What the Bengals did during Monday’s workout is the NFL version of watching paint dry. But they’re just the strokes needed to complete a Rembrandt, a Van Gogh or maybe even an Andrew Wyeth at the gun on a Baltimore canvas.
With the Bengals hosting the Packers in a joint practice Wednesday on the Kettering Health Practice Fields in the run-up to Friday’s preseason opener at Paycor Stadium (7 p.m.-Cincinnati’s Local 12), they backed off their regulars in a shortened 90-minute workout as special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons worked a practice centered on the kicking game.
“He loves situations,” said kicker Evan McPherson, who says he never tires of Simmons’ incessant demand for detail. “It will come up one day and we’ll be masters at it.”
Simmons, who has gone from Brad St. Louis to Brad Robbins in his 20 years in town as one of the best in his field, did it all Monday as the sweat darkened his Bengals gear. The gunners on punt, the up men on kicks, everybody against the clock.
There’s the drill. The last five kicks of practice. All designed for the last snap of the game.
“It’s not just for the kicking team or the offense, it’s also how do you combat that on defense, too,” Simmons said. “Be situationally aware and have the whole team understand how we’re going to attack each situation. It can be the difference in the game. And it can happen at any point. Like at the end of the first half.”
Simmons has a catalogue of plays he can call on, like the 2016 opener in New York against the Jets. It was wide receiver Tyler Boyd’s NFL debut, but he was savvy enough to call timeout after making a sliding 14-yard catch over the middle with a second left in the half. They got the field goal and won, 23-22.
So on Monday, Simmons went through five end-of-game scenarios.
On the first one, quarterback Trevor Siemian took a knee, centered the ball, and McPherson drilled the 32-yarder.
The second one was a third-and-five with no timeouts and 24 seconds left. Siemian lobbed a pass for a first down, then got the offense lined up to kill the clock. McPherson came on to hit the 34-yarder.
Simmons has already lived the third one. “Torro, Torro.” That’s the name for running the field goal team on and getting everyone else off in time to beat the clock. As they did to send their 2015 comeback victory over Seattle into overtime.
Third and 18, 24 seconds left, no timeouts, completed pass but short, and here came the kicking team running on and the offense running off and when the maze was done, McPherson kicked a 40-yarder.
The fourth scenario was, of all things, a challenge on a sideline catch that got a first down. (Simmons thinks of everything.) The challenge upheld the catch, so when the offense got back on the ball, the clock was going at the snap and Siemian clocked the snap. McPherson was good from 40.
The fifth scenario was just a bit different. Simmons, as the official, stopped the clock with six seconds left after another challenged catch. This time it was upheld, but short, bringing up fourth down. With the clock starting to tick on Simmons/the official’s ready, McPherson hit from 36.
But the preseason isn’t as easy it looks for Simmons and assistant Colt Anderson.
“It’s a nightmare,” Simmons admitted. “The worst day of the week is the game. I have to make sure 11 guys are out there, I’m trying to see a bunch of different combinations, some guys are up on offense, some guys on offense are down, some guys on defense are up and down. I try to stay away from a running back running the ball on first and second and third down in the fourth quarter and then he has to cover in the slot on the punt team. It’s tough to manage all those things. It’s a nightmare, frankly.”
