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Bengals' 'Fisher-Price' group is all grown up


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Bengals' 'Fisher-Price' group is all grown up
Kevin Goheen FOX Sports Ohio

NOV 28, 2014 6:55p ET


 
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Kevin Hoffman / USA TODAY Sports

Carlos Dunlap, Geno Atkins and Michael Johnson all came up together as young players with the Bengals. 

 

CINCINNATI -- They were once known as the Fisher-Price Package. It was a grouping of young defensive linemen then-Bengals defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer started using in 2010, a grouping that would become part of the foundation of Zimmer's defense.

Fisher-Price is all grown up now. Part of growing up is moving away and becoming your own person without losing that connection.

Michael Johnson, Carlos Dunlap and Geno Atkins may not be playing for the same team anymore but they are still closely connected to one another. On Sunday, they'll be on opposite sidelines for the first times when Dunlap, Atkins and the Bengals travel to Tampa to play Johnson and his new team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

"It's going to be fun to go out there and compete against him," said Dunlap of Johnson. "We're going to have our little friendly dispute going on who gets the first sack or who gets the most sacks like we always did when we were here."

Johnson was a third-round draft choice of the Bengals in 2009. Dunlap and Atkins were drafted the following year; Dunlap in the second round and Atkins in the fourth. As the 2010 season progressed and the Bengals were struggling to a 4-12 record that included a 10-game losing streak, Zimmer kept using the youngsters more and more. Dunlap finished with 9.5 sacks, a franchise record for rookies that all came in the final eight games. Atkins led the team in quarterback pressures as the coaches credited him with 19. Johnson, who led the defensive line with five passes defensed as a rookie, started 10 games at defensive end and led the team with eight tackles for loss and added four more pass breakups and 17 quarterback pressures.

Beyond the catchy nickname for the group, they helped push each other's development.

"We worked well together as a group and it was a lot of fun playing with those guys," said Johnson this week during a conference call with Cincinnati media. "They're my brothers and going to work with them every day, it was fun. It didn't feel like a job. We had fun every day, especially on Sundays. We had a special group there and I'll always have very fond memories of our time there."

The Bengals extended the rookie contracts of Dunlap and Atkins by five years, through the 2018 season, before the start of last season. They had hoped to extend Johnson's deal as well after designating him as their franchise player but he decided against signing a long-term deal -- the one that Dunlap eventually signed that included $11.7 million in guaranteed money -- and instead played under a one-year deal worth $11.2 million.

Johnson signed a five-year deal worth $43.75 million that included $16 million in guarantees with Tampa Bay as an unrestricted free agent on March 12. He's dealt with an ankle injury that limited his playing time earlier in the season but has started eight games and has three sacks. What's been tougher on Johnson has been Tampa Bay's 2-9 record that includes being winless in five home games.

The line has been the strength of the Bengals defense over the past six seasons. Much of that has to do with older players passing down lessons to younger players. Robert Geathers, now in his 11th season, and Domata Peko, in his ninth season, have oftentimes credited former teammate Justin Smith with being influential in their careers. Those two in turn helped teach the Fisher-Price kids.

"The whole locker room was like that. It's just a good mix of guys and it's like a family, a family feel," said Johnson. "You can break that down and go into the defense the same way. The defensive line is a tight-knit group. Everybody is tight-knit. That's just how things are up there. That's kind of special. We're working on getting it like that down here as well. Hopefully it will be rewarding as it was in Cincy."

Atkins is gradually recapturing his All-Pro form after suffering a torn ACL in the middle of last season. He's commanding greater attention from opposing offensive lines and creating greater disruption on a consistent basis, as he did last week in Houston when he tackled Texans running back Alfred Blue in the end zone for a safety that gave the Bengals a 9-0 lead.

Dunlap leads the Bengals with 5.5 sacks and his 45 tackles are best among the defensive linemen. As Johnson did before him, Dunlap is turning into a consistent three-down player who is more than just a pass rusher.

"He's playing a lot better in the running game," said defensive coordinator Paul Guenther. "You know that was one of the things, I said, 'You want to be able to rush the passer? You all have got to play the running game.' He has improved too. He and Geno, both. We need both of those guys to play good every week for us because they're two of our best players. They've been doing a good job."

 

Not coincidentally, the Bengals have had their two best defensive games against the run the last two weeks against New Orleans and Houston.

Johnson won't be the only former teammate the Bengals see on Sunday. Anthony Collins also signed with the Buccaneers in the offseason as an unrestricted free agent and is starting at left tackle. Defensive tackle Clinton McDonald was one of three seventh-round picks by the Bengals in 2009 before being traded to Seattle in 2011 in exchange for cornerback Kelly Jennings. McDonald helped the Seahawks win the Super Bowl last February.

As intriguing as the reunion of the Fisher-Price Package will be, the Bengals can't afford to feel sentimental to their former teammate once kickoff comes around. They need to keep winning to stay on top in the tight AFC North division race.

"We all grew up and became the bigger package," said Dunlap. "The Wall Street Lawyers, or something, whatever you want to call it. We started off young and all of us were fortunate to go and continue to work hard and get rewarded with those big contracts. Unfortunately, Mike's happened to be with Tampa. It's a great opportunity for him and I look forward to seeing him and competing against him on Sunday."

INJURY NEWS: The Bengals have listed linebacker Vontaze Burfict and defensive end Margus Hunt as out for Sunday's game against the Buccaneers. Burfict is still recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery on Oct. 29, while Hunt will miss his second consecutive game with an ankle injury.

Linebacker Nico Johnson is questionable to play after missing practice Thursday and Friday with an illness but everyone else on the injury report is listed as probable to play. Defensive end Robert Geathers (toe), safety George Iloka (groin), wide receiver Greg Little (illness) and offensive lineman Mike Pollak (knee) all had full participation in practice on Friday.

 

http://www.foxsports.com/ohio/story/cincinnati-bengals-fisher-price-group-is-all-grown-up-112814

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