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Recently, Cincinnati Bengals star pass rusher Trey Hendrickson raised eyebrows by reporting to the team's training camp despite his current contract situation, which still has not been resolved. Hendrickson had been holding out of practices all offseason and into training camp in the hopes of securing a new extension, but that holdout was ended with his appearance on Wednesday.
While he was there, Hendrickson spoke on one thing he doesn't want to have happen as a result of his attendance.
“Things are exactly the same (with the contract). What I'm not going to do, is as best I can do, avoid being a distraction,” said Hendrickson, per Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic on X, formerly Twitter.
While he may not be a distraction for his teammates in the Bengals locker room, Hendrickson's arrival sent the media into a frenzy on Wednesday, as it didn't appear many had been anticipating that he would show up despite his recent holdout, which still has not been resolved.
A key piece for the Bengals
In many ways, Trey Hendrickson was the one reason that the Bengals' defense didn't fall off a cliff last season. The Bengals have seen numerous key free agents like Jessie Bates walk out the door in recent years, players who were key members of a solid Bengals defense that allowed them to go on multiple deep playoff runs earlier this decade.
However, last year, the Bengals' defense–in particular their secondary–performed well below expectations, and as a result, the team ended up missing the playoffs for a second consecutive season despite a career year from star quarterback Joe Burrow.
The Bengals' offense figures to once again be lethal this year with Burrow and a host of talented wide receivers in the mix, but unless Hendrickson can get some help from his teammates, Cincinnati may once again be looking at a mediocre year.
Of course, losing Hendrickson altogether would be absolutely cataclysmic, and although he is under contract for this season, it remains to be seen how the star would react to not having a new contract extension by the time the season rolls around.
