CINCINNATI — For Cincinnati Bengals rookie cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt, the ritual of cleansing out his locker on the finish of the season meant taking down one of many key items of his first NFL marketing campaign.
When the 2022 second-round draft decide arrived for rookie minicamp, he went to an ATM, took out a $100 invoice and taped it to the facet of his locker. It was symbolic of the “cash on the ground” celebration Cincinnati’s secondary made after massive performs. For Taylor-Britt, the invoice served as motivation and went untouched.
“You understand how many occasions I used to be hungry and I needed to make use of this $100 invoice?” Taylor-Britt stated final month, in the future after the Bengals misplaced 23-20 to the Kansas City Chiefs within the AFC Championship Sport.
Taylor-Britt gained’t have to look inside his locker for motivation this offseason. With veteran starters resembling safeties Jessie Bates III and Vonn Bell and cornerback Eli Apple coming into free company, Taylor-Britt and fellow rookie Dax Hill have had conversations about their function in anchoring Cincinnati’s secondary, probably as early because the upcoming season.
“They drafted us for a motive,” Taylor-Britt stated. “We acquired our snaps this yr, rookie season. Yeah, we had our flashes, in fact. But it surely’s time to take over. If something, it’s going to be our room. That’s how we’ve got to take a look at it.”
Taylor-Britt and Hill’s future roles have been obvious the second Cincinnati drafted each gamers. The Bengals took Hill out of Michigan within the first spherical, whereas Nebraska’s Taylor-Britt was chosen within the second spherical. These premium picks additionally occurred to come back at positions the place two starters — Bell and Apple — have been going to enter free company in 2023.
When Bates at first selected to not signal the franchise tag and missed all the offseason exercises and the early portion of coaching camp final season, Hill took his snaps. Bates didn’t settle for the tag and report till after Cincinnati’s preseason opener, when Hill recorded an interception in opposition to the Arizona Cardinals.
Finally, Hill settled right into a reserve function and primarily performed on particular groups and in sure protection conditions.
The previous Michigan standout additionally moved round as wanted. Hill cited the staff’s Week 16 recreation in opposition to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during which he performed slot cornerback rather than the injured Mike Hilton. Hill performed a season-high 63 defensive snaps within the 34-23 win.
When the Bengals cleared out their locker room following the loss to Kansas Metropolis, Hill stated shifting between positions on a weekly foundation made it tough to construct confidence.
“I actually didn’t know what I used to be doing when it comes to every week,” Hill stated. “That’s form of arduous at this stage. Simply to know precisely what you’re doing and attempting to be as sharp as doable on Sunday, that’s a tall process.”
Roles must be clearer because the offseason progresses. Hill is a pure substitute for Bates, who has been among the finest safeties within the NFL in recent times and is seeking to be paid accordingly. Taylor-Britt could possibly be in line to be the beginning cornerback reverse of Chidobe Awuzie. Awuzie suffered a torn ACL in Week 8 in opposition to the Cleveland Browns, which led to Taylor-Britt beginning alongside Apple for the remainder of the common season.
“He’s assured,” Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo stated of Taylor-Britt in January, forward of the staff’s playoff run. “He isn’t afraid. He’s aggressive. So, all of these issues and he is properly conscious of the conditions that he is in. He is actually continued to enhance every week.”
Within the ultimate 4 video games of 2022, together with the three postseason video games, the rookie held opponents to a minus-16.8 completion share when focused as the closest defender, in accordance with NFL Subsequent Gen Stats.
Taylor-Britt stated because the season progressed, he grew to become extra comfy, improved his subject imaginative and prescient, trusted himself and performed with much less hesitation.
This offseason, Taylor-Britt will cut up his time coaching between Dallas and Atlanta, the place the Alabama native moved his mom after he was drafted. Hill will spend the offseason coaching as properly, engaged on constructing his decrease physique energy as he prepares for no matter his function will appear to be in 2023.
Despite the fact that Hill’s snaps have been restricted, he had key performs, too. Within the win in opposition to the Buffalo Bills within the divisional spherical of the playoffs, Hill compelled an incompletion on third-and-goal that led to a subject objective and Buffalo’s ultimate factors in a 27-10 Bengals victory.
“Each time your quantity is named, you need to ship,” Hill stated.
Taylor-Britt stated that given what’s forward for he and Hill, this could possibly be the largest offseason they’ve had, even surpassing the preparation for the NFL draft.
“Your second yr, you’ve gotten much more free time,” Taylor-Britt stated. “You actually gotta be on prime of your stuff. It’s important to come again prepared and ready as a result of it’s going to be a giant yr subsequent for all of us.”
When the staff gathers for organized staff actions and offseason minicamp, Taylor-Britt and Hill could possibly be those in the midst of the secondary’s “cash on the ground” celebrations. And as for Taylor-Britt’s $100 invoice?
“Don’t fear,” he stated. “It’ll be again subsequent yr.”