DJ Ivey has been one of the surprises of training camp so far for the Cincinnati Bengals, as he tries to carve out a bigger role in the secondary going into his fourth season.
The Bengals’ 2023 seventh-round draft pick has been getting a lot of first-team reps while Dax Hill has been dealing with leg tightness, and even wide receiver Tee Higgins told reporters last week Ivey has been giving him good competition.
Ivey has broken up some high-point passes to Higgins, and even when he gives up the catch to his receiver, he’s been making it a challenge. That’s exactly what the Bengals need out of the depth pieces in the secondary, perhaps one of the biggest areas of concern coming into camp.
“It’s been going good so far,” Ivey said of his camp. “Just making the plays that come to me, and just doing my best at that.”
Ivey has mainly been a special teams contributor his first three seasons, but the departures of Cam Taylor-Britt and Marco Wilson in free agency this offseason mean the potential for more snaps on defense.
The University of Miami product got off to a slow start in his NFL career, playing just eight games as a rookie before that season was cut short by a knee injury. He had only been active two of the first eight games and was just getting playing time more regularly when he tore the ACL in his left knee in a Week 15 game against the Vikings.
That also impacted the start of the 2024 season, as he was on the Physically Unable to Perform list for the first six games. He played in the remaining 11 contests and then appeared in all 17 games last year, lining up for 115 defensive snaps and 273 special teams snaps.
Ivey is just trying to build off of that.
“It felt good,” Ivey said. “I didn’t have a full season my first two years, so to have a chance to show what I’m able to do without any injuries was big. Now I’m just playing faster and just attacking the ball, just having that mindset to get the ball, and I feel like that’s worked out good for me so far.”
Ivey initially earned his roster spot in 2023 with a strong training camp as well, impressing coaches in practices and while leading the Bengals with three passes defended during the 2023 preseason.
The key is doing it over longer stretches this year, but defensive coordinator Al Golden said Ivey looks “as consistent as ever.”
More reps against Higgins and Chase will only help.
“We definitely have talented receivers, so going against these guys every day is a bonus, and then it translates to the field when you play a different opponent,” Ivey said. “It makes it much easier out there on the field, so going against these guys is very, very helpful.”
Ivey said he still brings a chip on his shoulder as a seventh-round draft pick, three years after he was the 246th player selected out of 259. He brings a mindset that he’s always had to work his way up “from the bottom” and prove himself.
Now he seems to have pulled ahead of Josh Newton, who has played 31 games over the past two seasons with eight starts but now is listed among the third-string defense.
Both Ivey and rookie Tacario Davis have been behind Hill and DJ Turner, while Ja’Sir Taylor is competing with Jalen Davis for the starting spot at nickel. In 36 total games in his career, Ivey has 13 tackles and six passes defended, along with 11 additional tackles and a fumble recovery on special teams.