Bengals continue training camp Monday July 28, 2025. Players and coaches ran drills outside on the practice lawn until rain moved the camp to the Bengals' inside practice facility. Bengals Joe Burrow (9) winds up a throw. Phil Didion/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Joe Burrow Excited to Welcome Trey Hendrickson Back to Bengals Training Camp

Originally posted on Cincinnati Bengals on SI
By Russell Heltman | Last updated Jul 30, 2025 12:40 PM ET

Joe Burrow met with the media on Wednesday for the second time during Bengals training camp 2025, and Trey Hendrickson was a big topic of conversation after the star edge rusher ended his holdout from Bengals camp and started holding in this week.

Burrow heaped heavy praise on Trey during a situation he recognizes is just part of being an NFL star.

Hendrickson's production speaks volumes to Burrow after he posted 35 sacks across the past two NFL seasons.

The mauler's been a big factor in getting the ball back to his quarterback throughout games this decade.

"This is the guy that has the most sacks over the last two years," Burrow noted. "Production is value in this league. I know you can think you're such a good player, but to not have any production doesn't really matter. So when you have a guy like that, you want to reward him."

Burrow was happy to get his intensity back in meetings. Hendrickson hasn't been with the team in months leading up to this week.

"Less so at practice, more so walking around, meetings, team meeting, training, room, stuff like that," Burrow said about feeling his teammate's presence. "He brings an intensity that is very unique, and so I think that's good for us."

Over the past two seasons, Cincinnati goes from one of the better pass defenses in the league to easily the worst without Hendrickson. Check out the advanced numbers below from Warren Sharp:

OFF field: #32 success rate allowed (55%), #32 completion rate (69%), #32 EPA/attempt (+0.16), #32 passer rating (106.2), #32 pressure rate (25%)

ON field: #8 success rate allowed (44%), #11 completion rate (64%), #19 EPA/attempt (-0.00), #8 passer rating, (86.9), #12 pressure rate (35%)

As of now, reports indicate Cincinnati and Hendrickson are close on the total money negotiations in a new deal, but arestill disagreeing on the number of guaranteed years in the deal.

Burrow's business is football, as he lets the chips fall into place around him this summer.

"It's not, it's not up to me. That's, uh, that's the business of the NFL," Burrow said. "Not a lot of teams getting these big deals done early in the offseason, only a couple. I think it's pretty commonplace across the league to have these things done around this time, a little later towards game one. So that's probably what you're going to see."