Bengals notes: Kroft impresses, Mixon drops weight

Jim Owczarski | Cincinnati Enquirer

Show Caption Hide Caption Bengals offensive coordinator Ken Zampese on year two installations. Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Ken Zampese on year two installations during the organized team activities in June, 2017.

In some ways, the final open session of the Cincinnati Bengals organized team activity on Tuesday looked a lot like the first two offseason workouts for tight end Tyler Kroft.

At the start of his third season, Kroft has shown good hands, found spaces in the defense and looked the part of the well-rounded tight end the Bengals coaches felt they drafted in the third round out of Rutgers in 2015.

He played in all 16 games as a rookie and 30 of a possible 32 his first two years, which is saying something on this team. But on Sundays, he doesn’t look like the same guy seen in shorts for one reason: he’s not catching passes.

In his two years, he’s been targeted 27 times and caught 21 of them for 221 yards. His first and only career touchdown came on Dec. 20, 2015, in San Francisco.

There are reasons, of course.

In 2015, Tyler Eifert turned in the lone Pro Bowl campaign of his career and was a dominant force throughout. And, the passing game had the three-headed monster of A.J. Green, Marvin Jones and Mohammed Sanu.

A door opened in 2016 when Eifert was out due to offseason foot surgery, but a knee injury early in training camp last year kept Kroft out of practice. He got back on the field for the season opener in New York, but by that point, it was clear C.J. Uzomah was the tight end who would be used in passing situations. And then Eifert was available halfway through the season.

Kroft knows being able to prove himself as a pass catcher on game day is an important next step.

“Yeah, oh definitely – I want to show that I can do the stuff in the pass game that I know I can do,” Kroft said. “That’s something I think I can show and I’m hopefully showing it.”

With Eifert currently rehabilitating from offseason back surgery and Uzomah missing most of the OTA with an undisclosed injury, Kroft has been getting all of the important reps with Andy Dalton.

And again, he looks good in passing situations.

But there is a subtle difference that has been noticed in year three.

“I think his understanding of how to run certain routes has gotten a lot better,” Dalton said. “I think that comes with experience and time. He’s an athletic guy; he can run, so I think just the understanding of how to run certain routes and where exactly he needs to be has gotten a lot better.”

Kroft agreed because in year three he’s beyond having to learn the basics – he’s able to get into the conceptual level of the offense, how each route plays off one another and where his assignment fits into the progressions Dalton makes.

“That’s what comes through when we’ve been getting a lot of serious time together the past week,” he said. “It’s giving him the confidence I’ll be in the right spot and that I know what I’m doing."

Eifert and Uzomah will eventually return to the field, and the reps with Dalton will lessen. So Kroft is trying to make the most of this opportunity.

“Just going to keep trying to build that confidence between Andy and I,” he said. “I think ultimately at the end of the day that’s what this period is. Obviously, we’re not hitting too much and a lot of it is timing and routes and timing throws, or just continuing to build that confidence between those two.”

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Mixon back to game shape

After the rookie mini-camp, the first weekend of May, Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis said he was looking forward to second-round pick Joe Mixon losing some weight and getting into better shape after a whirlwind pre-draft process that saw the rookie visit nearly half the league for interviews.

By the end of the organized team activity this week, Mixon was impressing spectators on the sideline and looking every bit like the guy who posted a 4.5-second 40-yard dash time at his pro day – largely due to the fact he was able to get back to playing football.

“Once I was able to get to playing speed and my weight down, I started feeling a lot better and moving better,” Mixon said. “Everything is starting to slow down a lot for me.”

Mixon said he checked in at 238 pounds but is down to 228.

“I’ll never be that heavy again. Never,” he said. “It was mainly flying around and eating super good. That’s what it was.”

During the rookie camp, Mixon said he felt comfortable in Ken Zampese’s offense due to some similar terminology to what he ran at Oklahoma, and once heavier installations were put on his plate over the last few weeks Mixon felt that carried over to some solid performances.

“Shoot, at the end of the day, we all go out there and compete,” he said. “I’ve got something to prove, so I’m going out there each and every day doing whatever I could to separate myself. When it’s all said and done I’m sure they’ll go with whoever they feel is ready.”

Lechler gets look at backup left tackle

Andrew Whitworth is in Los Angeles, but a big No. 77 is still out on the Bengals practice field.

Landon Lechler is wearing the iconic number of the former Bengals captain, but he fills it out by standing 6-feet, 7-inches and weighing in at 317 pounds. And, he’s been getting a lot of work at left tackle behind starter Cedric Ogbuehi.

The comps end there, of course, as Lechler is an undrafted rookie out of North Dakota State University and is getting his feet wet at the position as he manned the right side for the Bison the last three seasons.

“I’m very encouraged,” Lechler said of the early, and important, work as Ogbuehi’s “backup.”

“Just getting with the older guys and learning as much as I can. Ced, he helps me every day. He helps me with anything from my hands to my footwork to everything. It’s been very encouraging thus far.”

Lechler did rotate to the right side last week as the team gave fellow undrafted rookie Kent Perkins some work at left tackle, but for the most part he’s been given an opportunity in these practices to see if he can compete with the speed from the drafted rookies Jordan Willis and Carl Lawson and veterans like Wallace Gilberry and Will Clarke.

“It’s been crazy, dealing with the speed-to-length,” Lechler said. “Some other guys pose some different problems with length; they’re taller, more long-armed guys. Then guys like Carl, he can flat get off the ball. But it’s been good; game planning in my head for them, seeing them up on the line. And just getting the reps against them is the big thing.”