Bengals' New Locker Room Revealed in Video, Photos; Burrow Hyped After 2023 D+ Grade
Mike Chiari@@mikechiari
Featured Columnist IVJuly 30, 2024
The Cincinnati Bengals showed off massive upgrades to their locker room after it graded out as one of the worst facilities in the NFL earlier this year.
ESPN's Adam Schefter posted photos of the renovated locker room on X, noting that it boasts several new and improved features, including "upgraded lockers and restroom facilities, circadian rhythm lighting that can sync to music from the new sound system, and increased Wi-Fi for better connectivity."
Adam Schefter @AdamSchefterBengals unveiled a state-of-the-art locker room renovation Tuesday that includes upgraded lockers and restroom facilities, circadian rhythm lighting that can sync to music from the new sound system, and increased Wi-Fi for better connectivity. It looks like this: <a href="https://t.co/MxCFT7X2jV">pic.twitter.com/MxCFT7X2jV</a>
The Bengals also posted video of quarterback Joe Burrow and wide receiver Tee Higgins seeing and enjoying the improvements for the first time:
Cincinnati Bengals @BengalsFirst look with <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeyB?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JoeyB</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Real10jayy__?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Real10jayy__</a> & <a href="https://twitter.com/teehiggins5?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@teehiggins5</a> 👀<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RuleTheJungle?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RuleTheJungle</a> <a href="https://t.co/CyzqjuVT6R">pic.twitter.com/CyzqjuVT6R</a>
Per Schefter, Burrow praised the organization's efforts, saying: "It's sick. The more we continue to invest in stuff like this, the more comfortable the players are going to be. We're going to love coming into work. I'm really happy with it. It's quite an upgrade. Credit to ownership for putting this all together."
Back in February, the NFL Players Association polled players from every team and had them assign grades to specific aspects of their teams. The Bengals' locker room was given a D+, which was 24th in the league.
In addition to the low locker room grade, the Bengals got an F- in treatment of families, food/cafeteria and nutritionist/dietician. Their overall grade placed them 26th out of the 32 NFL teams.
While certain aspects of the organization have needed some work, the Bengals' on-field product has been quite good in recent years.
In 2020 and 2021, Cincinnati reached the AFC Championship Game in back-to-back seasons. That included reaching the Super Bowl in 2020 where it fell just short of winning a championship against the Los Angeles Rams.
Over the course of those two seasons, Burrow established himself as one of the NFL's top quarterbacks, and he earned a five-year, $275 million contract extension.
Expectations were high for Burrow and the Bengals again last season, but a wrist injury limited the superstar signal-caller to just 10 games.
Backup Jake Browning performed admirably in Burrow's absence, but the Bengals narrowly missed the playoffs with a 9-8 record.
With Burrow back healthy for the 2024 season, the Bengals are once again viewed as one of the top contenders to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl.