Paul Dehner Jr.

pdehnerjr@enquirer.com

While walking across Central Ave., splitting the path between the Bengals’ practice fields and the locker room at Paul Brown Stadium, rookie Tyler Boyd strode through the shrieks of fans seeking autographs, the deep rumble of trucks sitting at the red light and the laughter of players digesting the intricacies of the latest training camp practice.

Even amid the chaos, a phrase proposed to him noticeably hung in the air: “The star of camp.”

The question revolved around if such a designation thrown around these last two weeks by the media made him feel uncomfortable. While not lacking for confidence, the apprehension laced into his long pause told as much of the story as the response.

“I’m not going to let that get to my head, I’m not getting big-headed,” the second-round pick said. “I’m still a rookie. I still got to come in here and produce and make plays on the field. I’m going to keep on keeping it consistent.”

Those words resonate with a coaching staff focused on assuring Boyd stays grounded in the sprint to outrun the learning curve on the track to MetLife Stadium on Sept. 11.

So far, so good.

Seemingly every day during camp, Boyd has made a play to make coaches take notice, whether a leaping deep ball on the first weekend over top of Darqueze Dennard, freezing the ankles of Chykie Brown the next day or his latest moment, hauling in a 32-yard touchdown pass over the top of Corey Tindal during Saturday’s mock game.

The Bengals need Boyd to contribute immediately. The loss of Marvin Jones and Mohamed Sanu demands it. His instant playmaking during camp thus far suggests he’s ready.

“So good to see,” offensive coordinator Ken Zampese said. “He’s been doing a nice job. He’s been coming on. We need more urgency on a consistent basis from him. We just need him to bring it all the time.”

Thus lies the next step with Boyd after two weeks spent confirming the Bengals’ decision to pick him 55th overall out of Pitt. He won’t blow the top off the defense, as burning speed isn’t his forte. He ran a 4.58 at the NFL Scouting Combine. His strength resides in his vice-grip hands and ability to evolve as a technician of the position.

He arrived ahead of the game, but refining those details on this next level will be the difference in him making the impact necessary this year or falling into a long line of rookies who take multiple years to find their way.

Boyd believes those details pay off in plays like his Saturday touchdown.

“It you don’t know how to run the short routes, the basic routes, the 5-yard, 8-yard hitches and stops, then you will never win deep because they won’t respect it,” he said. “Those little things are going to create an opportunity for me to break one like that.”

The time now arrives to prove Boyd can make them consistently against starter-level cornerbacks in the league. With Dennard, Dre Kirkpatrick and William Jackson III out with injuries in recent weeks, the reps against the top of the Bengals' depth chart have been limited more than anticipated. That all changes over the next three days, with two practices and a game against the Minnesota Vikings.

If the splash practice receptions from Andy Dalton and playing off of A.J. Green roll over to the back half of this week, the wave of momentum could turn tidal.

“For me, the more I make plays with the 1s with AD and A.J. out there and those veterans out there, it makes me feel comfortable about myself to know I can go out there and do that every day,” Boyd said. “Just putting me in that comfort zone where I feel like I should automatically be doing that. It’s not a level of me feeling I’m the best or nobody can stop me because everybody out here is great. Just need to keep sharpening my tools.”

The message has been the same inside the meeting rooms. For every slick play that draws a round of cheers from the fans lining the practice field, when settled in watching the film in the quiet hours of the evening, there are four or five more that Boyd recognizes as obvious errors.

All part of the education process.

“He's in tune with everything we're doing,” head coach Marvin Lewis said. “His effort, his energy are good. His assignments are good. And we know the athleticism and the ability he has to make plays on the football.”

How much will those plays amount to by the time the dust settles on his rookie year? The best rookie years for Bengals receivers came from A.J. Green and Cris Collinsworth, who both topped 1,000 yards.

Boyd plays a different brand of game than those two, projecting to work mostly in the slot this year, despite the versatility to eventually do more. Looking at the immersion of Jordan Shipley in 2010 might serve as a better comparison, where he caught 52 passes for 600 yards and three touchdowns running between Terrell Owens and Chad Johnson.

In the last five years among second-round picks, Jarvis Landry caught 82 passes in his first year while Jordan Matthews, Torrey Smith and Allen Robinson all averaged better than 50 receiving yards per game.

Boyd can’t start to think about those numbers or how his will compare with former second-round picks. He’s busy preparing for his first NFL game experience, turning breakout plays into error-free consistency and starting to establish his long-term value.

“I just want to be a guy that can say I fit in and wasn’t a slouch out here and didn’t make it for no reason, was a guy that should be here,” he said. “Let my legacy be known and my name be mentioned.”

Through two weeks, his name has certainly been mentioned.

So far, so good.