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Scott Hopes For Bigger Role In Bengals Backfield

When Terrell Suggs, the 2011 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, suffered a torn Achilles’ tendon in late April, it was obviously a major blow to the defending AFC North Champion Baltimore Ravens.

But even though the injury could shift the balance of power in their division, Bengals running back Bernard Scott was in no mood to celebrate when he heard the news.

“That sucks,” said Scott.  “You don’t want to see anybody go down like that in the off-season.  That’s the nature of the game, but you don’t want anything bad to happen to anybody even though we go against him twice a year.”

While Suggs vows to be back on the field by November, Scott is simply hoping to be on the field more often.

Last year, Scott typically replaced Cedric Benson on the Bengals’ third offensive possession of each half and Cedric finished the season with 161 more carries than Bernard (273 to 112).  After electing not to re-sign the 29-year-old Benson in the off-season, the Bengals inked 26-year-old BenJarvus Green-Ellis to a reported 3-year, $9 million contract in March.  Green-Ellis shared carries in New England – without complaint – with Stevan Ridley and Danny Woodhead, and Scott is hoping that the Bengals adopt a similar approach.

“I’ve been hearing that we’re going to use a ‘running back by committee’ so that’s exciting,” Scott told me.  “That’s going to help us last longer and give other people a chance to touch the ball.  We all have the same goal – just to get the ‘W’ so that’s all that matters.

“Going into my exit meeting (last year), Coach Lewis told me they were going to bring in running backs.  They have to make it a competition so you know that they are always going to bring in somebody.  It makes you work harder to compete for the job.”

The former sixth round draft pick out of Abilene Christian has rushed for exactly 1,000 yards in his first three seasons in the NFL and finished last season with a career-high 380 yards.  Bernard appears confident that he can make a bigger contribution in 2012.

“I feel like my opportunity is going to come,” said Scott.  “If I come into camp in shape and prepared to handle my business, I think that I’m going to get more opportunities.”

Baltimore will begin the season without Suggs.  Pittsburgh released aging stars Hines Ward, James Farrior, and Aaron Smith and is hampered by serious salary cap issues.  Are the youthful Bengals capable of topping the Ravens and Steelers and winning the AFC North for the second time in four years?

“I think we have one of the best quarterbacks and receivers in the game,” Bernard told me.  “We have a lot of young, hungry guys on our team and everybody has a lot that they want to prove.  We’re confident but we’re still hungry because we still have a lot to prove.  I’m looking for big things this year, so we’ll see what happens.”

I’d love to hear from you at Dan.Hoard@Bengals.nfl.net

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Binns Ready To Graduate — On and Off The Field

In February, near the end of a long interview with Marvin Lewis during the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, I asked him how Armon Binns progressed last year as a member of the Bengals practice squad.

“I think Armon made great strides,” said Lewis.  “Our offensive coaches at the end of the year wanted me to put him in the game.  They wanted to not only dress him but, ‘Can we start him?’  There’s another player that we identified last year as a good prospect.  We’re not afraid to play young players if the guy can do it.”

It didn’t take long for those words to get passed along to the former UC Bearcat.

“It felt good to know that the coaches had confidence in me – especially the head coach – and that the work that I was putting in at practice was paying off,” said Binns.  “It makes me feel good to know that the coaches here believe in me and think that I can help this team win games.”

He’s about to get his chance to prove them right.

After losing Jerome Simpson and Andre Caldwell as free agents, the Bengals have an opening for a #2 wide receiver opposite A.J. Green.  Binns will be one of several candidates battling for the spot, including recent third round draft pick Mohamed Sanu out of Rutgers, and fifth rounder Marvin Jones out of Cal.

“There’s an open spot out there and you just have to go out there and compete and go get a job,” Binns told me.  “I’m very eager.  I sat back for a year and got to learn and watch everybody.  It was kind of like a redshirt year for me and I’m just ready to get back out there and play the game again.”

“I got to sit back and watch how the NFL game goes and how to be a pro.  I watched how NFL corners are playing and how defenses are so much more advanced and sophisticated.”

Binns continued to study after the season, but the subject wasn’t just football.  Armon, who majored in criminal justice at UC with a minor in sociology, returned to the classroom in the off-season and will go through graduation ceremonies on June 8^th

“It’s huge,” said Binns with a grin.  “I’ve been in Cincinnati for so long and to come away with a degree is going to mean the world to me and my mom.  I was a student-athlete again so it’s all good.”

I’d love to hear from you at Dan.Hoard@Bengals.nfl.net

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Andrew Whitworth Tees Off…Literally

If you’re at a Cincinnati-area golf course and see a 6’7”, 335 pound behemoth approach the first tee you should look closely – it might be Bengals left tackle Andrew Whitworth.

Photo courtesy of ggriggscpa.com

Whitworth, recently ranked 82^nd on the Pro Football Focus list of the Top 101 players in the NFL, is one of several avid golfers in the Bengals locker room.

“Oh man., I love the game and play every single day after our workouts,” Andrew told me.  “I play about four or five days a week.  I’m about a nine handicap I would guess.

“I actually played a little bit in college for about two years and then I stopped until last year.  Since January or February of last year, I’ve played a few times a week.”

Whitworth recently joined Hyde Park Country Club but plays a variety of Cincinnati-area courses with his Bengals teammates.

So who are the best golfers on the team?

“I would probably say Zac Robinson…Leon Hall…Kevin Huber,” said Whitworth.  “I hear that Terence Newman is good, but I haven’t played with him yet.  Oh, Clint Boling – he’s a good one.  We have some guys that like to play.  We have a group of about four or five of us that play every day.”

On the surface, football and golf would not appear to have much in common, but Whitworth says the challenge of blocking guys like Terrell Suggs and James Harrison is similar to hitting a little white ball.

“The violence and physicality are different, but in some ways, being a left tackle and facing elite pass rushers all comes down to your technique,” said Whitworth.  “Offensive linemen have to be able to play with the exact same technique 70 to 80 times in a game.  A golf swing is the same – you have to be able to make your body do exactly what you want it to do over and over again.

“For me to be able to kick out of a stance and be in the exact position that I want to be in is the number one key to blocking elite pass rushers.  It’s no different than standing on the tee box and trying to hit the most accurate drive that I can when the pressure is on.”

Whitworth estimates that his best drives exceed 310 yards (Bengals.com editor Geoff Hobson says he can attest to it), but the 7^th-year pro out of LSU says he does not try to “grip it and rip it.”

“People expect to see me swing violently at a golf ball, but I value learning the proper techniques of the swing,” said Whitworth.  “I worked with the pro at Maketewah (Country Club) last Thursday and he laughed and told me it’s the best swing he’s ever seen from a 6-foot-7 guy in his life.”

You can see for yourself at the 1:10 mark of this video

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Pike Grateful For Bengals Opportunity

All Tony Pike wants is a chance – and he’s about to get one from his hometown team.

On Wednesday, the Bengals announced that Pike is among the unsigned players who will attend the team’s May 11-13 minicamp on a tryout basis.  After spending the 2010 season as a backup with the Carolina Panthers, the 26-year-old quarterback missed all of last year after having elbow surgery.

“I’ve been back in Cincinnati rehabbing for a long time and the Bengals reached out to my agent with some questions about my health and when I was going to get back to 100%,” said Pike.  “After that, it was just a matter of me getting healthy and the timing being right for the mini-camp.  It’s an unbelievable opportunity.  Growing up in Cincinnati and being a Bengals fan, it’s been a life-long dream to be a Bengal.  For them to give me that opportunity to come into mini-camp and see what I can do means a lot.”

After leading the UC Bearcats to a perfect regular season and trip to the Sugar Bowl as a senior, Pike was selected by Carolina in the 6^th round of the 2010 draft.  Tony appeared in one regular season game as a rookie, going 6-for-12 for 47 yards in a loss to New Orleans.

But last July, Pike needed surgery to fix a nerve injury in his right elbow.  When the first procedure didn’t correct the problem, the former Bearcat had a more extensive operation eight weeks ago.

“On the second surgery, they cut the muscle in my forearm and they tucked the nerve underneath the muscle,” said Pike.  “Then they sewed the muscle back together to protect that nerve from moving around.  It was a more painful procedure, but with my history at UC, it’s nothing that I haven’t been through before.  The end result was a lot better than the first procedure, so I’m really happy.

“I saw (Cincinnati Reds) Dr. Kremchek here in Cincinnati and he said he does this surgery every year on pitchers here.  He told me it’s something that pitchers come back stronger from and that’s how I feel right now.”

Pike broke his left arm in his junior and senior years at UC, but bounced back quickly to lead the Bearcats to back-to-back Big East Championships.  Tony says that he has completely recovered from his elbow injury and is ready to show the Bengals the powerful arm that tossed 29 touchdown passes and only 6 interceptions in his final college season.

“I feel great,” Pike told me.  “My strength and accuracy are back.  That was the biggest thing with the elbow – the nerve was causing my accuracy to go down a little bit, so with that being back, I feel great about my chance here.

“The frustrating thing about the nerve surgery was that we couldn’t really give teams a timetable for when I would be healthy.  The Bengals rookie mini-camp fell at just about the right time.  I just saw the doctor (Wednesday) to get cleared.  I’ve been throwing a lot and staying in shape.  I’ve actually been going over to Elder a little bit to throw to my brother and some of those receivers.  So, it’s been a long process and a slow process, but it’s all coming together at just the right time.”

Pike might seem like a longshot to make the Bengals roster, but keep in mind that he began the 2008 season as the fifth-string quarterback at UC before becoming the starting QB and leading the team to the Orange Bowl.

All he needed was a chance.

I’d love to hear from you at Dan.Hoard@Bengals.nfl.net

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Zeitler Makes Good First Impression On Whitworth

It’s safe to say that my partner on the Bengals radio broadcasts did not expect the team to select an offensive guard with one of its two first round selections.

“I’m not sure that Mike Brown values a guard at 17 or 21,” said Dave Lapham on our draft preview show on 700 WLW.  “I’m not sure that he values a guard at 117 or 121.  I think the guard position is going to be addressed, but I’m not sure that it’s going to be addressed in that first round.”

But while Lap was stunned – and thrilled – when the Bengals traded down in the first round and selected Wisconsin’s Kevin Zeitler with the 27^th overall pick, the current leader of the Bengals offensive line says that he was not surprised when Cincinnati selected a guard in the first round for the first time in franchise history.

“It wasn’t really a shocker to me,” said left tackle Andrew Whitworth.  “From everyone I’ve talked to, the guy is very impressive – as a person and as a player.  Anytime we get a guy in the locker room that is a great person and player, I’m excited about it.”

Zeitler – and fellow first round pick Dre Kirkpatrick – arrived in Cincinnati for an introductory news conference on Friday and met Whitworth shortly after meeting the media as they had dinner together at Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse.

Whitworth informed Zeitler that he hosts the offensive lineman at an annual mini-camp at his home in Louisiana and said that his new teammate made a good first impression.

“I see a guy who is serious about what he is going to have to do,” said Whitworth.  “He’s not overwhelmed and seems pretty determined.  I like that.  He’s definitely a guy that has a lot of character – that’s the first thing that you realize after a short conversation with him.  I’m excited about his future here and I’m just trying to do whatever I can to help be a part of him being successful.”

Offensive line coach Paul Alexander has made it clear that Zeitler will be a candidate to start at right guard, and Whitworth says he would not be worried about having a rookie start on the offensive line.

“I think it needs to be a realistic expectation for any player that is picked that high,” Whitworth told me.  “That needs to be your goal.  You don’t set the bar low – you set it high.  When I was a rookie, I can remember telling the media whenever they asked me that I was not trying to play like a rookie – I was trying to play like a veteran.  That’s what he has to do – set the bar high and go after it.”

Picking a guard in the first round might have been out of character for the Bengals, but the team is confident that it selected the right one.

“He fills a major need for us,” said offensive coordinator Jay Gruden.  “He’s one of the top guards on the board, in our opinion.  He’s tough, he’s strong, he’s physical, he’s smart — guys like that can only help your football team. It’s not a popular pick sometimes to take an offensive guard, but last time I checked, they play a lot of snaps on Sunday.”

I’d love to hear from you at Dan.Hoard@Bengals.nfl.net

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Bengals fans ready for draft

Wishing Simpson well

In the end, the Bengals didn’t get into a bidding war for Jerome Simpson.

Sure, they wanted him back and they had contract talks. But he ended up in Minnesota on a one-year deal and that tells you a lot. The Vikes were more aggressive, more adamant he’d get a shot. The big thing it says is probably the best thing for both sides. He needs a new venue to refresh a career that can still be big. And the Bengals needed to move past a guy that managed to be frustrating in two very different offenses and exhaust a batch of different coaches when it came to execution.

But this is not a bad guy. If anything, his departure mirrors the contradictions of his four-year career. He left Tuesday after serving 15 days in jail on a drug charge and the NFL handed him a three-game suspension and yet he was one of the more active and generous Bengals ever when it came to community endeavors and charitable functions.

Hometown Huddle. Taste of Cincinnati. Bowling for Autism. A Marvin Lewis Community Fund gig. You name it, Simpson was always there smiling and signing.

Dave Butz, his agent, recalled Tuesday the days long before last September when marijuana was delivered to Simpson’s Northern Kentucky home. Butz would get a call from Simpson and more often than not it was about giving rather than taking.

One time the call wasn’t even from Simpson. It was from a guy saying he was from near Simpson’s hometown of Reidsville, N.C. and he told Butz that Simpson had told him he’d pay for a scoreboard at a local rec center. When Butz called him, Simpson told him, yes, indeed, it was on the up and up.

And there were the 89 backpacks Simpson bought for a Reidsville school to match his uniform number. And there were the 89 coats he donated to underprivileged children to the community.

“Very generous guy,” Butz said. “And he always has been from Day One.”

Even before last year’s problems, Simpson was a hard guy to figure. He had a running feud with the media that no one could really quite figure because he never played until late in his third season. It seemed to stem from his belief that the media had built him up when he was drafted and then ripped him when he didn’t play. All true and yet all facts of life in the NFL, and that seemed to be a hard transition for him.

And yet, when he did deal with the media he was great. Enthusiastic, pleasant, polite.

It was the same thing on the field. On one play he’d make ESPN. On the next, they couldn’t find him.

It just didn’t work here. It happens.

But he gave back. He just didn’t take on his way through. And how many guys do that?

“I’ve worked with 50, 60 NFL players over the years and he’s at the top of the list when it comes to that,” Butz said.

That’s why you wish guys like that well.

Atkins Dubbed “Sophomore Superstar”

For most of his life, Gene Renard Atkins Jr, has been known as “Geno,” but in January, the Bengals defensive tackle picked up a new nickname:  “Pro Bowler” Geno Atkins.

“Some of my teammates call me that as a joke, but most people still just call me Geno,” Atkins said with a grin.

The 24-year-old from Pembroke Pines, FL had two tackles in the AFC’s 59-41 win and raved about the opportunity.

“I got to bring my family to Hawaii and it was a great experience,” Geno told me.  “I learned a lot from the older vets like Richard Seymour, Antonio Smith, and guys like that.”

Atkins earned the trip to Honolulu – and the new nickname – with a spectacular second season in the NFL.  In fact, the website ProFootballFocus.com calls Geno a “Sophomore Superstar” and said that only Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski is coming off of a better season from the 2010 draft class.

“He had a season very comparable to Ndamukong Suh’s 2010, only for some reason he didn’t have the same hype machine working for him,” said Pro Football Focus analyst Sam Monson.  “In 2010, Suh notched 11 sacks, 6 knockdowns and 24 hurries from 547 pass rushing snaps. This season, Atkins posted 8 sacks, 15 knockdowns and 26 hurries from only 475 pass-rushing snaps. Atkins was easily the most effective pass-rushing defensive tackle in the NFL last season, and the surprise to me was that he learned how to use his skills to his advantage in the run game as well.  Rather than waiting and reacting and often getting washed out by bigger linemen, he attacked against the run too, and was far more proactive that way.”

Atkins was a big reason why the Bengals finished seventh in the NFL’s total defense rankings last year.  Defensive lineman Frostee Rucker and Jonathan Fanene left as free agents, and safety Chris Crocker was released, but the nine of the team’s top 11 tacklers are back.

“We lost Frostee and Fanene and they were two key guys for us,” said Atkins.  “But being in this league, you know that it’s ‘Next guy up.’  We brought in two good guys (Jamaal Anderson and Derrick Harvey) that are going to take up the slack there.

“We know the potential that we have, where we can go, and what it takes to get there.  We’re all excited to get back to work and build on that success.”

In addition to his Pro Bowl trip, Atkins went on a 7-day cruise to the Caribbean last winter, but Geno sounded happy to return to Cincinnati last week for the start of the Bengals off-season conditioning program.

“It feels good to come back and see all of your teammates and friends,” said Atkins.  “We know that we’re going to build on something very important and try to get to the next level.”

Wouldn’t “Super Bowler” have a nice ring to it?

I’d love to hear from you at Dan.Hoard@Bengals.nfl.net

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Dunlap Aims To Join Young Pro Bowl Nucleus

Here’s my favorite stat about Cincinnati’s talented young nucleus:  The Bengals sent four players to the Pro Bowl last year and Andy Dalton was the oldest. 

Here’s a look at the Bengals’ four Pro Bowlers that are all under the age of 25.

Andy Dalton:  24-years-old (birthday October 29th)

Geno Atkins:  24-years-old (birthday March 28^th)

Jermaine Gresham:  23-years-old (birthday June 16^th)

A.J. Green:  23-years-old (birthday July 31th)

But that’s not all.

There’s another potential Pro Bowler on the roster that is nearly seven months younger than A.J. Green – defensive end Carlos Dunlap.

Dunlap, who turned 23 on February 28^th, was among the most dominant pass rushers in the NFL last year before injuring his hamstring in week eight at Tennessee.

“Carlos Dunlap was on fire before that hamstring injury,” said ProFootballFocus.com analyst Sam Monson.  “At that point in the season he had racked up only three sacks, but he had 10 QB knockdowns and 24 pressures in only eight games. Essentially before going down with the injury, Dunlap was as devastating a force as there was in the league at rushing the passer.”

“I feel like I need a whole season that was like the way that I started last year,” Dunlap told me this week.  “I’m starting fresh and making sure that I am doing everything that I can to stay healthy.”

Prior to last season during the NFL lockout, Dunlap returned to the University of Florida to take classes toward finishing his degree.  But this off-season, he eschewed the classroom and went to the gym.

“I went down to Pete Bommarito (Performance Systems) where I trained for the combine,” said Dunlap.  “It was continued maintenance on my hamstring and I concentrated on training a little bit harder.  It was unfortunate that I had an injury and I want to make sure that I do everything in my power to prevent that from coming back.  I postponed school and focused on training because this is my job.”

Dunlap finished with 4.5 sacks in 12 games last year after setting a Bengals rookie record with 9.5 in 2010.  In 2012, Carlos want to lead the NFL in sacks.

“That’s always been a childhood dream,” said Dunlap.  “As a competitor, you want to be the best at whatever you do.  I’m labeled as a pass rusher and I want to change that too.  I want to be known as an all-around defensive end, but I do want to lead the league in sacks and be ranked up there with the elite pass rushers.”

That’s not his only lofty goal.  Dunlap wants to join fellow 2010 draft pick Geno Atkins at the Pro Bowl.

“Carlos congratulated me before I went and said, ‘This year, I’m going to go with you.’” said Atkins.  “I’m rooting for him.”

“I’m jealous – I ain’t gonna lie, I’m jealous man,” said Dunlap.  “Geno earned it.  He had a great year and I don’t know why he wasn’t voted on to the first or second team (Atkins went as a first alternate because New England’s Vince Wilfork made the Super Bowl) .  But Geno is a Pro Bowler – they’re not going to say how he went.

“That’s a goal as well – to get there with Geno.  I’ve been telling Geno the whole off-season that we have to get there together this year.”

I’d love to hear from you at Dan.Hoard@Bengals.nfl.net

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Players, fans react to schedule