QUICK HITS | How Trey Hendrickson Got Ready For His Return: ‘Like He Hasn’t Missed A Step’

NFL sack champion Trey Hendrickson’s first day back at Bengals practice Wednesday drew rave reviews from both sides of the ball.

Left tackle Orlando Brown Jr., who has had some Titanic matchups with Hendrickson the previous two training camps, said Hendrickson got him for a sack on the last third down of the day:

“He’s more than ready. It was great having full-speed reps today. He’s such a hard-worker. He is who he is, and that’s why they gave him $30 million. The motor. The attitude. He’s one of the toughest players in football.”

First-round pick Shemar Stewart, who has been taking notes from Prof. Hendrickson in NFL Edge 101 this training camp:

“It’s like he hasn’t missed a step. Same old All-Pro Trey,” Stewart said. “I was running with him after practice to get more conditioning. Those are things you have to do to be what he is. All-Pro. Lead the league in sacks. Things of that sort. Extra things. Now I get to really follow in his footsteps.”

Joey Boese flat out says it:

“I wouldn’t be surprised if Trey has a phenomenal year. He’s in tremendous shape. He trains like he practices. All out all the time.”

Boese should know as one of head coach Zac Taylor’s confidants as the club’s director of player performance and the head of strength and conditioning.

He brought the same approach to Hendrickson’s training camp as he did to wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase’s August of last year. If they weren’t on the field, Boese could shape a field for the position that they play.

“We made sure we’re getting in enough high-speed running in there,” Boese said. “Making sure we’re doing enough specific position work with what he’s going to be asked to do on the field. We made sure we got the proper work-to-rest ratio that would simulate him playing in a game.”

They did work after practice and around meetings. Sometimes they did it before practice, where they’d grab lunch and then go hit the field. As long as they were both available. They’d text each other the night before and made sure they carved out an hour to run and an hour to lift.

Boese is the first to tell you that you can’t simulate football without playing football. But…

“He’s in great shape right now,” Boese said. “There’s obviously a little bit of callousing his body with shoulder pads, leaning on other people, and contact of it that we can’t simulate. But I think he’s very prepared to go in and have a great season.”

They know each other well. Hendrickson has trained at Paycor Stadium during a couple of offseasons under Boese’s staff. And the gag is that Hendrickson is in Boese’s office so much, he’s the fourth strength coach on a staff of three.

“He’s like Ja’Marr when it comes to work ethic,” Boese said. “You say, ‘I want you to go hard now,’ they go hard now. It makes it easier for me from a programming and planning standpoint. You know Trey. He’s a no BS, no- nonsense guy. I think he’s going to have a great year.”