CINCINNATI — Cincinnati Bengals coach Zac Taylor made a decision earlier this month to shorten mandatory minicamp, but didn’t start telling players until Monday, June 15.
The team was scheduled to practice Wednesday and Thursday and then break until training camp. Instead, Taylor decided to cancel both on-field sessions and only held meetings Wednesday morning before letting players go.
That ended what Taylor deemed a productive offseason workout program, which saw no holdouts and full participation the last few weeks, including voluntary sessions leading up to the mandatory minicamp last week. Cincinnati will be off until the start of training camp July 29.
“We’ve gotten everything we want to get done,” Taylor said in his post-minicamp press conference. “We got all the installs in. I thought the guys did a great job getting the work in off the field since really late April when we started meeting and lifting and then all the field work we’ve done in May and June. We accomplished everything we set out to accomplish. I thought the coaches have utilized every minute we’re on the field. I thought they did a great job with the practice plans and the reps, so I just felt like we were in a good space and ended on a high note. Let these guys come back in late July.”
Taylor said the team utilized more Phase 2 time than in the past, and the Bengals aren’t “overly physical with 11-on-11 stuff” allowed in Phase 3, so they had reached the point where they had done everything they wanted.
Many other teams have canceled minicamps or ended early like Cincinnati, some because of the World Cup taking over their cities and some for other reasons.
Asked if it helped not having any holdouts or unnecessary drama this offseason, Taylor said that can be overblown but it was clear players were locked in on the tasks at hand.
“It’s a great thing,” Taylor said. “A lot of the drama oftentimes is outside drama. Inside we’re usually pretty clean with it, guys go about their business, but I feel like everybody’s really focused, showed up, got the work in that we needed them to get and so now it’s time to move on.”
Bengals Football
Bengals defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence pulls tape from his hands during practice in Cincinnati on June 9. Carolyn Kaster / AP Carolyn Kaster - AP
This offseason was largely about fixing the defense, accomplished on paper by adding players like defensive tackles Dexter Lawrence and Jonathan Allen, defensive end Boye Mafe and safety Bryan Cook.
Taylor said he liked what he saw from newcomers getting integrated, but he also saw big steps being made by second-year players.
“I think you saw a lot of Year 2 development from a lot of guys Year 2 in the system development, so that’s great to see from all those guys we’re returning that we’ve got high expectations for,” Taylor said. “I thought that the leadership that the new guys have brought in, the free agents that we’ve signed have been tremendous. They’ve picked it up fast, they played a lot of ball so they understand it very well. So I just thought the chemistry, the communication has really stepped up on that side of the ball, and it’s really good to see.”
With the entire offense returning, the Bengals were able put in a few tweaks to the system and try a few new things, but the focus has been on making sure they can close out games.
Cincinnati Bengals: Burrow building sense of urgency this offseason
Cincinnati struggled with turnovers last year and games got away from it even when the defense was playing a little better at the end of the season. The offense needs to play its part to a higher level in 2026 as well.
“I think (offensive coordinator Dan) Pitch (Pitcher) has done a great job articulating what we expect from our guys to be more explosive, to be able to close out games in our four-minute drill and that’s going to take place on the ground primarily, and so I think our guys have really bought into what it needs to look like for our team next year,” Taylor said. “It’s not just speaking to the offense. That’s a team aspect of it where we need all three phases to be intertwined in order to play in each phase how we want to play. … We’re all counting on each other to be able to step up and do their job so that we can finish the games on each side of the ball the way we want to.”