Cincinnati Bengals second-year player gets a special shoutout from head coach Zac Taylor in team meeting

All eyes are on the Cincinnati Bengals' wide receivers. Ja'Marr Chase is at practice but isn't practicing, Tee Higgins is asserting his dominance, and Andrei Iosivas looks like he's WR3 ahead of rookie Jermaine Burton.

It's all a bit much for Charlie Jones to standout himself, but he's doing his absolute best.

Jones is quietly having a much better training camp than he had as a rookie last year. He noted that he gained five pounds of muscle this offseason working with Cincy's strength and conditioning coach Joey Boese to improve the physicality of his game, but head coach Zac Taylor believes there's more to it than that.

Taylor told media members Thursday that Jones' improvement this year stems simply from gained experience. That's led to positive plays in camp, including one that was highlighted in a team meeting.

"He's playing faster," Taylor said. "I know that he made a point of emphasis with Joey [Boese] to get stronger. That's natural, you know, coming out of college and having to play receiver against the physicality, especially in this division. But what you also notice is he can play tougher and faster because he knows what to do. In year one, your head's spinning a little bit.

"We highlighted a play that he made today in the team meeting, because you're seeing the confidence take over for him."

The play Taylor spoke of featured Jones running a through route against middle-of-the-field open coverage and catching the deep pass. It's those moments that help a second-year player advance himself up the depth chart in a crowded position room.

Jones was never in real danger of missing the cut at the end of this month, but with the receiver position stacked as it is, carving out a notable role was always going to be a challenge for him. Outside of the aforementioned top four, there's also veteran Trenton Irwin who seems to stay thriving under the radar. Jones makes it a strong six, and even below him are guys like Cole Burgess and newly-signed Hakeem Butler, who look to be plenty active in the preseason.

He couldn't afford a slow start to camp. Jones has been anything but slow so far.

"He knows what to do," Taylor said. "And so now he can focus on the nuances of how to do it, as opposed to: 'What route am I running? What is the coverage?' So he's playing much faster and making a lot of plays for us, and he is a guy that I think has really had a solid start to camp."

As Chase continues to hold-in for a new contract , reps for Jones, Iosivas, and Burton once his ankle is fine should keep coming in. It's all setting up for Cincinnati's passing game to start the 2024 season strong.

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