Zac Taylor confirms winners of 2 position battles; gives update on Amarius Mims

The expected outcome of both position battles.

Now that Week 1 is here, the Cincinnati Bengals have confirmed the winners of two position battles.

On Monday, head coach Zac Taylor announced that Trent Brown would be the starting right tackle.

Taylor also announced that Dax Hill would be the second starting boundary cornerback.

It’s no surprise to see Brown win the job after his only competitor — first-round rookie Amarius Mims — has been sidelined for several weeks due to a pectoral injury. Brown was always the favorite for this job once he signed with the Bengals this offseason.

However, Mims had a great training camp and preseason, while Brown missed the start of camp due to injury. That made this a competition, but it was effectively over once Mims was hurt and Brown was back at practice.

Taylor also gave a brief update on Mims, saying the team would see how the week goes before deciding whether the rookie tackles will suit up against the New England Patriots.

For what it’s worth, Mims was in uniform for practice but did not fully participate on Monday.

As for the cornerback battle, this was a much more contested battle after Hill was moved from safety this offseason to compete with DJ Turner. Hill played surprisingly well after struggling mightily at safety last year, so it’s good to see the former first-round pick may have found his natural NFL position.