Bengals’ Driskel shows off versatility at camp
Jeff Driskel must recognize the competition he’s got with rookie fourth-round draft pick Ryan Finley for the Cincinnati Bengals’ backup quarterback spot. Now, he’s trying to show his value extends beyond what he could do from behind center.
The fourthyear quarterback approached special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons on Monday about the potential of contributing in that phase of the game, and on Tuesday morning, head coach Zac Taylor informed him the Bengals wanted to work him out a bit at wide receiver, too.
Driskel got a few routes in during the final practice of training camp that afternoon, nearly making a touchdown catch on an Andy Dalton throw to the corner of the end zone, and he’s hoping with three preseason games left he gets a chance to showcase his versatility a little more before the 53-man roster decisions are made. Cincinnati travels to play the Washington Redskins on Thursday and Driskel will still be getting reps at quarterback.
“I just wanted to show that I want to help the team any way that I can, whether that’s at quarterback, which is obviously where I want to play, where I think I can play in this league,” Driskel said. “But contributing on special teams and whatever I can do to help the team, I made that clear to the staff that I want to be able to do that and show that I can contribute.”
Finley had an impressive debut Saturday in the preseason opener at Kansas City when he completed 13 of 18 passes for 109 yards and one touchdown with one late interception. Driskel, meanwhile, struggled as he went 8-for-19 with 79 yards and one interception and a rating of 32.6.
It seems unlikely the Bengals would keep three quarterbacks unless one of them (Driskel) shows he can add value elsewhere; however, Taylor insists Driskel is still doing everything he normally would as a quarterback and he is not out of that competition.
Receiver Odell Beckham Jr. was held out of team drills with a hip injury, but Cleveland Browns coach Freddie Kitchens indicated it’s nothing serious.
ESPN’S Dan Graziano reported the injury as a hip pointer, but it’s actually a different kind of hip injury and Kitchens said after the joint practice with the Indianapolis Colts in Westfield, Indiana, that “we expect him back pretty soon.”
Jimmy Garoppolo had a practice to forget in his final session before facing an opposing defense for the first time since suffering a season-ending knee injury in September.
Garoppolo threw interceptions on five straight pass attempts at practice for the San Francisco 49ers on Wednesday, by far his worst session since his return from the torn ACL that cut short his 2018 season after three games.
49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said he hopes a practice like this will be a learning experience for Garoppolo on how to deal with frustration when things don’t go the right way in games.
New York Giants wide receiver Golden Tate III is considering taking legal action against the doctor who prescribed a fertility drug that led to his four-game suspension at the start of the season.
The suspension will cost Tate $1.2 million in salary. Tate said he never hesitated to take a prescribed fertility drug, which he identified as clomifene, because the doctor told him he had given it to other NFL players and it was not banned. He said he found out less than a month later it was.