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It was fair to wonder if Cordell Volson sitting out of the Cincinnati Bengals preseason finale was the team just letting Jackson Carman work his way to an equal number of preseason reps in an even battle.
In hindsight, wondering that looks a little misguided. Carman had an up-and-down night against Los Angeles Rams backups in a setting where he probably should have dominated, which was in line with the rest of his preseason.
That means Volson, the fourth-round rookie, has probably locked up the left guard job.
“I see steady improvement,” head coach Zac Taylor said. “He’s consistent. We know what we’re getting out of him. It’s real important to him. Again, we’ve seen steady improvement from him over the course of training camp.”
And over at punter, the only other scrap for a starting job, Drue Chrisman predictably took the lead Saturday night over the veteran Kevin Huber. Both held well on extra-point tries, while Huber had two fair-catches inside the 20-yard line. Chrisman had one, plus a wicked 65-yard punt that hit inside the five and bounced for a touchback.
The Bengals were rumored to be in on punters during the draft before not selecting one, then quickly re-signed Huber. It would appear like Volson, Chrisman has seized the moment and secured himself a full-time gig.
“I think both of us put enough on tape to where, whatever happens here, one of us are most likely getting a call in the next couple days to have a chance to compete somewhere else, if not a starting job,” Chrisman said. “I think both of us would feel pretty confident about that.”
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