Local reporters met with players in the Bengals locker room on Monday and Joseph Ossai offered up his thoughts on how Shemar Stewart can impact the team as early as possible in his NFL tenure.
"Understanding what works for you," Ossai noted. "Having the confidence to go execute. And then just the details. Trey [Hendrickson], not trying to give away his game, but he would attack what moves first, that detail could give you the edge and give him the edge. In his case, it's his get-off. And as anybody knows, half the battle is to get off. You beat the guy off the line, you don't have to do a move. So, details, understanding where it works for you, and then the confidence to go execute."
The Bengals added another year to Ossai's tenure with the team in recent months before selecting Stewart with the 17th pick in the 2025 NFL Draft last Thursday.
Stewart and Ossai figure to battle it out for the open defensive end starting role opposite Hendrickson. The best of the bunch including those two and Myles Murphy will try to complement Hendrickson better this coming fall.
Check out Ossai's full comments from CLNS Media's Mike Petraglia:
