Joe Burrow appeared really comfortable on the field today against the Bucs 1st string defense leading the Bengals on their opening drive down field for a Joe Mixon rushing TD. Burrow’s 2nd drive put the team in FG range before the qtr ended as his day was done.
Burrow finished his early afternoon 5-5 for 99yrds, hitting (wr)Boyd, (wr)Higgins, (te)Uzomah & (te)Sample >2x.
As the starters on offense are set, there remains a few vital position battles:
With (cb)Waynes sitting out with a toe injury, the nickel db spot is up for grabs as Hilton, Apple and Phillips will run this gauntlet, or perhaps Apple and Phillips will battle it out as Hilton gave up a huge TD bomb to Bucs wr’s Evans and Watson. Being 5th on the depth chart is not great for contract negotiations. Bengals are hoping for Apple and Phillips to step up as both their contracts end this year.
The other position battles are:
(DT)Hill and rookie Shelvin, as rotation will be key to prevent fatigue.
(LB)Pratt, Jones and -rookie favorite- Ossai will will fight to come off the sidelines for substitutions.
