Cincinnati Bengals Rookie Amarius Mims Catching Attention and Advice in First NFL Training Camp

The Bengals selected Mims with the No. 18 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Bengals Amarius Mims defends during the second day of Bengals training camp on Thursday July 25, 2024. / Phil Didion/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

Much has been made about the mountain of men charged with protecting Joe Burrow in the pocket this season. You can read about it, or watch videos of them on social media all day long, but actually seeing Orlando Brown Jr., Trent Brown, and Amarius Mims all standing together is shocking to the regular human eye. 

You can see all three of them on the practice field from the Brent Spence Bridge. In person they look like a giant fortress, with all three men standing at 6-7, 345 pounds or more. Add things like talent, speed, agility and above average work ethic and most would feel pretty confident about the idea of Burrow (7-11 in the AFC North) having a clean pocket in a division that has 54 regular season sacks on the star quarterback in four seasons.

The talk of the AFC North being a brutal division isn't just an attention grabbing stat to rile the masses. It's reasonable to expect this team to make another deep playoff run like they did in 2021. A year where Burrow finished the season healthy, the team swept Baltimore and Pittsburgh en route to an AFC North crown and a Super Bowl appearance. Now that the Bengals have tasted the sweet taste of a Super Bowl caliber season, the craving for more is ever heightened. Everyone in the building knows the best route back to that stage is through the toughest division in football.

Cincinnati’s ability to accomplish that feat relies on the health of their quarterback. Keeping him upright and protected against guys like Cleveland's Myles Garret who leads AFC North defenders with seven sacks on Burrow in his career, T.J. Watt, and Cam Heyward is easier said that done.

First round pick Amarius Mims is already stacking up days with the starters with Trent Brown missing time early in camp. Mims is taking advantge of those reps too as he continues to impress the people around him. It's still too early to have a complete picture of what Mims will bring to the table, but live game action will clarify that picture ahead of the official start of the season.

Thursday’s practice was one of the hardest of camp according to Burrow, but you won’t hear a complaint from him. 

“I haven’t had this the last two years so I’m happy to be out there," he said.

Most guys were visibly tired after over two hours in the heat and humidity that Cincinnati is known for in August, Mims left practice early but assured everyone he was fine through a smile as big as his stature. His gratitude poured out of him faster than the beads of sweat on his face. 

“I’m glad to be a part of the offense. I’m glad I’m blocking for him (Burrow)," Mims said. "I’m just thankful.”

Those feelings seem to be mutual.

“My feeling on that guy is pretty good right now,” Burrow said. “His mindset, his athleticism, his size, his willingness to be coached, grow and learn is all an A+. The sky's the limit for that guy, I’m really excited he’s on our team.”

At 6-foot-6, Alex Cappa is now one of the “shorter” guys on the offensive line. 

“I’m a fan of it,” Alex Cappa told Bengals Talk. “I’ve never been the small guy on the line, but here I am, a slender 315. We’ve got some big dudes on this team and that’s good because they’re athletes too. they're not just big, they’re big athletes.”

He’s been working alongside Mims every day in training camp.

“I’m having a lot of fun playing with him,” Cappa said. “He’s really smart and you can tell he cares a lot. Those two things plus his actual physical attributes, I think it’s going to take him a long way.”

Frank Pollack has a famous expectation for his lineman. He wants “glass eaters” and he was recently quoted talking about his expectations of his big men to “play big."

“It’s a saying that Trent (Brown) brought to me and Orlando," Mims said. "He was like 'just play like you’re 6’8”, 350 (lbs) and you should be pretty fine.' Get your pad level down, but overall just play big.”

Cappa fully supports the guys around him playing up to their gigantic frames.

“When you have someone that big and that strong coming down on a juice block or on a b block, the defensive line is going to feel their presence for sure,” Cappa said. “I look forward to Mims and Trent coming down on those. Those are two big guys coming down on the double team.”

Mims is accustomed to high standards. After five minutes of talking with him, it was evident that he isn’t competing with anybody else outside of himself. A habit he learned early on from his parents at a very young age. Short cuts were never an option for him, an intangible trait that will carry him when days are tough in the NFL.

“No matter if I win a rep, I’m going to find a way to critique myself and find a way to use a better technique to you know…. really win a rep,” Mims said with a smirk.  “I can win a rep and I still feel like I lost a rep.”

Mims also sounds like he fully understands the overall assignment for Cincinnati’s offense this season. 

“We’re just trying to be as explosive as possible and you know we’ve been an explosive offense and we are going to continue to do that," he said. "We just have more pieces to do that. We added to the line, we have great receivers and great running backs and now it’s just time to put it all together.”

The intensity is starting to ramp up for all 32 NFL teams if it hasn’t already.

Veteran center Ted Karras offered Mims a piece of advice that woudl help any rookie adjusting to life in the NFL.

“'Just be you and play. Don’t be a robot,'" Mims recalled. "When he told me that it just made me like okay, I can relax a little bit. That helped a lot and I remember that all the time when I’m out there.”

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