Now, Jordan Battle just gets to play

The Cincinnati Bengals’ defense was out on the field early before practice on Tuesday. The unit had a walkthrough where the defense practiced its Cover-0 blitzes. Jordan Battle, who has two career sacks in 51 NFL games, took the walkthrough as an opportunity to work on the nuances of his blitzes and his disguises.

“We try to hone in on holding our disguises as long as we can but not letting that hurt us,” Battle said. “It’s about timing and reading your keys. At this point in camp, we’re picking up on Joe’s cadence. Sometimes, you get some early keys with a motion or a late shift. You can read the play call.”

Later that morning, in full-speed 11-on-11 against the Bengals’ offense, Battle was the defense’s hero. In one practice, he had two sacks.

The first one was technically ruled a touchdown for the offense, but Battle and the defense were claiming this one as a sack. With the offense close to the end zone, Al Golden called a double safety blitz off the edge. “I had a good disguise and was free,” Battle said. He believes that he would have sacked Burrow, but Battle had to stop because you can’t hit the quarterback in practice. Burrow ended up throwing a touchdown to Chase.

On the next drive, in what amounted to a scrimmage situation, the Bengals’ first-team offense was trying to run out the clock in a four-minute situation. On third-and-medium, Battle blitzed again. He blew up this play, got to Burrow, killed the drive and gave the second-team offense the ball with a chance to score a “game” winning field goal.

Battle was the star of the day.

“I’ve grown mentally,” Battle said. “I’m more of a leader. More knowledgeable as a safety. I’m a lot more comfortable with the playbook. Things are slowing down for us. I’m playing fast. That’s helping me grow as a player.”

This year should be different for Battle. Between 2023 and 2025, no one on the Bengals had more moving pieces and more unpredictability surrounding them. Finally, now, the situation that he’s in makes sene.

The Bengals drafted him in the third round of the 2023 draft even though they thought they had their safety duo of the future. Ironically, that duo was Dax Hill (now a cornerback) and Nick Scott, who had just signed a three-year deal with the Bengals that turned out to be a bust. Outside of the safety position, the 2023 Bengals brought back every key piece from the 2022 defense that was one of the best in football.

Scott played so poorly that Battle was thrown into the fire and was inserted into the starting lineup on a short week in November at Baltimore. Battle was the young guy trying to catch up in a very veteran defense.

“When I got my opportunity, it took a little time,” Battle said. “You don’t know when you have your time to speak up. You take a step back. Observe. See how guys operate. When you get your chance, you know how to run the team because you had veteran guys in front of you.”

He played pretty well for a rookie. Battle expected that he’d be able to keep his spot in the lineup for the 2024 season. The plan changed when Vonn Bell, a core piece of the 2021 and 2022 defense, was back available on the free agent market.

Battle didn’t mind the fact that the Bengals brought in a veteran player at his position.

“I always was a guy who picked the powerhouse school,” Battle said. “St Thomas Aquinas (High School). Alabama. I’ve always been big on competing. When they signed him, I thought it was another hill I had to get over. Go out, compete and do the best I can to get the chance I deserve.”

The hard part was that he was never even given a chance to compete with Bell for the starting spot. Battle ran with the second-team defense throughout training camp and was told to focus on special teams.

“Vonn got to the championship with this team and had great years here,” Battle said. “It’s a respect thing when you’re a veteran guy like Vonn was. Obviously, he’s going to be over me, the young guy who hadn’t put much on film yet. I understood where it came from.”

Battle wasn’t himself during that training camp. When the season started, he wasn’t ready to contribute in his role.

“It was tough,” Battle said. “Being a guy who for his whole career had started, it was tough. That comes with the process of the league. Some guys start off strong. Some guys get their names called (later) and have to go out there and produce. That’s where I’m at right now.”

Bell had a bad year in 2024, and Battle took over again as the starter at the midpoint of the season. Heading into 2025, Battle knew that he’d finally get his chance to start all 17 games. But entering that season, there was a new defensive coordinator, a different scheme and suddenly an extremely young defense. The environment around Battle on the Bengals’ defense changed drastically, and the unit had a historically terrible first half of the season.

On top of that, Battle suddenly became a bad tackler.

“Leadership wise, being a first-time starter, some jitters come with that,” Battle said. “Early on, it was a struggle. We had a big tackling issue.”

Most infamously, Battle whiffed on a tackle late in the game against the Bears and allowed the game-winning touchdown. That play still bothers him.

“(My reaction) wasn’t anger,” Battle said. “It was about room for improvement. When you see things like that, obviously it was a terrible play. I didn’t wrap up. You know better than that, Jordan. You know you can do better. It’s self motivation and self talk. You can reach the ceiling people have for you.”

The Bengals’ defense really started to settle in after Thanksgiving. Battle became a big part of that. It felt like his season turned on one play. Jordan Battle missed on a tackle on a throw over the middle to Ravens tight end Isaiah Likely. But Battle stayed in the play, hustled 30 yards down the field and punched the ball out for a fumble just before Likely made it into the end zone.

“That play was tremendous,” Battle said this week. “That whole game was crazy. The hustle play was one of the plays of the year. I don’t make the stop but keep going and knock the ball out of the back of the end zone.”

Battle was the Bengals’ most improved player down the stretch last season. He tackled well. The ugly plays were gone. He had a few run fits at the line of scrimmage where Battle showed some serious thump. His communication was a big asset for a defense that started showcasing more wrinkles in the scheme.

That heightened attention to detail in his game has carried over into training camp. Zac Taylor said that it showed up on a specific play on the very first day of training camp.

“He has always been a confident guy,” Taylor said. “Now his years in the league, with the experience he has gotten, he’s able to play fast. I’ve always appreciated his confidence and energy. Guys respond well to that. I’ve always had a lot of confidence because of that. Now, he’s playing really fast. He’s seeing the defense very clearly and is making high-level adjustments.”

To improve his game during the offseason, Battle worked with wide receiver trainers to help him develop a better overall feel for the passing game. He also says that his body feels better than it ever has, and he looks more athletic than he has been in the past.

“He’s having a great camp,” Al Golden said. “I love where he’s at mentally. He’s prepared. He’s in great condition.”

As Golden continues his answer to a question about Battle, the defensive coordinator zooms out and takes a broader look at the defense.

“We’re starting to eliminate the things that are representative of a bad defense,” Golden said “We’re communicating, not miscommunicating. We’re playing our fundamentals. Everyone is doing their job. And we’re improving.”

There’s a lot of confidence that the negative plays that used to be a part of Battle’s game are gone now. It makes sense that this would be the year when that would click for him. After being thrown into the starting lineup on the fly in November of 2023 and 2024 and after the challenges of the 2025 season, including a new coordinator and a very young defense, Battle’s experience in 2026 should be a lot more normal.

Now, playing next to veteran free safety Bryan Cook, playing behind one of the better outside cornerback duos in the NFL in DJ Turner and Dax Hill and playing on a defense that should be much better as a whole, Battle is about to get his best chance to showcase his talents.

“He’s going to have a great year,” Cook said. “He’s very versatile. Very vocal. He’s a leader. I don’t think he knows how good he can be just yet. I see him doing some amazing things for this team and for himself. I know it’s his contract year. The way he’s approaching it is very good.”

Battle is consistently making plays in camp. When asked about his favorites, Battle starts with the fact that his run fits have been good. Last week, he did a great job of driving downhill to break up a pass over the middle. Battle was in quarters coverage, recognized the specific route combination over the middle and broke inside. “That’s our play to make as a safety,” Battle said, “Instinctive.”

Recently, he picked off a deep ball from Joe Burrow to Ja’Marr Chase in practice. In the preseason opener, he was at the right place at the right time and caught a tipped pass for an interception.

Battle’s success on a blitzer in Tuesday’s practice was a reminder of the untapped potential in his game. Last season, he recorded two total quarterback pressures all season. He has never blitzed more than 20 times in a season. He has never really been asked to be a blitzer before. During stretches in 2024 and early in 2025, there was talk about needing to simplify the scheme. The Bengals aren’t living in that world anymore.

It’s Year 4 for the 25-year-old strong safety. He has never been better set up to have a big season.

“I still feel young even though I’m somewhat of a vet now,” Battle said. “I’m just getting started. The prime of my career hasn’t even started yet.”