Trey Hendrickson Update

[THE PISTONS]

Heyward renegotiated his contract last year and is holding in now. This is the modern NFL:

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/45947512/steelers-heyward-open-sitting-season-contract

[SunsetBengal]

(Yesterday, 07:34 PM)THE PISTONS Wrote: Heyward renegotiated his contract last year and is holding in now. This is the modern NFL:

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/45947512/steelers-heyward-open-sitting-season-contract

Dude is 36, not sure that he'll have the same sort of leverage as guys described as a "young" 30...

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

(Yesterday, 03:11 PM)rfaulk34 Wrote: Maybe not full, full speed but i think coaches are comfortable with what they do in practice, especially with a new scheme. It probably has more to do with alignments and where pressure could be coming from. If they run it "full speed"(no touching the QB) in practice, that's enough for them and no one else has any tape to prep for it. 

Isn't that exact problem why we're having to have our starters play in preseason now?

[Nepa]

(Yesterday, 07:34 PM)THE PISTONS Wrote: Heyward renegotiated his contract last year and is holding in now. This is the modern NFL:

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/45947512/steelers-heyward-open-sitting-season-contract

Heyward has two more years on the contract he just renegotiated last year. This creates a lot of instability if players can just demand a new contract a year after signing a contract. I don't see a solution, but it is really unsettling. But there doesn't seem to be a downside to players when they do this. If it were a high-profile player doing this, maybe they would lose a lot of endorsements because of fans not liking it. But for most players, there doesn't seem to be a downside.

[SunsetBengal]

(Yesterday, 07:44 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Isn't that exact problem why we're having to have our starters play in preseason now?

Absolutely, even our "elite" offense came out flat after a leisure camp last year. Training camp is supposed to temper the body for the rigors of contact football, get the legs conditioned for playing in the hot early games of the season, as well as build team chemistry and comaraderie. Sure, taking it easy reduces head injuries, but soft tissue injuries are up exponentially across the league.

[*rfaulk34*]

(Yesterday, 07:44 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Isn't that exact problem why we're having to have our starters play in preseason now?

As much as i like the live snaps for the offense in the preseason, i think it's more mental than physical. 

TBS, i don't know that it's really as necessary this year, if things hold up, because it's been pointed out that the "slow starts" are probably more due to Burrow injuries than a lack of preseason snaps. 

Everyone already knows what the Bengals offense is going to do. The defense, this year, should be different with a different scheme, so not showing formations and tendencies "should" be a positive for them. At least on paper...

I can see the argument for them going live in preseason but i guess i just lean the other way right now. 

[Sled21]

I just don't buy that playing a few snaps in pre-season does anything at all for positions like QB and WR. They can get their timing down in practice. They have multiple seasons of play, so what really does playing 2 series do except risk injury? Now, I do think position groups that have to work together, like the line, needs to play pre-season to get in sync. Our slow starts have nothing to do with pre-season; they have to do with Covid, rehabbing a shredded knee, rehabbing a burst appendix, rehabbing a torn ligament in the throwing wrist, etc. One thing about Taylor's teams is that they may start slow (due to Burrow's injuries), but they finish strong and when it comes to playoff time, they are usually at their best when other teams are faltering.

[*pally*]

(11 hours ago)Sled21 Wrote: I just don't buy that playing a few snaps in pre-season does anything at all for positions like QB and WR. They can get their timing down in practice. They have multiple seasons of play, so what really does playing 2 series do except risk injury? Now, I do think position groups that have to work together, like the line, needs to play pre-season to get in sync. Our slow starts have nothing to do with pre-season; they have to do with Covid, rehabbing a shredded knee, rehabbing a burst appendix, rehabbing a torn ligament in the throwing wrist, etc. One thing about Taylor's teams is that they may start slow (due to Burrow's injuries), but they finish strong and when it comes to playoff time, they are usually at their best when other teams are faltering.

The impression I’ve gotten from Joe, is that he wants the repetitions with his WRs at game speed. He wants to practice reading defenses at game speed. He wants to feel getting hit.

Now he totally might change his mind on this after this season. I think that since he has never had a real healthy preseason, he has no idea how ready for the season he would be with just TC. So here we are

But Fed Ex Field is not a place I feel comfortable with ANY of our starters playing on Monday

[WeezyBengal]

(11 hours ago)Sled21 Wrote: I just don't buy that playing a few snaps in pre-season does anything at all for positions like QB and WR. They can get their timing down in practice. They have multiple seasons of play, so what really does playing 2 series do except risk injury? Now, I do think position groups that have to work together, like the line, needs to play pre-season to get in sync. Our slow starts have nothing to do with pre-season; they have to do with Covid, rehabbing a shredded knee, rehabbing a burst appendix, rehabbing a torn ligament in the throwing wrist, etc. One thing about Taylor's teams is that they may start slow (due to Burrow's injuries), but they finish strong and when it comes to playoff time, they are usually at their best when other teams are faltering.

Yep. We've already seen Stone go down with an injury. Hope people are happy these guys are playing in meaningless games. 

People are overlooking a pretty significant point with the pre season play and the light training camps. It's the fact that this team ALWAYS performs well at the end of the season under ZT. They are fresh and they go on a significant run. It's not talked about enough. 

[WeezyBengal]

(11 hours ago)pally Wrote: The impression I’ve gotten from Joe, is that he wants the repetitions with his WRs at game speed.  He wants to practice reading defenses at game speed. He wants to feel getting hit.

Now he totally might change his mind on this after this season.  I think that since he has never had a real healthy preseason, he has no idea how ready for the season he would be with just TC.  So here we are

But Fed Ex Field is not a place I feel comfortable with ANY of our starters playing on Monday

I don't care if Joe "wants to get hit", and ZT is being asinine if that's one of the reasons for him putting Joe out there in preseason. Do we realize how ludicrous that sounds? 

The offense has shown more than enough in training camp and in the first preseason game for them to not touch the grass for another snap in preseason. Shut them down. 

[depthchart]

(10 hours ago)WeezyBengal Wrote: I don't care if Joe "wants to get hit", and ZT is being asinine if that's one of the reasons for him putting Joe out there in preseason. Do we realize how ludicrous that sounds? 

The offense has shown more than enough in training camp and in the first preseason game for them to not touch the grass for another snap in preseason. Shut them down. 

They may be wanting to keep Joe happy by letting him Guide the decision so that it does not effect his or the Team's morale. 

Also an attempt to fix what they think may be a reason for losing starts to Seasons.

Great if it works (or appears to have worked) by say the end of week 3.  Misery if a Key player goes down and/or they are in a post week 3 hole. 

[Sled21]

(11 hours ago)pally Wrote: The impression I’ve gotten from Joe, is that he wants the repetitions with his WRs at game speed.  He wants to practice reading defenses at game speed. He wants to feel getting hit.

Now he totally might change his mind on this after this season.  I think that since he has never had a real healthy preseason, he has no idea how ready for the season he would be with just TC.  So here we are

But Fed Ex Field is not a place I feel comfortable with ANY of our starters playing on Monday

I think Joe is just not the kind of guy who wants to blame the slow starts on his injuries, but the fact remains, he has always been recovering from the last injury for every TC he has had except for the 1st one, which was messed up by Covid. But let's say there is some validity to him wanting to feel game speed with the possibility of actually getting hit. Wouldn't it be much safer to have a practice and let OUR defense play at full speed and hit him rather than letting another team take shots at him? With his experience reading defenses at game speed in real games, I highly doubt playing a series or two in pre-season helps him one bit. I'm just not buying it. One cheap shot by a defense in pre-season, and our entire season could be lost.

[Isaac Curtis: The Real #85]

(10 hours ago)WeezyBengal Wrote: Yep. We've already seen Stone go down with an injury. Hope people are happy these guys are playing in meaningless games. 

People are overlooking a pretty significant point with the pre season play and the light training camps. It's the fact that this team ALWAYS performs well at the end of the season under ZT. They are fresh and they go on a significant run. It's not talked about enough. 

He pulled a hammy. Totally non-contact. 

And like I have said ad nauseum, it is football. Guys get hurt. There is ALWAYS risk. 

They get hurt in practice. Look at Dickerson in Philly. Burrow with the calf. Do you wanna cancel practice now, too? 

And they get hurt in games. 

But I'd much rather risk a bit more by playing the starters more in preseason than start 0-2 every fricking year. 

What are we talking here? 2 series in game 1 and 2 quarters in game 2? 3 quarters? Whatcwould you suggest, nothing & nothing? 

Stewart could get hurt, should he not be playing? Or getting practice reps? What about guys coming back from injury? How do you gauge when/if those guys are recovered if the don't play ir practice? How do you get them ready? 

How do you decide who should start if some guys never play? 

Stone has nearly a month to get healthy. Calm down. 

[WeezyBengal]

(9 hours ago)Isaac Curtis: The Real #85 Wrote: He pulled a hammy. Totally non-contact. 

And like I have said ad nauseum, it is football. Guys get hurt. There is ALWAYS risk. 

They get hurt in practice. Look at Dickerson in Philly. Burrow with the calf. Do you wanna cancel practice now, too? 

And they get hurt in games. 

But I'd much rather risk a bit more by playing the starters more in preseason than start 0-2 every fricking year. 

What are we talking here? 2 series in game 1 and 2 quarters in game 2? 3 quarters? Whatcwould you suggest, nothing & nothing? 

Stewart could get hurt, should he not be playing? Or getting practice reps? What about guys coming back from injury? How do you gauge when/if those guys are recovered if the don't play ir practice? How do you get them ready? 

How do you decide who should start if some guys never play? 

Stone has nearly a month to get healthy. Calm down. 

Doesn't matter if it was non contact or not. He's still in the game getting reps. 

Clearly you understand that there's a bigger risk playing these guys in games against other teams with guys that are going all out trying to get a roster spot, rather than practice, right? 

I've explained it ad naseium, but the reason this team starts slow every year is because of things that have nothing to do with guys playing in pre season. Mainly Burrow's condition to start the year. 

I'm over it. Keep playing your players in preseason. Stone, Burton...who's next to get hurt? Keep guys fresh, it pays off at the end of the year. 

[NUGDUKWE]

(9 hours ago)Isaac Curtis: The Real #85 Wrote: He pulled a hammy. Totally non-contact. 

And like I have said ad nauseum, it is football. Guys get hurt. There is ALWAYS risk. 

They get hurt in practice. Look at Dickerson in Philly. Burrow with the calf. Do you wanna cancel practice now, too? 

And they get hurt in games. 

But I'd much rather risk a bit more by playing the starters more in preseason than start 0-2 every fricking year. 

What are we talking here? 2 series in game 1 and 2 quarters in game 2? 3 quarters? Whatcwould you suggest, nothing & nothing? 

Stewart could get hurt, should he not be playing? Or getting practice reps? What about guys coming back from injury? How do you gauge when/if those guys are recovered if the don't play ir practice? How do you get them ready? 

How do you decide who should start if some guys never play? 

Stone has nearly a month to get healthy. Calm down. 

Definitely think there is a balance. Something I saw yesterday is that they had Battle running punt coverage at the end of the 1st half. How in the world does that make any sense? Already had Geno go down and your risking Battle? I dont even think that should be on his plate with as thin at S as we are in the regular season.

I do think we just ask way too much of Burrow early. He's the engine that drives the offense but to help slow starts we have to take as much off his plate as possible. Might be easier this year with Chase Brown.

[Nepa]

(11 hours ago)Sled21 Wrote: I just don't buy that playing a few snaps in pre-season does anything at all for positions like QB and WR. They can get their timing down in practice. They have multiple seasons of play, so what really does playing 2 series do except risk injury? Now, I do think position groups that have to work together, like the line, needs to play pre-season to get in sync. Our slow starts have nothing to do with pre-season; they have to do with Covid, rehabbing a shredded knee, rehabbing a burst appendix, rehabbing a torn ligament in the throwing wrist, etc. One thing about Taylor's teams is that they may start slow (due to Burrow's injuries), but they finish strong and when it comes to playoff time, they are usually at their best when other teams are faltering.

Tell this to Andy Reid. He always plays starters, including Mahomes, in preseason games. And 4 of the last 5 seasons his teams have been there at the Super  Bowl, except the one year Cincinnati beat the Chiefs.

[Nepa]

(10 hours ago)WeezyBengal Wrote: Yep. We've already seen Stone go down with an injury. Hope people are happy these guys are playing in meaningless games. 

People are overlooking a pretty significant point with the pre season play and the light training camps. It's the fact that this team ALWAYS performs well at the end of the season under ZT. They are fresh and they go on a significant run. It's not talked about enough. 

As does Kansas City -- 4 of the last 5 years at Super Bowl -- and the Chiefs starters always play in the preseason. Mahomes himself said it was important for him to play. 

I would go with Andy Reid as the standard. He says it is critical for players to get used to game speed and contact and timing.

Bengals, on the other hand, haven't played starters much in preseason games the last 5 years and have been horrible in the first games of the season. The OL has been out of sync. The defense has been horrible at tackling. 

Boomer Esaison, who knows something of football, also stated that Joe Burrow needs to get between 20 and 40 snaps in preseason games to get ready for the season. He had 16 snaps in the first preseason game.

[*Synric*]

(8 hours ago)WeezyBengal Wrote: Doesn't matter if it was non contact or not. He's still in the game getting reps. 

Clearly you understand that there's a bigger risk playing these guys in games against other teams with guys that are going all out trying to get a roster spot, rather than practice, right? 

I've explained it ad naseium, but the reason this team starts slow every year is because of things that have nothing to do with guys playing in pre season. Mainly Burrow's condition to start the year. 

I'm over it. Keep playing your players in preseason. Stone, Burton...who's next to get hurt? Keep guys fresh, it pays off at the end of the year. 

Matt LaFleur said recently NFL Data says playing in the pre-season helps prevent injuries in weeks 1-4. 

Earlier today, Packers HC Matt LaFleur mentioned that the NFL's data suggests playing a certain number of preseason snaps helps prevent injuries from Weeks 1-4 of the regular season.

Are you skeptical? @TheLeapGB was too, but the data appears to be real.https://t.co/o4CwPfbRi6

— Jason B. Hirschhorn (@by_JBH) August 7, 2025

 

[Nepa]

(8 hours ago)Synric Wrote: Matt LaFleur said recently NFL Data says playing in the pre-season helps prevent injuries in weeks 1-4. 

Earlier today, Packers HC Matt LaFleur mentioned that the NFL's data suggests playing a certain number of preseason snaps helps prevent injuries from Weeks 1-4 of the regular season.

Are you skeptical? @TheLeapGB was too, but the data appears to be real.https://t.co/o4CwPfbRi6

— Jason B. Hirschhorn (@by_JBH) August 7, 2025

 

I believe it. Especially when one team plays starters in preseason games and is ready for the speed and intensity of play and the other team rested their starters all preseason and is totally mismatched in terms of speed and intensity.

[SunsetBengal]

(8 hours ago)WeezyBengal Wrote: Doesn't matter if it was non contact or not. He's still in the game getting reps. 

Clearly you understand that there's a bigger risk playing these guys in games against other teams with guys that are going all out trying to get a roster spot, rather than practice, right? 

I've explained it ad naseium, but the reason this team starts slow every year is because of things that have nothing to do with guys playing in pre season. Mainly Burrow's condition to start the year. 

I'm over it. Keep playing your players in preseason. Stone, Burton...who's next to get hurt? Keep guys fresh, it pays off at the end of the year. 

You understand that the entire point of training camp and preseason games is to... wait for it... be ready to play football games.

I'd much rather these guys get their bodies properly tempered before the actual season begins, than to see them fall apart as soon as the action goes live.