Zac Taylor Discusses Shemar Stewart's Return to Bengals

Zac Taylor met with the media briefly on Sunday to note the signing of rookie first-round pick Shemar Stewart on Saturday. The Texas A&M product immediately got to work with his defensive teammates.

Taylor is excited to insert one more important piece on the field after a learning experience.

"It's good, get him back out here, get him acclimated," Taylor said on Sunday. "It's great just to get him in individual drills and the fundamental stuff, we got him some reps, he probably got over 10 reps in there. So again, we'll watch the tape and keep building from there. but just good to get out here day one and get him back."

The Bengals ranked poorly in Havoc plays on defense last season checking in at 24th leaguewide.

A Havoc play is when the defense forces a quarterback pressure, tackle for loss, interception, forced fumble or pass breakup. It was a strong run in the turnover department, forcing 25 on the season (seventh-best in the NFL). Sacks are where they lagged behind with just 36 on the campaign (25th).

Stewart is tasked with helping on that front.

"Be a consistent guy," Taylor said. "Don't make the same mistake twice. We know that there's going to be some mistakes. There's going to be some install overloads early on in the process. It's just making sure, 'Okay, I made a mistake on this. I'm going to make sure it's corrected. I'm better there.' and then plug the leak as it occurs somewhere else. So again, he's got plenty of time. It's great to get him now when we can because we put pads on tomorrow."