The Cincinnati Bengals will likely keep six or seven wide receivers on their 53-man roster when the regular season kicks off in less than a month.
Third-year wide receiver Trenton Irwin is using this time to make his case for one of those slots.
The UCLA product added to his strong training camp on Saturday night in the Bengals' 19-14 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, posting three catches for a team-high 35 yards.
"I've loved watching Trenton Irwin play, really the last year-and-a-half," Bengals' offensive coordinator Brian Callahan said Monday. "We would do those one-on-ones in practice over the course of the season and he would always win, and I think that trend has continued."
Irwin was targeted a team-high five times by backup quarterback Kyle Shurmur and helped the Bengals' offense move into scoring position. Irwin caught a 17-yard pass over the middle with 8:28 left in the third quarter, securing the ball through a vicious blow from Tampa Bay rookie defensive back Cameron Kinley that drew an unnecessary roughness penalty.
On the next drive, Shurmur and Irwin connected on a 25-yard completion that was nullified by a holding penalty. Eight plays later, Irwin's 12-yard reception moved the chains on third-and-9. Both drives would result in field goals as the Bengals took the lead for good.
"At some point you can't ignore the production. He's done a really good job of making sure everybody notices him," Callahan said. "Certainly not anywhere perfect to where we want him on other details that don't show up on TV, but I just think when his number has been called he's answered the bell and I think that goes a long way for guys competing for spots."
The Bengals have kept seven wide receivers in each of the past two seasons under head coach Zac Taylor. Irwin finds himself in a battle for one of the final spots with guys like Trent Taylor and Stanley Morgan. The Bengals cut wide receivers Reece Horn and Riley Lees on Monday morning.
JA'MARR CHASE IMPROVING
One wide receiver not in a battle for a roster spot is Ja'Marr Chase, although his debut was highly-anticipated on Saturday.
The Bengals eased the rookie into his first game in 19 months, calling his number on a jailbreak screen that picked up 16 yards.
"He (Chase) got his feet wet a little bit," Callahan said. "He got a chance to get a taste for the action. He hasn't played in awhile so it was good for him to get out and play a little bit. We tried to find him a touch and get him some space and it worked out well. He ended up with 16 yards and it certainly, probably could have been more."
Callahan noted that Chase has improved since his slow start to camp.
"The great thing about Ja'Marr is he's super, super coachable. He listens to everything that (wide receivers) coach Troy (Walters) tries to get him to do offensively where he fits," he said. "The biggest jump that you make is the technique has to be on point. You don't get to beat people just because you are better than they are in the NFL."
RUNNING BACKS PRODUCE
Rookie running back Chris Evans was thrust into more playing time after Trayveon Williams was ruled out against Tampa Bay.
Evans scored the Bengals' only touchdown of the night, a 1-yard plunge in the waning seconds of the first half. He finished with 25 yards on 12 attempts and caught a team-high four passes for 33 yards.
Callahan said he'd like to see Evans take what the defense is offering instead of going for a home run on each carry.
"He bounced a couple balls to the perimeter when we'd like him to make a cut and get vertical," Callahan said. "Sometimes it's not a pretty run and the job of the running back is to get us back to zero and not lose two."
Jacques Patrick, another bubble guy who was on the practice squad last season, had a game-high 71 yards on 15 carries. With 3:25 remaining and the Bengals nursing a 16-14 lead, Patrick carried the ball six times for 38 yards on a field goal drive that sealed the victory.
"He's a big, powerful, downhill runner and it was a perfect situation for him at the end of the game to be able to showcase those skills when all we're trying to do is run that clock down and pound the ball," Callahan said. "I thought he had a nice showing."
HATS TO THE BALL
The Bengals shined Saturday as they held the Buccaneers to just 2.6 yards per play, 29 total rushing yards, recorded four sacks and tallied three takeaways.
"As a defense that's what you want to see, 11 hats to the ball every play," second-year linebacker Akeem Davis-Gaither said. "I definitely see that on tape guys are swarming to the ball. I think in the future that'll cause more turnovers as we get more hats to the ball."
Fifth-year linebacker Jordan Evans has become the veteran presence in a linebackers room with three starters age 25 or younger.
"He'll tell you slap dead in your face if you're doing something wrong or something you can improve on," Davis-Gaither said of Evans. "I think the biggest thing he helped me with was in coverage, being able to see things before they happen."
Davis-Gaither and the linebackers have heard the skepticism surrounding the unit. The secondary seems like a strength and the defensive has added multiple pieces. It will take the linebackers to round out the improvement of a defense that ranked 26th a year ago.
"I guess a lot of people have a lot to say about the linebackers," Davis-Gaither said. "We definitely have a chip on our shoulder to go out there and just prove people wrong."
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