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Orlando Brown Jr.’s motivation entering 2026 Cincinnati Bengals left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. is putting pressure on himself. “My biggest thing is overall consistency,” Brown said. “That’s the next step for us offensively — me being even more consistent.” The 2025 Bengals’ offensive line wrapped up the season as the best one that Joe Burrow has played behind, and the unit should be better in 2026 with another year of growth from Amarius Mims and Dylan Fairchild. For the offensive line to take the next step, Brown also needs to have his best full season as a Bengal. “For what I promised my dad, promised myself, I want to go win,” Brown said. “Me playing my best ball, I know, will be enough for us to go win. That’s the way I see it. That’s the way I like to approach it. I’m thinking about being as perfect as I can be.” Time flies in the NFL, and it’s already Brown’s fourth season with Cincinnati. When the Bengals signed him in 2023, he was brought in to be the missing piece that the team expected would push the Bengals over the top. The step back that the Bengals’ defense took between 2023 and 2025 removed the Bengals from the playoff picture. Brown has been solid on the whole with Cincinnati, but he also hasn’t reached the status that he was at between 2019 and 2022 when he reached four straight Pro Bowls. Brown was good for most of the 2023 season with the Bengals, but a groin injury in the middle of the season led to a dip in his production for a stretch of games. He played some of the best football of his entire career in the first half of the 2024 season, but then a leg injury kept him out for six games and hampered him when he was back on the field. In 2025, he had plenty of good reps but a few too many losses. Brown still hasn’t put together that type of complete season in a Bengals’ uniform that he regularly delivered between 2019 and 2022. Getting that from Brown this season might just be what gives the Bengals the best offense in football. “He holds himself to a high standard,” offensive line coach Scott Peters said. “He knows the areas he has to improve upon. There are plays he wishes he had back. To make that right, you have to keep pressing, evolving, growing and being honest with where you’re at. There are certainly areas he knows he has to get better at. He’s actively working toward that.” Peters said that Brown has locked in on a couple of specific aspects of his game this summer. With the Bengals leaning more into their under-center offense, Brown has worked on getting his hand in the dirt and being a powerful blocker out of that stance. Peters also said that Brown is “getting back to core fundamentals as a pass protector.” “He has the hardest job as a left tackle,” Peters said. “He knows what he has to do. It’s exciting to have a guy like him.” Brown’s summer was known for one play — that loss against the Detroit Lions that led to Eric O’Neill smacking Joe Burrow. “It’s always important to keep perspective,” Brown said. “That one play does not define me. Is it a play I want back? Absolutely. Is there something I could have done better? Absolutely, a lot. In terms of what other people say, it is what it is. I more so use it as motivation. I look forward to making this city and my teammates proud.” That play led to a lot of conversation about where Brown’s game is at entering the season. “Knowing who I am and what I do, it’d be one thing if I made that mistake against the Lions, didn’t recognize it and wasn’t self-aware,” Brown said. “I know what I did. I’m glad that it happened then and not in the regular season. I look forward to going out there and having a great year.” While his start to training camp wasn’t great and while he struggled against the Lions, Brown was able to end camp on a positive note. He played his best football down the stretch as he got closer to the regular season. Brown was proud of how he played in the joint practice against the Bears, where he says he “put it all together.” “There’s rust to knock off,” Brown said. “What we do is very unique. Just like with anything, you’ve got to ride the bike a lot to get calloused and get back to what it was before.” This year, the development of Fairchild should help Brown. While Fairchild was a rookie thrown into the fire and figuring things out on the fly last season, he really knows what he’s doing entering 2026 and has proven to be an ascending offensive lineman. As a result, Brown will have a more reliable presence to his immediate right this season. Mims looks like he’s ready to have a monster year. If Mims solidifies himself as “OT1” and has opposing defensive coordinators game planning with that in mind, then there would be a ripple effect that would help Brown. Brown, the 47th-highest paid offensive lineman in the entire NFL, brings a lot of value just with his leadership, football IQ and durability (Brown has only missed seven total games in eight years in the NFL). He’s also still just 30 years old, and there are plenty of offensive linemen playing well into their mid-30s. Brown has a better setup around him this season. He’s also motivated to be the reason why this offensive line raises the bar up a level. “He’s always coming to work with the mindset to evolve,” Peters said. “That’s what it takes. You can’t rest on your laurels or worry about what you did in the past. It doesn’t mean anything. You have to line up, play, produce, you’re going to be evaluated. You’re always tested. He has done a great job with that. He has a great mindset. He’s coming to work with a specific focus on a daily basis to get better.” Copyright 2026 WXIX. All rights reserved.