Confidence?
Hendrickson, with the second-most forced fumbles in the league since he became a Bengal in 2021, has brought his own special brand of havoc back after hammering out his contract Monday. But he's been here all month attending meetings, working with the defensive line, and getting himself worked on by his trusted body man, Bengals head strength and conditioning coach Joey Boese.
"Putting the pads on and hitting someone's different, but I can promise you, he's in shape," Taylor said. "He's been in the meetings all along. He's been a guy showing up early for the meetings. Had questions. He's been mentally preparing all along for that. This just solidifies that.
"That we're ready to go. I look forward to getting him on the practice field. I don't know if our scout team tackles yet know what they're in for."
They may be as surprised as some of the outsiders viewing the Bengals' initial cuts.
First off, they kept six defensive tackles, two of them undrafted rookies, Notre Dame's Howard Cross III and Arkansas' Eric Gregory. Taylor it seems, is thinking back to last year's September massacre, when both draff picks at tackle, Kris Jenkins Jr., and McKinnley Jackson, were hurt. This year, 30-year-old B.J. Hill (foot) just started practicing.
"It was important to keep depth there. As you remember early last season. We went through that depth pretty quickly," Taylor said. "I think if there's a spot to go heavy, sometimes it's in those areas. And so that helped us in our decision there."
They kept only eight offensive linemen, something they never do, so there's a sense another shoe could drop after waiving injured guard Cordell Volson via the waiver wire monitored by director of player personnel Duke Tobin.
"We're just always going to look to better our team any way we can and feel good about where it fell for us right now," Taylor said. "I know Duke and those guys are actively working and always evaluating and seeing any way we can improve our roster."
After vet right guard Lucas Patrick got dinged in the second preseason game, fifth-rounder Jalen Rivers has taken over after moving from tackle. Taylor said he thinks his right guard is on the roster.