“That was fun. Guy is hard get away from. He’s big, strong and fast,” Burrow said.
But there was also good news. Tight end Hayden Hurst (calf) and cornerback Tre Flowers (hamstring) went full and no one with a lingering injury is questionable.
It was a good time for Taylor to shout out head strength and conditioning coach Joey Boese and first-year director of sports medicine/head athletic trainer Matt Summers. The only team that has played as many games as the Bengals have in the first two seasons of the 17-game schedule are the 49ers, back in the NFC title.
While they suffered more serious injuries this year than last year, the winning streak and the two-year record of 27-12 is confirmation that the intense monitoring of GPS numbers by Boese and assistants Garrett Swanson and Todd Hunt are paying off.
“We work our tails off to make sure we’re on top of all that and that starts with Joey, Matt Summers, Garrett Swanson and Todd Hunt they do a great job with the sports science things,” Taylor said. “We pulled Ja’Marr (Chase) and Tee (Higgins) out of the Super Bowl practice last year on Thursday because they had hit their max and we wanted them to be fresh on Sunday.
“We’ve tried our best to orchestrate our training camp practices around the soft tissue stuff to try to avoid all those injuries to make sure we get through training camp, put in the physical work we need and make sure our guys are healthy and that they’re not nagging injuries going into the season. I just think that that part of the staff … (has) done a great job coordinating together, formulating a plan, being diligent every single week and not just, ‘All right its January what happens what happens.’ They stay on top of it. Even yesterday Joey is putting numbers on my desk.”
What may not be in the GPS is Burrow’s pulse because it doesn’t seem like he has one. He has, though, noticed how the Chiefs have amped up their pace on defense with rookies like edge George Karlaftis. The secondary has caught his eye, in particular rookie cornerbacks Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson.
“I’m impressed with how their rookies have been playing. You can tell they’ve improved a lot throughout the season, and they are more sound in their scheme and technique, and they are good players,” Burrow said. “And, their D-line is disruptive, and you can tell they are well-coached and they are sound in everything they do.”
“Their rookie corners, both of them are getting better each week. You can tell they put in a lot of work for what they do. They’re two of the better corners we’ve played so far.”
The ping-pong ball pinged and ponged. The music pounded through the walls. Rookie cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt got back to his locker, the one where he’s got a $20 bill taped to remind “there is money on the ground,” to be had.
Four quarters from the big one and it was 9-to-5. Someone asked Joey Frost what he had planned for Saturday’s flight.
“I’m pretty much done with my film study,” Burrow said. “Playing some Super Smash Brothers now and then on the flight. That’s always fun.”
