Chase wants a contract extension, and the Bengals are prepared for him to sit if it doesn’t happen before the season starts.
“We’re always ready,” Taylor said when asked if he needs two game plans to account for both scenarios. “There are always injuries and things you have to deal with, so we’ll adapt to him.”
Taylor said he couldn’t say for certain if Chase could handle a full snap count in the case he does play, but he still feels good about the shape Chase is in.
Amarius Mims continues to be limited in practices after resuming portions of individual position group drills last week while media was present, but Taylor said he is not ready to declare if he will play Sunday. He did confirm Trent Brown will start at right tackle, and Dax Hill has won the starting cornerback spot opposite Cam Taylor-Britt.
Taylor said with Mims being a rookie and not practicing in full Monday, it would be difficult to see him starting the opener, but he’s excited to watch Trent Brown after he did “a really good job” throughout training camp.
Hill had been competing with second-year player DJ Turner, who started 12 games as a rookie, and earned the role after transitioning from free safety this offseason.
“He just keeps competing,” Taylor said. “It was a great battle. It wasn’t a guy failed so the other one is the starter. It was two guys I really felt like getting the best out of each other. For Dax to be able to assume that responsibility, I think is good. Doesn’t mean DJ is not playing, that there (are) not roles we have for these other guys. It’s a long season so guys got to be ready for their opportunity to come.”
Hill isn’t the only player taking on a new role this season. The Bengals announced their captains on Monday and four of the eight are first-time captains – Orlando Brown Jr. on offense, Germaine Pratt on defense and Evan McPherson and Akeem Davis-Gaither on special teams.
Joe Burrow and Ted Karras return as captains representing the offense, and Sam Hubbard and Vonn Bell have been captains for the defense previously and resume those roles.
“I think it’s a great group of eight,” Taylor said. “There’s no number I usually put on it. A lot of guys got votes. You could make an argument for about 20. It was really impossible to whittle it down tighter than that. We had eight guys who were really qualified and I feel really good as they were nominated by their peers.”
Pratt, a sixth-year player who was a captain his senior year at N.C. State, especially drew a loud reaction from his teammates when his name was called as captains were announced to the players. Taylor and several players said Pratt had been a pseudo-captain the past couple of years even without the “C” on his jersey, and the recognition by his peers was well-deserved.
The veteran linebacker said most players knew they could always talk football with him but officially having the title of captain was still a goal. He hopes to continue to “grow day by day and help others grow.”
“It means a lot,” Pratt said. “Being a leader, being in a league as one of the top athletes in the world, getting voted by your peers is an honorable thing.”
Orlando Brown Jr. called it “special” to be recognized as a captain for the first time in his seventh NFL season.
The veteran left tackle was raised with an “old-school mentality,” he said, and has always held himself to high standards, so he looks forward to helping keep his teammates accountable as well and being someone that will bring positivity when needed and push the other players when they might need a kick in the right direction.
“I’m very thankful they look at me as a leader and would put me in this position,” Orlando Brown Jr. said.
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