One of the most exciting stories heading into the NFL preseason for Nebraska football fans was Cam Taylor-Britt. The defensive back was a second-round selection of the AFC Champion Cincinnati Bengals, and entering fall camp, it was expected that he was going to challenge veterans like Eli Apple for a starting spot. Unfortunately, he missed all of the preseason and the Bengals’ first four games after undergoing core surgery six weeks ago.
This week he returned to practice for the first time since that surgery, but instead of taking most of his snaps in the defensive backfield, he was under center.
In his role on Wednesday as the man who was trying to reproduce the way that Baltimore Ravens’ quarterback Lamar Jackson plays, several Bengals players raved about the big arm that Taylor-Britt possesses.
That’s not a huge surprise to Nebraska football fans who remember that he actually played quite a bit of quarterback in high school. At Park Crossing High School in Montgomery, Ala., he put up 1,466 yards and 16 touchdowns passing while running for 1,030 yards and 14 touchdowns as a senior. According to reports out of practice, he was tossing the ball deep quite well. He certainly got the attention of Bengals’ defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo.
Cam Taylor-Britt, fresh off #Bengals IR, has played the role of Lamar Jackson in practice and is loving it.
— Paul Dehner Jr. (@pauldehnerjr) October 6, 2022
“I’m dropping dimes, man.”
"“Nobody can emulate No. 8. Cam Taylor-Britt is giving his best effort. He did a good job.”"
While the former Nebraska football star might have done quite well as the scout team quarterback this week, that’s obviously not where his future lies. However, it appears that future is going to take a little time to get back on track.
.@CamTaylorBritt_ cleared for practice 👏 pic.twitter.com/EHQuia1dGC
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) October 5, 2022
When asked how Taylor-Britt was doing in regards to coming back from surgery, Anarumo made it very clear the Bengals are taking it slow. The defensive coordinator explained the rookie hadn’t seen any sort of practice before this week and that it would be a bit before he was “full go,” at cornerback.
That means that Nebraska football fans won’t be seeing Cam Taylor-Britt patrolling the defensive backfield on Sunday night, but if the Bengals’ defense is able to shut down Lamar Jackson and the Ravens’ offense, fans will know who to thank.