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Zac Taylor and the Cincinnati Bengals take on fewer offseason practices than most NFL clubs each spring by design.
And veterans like Ted Karras love the approach.
The recent rookie minicamp is a great example. As Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic noted, the Bengals only took six of the 16 one-hour sessions for rookies this year.
Karras says the lax approach to the spring is actually more helpful than some might realize.
“I always thought you never won a job in spring, but guys lost jobs in spring,” Karras said, according to Dehner. “The way we do it here is perfect. You can evaluate how people move, how people communicate, but we’re not killing each other.”
The whole idea has to be comfort food for Bengals fans — they’ve seen first-rounders like Jonah Williams lost to serious spring workouts. Yet under this new approach, the team keeps contending deep into the playoffs anyway.
Taylor’s approach to these things altered some out of necessity recently after that Super Bowl trip saw the team play the longest season ever under the new 17-game format. More rest time meant fewer injuries before training camp and an emphasis on the mental side of the game.
Granted, Taylor says the fact he keeps returning all important coordinators helps. He also says things would ramp up if coaches got the sense the players needed it. But in a testament to the culture of the locker room, that hasn’t been an issue.
Coming from Karras, who has played under the likes of Bill Belichick, the comments seem like another affirmation of the approach working.
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