Joe Burrow officially ended the Bengals’ spring sessions Thursday morning when he breezed into the locker room about 30 minutes after practice on the Paycor Stadium turf and his extra running routine under the gaze of head strength and conditioning coach Joey Boese.
Burrow caught his breath as he walked by the locker of rookie linebacker Demetrius Knight Jr., but barely broke stride as he leaned in quickly to ask him what he thought of a no-look pass he had just uncorked on him.
“Just to rub it in a little bit. Just to put the lethal assassin touch on it. Put the Joe Shiesty on it right there. He let him out of the bag a little bit,” Knight said. “It was a no-look pass. He has just checking in on me if I was given a no-look pass. Only the best can do that. That’s why he’s one of the best.”
But here’s the thing. Knight has looked good, look or no-look.
Lining up with Bengals’ defensive dean Logan Wilson in the starting lineup since he arrived in the second round out of South Carolina, Knight has looked far from out of place. He’s been storing up moments like that against Burrow and keeps impressing.
“He’s done a hell of a job for a rookie with how much we’ve installed and covered,” Wilson said. “I’m looking forward to playing next to him.
“He can do everything at a high level. Just a matter of putting it all together. He’s fast, hits, big, shifty. All the things you want in a linebacker, he’s got.”
Head coach Zac Taylor isn’t giving him the job yet. Not with free-agent vet Oren Burks bringing his two Super Bowl starts into the room, along with fourth-round pick Barrett Carter’s big school pedigree from Clemson. But he’s also been impressed.
“Those guys are still competing for that. I do think he has worked really hard. As I come in the building, he’s one of the first guys in the locker room every single day,” Taylor said. “Very mature. He’s ready to go, ready to compete.”
Knight…
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