Bengals tidbits

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

DDN

8/6/06

Bengals notes
Perry's injury gives Watson his big chance

By Chick Ludwig
Staff Writer
GEORGETOWN, Ky. | With tailback Chris Perry on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list, the window of opportunity is open for Kenny Watson to seize the role of third-down back.
Watson missed 15 games last season with a torn biceps "and it hurt me watching everybody play. Now I'm back and ready to make some plays."
Watson's versatility is a plus. He's an excellent runner and receiver, and can play all facets of special teams, returning and covering kicks.
"It's important for a guy like me," he added. "The more you can do, the better chance you have to be on the field. Whatever they put me out there to do, I'm going to take advantage of it."
Yes, he'll play
Head coach Marvin Lewis confirmed that quarterback Carson Palmer will play in Friday's intrasquad scrimmage, but he wouldn't reveal the quarterbacking order.
"You'll see (it) breaking down when you get here Friday night," Lewis said, "but Carson will participate."
Another team
Injured players such as Perry (knee, ankle), defensive tackle Sam Adams (leg), wide receiver Kelley Washington (hamstring) and defensive end Jonathan Fanene (hamstring) are on a different team at camp. All train under the tutelage of strength and conditioning coaches Chip Morton and Ray Oliver.
"I don't think you want to be on Chip and Ray's team during this camp," Lewis said. "That means you get up at 5:30, get your first workout in before 7, and then you have another workout, then another one, and then you finish with another one — as well as going to the meetings. So that's a long day. Sometimes practice is a lot better than being on Chip and Ray's squad."
Barber shop
Devan Johnson, owner of Incredible Creations hair salon in Cincinnati, set up a barber shop in the press box. Among the players who got hair cuts were Chad Johnson and Deltha O'Neal. As Devan worked on Chad's "Mohawk" hairdo, O'Neal relaxed in a chair, awaiting his turn.
"He can't cover me," Chad said about O'Neal, who just laughed.
Johnson was joking, of course. Both players made the Pro Bowl last season.
Bengals camp
Today's practice: 3-5 p.m. (with NFL officials)
Admission: Free; Parking: $12.

DDN

8/6/06

BENGALS NOTES
Palmer: Veteran offense should win

By Chick Ludwig
Staff Writer

GEORGETOWN, Ky. — Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski calls quarterback Carson Palmer a work in progress.
"Everything he does, week to week, he's getting better and better," Bratkowski said.
Palmer completed 4-of-9 passes for 57 yards, including a 6-yard touchdown to Tab Perry, in the offense's 41-25 victory over the defense in the intrasquad scrimmage on Friday night.
"It was just good to be back out there and get in the flow of things in a game-type atmosphere," Palmer said. "We got off to a bad start, but we picked things up. We did that all night offensively with all three units. With an offense that's been together for a couple years, in my eyes, the offense should win."
Crowd pleaser
Chris Henry showed some emotion, heaving the ball in the air after his 10-yard TD catch from Doug Johnson culminated a five-catch, 117-yard night.
"I'm just trying to have fun out there," Henry said. "This was huge for my confidence. I'm trying to show my teammates and coaches that I'm ready and prepared for the season."
Henry, who suffered a sprained knee in the playoff loss to Pittsburgh, said he still isn't 100 percent physically.
"But it's no time to be sitting out," he said. "So I'm just pushing myself."
Foot soldiers
Kicker Shayne Graham went 6-for-6 in the field goal department, nailing kicks from 27, 32, 35, 39, 42 and 46 yards.
Kyle Larson also unleashed several booming punts.
Tab Perry, Bennie Brazell, Kenny Watson and Reggie McNeal fielded kickoffs well, while Keiwan Ratliff, T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Deltha O'Neal fielded Larson's punts cleanly.
Pick-off play
Backup free safety Kevin Kaesviharn and middle linebacker Brian Simmons turned in the defensive play of the night. Kaesviharn tipped a Doug Johnson pass, and Simmons finished the play with an interception.
Outside linebacker Rashad Jeanty leaped and stuffed a pass from Anthony Wright at the line of scrimmage.
Quick hitters
• Third-string strong safety Tony Bua led the defense with seven tackles (two solos, five assists). A feisty player with a mean streak, Bua showed good range and tackling technique. He spent the past two years with the Dolphins.
• Graham and former Bengals kickers Doug Pelfrey and Jim Breech hosted 35 at-risk children from the tri-state area as part of the "Kicks for Kids" foundation.
"We have a bunch of activities during the year, but this is cool because they get to come see practice and interact with the players," Graham said.
• Georgetown College Athletic Director Eric Ward expects an attendance record for the 13-day training camp, shattering the old mark of 45,000 spectators in 18 days last season.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2253 or cludwig@daytondailynews.com

[tibor75]

Sherry injured again. What a [censored]ing pussy.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

8/7/06

BENGALS NOTEBOOK

Perry dogged by injuries again

Monday, August 07, 2006

Bill Rabinowitz
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

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GEORGETOWN, Ky. — Chris Perry sees all the talent around him, knows what he can add to it and struggles to cope with the reality that right now he can’t.
"I would compare it to having a lottery ticket and matching up all the numbers except the last one," the former Michigan running back said. "That’s how frustrating it is."
With his receiving ability and explosiveness, Perry proved to be a valuable piece of the Bengals’ offensive puzzle in 2005.
But now Perry is again dealing with a persistent problem — injuries. He had offseason knee and ankle surgeries and hasn’t been cleared to practice in training camp.
He had hamstring and sports-hernia injuries in 2004 after the Bengals made him their first-round draft pick. Last year, Perry fought through the lingering effects of the hernia surgery and later missed two games with a sprained ankle.
Now he’s out again.
"It’s a process," he said. "I’ve got to work through it. It can’t get any worse. It’s got to get better."
Coach Marvin Lewis hasn’t given a timetable for Perry’s return, but he indicated he isn’t expecting a quick return.
"His game is based on quickness and cutting, and so we need to make sure his ankle is right and strong and prepared before we move into the next phase," Lewis said. "He’s really been compliant and diligently working. He’s one of those earlymorning guys every day, which you have to be when you’re on that (rehabbing) team."
Perry understands that people will knock him as injury-prone.
"I guess I’ve earned that label right now," he said. "It happens. You can’t control all injuries. I guess I’ll have to go through a season without being injured to knock that label down."
Wright , Johnson hook up

If Anthony Wright has to begin the season in place of Carson Palmer, the journeyman quarterback will have to develop chemistry with receivers quickly.
Wright threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the mock game Saturday, but two early passes to Chad Johnson bounced off the receivers’ hands and were intercepted.
Johnson shook off that bad start and finished with 11 catches for 142 yards.
"I’ve been studying his body motion, his body movement and the way he runs his routes," Wright said.
brabinowitz@dispatch.com

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Cincy

8/7/06

Pressure nothing new to Wright
Blazed trail at South Carolina as its first black starting QB

BY MARK CURNUTTE | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER

<!--ARTICLE BODY TEXT-->GEORGETOWN, Ky. - Bengals backup quarterback Anthony Wright faces a major challenge if he has to start in place of Carson Palmer at any point this season.
Palmer has suffered no setbacks but is trying to start the opener at Kansas City on Sept. 10, eight months to the day after undergoing reconstructive knee surgery.
But the pressure Wright would encounter at the helm of the Bengals' high-scoring offense hardly compares to the personal trial he faced exactly 10 years ago at the University of South Carolina.
In the heart of Dixie, in the first state to secede from the Union, where the Confederate flag still flies on the capitol grounds, Wright was the first African-American quarterback to start at the University of South Carolina. The program was 104 years old at the time.
"At the time, I tried not to put too much thought in it or let it affect my play," Wright, a first-year Bengal, said last week. "Now that I look back on it, it was a big deal and a big accomplishment. It hadn't been done."
The Bengals are expected this week to announce the winner of the training camp competition between Wright and Doug Johnson to be the No. 2 quarterback. That second-string passer could be the starter if Palmer's not ready.
Wright looks to have the inside track. He worked with the first-team offensive line and receivers during the mock game Saturday.
Wright was the starter for the Gamecocks for three seasons.
As a junior in 1997, he had thrown 18 touchdown passes and just five interceptions before tearing his right anterior cruciate ligament with two games remaining.
He had 10 touchdowns and 10 interceptions as a senior for a team that finished 1-10.
The Gamecocks were a program in transition and were 12-21 from 1996 through 1998.
The black quarterback often was blamed for the losses: He wasn't smart enough to read defenses. He wasn't a pocket passer. He liked to run too much.
"The worst part of it was some of the fans saying derogatory things ..." Wright said.
The pressure was more mental than physical. As "the first" African-American starting quarterback, Wright was aware that his conduct would affect those who might follow.
"I was always mindful of my behavior," he said. "I always thought about what I did and tried to do the thing in the best interest of (black quarterbacks coming after him). I always knew if I fell I would fall harder than a lot of other guys. I tried my best to go out there and do the things I was supposed to do in the classroom and keep myself out of trouble ...
"It was something I could deal with because I had a strong family background and I believed in what I could do."
But the NFL didn't. Black quarterbacks are either drafted high or low - rarely in the middle rounds - or they are signed as college free agents.
Still more are converted from college quarterback to other positions in the NFL.
Bengals sixth-round draft pick Reggie McNeal is being converted to wide receiver, though he threw for 44 touchdowns, just 23 interceptions and almost 7,000 yards at Texas A&M.
There are eight African-American quarterbacks on the veteran rosters of AFC teams - including the Bengals - and 33 white quarterbacks.
But Wright is not a crusader.
To help himself and the cause, he says, he has to play well when given the opportunity.
"I'm not going to sit here and take up: I don't want to be given anything. I want to earn my job.
"But, at the same time, I know, and most of the guys know, they're going to have to work twice as hard just to get where they want to be."
The issue, obviously, is larger than football.
"It's one of those things," Wright said.
"Societies always have different things to overcome. This society has (multiple) races, and the color of your skin still seems to matter, but personally I would rather deal with the person individually and look at what they bring to the table - not the group.
"I just try to judge them from their character."
E-mail mcurnutte@enquirer.com
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[tibor75]

Steinbach charged with boating DUI on Ohio River

GEORGETOWN, Ky. -- Bengals left guard Eric Steinbach was arrested Saturday night and charged with a operating a boat under the influence of alcohol on the Ohio River. He was arrested by an officer with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. Steinbach was stopped for speeding by the officer in the idle-only speed zone between the Interstate 75 and Interstate 471 bridges, Mark Marraccini, spokesman for the agency, said tonight. The officer ran Steinbach through a series of field sobriety tests, which he failed, Marraccini said. At that point, Steinbach was arrested and taken to the Campbell County Jail. He refused a breath test. He will appear in Campbell District Court. The Bengals do not comment on ongoing legal issues involving their players. Steinbach practiced twice Monday.
-- Mark Curnutte

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Canton

8/8/06

Bengals fans who spot bad behavior can call hot line

Tuesday, August 8, 2006


CINCINNATI (AP) — Cincinnati Bengals fans annoyed by bad behavior in the stands can now report it by cell phone.
The hot line number should be easy to remember — (513) 381-JERK.
Fans using too much foul language will get a warning from stadium security. Those who continue could be ejected and have their season tickets and personal seat licenses taken away. More serious offenses could lead to arrest.
The team doesn’t want to become the “curse police,” but expects fans to behave themselves, said Bob Bedinghaus, the Bengals’ director of development for Paul Brown Stadium.
“You need to understand you’re coming to an NFL football game,” Bedinghaus said. “On the other hand, we want to make sure that we’re paying attention to those folks who are going over the line.”
When callers report problems such as threats, fights or drunkenness, security officials will use the stadium’s video cameras to focus on the offenders and then respond.
Fans have complained to team officials that beer is increasing the problem with misbehavior in the stands.
“They were complaints (of) excessive drunkenness. People that were kind of falling down drunk,” Bedinghaus said. “And there were some fights last year. Whenever you put 65,000 people together, you’re always going to have some fights. But there were a few more than normal.”
Jeanie Dittrich of West Chester, a season ticket holder, said she was offended by drunken fans when she took her 12-year-old son, Austin, to a playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. A woman kept spilling beer on her, and a man next to her son was swearing and helped start a fight.
“We told him beforehand, ’You might see some drunk people, you might hear some ... swearing.’ But at the game, I thought, ’Oh, my gosh, I’m going to mar my son for the rest of his life by having him come to this game,”’ she said.
Season ticket holders will be notified about the hot line this week, as well as the consequences of bad behavior. The team will show a video promoting the hot line at home games.
Bedinghaus said the Bengals do expect some prank calls.
“If you get 6,000 people calling this line — ’Hey, (Steelers quarterback) Ben Roethlisberger is a jerk’ — then it becomes less effective,” he said. “The thing to remember is we have caller ID on this line.”
——— Information from: The Cincinnati Enquirer, http://www.enquirer.com