A year ago, Jessie Bates helped spearhead superb attendance for the Cincinnati Bengals at offseason activities.
Fast forward to this week, he’s one of two players not in attendance.
Bates remains in a standoff with the Bengals as he doesn’t want to play on the franchise tag next season. Right now, his absence and the standoff isn’t a shock or concerning.
First-rounder Dax Hill was one of the reserves getting first-team reps with Bates out.
As for Hendrickson, while he had some back issues that flared up at times during the Super Bowl run, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported that this was a typical move for the veteran and nothing more serious:
Pro Bowl DE Trey Hendrickson is expected to miss OTAs while training on his own and spending time with family, per source. He plans to report for mandatory work. https://t.co/RUqSENpwaD
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) May 17, 2022
As an aside, neither Bates or Hendrickson have major workout bonuses. Head coach Zac Taylor has said in the past he’s totally fine with guys he trusts to keep training properly missing voluntary stuff — and these two would appear to fall under that umbrella.
