Despite the Win and Lofty PFF Grade, Bengals Rookie Shemar Stewart Left Cleveland with 1 Big Regret

CINCINNATI – The Cincinnati Bengals defense held the Cleveland Browns to 16 points, forced two turnovers, tackled well and got the win in defensive coordinator Al Golden’s debut.

But rookie first-round pick Shemar Stewart still left Huntington Bank Field with at least one regret.

It came on a play in the fourth quarter, and he didn’t try to hide it in the moment, doing an exasperated “surrender cobra” not once but twice in the aftermath of B.J. Hill’s sack of Joe Flacco with three minutes left in the game.

It was a good play for the Cincinnati defense, but Stewart looked as though something went wrong.

What was that about?

“I got off the edge, beat him clean, Flacco steps up right into B.J.'s way and arms,” Stewart said after grimacing again after being reminded on the play.

“So, you know, unsung hero,” he said with a smile. “It's the game of football. I've just got to be faster. I've got to keep working. I'm gonna get mine soon.”

Defensive coordinator Al Golden doesn’t doubt that.

Golden said the plan was to limit Stewart’s snaps and ease him into his debut given how much time he missed in the offseason due to his contract squabble.

“Because he missed so much time, I kept reminding everyone of something Coach (Joe) Paterno used to always say: 'You're better off being one game late than two games early,’” Golden said. “We tried to not put too much on those (rookies), and we had some guys that could sub out so we can slow it down for them. If there were any corrections they could see it a little bit. I was really pleased with all three of those guys and how they impacted the game."

Stewart had an impact even without a stat.

Not only is he still looking for his first sack, he’s still looking for his first tackle.

PFF credited Stewart with three pressures in the game, but the missed opportunity on the Hill sack wasn’t one of them.

Even though he didn’t appear on the stat sheet, Stewart still graded out as the seventh best edge rusher in Week 1, according to Pro Football Focus.

Among edge rushers with at least 15 snaps in Week 1, Stewart graded fifth against the run (76.3) and 14th as a pass rusher (78.2).

His overall defensive grade of 88.9 trailed only Josh Uche, Laiatu Latu, Nik Bonitto, Will Anderson Jr., Sam Okuayinonu and 2024 Defensive Rookie of the Year Jared Verse.

“I just did my job,” Stewart said when asked about the lofty grades. “I wasn't trying to do anything special. I was just being in the right places at the right time.”

While there were no tackles, Stewart did put a Cleveland player on the ground.

And in emphatic fashion.

A clip of Stewart tossing 6-foot-8, 375-pound tackle Dawand Jones aside like a doll made the rounds on social media.