Chad Johnson Says He Texts Bengals Coach Zac Taylor In The Middle Of The Night

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Clearly not one to ever lose confidence in himself, former Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson reveals that he’ll text current head coach Zac Taylor in the middle of the night to tell him that he’s “open.”

The former perennial Pro Bowler, one of the most entertaining players in the modern game, hopped on Twitter on Wednesday to reveal he hip up Taylor at 3 a.m. just to let him know that “he’s open [to receive a pass].”

“Random: I texted Zac Taylor at 3 am last night & said ‘I’m Open’, I would’ve called but didn’t want to put a strain on our friendship, you never know if a roster spot may open,” Johnson tweeted on Wednesday night.

Heading into the 2023 season, the Bengals once again have Super Bowl expectations on their shoulders following a second-straight appearance in the AFC Championship game, which they ultimately lost to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, the eventual Super Bowl champions.

In addition to the Bengals and the Chiefs, the bookmakers out of Las Vegas expect the Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers, Buffalo Bills, Dallas Cowboys, and New York Jets to be major contenders for this year’s Super Bowl title.

The team’s training camp, however, got off to a bit of a bumpy start as franchise quarterback Joe Burrow suffered a calf strain during practice. According to Taylor, speaking to the media on Wednesday — about two weeks after Burrow’s injury — the signal-callers timeline to return is “several weeks from when I said several weeks.” Luckily for Bengals fans, however, the vibe out of training camp seems to be that Burrow will be ready to go by Week 1.

The Bengals will begin their preseason on Friday, August 11 with a matchup against the Green Bay Packers before officially kicking off their 2023 campaign on the road against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, September 10.