks to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell it was the most emotional moment of Friday night's ceremony at the Canton Memorial Civic Center.

Training Camp Report: Defense Shines In Fundamentally Sound Practice
"He's prepared his whole life for these opportunities," Taylor said. "So when he gets in there the person that is surprised the least is Trenton Irwin and probably the second least surprised is Joe Burrow."

Bengals Training Camp Observations - Aug. 4
Here are five observations after Friday's training camp practice.

Bengals, Logan Wilson agree to four-year, $37.25 million extension
Cincinnati is in negotiations with the top two picks in that draft class -- quarterback Joe Burrow and wide receiver Tee Higgins. Over the past three years, Wilson has showed why Cincinnati invested in him for the future. During the team's best season in more than three decades, he was an integral part of the team's defense. Despite playing with a torn labrum, he had a massive performance in the team's Super Bowl LVI loss to the Los Angeles Rams.

5 Bengals who could get bumped down depth chart
Cincinnati selected eight players in this year's NFL Draft and agreed to deals with multiple undrafted free agents. You have to earn your role, and there could be a handful of Bengals that slide down the depth chart if performance is up to par. Here are five Bengals that could find themselves bumped down on the depth chart.

How Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins have Bengals ahead of the curve
The strategy has helped yield a top-five offense. Since the start of 2021, Higgins and Chase have amassed more than 4,600 combined receiving yards, more than any other pairing during that span. Their elite production underscores a larger NFL trend: In a league that revolves around the passing game, good offenses are ones that tend to have multiple quality receivers, and the Bengals have two of the best.

Bengals WR Ja'Marr Chase on QB Joe Burrow (calf): 'I don't want him there' in Week 1 if he's not 100%
"I sat out an extra game just to let my hip all the way heal up, and you don't want to cause no other problems later on in the season, and I told him as long as you're there after Week 5 and on, we're good brother."

Bengals rookie breakout D.J. Ivey gets epic new nickname
Ivey has registered several interceptions and sticky coverage over the course of camp so far, even ending as one of the top performers at the Back Together Saturday event.

Bengals: Tee Higgins reacts to the Logan Wilson extension news
Higgins, after all, is one of those guys due a big extension of his own with the team soon. Or at least that’s the idea, though some fans would be right to suspect there is only so much cash for the Begnals to spread out and somebody might get left out.

Around the league

Sean Payton's remarks put searing spotlight on Broncos; Justyn Ross poised for star turn on Chiefs?
What do you get when you combine a Super Bowl-winning head coach with a Super Bowl-winning quarterback? Inquiring minds in Denver are dying to know. According to Sean Payton, though, Broncos fans can expect a return to the postseason for the first time since Denver won the franchise's third Lombardi Trophy at the end of the 2015 campaign.

Top 10 quarterbacks entering the 2023 NFL season
Joe Burrow has almost singlehandedly turned the Bengals franchise around over the past three seasons. Despite participating in just two postseasons so far (he missed the second half of his rookie season with a torn ACL), Burrow has compiled five career playoff wins, the fourth-most among active quarterbacks -- and the same number the entire franchise managed prior to his arrival. He's the only active QB to beat Patrick Mahomes in the postseason, too. Burrow's confidence and ability to stay calm in big moments and games make Cincinnati one of the most-feared teams in the loaded AFC. He's right about the team's Super Bowl window being open as long as he's around. This year should be no different -- even with him missing time in the preseason again, this time with a calf strain.

Dolphins WR Tyreek Hill quips about CB Eli Apple signing: 'Now I get to embarrass him every day'
'Well, when I heard about it, coach had called me," Hill said when asked for his reaction to Apple's signing. "He was like, 'Hey, Reek, we finna sign somebody.' I was like, 'Who y'all finna sign?' He was like, 'We finna sign Eli Apple.' I was like, 'Aight, cool.' He was like, 'You ain't got a problem with that?' I was like, 'Nah, I ain't got no problem with that. Why would I have a problem with that?' So I just feel like a lot of people, it just get fed into what's going on in social media, and that's not really what it is. I was fired up for us to be able to add another competitor to this team because that makes us better in the long run, having that cornerback depth. Eli, he's a great guy. I know we had some battles, but at the end of the day, man, we're all trying to win. We're all trying to get better."

Jets CB Sauce Gardner graduates from University of Cincinnati, honored with his own day
"It kind of feels like game day," Gardner told Scott Springer of the Cincinnati Enquirer. "It's a box that I feel like was unchecked. My mom always told me to put school first. It's big for me and I know it's big for her as well."

Bears great Steve McMichael, who has ALS, admitted to intensive care
McMichael spent 13 of his 15 seasons with the Bears and was an All-Pro in 1985 and 1987. He played in a franchise-record 191 consecutive games from 1981 to 1993 and ranks second to Richard Dent on the Bears' all-time sacks list with 92 1/2. His final season was with Green Bay in 1994.

Patriots OLB Matthew Judon getting adjusted contract, increasing guaranteed money to $14M in 2023
Matt Judon has reached an agreement with the Patriots to adjust his current contract and up his fully guaranteed money from $2 million to $14 million for the 2023 season, effectively ending the outside linebacker's hold-in, NFL Network Insider Mike Garafolo reported Friday, per a source.