The Cincinnati Bengals defense continued to impress on Day 6 of training camp, but quarterback Joe Burrow at least made his presence felt.
Through five days of camp, the defense had earned plenty of praise, but that shouldn’t be taken to mean the Burrow-led offense is completely listless. With the defense continuing to disrupt the pocket and pressure Burrow on Aug. 4, Burrow leaned into his ability to scramble, leave the pocket and improvise on the run.
A training camp that’s been heavy on the Bengals defense showing well through the first week has still held daily flashes of what makes the offense one of the most prolific and effective offenses in the NFL.
Here’s what we learned from Day 6 of Bengals training camp:
Joe Burrow is just warming up on Day 6 of Bengals camp
The Bengals pass rush once again looked solid, and that started on the first play of 11-on-11 action Aug. 4 when TJ Slaton Jr. sliced through the offensive line to pressure Burrow.
Burrow responded throughout the morning. He stepped up in the pocket in one moment and then scrambled to ad-lib on an explosive play − a long throw hauled in by receiver Tee Higgins.
Couple nice plays back-to-back for Joe Burrow. This was the second of the two… pic.twitter.com/RdM904bBbr
— Pat Brennan (@PBrennanENQ) August 4, 2026
In the Aug. 3 edition of our takeaways, we encouraged not overreacting to what some perceived as a slow start to training camp for the offense. But it sure is nice for everyone − fans, media and players themselves − to see glimpses of what you expect from the Bengals offense.
Even an all-world offense can fall out of sync. It hasn’t been pretty so far, but if you’re watching enough of these training camp sessions, you know that Burrow is very much a factor in the on-field competition, and he’ll continue to get his licks in on the defense as camp progresses.
It’s also worth mentioning that Bengals defensive coordinator Al Golden was complimentary of Cincinnati’s rushing attack on Aug. 4.
Even with the pads on, running plays can be whistled dead quickly. So it’s tough to get a sense of how evasive the Bengals running backs have been, but they appear to be growing accustomed to camp nicely.
Play of the Day | Bryan Cook picks off Joe Burrow
It felt like an emphatic punctuation to all the good defense we’ve seen so far in training camp. Safety Bryan Cook jumped a route to intercept Burrow, taking the ball to the end zone as Cook’s defensive teammates whooped and hollered.
Burrow picked off… pic.twitter.com/CemcflosMG
— Pat Brennan (@PBrennanENQ) August 4, 2026
One player prior to the interception, Cook was in coverage with DJ Turner II and was amping him up after forcing an incompletion.
“At the end of the day, we’re a stingy defense,” Cook said, “and we’re gonna take the ball back as many times as we can.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Bengals offense showed glimpses on Day 6 of training camp
