With his long contract dispute now firmly in the rear-view mirror, former Texas A&M Aggies defensive end Shemar Stewart is back on the practice field with the Cincinnati Bengals and making his presence known.
Unfortunately, he made his presence known for the wrong reason on Wednesday.
During Wednesday’s practice, Stewart stumbled into Bengals star quarterback Joe Burrow while rushing the passer. That collision prompted a scuffle between Stewart and the Bengals’ offensive line, but while the scuffle itself ended there, the discourse certainly did not.
After practice, Bengals center Ted Karras sent a message to Stewart letting him know that he has to do a better job at avoiding the quarterback, even if he was stumbling when he hit Burrow. However, he also acknowledged that the offensive line needs to do a better job of protecting the perennial MVP candidate.
“Just be smarter,” Karras told reporters, per WLWT’s Charlie Clifford. “… Great player, but come on, man. That’s all our hopes and dreams right there. We [the offensive line] gotta be better, too. That’s on us.”
Right guard Lucas Patrick, who just joined the Bengals this offseason, echoed Karras’ sentiment.
“Got to protect Nine [Burrow],” Patrick said, per the Bengals’ website. “It has to start with me up front,” Patrick said. “I have to play better. Protect better. But I can’t let Nine get hit. We have to protect our quarterback. Got to have his back no matter what.”
The good news is that Stewart had a very solid practice otherwise. He reportedly made some big stops against the run, and forced Burrow to scramble on multiple occasions. Even the offensive line acknowledged Stewart’s strong performance despite the disagreement over the hit.
“His play speed is pretty significant. You can tell he’s starting to get comfortable. There aren’t many guys that get full speed in two to three steps like him. It’s good to practice against, and it’s great to work fundamentals with someone who can move like that. Very few people on this planet cover ground like him at the line of scrimmage.”
Stewart, the No. 17 overall pick in April’s draft, missed much of the offseason – including all of OTAs and mandatory minicamp – while holding out. As such, getting him up to speed is crucial for the Bengals before their regular season opener on Sept. 7. Despite the blunder on Wednesday, it seems like he’s on the right track.
