The initial August report on the Cincinnati Bengals starts with one word (thanks Aaron Rodgers) … relax.

Joe Burrow went down with a calf injury as camp started and will miss significant time. At this point there is no reason to believe he’d miss a great portion of the season. Some have said a calf injury is nothing to cast aside without concern but we have yet to hear it’s a season-ending situation. All signs point to an early season return for the Bengals star quarterback.

Now that that’s out of the way, the Bengals are on track it seems to another solid training camp. With most of the roster set there are really just a few spots for newcomers to claim.

Backup QB Jake Browning and backup QB Trevor Siemian are getting big-time reps with Burrow out, reps that may lead to one of them starting a game or two at the start of the year. Preseason games will be key for them.

Backup RB Chase Brown and backup RB Chris Evans are getting good reps behind RB Joe Mixon. With RB Trayveon Williams out with an injury Brown and Evans are getting good looks. Plus Mixon isn’t out of legal trouble with a pending lawsuit from the shooting this past March. He could still face NFL discipline even if the courts go away.

On the receiver front, rookies WR Charlie Jones and WR Andrei Iosivas are in the news. Jones with a minor injury and Iosivas with some solid play. For now they are battling for no better than the fourth receiver spot so either one is a long-term dynasty play depending on how camp/season works out for them. They will both make roster if healthy, given special teams abilities.

The defense is solid. LB Logan Wilson and LB Germaine Pratt are top defenders for those IDP players. DE Trey Hendrickson is another good play.

For those who use units, like defense/special teams, the secondary will be the big question. There are a lot of solid solid players there like CB Mike Hilton, CB Cam Taylor-Britt, CB Chidobe Awuzie, CB Sidney Jones and CB DJ Turner.

On the back line, DB Nick Scott, DB Dax Hill, DB Jordan Battle are all good individual players.

The big thing here is how will this group of corners and safeties mesh? None other than a healthy Awuzie are at the top of their respective position but collectively they can be really really good. And if that’s the case, this defense will again be a major player in the NFL.

PK Evan McPherson is set at kicker, though we wonder if he will ever capture that rookie season magic again.

Burrow injury aside, this has been a solid, low-key camp for the Bengals. The team will practice against the Green Bay Packers this week prior to their Friday pre-season opener. This is a good week to begin settling roster battles, the few that there are with this Super Bowl contender.

End.