The Cincinnati Bengals fourth training camp session July 27 seemed to be as much about attendance as anything else.

There was an important and notable camp debutant on the field in Shemar Stewart. He drew plenty of attention during his busy day at camp.

As ever, it’s never just about one person or unit during camp.

Here are The Enquirer’s takeaways and observations from Day Four of Bengals training camp, and we’ll start with the obvious…

Shemar Stewart is in the building

The contract dispute is over and we saw the Bengals’ first-round draft pick in cleats and helmet for the first time on Sunday morning. Now, Stewart needs to get caught up.

Maybe Stewart looked a step a slow and winded at times. You can probably forgive him for that as any workouts he was doing while his contract remained unsettled probably wouldn’t rise to the intensity level of training camp. Also, the feels-like temperate on the Kettering Health Practice Fields was around 100 degrees.

Stewart got some reps with the first-team defense.

“We got him some reps. He probably got over 10 reps in there,” Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said. “It’s just good to get out here, Day One (for him).”

Taylor conveyed real confidence that there was plenty of time to get Stewart ready for the Bengals’ Sept. 7 regular-season opener.

Stewart, speaking with media members at his locker-room stall following Sunday’s morning session, said: “I’m here to work. Fully locked in. No distractions.”

Stewart also received a proper initiation to camp: During his first rep in 11-on-11 with the first-team defense, three players cracked down on him on the play.

Evan McPherson’s first FG miss of Bengals camp

Training camp’s gotten off to such a good start for kicker Evan McPherson that his first field goal miss of training camp was noteworthy. The miss arrived Sunday morning.

The miss was from about 45 yards, but McPherson would come back to drill several kicks from farther out, including a 52-yarder. He was bound to miss at some point. This has still been a noteworthy and positive start to his training camp after the way 2024-25 ended for him.

Bengals ready to do some hitting in training camp

The Bengals will commence their first padded practice on Monday. There’s nothing like the pop of pads to give you that real training camp feel, and we’re finally there.