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Cincinnati Bengals rookie defensive end Shemar Stewart found himself in the middle of an unexpected training camp headline this week after an accidental collision with franchise quarterback Joe Burrow led to the team’s first practice scuffle of 2025.
The incident occurred on Wednesday during an 11-on-11 drill when Stewart, rushing up the middle on a stunt, lost his footing.
“On the loop, the ground gave way under my foot, and I was just falling,” Stewart said. “I had my head down, and I couldn't really see where I was going. All I knew is I was falling. Then the next you know … ”
The rookie went low on Burrow, a violation of one of the NFL’s most important unwritten rules, never hit the quarterback in practice.
The contact set off a brief altercation between the Bengals’ starting offense and defense. Right guard Lucas Patrick defended his quarterback a few plays later, with center Ted Karras calling it a “warranted response.”
Stewart went on to offer an apology to Burrow. “You don't want to have that on your conscience, knowing that you could possibly get your quarterback hurt,” Stewart told WCPO's Caleb Noe.
“I went over to apologize, you know, no bad blood, making sure he knows that it was an accident and nothing intentional. […] I said, ‘Joe, it's an accident and I never wanted to do that.' He was like, ‘It's cool — as long as you do it on Sundays, too. So we kept it cool, short and sweet, and we just forgot about it.”
Given Joe Burrow’s injury history, including four straight years of dealing with some form of training camp setback, the sideline held its breath. Fortunately, Burrow emerged uninjured.
The Bengals’ need for a disruptive pass rush has been clear since 2024, when they finished with the eighth-fewest sacks in the league and missed the playoffs at 9-8.
Half of those sacks came from Trey Hendrickson, whose 17.5 led the NFL last season. Hendrickson has yet to practice in camp due to a contract dispute but has been mentoring Stewart, offering detailed technique pointers.
Since resolving his own contract holdout and debuting on July 27, Stewart has impressed in his first 12 practices, regularly generating pressure. On Friday, he registered another would-be sack on Burrow but showed his quick adjustment by avoiding contact entirely, likening his evasive move to something out of The Matrix.
Selected 17th overall from Texas A&M despite recording just 4.5 sacks in three college seasons, Shemar Stewart is being counted on to complement Hendrickson and inject life into Cincinnati’s pass rush.
