Quarterback Joe Burrow had plenty of time in the pocket on his two drives Thursday night as the Bengals took a 14-7 lead into the second quarter of a 34-27 loss at Philadelphia, and Fairchild played a significant part in that protection. He also had a huge block on a pitch to Chase Brown on the second series to spring a second scoring drive.
The Bengals have placed belief in their third-round draft pick, and he’s so far living up to expectations.
“We want to put Dylan in the best possible chance he can be in to have success,” Bengals offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher said. “Obviously, it’s hard to be a rookie in this league. We know that, but he’s done everything the right way his approach, just his day to day. We’re very confident that he’s gonna be able to step up to the plate.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
Fairchild’s approach appears like that of a mature veteran.
Coaches and teammates have praised his hard work in practices and how well he pays attention to the small details in meetings and drills. He also is already developing an off-field routine to take care of his body – something some players don’t figure out the importance of right away in the transition from college to the NFL.
A few other offensive linemen have massage therapists they work with, so he’s added that to his regimen along with IV sessions and other treatments to help in recovery after a long day of training camp.
“Just continuing to work on my body and be good at those things because those things can slip by you and then it’s Week 10 already and you’re hurting, so I’m trying to avoid that,” Fairchild said. “Last year, we were banged up on our O-line at Georgia, so I’m trying to avoid that. I don’t really have a routine until the season starts because we’re still neck deep in camp, but ... it’s been good.”
Fairchild said on the field he’s been focused on consistency, which is typically the thing coaches have emphasized as the concern with rookies. It’s known young players will make mistakes, but learning from those and being able to limit them is the key to their development.
So far in camp, Fairchild has been happy with the consistency he’s shown from week to week, day to day, period to period and snap to snap. It would be difficult to pick out his best day or his worst.
“I just want to continue to get better and better and better, mental focus, physical discipline, just continuously using the techniques we’re trying to use in all the various plays we have and just being more consistent, more detailed, more layered throughout what I’m doing,” Fairchild said. “Perception of the game, perception of the field, seeing the whole field, just all of it that we need to do to operate at a high level.”
The Bengals drafted Fairchild out of Georgia, expecting him to step in as the new starter after Cordell Volson lost the job late last season. Volson ended up finishing the 2024 season as the starting left guard but only because of injuries forcing Cody Ford elsewhere, and Fairchild is clearly ahead in the competition for the job in 2025.
Even director of player personnel Duke Tobin said on the broadcast Thursday night that the job was “his to lose.’
Cincinnati felt comfortable relying on a rookie to protect their biggest asset after seeing Fairchild’s production at Georgia, where he gave up just one sack in 787 pass-blocking snaps during the 2023 and 2024 seasons. Volson gave up six sacks and had eight penalties in 984 offensive snaps last year.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
The Bengals needed better production from both guard spots, also making the decision to release Alex Cappa this offseason and signing veteran Lucas Patrick to compete with Cody Ford for the right guard spot. Patrick started Thursday and that spot seems less certain than the left guard job, but Bengals coach Zac Taylor was pleased with the overall performance of the offensive line.
“I felt really good about what they did,” Taylor said. “You can’t help who you are playing against. Philly just won the Super Bowl. They’ve got great depth on their team and they got, look at the roster, they’ve got really good players on defense. It’s not their starters out there, but I was still happy with how they went out there and did their jobs and were able to get 14 points on the board.”
NEXT GAME
Who: Cincinnati at Washington
When: 1 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 16
TV: NFL Network, WHIO-7
Radio:
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