CINCINNATI (AP) — Defensive lineman Trey Hendrickson was not at the opening day of the Cincinnati Bengals minicamp on Tuesday as he seeks a new contract.
Hendrickson is expected to be fined for his absence, as coach Zac Taylor warned him about last month.
Quarterback Joe Burrow agreed with a question that asked if Hendrickson’s absence was a distraction.
"Last year we had two (with wide receivers Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins working through contract issues), this year we have one. We do have less. Love to have none but that’s life in the NFL. We’re all supporting Trey and would love for him to be back,” he said. “The young guys get more reps in training camp, and that’s big for them. Nobody is worried about Trey working hard and doing what he needs to do to be ready if we happen to have him this year.”
Burrow acknowledged that it’s a possibility that the Bengals might not have Hendrickson in 2025. He said that wouldn’t make the Bengals a better team, but he doesn’t know what’s going to happen.
Hendrickson was an All-Pro selection last season after he led the league with 17 1/2 sacks. He did make an appearance during an offseason workout last month specifically to speak to reporters and vent his frustrations.
Hendrickson is looking for a long-term contract with a significant chunk of guaranteed money, and he said the Bengals were just offering a short-term deal.
“I can’t control the narratives,” Hendrickson said at the time. “That is one thing I found through this whole process. The way I feel is not being conveyed. I definitely am disappointed, I love Cincinnati. It’s this weird dilemma. Players go through it a lot more often. I am just not going to let fear overtake me to do something and also give me a platform to glorify God in the good and in the bad. I am very blessed. The perspectives I can’t control. I’m a football player. I’m itching to play football.”
First-round pick Shemar Stewart, also expected to start at defensive end, hasn’t signed his rookie deal yet and did not practice.
Stewart has been in attendance for workouts and practices, but he still hasn’t done a single drill. He has made a point to sit out for the past two months. Stewart said that he won’t practice until he signs.
“I’m 100 percent right,” Stewart said. “I’m not asking for nothing y’all have never done before. But in y’all case, y’all just want to win arguments (more) than winning more games.”
While Burrow did answer some questions about Hendrickson, most of his availability was on his offseason practices.
Burrow, who is going into his sixth season, feels as if he is closer to playing at the level he was before suffering a right wrist injury in 2023. Even with Burrow playing at a level he felt like was less than 100%, he led the league in passing yards (4,918) and touchdowns (43) last season.
Burrow underwent surgery on his right wrist in November 2023, to repair a torn ligament. The surgery was deemed successful. He missed the last seven games of the 2023 season because of the injury.
“Getting there. Learning new things every single day and refining my motion and what I’m doing out there. It’s exciting to feel that improvement,” he said. “We'll get three good days together before we go off and grind on our own.”
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Cincinnati Bengals wide receivers Ja'Marr Chase (1), left, and Tee Higgins (5), right, talk during NFL football practice Tuesday, June 3, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Kareem Elgazzar)
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (9) participates in drills during NFL football practice Tuesday, June 3, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Kareem Elgazzar)
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (9) watches after throwing during NFL football practice Tuesday, June 3, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Kareem Elgazzar)
U.S. forces have boarded another oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea. The announcement was made Friday by the U.S. military. The Trump administration has been targeting sanctioned tankers traveling to and from Venezuela.
The pre-dawn action was carried out by U.S. Marines and Navy, taking part in the monthslong buildup of forces in the Caribbean, according to U.S. Southern Command, which declared “there is no safe haven for criminals” as it announced the seizure of the vessel called the Olina.
Navy officials couldn’t immediately provide details about whether the Coast Guard was part of the force that took control of the vessel as has been the case in the previous seizures. A spokesperson for the U.S. Coast Guard said there was no immediate comment on the seizure.
The Olina is the fifth tanker that has been seized by U.S. forces as part of a broader effort by Trump’s administration to control the distribution of Venezuela’s oil products globally following the U.S. ouster of President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid.
The latest:
Richard Grenell, president of the Kennedy Center, says a documentary film about first lady Melania Trump will make its premiere later this month, posting a trailer on X.
As the Trumps prepared to return to the White House last year, Amazon Prime Video announced a year ago that it had obtained exclusive licensing rights for a streaming and theatrical release directed by Brett Ratner.
Melania Trump also released a self-titled memoir in late 2024.
Some artists have canceled scheduled Kennedy Center performances after a newly installed board voted to add President Donald Trump’s to the facility, prompting Grenell to accuse the performers of making their decisions because of politics.
Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum says that she has asked her foreign affairs secretary to reach out directly to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio or Trump regarding comments by the American leader that the U.S. cold begin ground attacks against drug cartels.
In a wide-ranging interview with Fox News aired Thursday night, Trump said, “We’ve knocked out 97% of the drugs coming in by water and we are going to start now hitting land, with regard to the cartels. The cartels are running Mexico. It’s very sad to watch.”
As she has on previous occasions, Sheinbaum downplayed the remarks, saying “it is part of his way of communicating.” She said she asked her Foreign Affairs Secretary Juan Ramón de la Fuente to strengthen coordination with the U.S.
Sheinbaum has repeatedly rebuffed Trump’s offer to send U.S. troops after Mexican drug cartels. She emphasizes that there will be no violation of Mexico’s sovereignty, but the two governments will continue to collaborate closely.
Analysts do not see a U.S. incursion in Mexico as a real possibility, in part because Sheinbaum’s administration has been doing nearly everything Trump has asked and Mexico is a critical trade partner.
Trump says he wants to secure $100 billion to remake Venezuela’s oil infrastructure, a lofty goal going into a 2:30 meeting on Friday with executives from leading oil companies. His plan rides on oil producers being comfortable in making commitments in a country plagued by instability, inflation and uncertainty.
The president has said that the U.S. will control distribution worldwide of Venezuela’s oil and will share some of the proceeds with the country’s population from accounts that it controls.
“At least 100 Billion Dollars will be invested by BIG OIL, all of whom I will be meeting with today at The White House,” Trump said Friday in a pre-dawn social media post.
Trump is banking on the idea that he can tap more of Venezuela’s petroleum reserves to keep oil prices and gasoline costs low.
At a time when many Americans are concerned about affordability, the incursion in Venezuela melds Trump’s assertive use of presidential powers with an optical spectacle meant to convince Americans that he can bring down energy prices.
Trump is expected to meet with oil executives at the White House on Friday.
He hopes to secure $100 billion in investments to revive Venezuela’s oil industry. The goal rides on the executives’ comfort with investing in a country facing instability and inflation.
Since a U.S. military raid captured former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro on Saturday, Trump has said there’s a new opportunity to use the country’s oil to keep gasoline prices low.
The full list of executives invited to the meeting has not been disclosed, but Chevron, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips are expected to attend.
Attorneys general in five Democratic-led states have filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s administration after it said it would freeze money for several public benefit programs.
The Trump administration has cited concerns about fraud in the programs designed to help low-income families and their children. California, Colorado, Minnesota, Illinois and New York states filed the lawsuit Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
The lawsuit asks the courts to order the administration to release the funds. The attorneys general have called the funding freeze an unconstitutional abuse of power.
Iran’s judiciary chief has vowed decisive punishment for protesters, signaling a coming crackdown against demonstrations.
Iranian state television reported the comments from Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei on Friday. They came after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei criticized Trump’s support for the protesters, calling Trump’s hands “stained with the blood of Iranians.”
The government has shut down the internet and is blocking international calls. State media has labeled the demonstrators as “terrorists.”
The protests began over Iran’s struggling economy and have become a significant challenge to the government. Violence has killed at least 50 people, and more than 2,270 have been detained.
Trump questions why a president’s party often loses in midterm elections and suggests voters “want, maybe a check or something”
Trump suggested voters want to check a president’s power and that’s why they often deliver wins for an opposing party in midterm elections, which he’s facing this year.
“There’s something down, deep psychologically with the voters that they want, maybe a check or something. I don’t know what it is, exactly,” he said.
He said that one would expect that after winning an election and having “a great, successful presidency, it would be an automatic win, but it’s never been a win.”
Hiring likely remained subdued last month as many companies have sought to avoid expanding their workforces, though the job gains may be enough to bring down the unemployment rate.
December’s jobs report, to be released Friday, is likely to show that employers added a modest 55,000 jobs, economists forecast. That figure would be below November’s 64,000 but an improvement after the economy lost jobs in October. The unemployment rate is expected to slip to 4.5%, according to data provider FactSet, from a four-year high of 4.6% in November.
The figures will be closely watched on Wall Street and in Washington because they will be the first clean readings on the labor market in three months. The government didn’t issue a report in October because of the six-week government shutdown, and November’s data was distorted by the closure, which lasted until Nov. 12.
FILE - President Donald Trump dances as he walks off stage after speaking to House Republican lawmakers during their annual policy retreat, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
