Cincinnati Bengals Player Speaks Out After Shemar Stewart Leaves Minicamp

Bengals center Ted Karras, who is also the vice president of the National Football League's Players Association, or NFLPA, addressed the matter regarding his teammate from the standpoint of both a player and a higher-up amongst the players.

"It's not the best-case scenario of how the spring could have gone for our first-round pick," Karras said. "But there is a pretty serious business aspect to our profession. He has taken counsel from his camp."

Karras also addressed the contract dilemma that is causing defensive end Trey Hendrickson, the reigning NFL sack leader, to sit out of practice until a new deal is struck with him.

"The main thing I want to say is that I don't think that there is any harboring of resentment in our locker room to either of our defensive ends," said Karras. "I really hope that both camps can figure this out because we have a really good team. We've had a super-productive spring. You don't want this carrying over into the summer."

And the Bengals certainly can't afford to let a defensive upgrade such as Stewart slip through the cracks. The Bengals defense was a large part as to why Cincy just barely missed the NFL playoffs last year. It seemed like no matter how lucrative the stats were for quarterback Joe Burrow or wide receivers Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, the opposition always found their way around the shaky Bengal defense and scored more in the end.

The Bengals need to get things straight with both of their defensive ends, or another missed playoff could be in store for the team.