Zac Taylor wants more physical training camp as proposed CBA moves away from it

[Who Dey]

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Zac Taylor learned a lot in his first year as the Bengals head coach and one of those lessons had to do with how training camp plays out.

Taylor felt the team wasn’t physical enough early in the 2019 season and he said in a recent interview that he plans to change the way the team practices this summer in order to get players where he wants them to be in Week One.

“Overall, you look at our tackling early in the season and it wasn’t good enough,” Taylor said, via Paul Dehner of TheAthletic.com. “Part of that is guys getting comfortable in the scheme. There’s a lot of excuses you can make. Bottom line is we have to have the mentality we are going to be more physical. That starts in training camp the first day you put pads on.”

Taylor and other coaches who want physical training camps may have to alter their plans moving forward, however. The proposed CBA that owners approved on Thursday — Taylor’s interview was conducted before the owners voted — calls for changes that move things in the other direction.

Teams will be limited to 16 padded practices during camp with no more than three consecutive days for three out of the five weeks and no more than two consecutive days for two out of five weeks. Those practices would also be limited to 2.5 hours and there would be other limitations on the amount of time that players are at the team’s facility on a given day.