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Rookie Mini-Camp Starts Tomorrow

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  1. Giovani Bernard on this weekend: "Go as fast as I can. Whatever I do be 100%. Even if you make a mistake, just do that mistake really fast."

  2. JK Schaffer eligible to work at rookie camp this weekend: "Now that I kind of know what it takes, the hunger has definitely grown."

     
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  3. Cheatham: "You better have urgency to stick out or you're not going to be here long."

     
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  4. Former Bearcat Cam Cheatham after first practice at rookie camp: "There's a lot of urgency because everyone is good."

     
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  5. Eifert: "I think I picked it up better than I thought I would have."

     
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  6. Tyler Eifert lined up as traditional TE and in the slot at practice today: "They are moving me around a lot and that's good."

     
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Andy Dalton admitted "it's a rookie minicamp," and "it's early," but he and fellow quarterback Josh Johnson snuck a peak Friday morning at the first proceedings from the Paul Brown Stadium runway and he liked what he saw from his two newest weapons.

Notre Dame tight end Tyler Eifert lined up in at least four different spots while making a one-handed grab on a go route and North Carolina running back Giovani Bernard flashed some quicks in the passing game on routes over the middle.

"You can tell Tyler has really good body control when the ball is in the air, but you could see that on film when you're watching him in college," Dalton said. "It's hard to tell with running backs with no pads, no nothing on. But (Bernard) has a little wiggle to him, you can see that. That would be a good complement for Benny, who's more of a power back."

SLANTS AND SCREENS: Maybe it is a small world after all. Eifert made the trip down from Fort Wayne, Ind., Thursday with his quarterback at Bishop Dwenger High School and Notre Dame teammate John Goodman. Goodman, a wide receiver for the Fighting Irish, is on a tryout with the Bengals.

Eifert says it was like driving to a high school football camp back in the day. The 6-3, 206-pound Goodman, who got to South Bend a year before Eifert, said he advised then head coach Charlie Weis to recruit Eifert.

"That's back when he played wide receiver," Goodman said. "He's put on about 50 pounds since." ….

Bengals defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer made sure Georgia safety Shawn Williams got into the coverage drills quickly with classic Zimmer:

 "Did you ever cover any receivers at Georgia? What are you waiting for?"

 When sixth-rounder Cobi Hamilton _ a wide receiver from Arkansas _ caught a ball in front of Williams, Zimmer quietly called him over with a finger and chatted. It might not sound it, but Zimmer has high hopes for the third-rounder to cover well after primarily playing in the box in college….

Great timing, Just as head coach Marvin Lewis broke up the post-practice huddle, thunder rolled in and rain pounded PBS, but the afternoon practice still looked to be on...

http://www.bengals.com/news/article-1/Mini-quick-hits-Dalton-sneaks-peek-Eifert-gets-a-buddy/928980d6-a1aa-4c8d-b27b-932a73bb8f24?campaign=cin:fanshare:twitter

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rookie-camp130510-1_630.jpg

Updated: 3:25 p.m.

Andy Dalton admitted "it's a rookie minicamp," and "it's early," but he and fellow quarterback Josh Johnson snuck a peak Friday morning at the first proceedings from the Paul Brown Stadium runway and Dalton liked what he saw from his two newest weapons.

Notre Dame tight end Tyler Eifert lined up in at least four different spots while making a one-handed grab on a go route and North Carolina running back Giovani Bernard flashed some quicks in the passing game on routes over the middle.

"You can tell Tyler has really good body control when the ball is in the air, but you could see that on film when you're watching him in college," Dalton said. "It's hard to tell with running backs with no pads, no nothing on. But (Bernard) has a little wiggle to him, you can see that. That would be a good complement for Benny, who's more of a power back."

GO-GO GIO: New Bengals running backs coach Hue Jackson loves speed. Top-end speed, in-the-box quickness, open-field jets, any kind of speed. It's how he built his top 10 offenses in Oakland and that's why he likes Bernard.

 

“He has kind of beat that into my brain after Day One or day half of one. Faster is better. That's the type of players they want for this team and so far so good,” Bernard said. "Speed, speed, speed. It is something I learned with my last head coach (Larry Fedora at UNC). He was a big speed guy. Everything is about speed and going as fast as you can.”

Jackson, the man who brought you 1,000-yard receivers Chad Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the last decade, has struck up a good rapport with another personality-plus guy in Bernard.

"Just meeting him at the combine, I knew he is a great coach," Bernard said. "At the combine I said hopefully I end up with you guys. He teaches it very well. It is going to continue to grow and get better.”

Bernard looked comfortable catching the ball, another reason the Bengals made him the first back drafted. He calls catching "second nature."

“It went (well). Just understanding the playbook and working through the jitters," Bernard said. "At the end of the day you just have to have fun. It will come as second nature sooner or later. Being on top of it. Just have to work through it and have fun with it.”

SCHAFFER RETURNS: Popular linebacker J.K. Schaffer, trying to join just a handful that have played for the Bengals after playing both high school and college in Cincinnati, was back on the field Friday after spending all his rookie season on practice squads.

"I just never got that many quality reps with the actual calls and making adjustments. It was just on the cards and everything was drawn up. I think it’s a real good opportunity for me to get back myself rolling and get back into some football," Schaffer said. "It was like being redshirted. I was never redshirted in college but I kind of felt like that’s what was going on. I had a lot of older guys, even the younger rookies that had been here longer, helping me out to get to know the playbook, just learning how everything goes and how to practice and do all of that stuff. It was a yearlong of development for me."

The Bengals have him lined up at middle backer for this camp (backed up by free agent rookie Jayson DiMancheof New Mexico Highlands), but Schaffer believes he can play all three spots. A product of LaSalle High School and the University of Cincinnati, the 6-0, 232-pound Schaffer feels he has benefited from the offseason program as well as his time with linebackers coach Paul Guenther.

"I might have put on some muscle and trimmed off some fat. I’m around the same weight but I’m moving a lot better, I’m a lot more flexible and I’m a lot leaner," he said. "I’m not out there thinking too much. I’m reacting. I’m physically doing it. I’ve gotten mental reps, I’ve gotten the slower practice reps and now it’s nice to put it into actual work. It definitely helps a lot. I don’t feel mentally tired out there. I feel like I’m out there running around fast and I know what I’m doing. "

SLANTS AND SCREENS

» While Eifert was basically doing all he's ever done, Auburn free-agent running back Onterio McCalebb spent Friday morning learning a new position from secondary coach Mark Carrier. His switch to cornerback is a bid to get his sub-4.3 speed and 170 pounds somewhere on the roster.

"I learned some stuff I never knew from Coach Carrier," McCalebb said.

As expected the toughest thing for a running back-turned-cornerback in his first 90 minutes was trying to play backward smoothly as McCalebb struggled with technique.

"The backpedal. When you open up and turn, you keep your shoulders down," he said. "There's another practice today and I'll just work on the mistakes I made and learn the calls. I haven't played it in some years, but I'm going to compete out there."

» Bengals defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer made sure Georgia safety Shawn Williams got into the coverage drills quickly with classic Zimmer:

"Did you ever cover any receivers at Georgia? What are you waiting for?"

When sixth-rounder Cobi Hamilton—a wide receiver from Arkansas—caught a ball in front of Williams, Zimmer quietly called Williams over with a finger and chatted. It might not sound like it, but Zimmer has high hopes for the third-rounder to cover well after primarily playing in the box in college.

» Great timing. Just as head coach Marvin Lewis broke up the post-practice huddle, thunder rolled in and rain pounded PBS, but the afternoon practice went on in a steady rain.

http://www.bengals.com/news/article-1/Mini-update-Go-Go-Gio-Backpedalling-McCalebb-JK-returns-Dalton-sneaks-peek-Buddy-system/928980d6-a1aa-4c8d-b27b-932a73bb8f24

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  1. Lewis thinks there is no question he has quickness to play it.

     

  2. Lewis on McCaleb...Ken Riley reached out to him on switch to corner

     
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  3. Lewis on DiManche...such a good athlete and physical player

     
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  4. Lewis thinks Burkhead can uplift sp teams while competingfor spot

     
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  5. Lewis says Eifert and Bernard showed ...They can help us.

     
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  6. Marvin Lewis on rookies: To a man they impressedme

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JC Hall Of Fame

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Gio is QUICK.  Has great feet.  Bengal fans are going to love this guy.

 

Eifert has incredible body control.  Great coordination.  Really humble as well.  Its the same way that AJ is set apart from other WR's in the league.  He is just so coordinated.  Eifert is going to be the same way.  

 

Stoked.

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Lewis loves his rookies, says Eifert and Bernard can help now

 

burkhead130510_630.jpg
Rex Burkhead

Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis isn't prone to doling out praise from the lectern, but after Friday's first two practices of rookie minicamp he was downright effusive, particularly about the first two draft picks, Notre Dame tight end Tyler Eifert and North Carolina running back Giovani Bernard.

"I think to a man they impressed me. I wasn't disappointed, really, where anybody was in relationship to what we expected through the draft," Lewis said. "I think it's evident that both Tyler and Giovani will be able to really help us offensively and have an opportunity to carve out roles and niches early on in their rookie seasons. The game's not going to be too big for either one of them and that was really evident in the first two practices today."

But Lewis didn't stop there and varied his compliments to a sixth-rounder in Nebraska running back Rex Burkhead to free-agent linebacker Jayson DiMancheof Southern Illinois and points in between.

 

“Just the quickness in line, the ability to stick his foot in the ground and go from Point A to Point B," he said of what he liked from Burkhead. "Just the things you saw from him on tape. His abilities as a receiver. I think he’ll be a guy also who will really uplift us on special teams and compete to be one of our core guys.”

DiManche, the highest-paid Bengals CFA according to reports with a $15,000 bonus, did run afoul of Lewis once Friday when he pushed down Eifert as he lunged back for an underthrown ball on the sidelines. Lewis had to reiterate to play under control and that there is a certain way to practice in the world of the NFL.

"I think we’ll be better at it tomorrow and continue through so that a week from now when they get in with the rest of the guys they’ll have a better understanding of how to do it," Lewis said. "You just always worry. We had to teach (Rey) Maualuga how to practice because he was used to being the big man on campus there at S.C. and knocking the snot out of everybody all the time. He had to learn that, how to practice. You may injure yourself or get somebody else injured, and they’re just as valuable as you are. So I think young guys have to go through that progression and learn how to practice that way. It’s better to be telling them to slow down than speed up. I know that."

But there were a lot of things to like about DiManche.

“He’s such a good athlete. He’s got the long legs, long arms," Lewis said. "But he’s so underdeveloped physically. That’s what you’re looking for: a guy with the physical upside. Playing where he played there, at Southern Illinois, he’s on the come.”

The three-day camp also got off to a good start off the field, where the seventh-rounders, Ohio State tackleReid Fragel and South Carolina center T.J. Johnson, signed contracts. With the NFL going into its third year of the rookie salary scale, it's believed the Bengals could sign as many as four more drafts picks by the time camp ends Sunday morning.

http://www.bengals.com/news/article-1/Lewis-loves-his-rookies-says-Eifert-and-Bernard-can-help-now/df6a7975-f953-4ad5-8aa4-186515e4f80d?campaign=cin:fanshare:twitter



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Marvin Lewis Press Conference (5/10/13)
(21:11) By Bengals.com - Posted 12 minutes ago

Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis isn't prone to doling out praise from the lectern, but after Friday's first two practices of rookie minicamp he was downright effusive, particularly about the first two draft picks, Not

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Marvin Lewis news conference transcript

 

Opening Comments...

"It’s been a good day, other than a little bit of rain shower. It was really good to get started today with our young players. To a man, they impressed me; I wasn’t disappointed with where anybody was, in relationship to what we expected through the draft. It was a really good start. It’s obviously evident that both Tyler (Eifert) and Giovani (Bernard) will be able to help us offensively and have an opportunity to carve out roles and niches early on in their rookie seasons. I’m excited about that. The game is not going to be too big for either one, and that was really evident through the first two practices out here today, in what they’ve been able to handle.

"The next guys – the defensive players – I feel really good about. Both Margus (Hunt) and Shawn (Williams) are guys who will continue to compete for more and more opportunity, and have an opportunity to earn it. They’re guys that are on the come in their game, and that’s what we really expected. But they’re doing a good job of showing well out here, with what we’re to do here. That’s been good.

"The offensive linemen, as a whole, we’re really excited about them, with the three guys that we picked.Cobi Hamilton, I’m excited about what he did out here today. He’s been battling a little bit of bronchitis, and he’s just getting over it the last 10 days or so. But he’s doing a good job. All in all, very pleased. And thenRex Burkhead: again, just what I expected. And Sean Porter showed he’s very natural, has great movement, and as a linebacker is a really good athlete. So I’m excited about the 10 guys. It’s good to get them going out here."

When you said Rex Burkhead was ‘what you expected,’ what did you mean?

"Just the quickness in line, the ability to stick his foot in the ground and go from Point A to Point B. Just the things you saw from him on tape. His abilities as a receiver. I think he’ll be a guy also who will really uplift us on special teams and compete to be one of our core guys."

So much of football seems to be having a feel for the game. A lot of young guys struggle with that, but it seems like you think some of these young guys have it...

"Obviously Tyler Eifert is the one. He’s going to be fine. He’s such a big, long man, and he’ll keep developing and learning to play with his pads down, when we get to that point. But he’s showing the ability right now to be such a great knee-bender that he’ll be able to fit in into those blocking situations. He’s doing the things we’re asking him to do right now, and he’s doing it well. He’ll just keep growing from there."

You had guys out there today – DeQuin Evans and J.K. Schaffer – who have been around for a while. Is this a good opportunity for them?

"Great opportunity. DeQuin has been around for a little bit. But it is good to get back and play football. J.K. is kind of running the show, so it’s good to have him in there. He should have been at last year’s camp, and life would be a little higher than it is right now (laughs)."

Is that an ‘I told you so’?

"I always tell those guys that if they go somewhere else, they don’t always get the opportunity. We’re going to give you an opportunity here if you’re a young guy. I think that goes too with the CFA guys that we’ve signed. To a man, I was impressed with them today. I felt good about those guys. So it’ll be a competitive camp, and that’s a good thing for the football team. Those guys will have an opportunity to compete and have a chance to show in the preseason, and if it isn’t here, maybe it’s somewhere else."

What was intriguing to you about Jayson DiManche?

"He’s such a good athlete. He’s got the long legs, long arms. But he’s so underdeveloped physically. That’s what you’re looking for: a guy with the physical upside. Playing where he played there, at Southern Illinois, he’s on the come."

How about Brandon Joiner? What’s he shown you?

"Brandon’s been around with our guys a little bit here, so that’s been good. He’s making a big conversion from a guy who played small college football as a defensive end. He works his tail off."

He’s been here a couple weeks for off-season, is it almost like…

"It’s starting over, basically. It’s like any other rookie. He’s really starting over. Basically he had three days last year. That was it."

What are your thoughts about Onterio McCalebb at corner?

"He’s got all the want-to, and there was a big progression technically from practice one from practice two. That’s all we need to keep seeing from him. Kenny Riley reached out to us. He lives not far from where he grew up. We were able to put him in touch with Kenny and they had a good talk. Kenny kind of told him his story about how he made the transfer from offense to defense because he had those skills. A thing we weren’t necessarily sure about with Onterio was ‘Does he have the quickness to be a corner?’ After watching him in two practices, I don’t have any doubt of that."

So right now it’s just technique?

"Oh, yeah. He’s being asked to do something that he necessarily hasn’t done for about four or five years, since he was in high school at Hargrove."

Back to Brandon, what did you see in him that you guys were willing to stick by him for this past year?

"It’s not that necessarily that we saw anything, we just felt like unfortunately for whatever reason he was…well we should probably quit talking about Brandon because he’s already done what he’s needed to do, and that’s it."

Is part of it that he was willing to man up and take his responsibilities?

"Again…we drafted ten guys, and we’ve got a lot of other guys here."

Any of the tryout guys catch your eye today?

"Yeah I think there are some guys with ability, as always is the case. We’ve ended up signing a guy, at least one every year, that has ended up being able to stay around in some fashion. It’s a good group of guys that are fighting. We had 40-plus guys out there working today. We lost a guy today to some soreness, but hopefully we’ll get him back tomorrow morning."

Special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons I’m sure had his eyes peeled out there trying to see what might be available …

"He’s been pleased with what he’s been able to see. He wants to see if some of these guys fit in and can replace some of the guys that matriculated on through the system this year. I think that’s important. We’ve got some opportunity open for guys to step up and earn those things on special teams in every area."

It seems like you guys reached out to Roy Roundtree pretty soon after the draft. Is he a guy you had high hopes for?

"Roy showed up when I was watching a lot of the defensive players in the Big Ten play. He made some contested catches, some runs after the catch. I don’t know when it was, but I walked past (Bengals WR coach) James Urban and asked ‘Who’s the kid at Michigan?’ He told me about him, and James talked to him before the draft, and right after the draft we talked to his people and told him that we’d like to offer him a shot here.

" I think it’s worked out well. I had the opportunity to talk to Coach Hoke (Michigan head coach Brady Hoke) last week, and he went out of his way to sing his praises. How the kid was able to go through the changing in coaching staff and offensive styles and offensive systems and just keep being the kind of guy you want to have on your football team. He told me how proud he was of that. He caught 70 passes, maybe, in his second year, and then the numbers kind of went down based on what they were doing offensively, so there was a little bit of a change. He told me the kid just kept coming to practice every day and working every day and being a great team guy. I think that’s the kind of guy you want to give an opportunity to."

Tyrone Goard and Cobi Hamilton, the two receivers, certainly look the part…

"Yeah, they’ve got some height to them and some length. Cobi is a young guy who has a chance to really develop, and the other kid had a little bit of a story and a transfer, but he’s got some speed and some raw athleticism."

Brian Gamble from Ashland sounds like he’s in the same boat as Onterio McCalebb, mostly an offensive guy who’s got some defensive experience…

"I’m not as familiar with him yet as some of the other guys."

How about Reid Fragel? Has he showed what you expected?

"Yeah, he really has. He kind of got his feet tangled up this morning and did a split like a gymnast, so he’s got some flexibility, too (laughs). I was cringing. But he’s what we’re looking for. All three of those guys – (TJ) Johnson, (Tanner) Hawkinson – they’re all guys that you want to have and develop in your program. It gives us an opportunity for some real, true depth and development on the offensive line. We know what a critical area that is in the National Football League. You need to have guys that are in the pipeline developing, and I think we have an opportunity now with those kinds of guys. We found Trevor (Robinson) last year, and with what (Clint) Boling and (Kevin) Zeitler have done, and Anthony Collins continues to do well here. We basically re-signed that second unit that we’ve had, but these guys come in to compete with those guys, which is a good thing.

"We’ve got Dennis (Roland), and we’ll get Travelle (Wharton) back now, so we’ve got a pretty staunch group up there. That’s what we need to have. We need to have some development and let some guys grow and get ready to play, so if they’re ever called upon, they’re ready. Because as you know Dave (Lapham), more than anybody in here, about how important it is to play together. So guys that have been in the system, if you have to plug a new guy in, you don’t have to miss a beat. They’re familiar with everybody setting the same, and all the footwork is the same and everybody’s working in unison."

In camps like this, you have to learn how to practice, and the tempo. Is there always a guy trying to do a little too much who you have to calm down?

"They’re all trying to be right. But the key to being right at this point is more to stay off the ground and not have collisions and contact that would put somebody in jeopardy of getting injured. Because they’re not used to practicing like you practice here in the NFL. They don’t go through that regimen as much like we do. We’re practicing good guys vs. good guys quite a bit. And that good guy on one side is just as valuable as the good guy on the other side.

"So it’s really, really important that we learn that. I thought we got off to a pretty good start, better than sometimes – better than most times, actually. And I think we’ll be better at it tomorrow and continue through so that a week from now, when they get in with the rest of the guys, they’ll have a better understanding of how to do it. Because that’s the thing, you just always worry.

"We had to teach (Rey) Maualuga how to practice because he was used to being the big man on campus there (in college) at S.C. and knocking the snot out of everybody all the time. He had to learn that, how to practice. You may injure yourself or get somebody else injured, and they’re just as valuable as you are. So I think young guys have to go through that progression and learn how to practice that way. It’s better to be telling them to slow down than speed up. I know that."

Is that what you told your linebacker with Tyler Eifert in that first practice, saying ‘Hey, that’s our first-round pick. Keep him up’?

"Well, yeah. The quarterback needs to get the ball outside so he doesn’t have to come back to the ball and run himself back into the coverage. You’ve got both guys stumbling over each other out there, and those are the things we’ve got to keep guarding against when we get the other guys out here and we go into the OTA sessions. We don’t want to subject some guy to a freak injury like that, because we know how many times guys stumble and fall. It’s football, but yet you hate to lose somebody for a period of time because of something like that."

How beneficial is it for Reid Fragel and TJ Johnson to get their contracts signed and out of the way?

"The way the system works now, they’ve got a great summer job. I told them they’ve got new money. It’s the first time in their lives they’ve got some money in their pocket and not having to go to class all day long and everything. They’ve got a real good job that has an opportunity to make some real good money for a period of time, so take it seriously and do everything you can to stay here."

Do you expect any other guys to sign soon?

"Yeah, I think we’ll push hard to get them all signed here very quickly. That way we can kind of turn our attention to some other things. Not that that has a bearing, because it is what it is out of that pool of money."

It looks like Eifert won’t need a long orientation …

"No. He and Gio (Bernard) both. Excellent. Not every coach has an opportunity to study every player. You hear the defensive coaches comment on it, you hear some of the other offensive coaches from other positions comment on it if they haven't quite seen the guy. They know the guy is going to be a valuable addition to what we're doing. And can make an impact right away, and that's going to be great. We'll have some flexibility in a lot of different ways to do some things.

"(Eifert) is as advertised. What I was most impressed with is how he did a great job in the running game and the techniques he's being taught. I know he can run and catch, and turn get-back shoulder plays and all those kinds of things that you have to do in tight spots in the NFL. I know he can do all that. But the other stuff was impressive today.

When you mention the run game, do you mean in terms of blocking?

"Yes. His body position and everything. When I was there in Pittsburgh, they drafted (Mark) Bruener (in the first round of 1995). You looked at his body and how (he) looked like a linebacker, and had that kind of hips and flexibility like a defensive end. And later in Baltimore, we picked Todd Heap, and watching Todd as a young player, blocking well, even though Todd didn't come out of Arizona State with that kind of reputation."

Have you ever had a back like Bernard since you've been here?

"What everybody doesn't understand, when you look at Ray Rice when he was a young player, this guy is already a little taller, a little heavier. The only difference in the two of them is Ray's arms were two inches longer. If that matters. We're looking at comparisons of (Doug) Martin, and the back down in Jacksonville (Maurice Jones-Drew), and those kind of guys with that kind of stature. Everybody sees where they are now, but you also look at physically where they started out, and I think Gio’s got special ability that way."

But you haven't had guy here like that in your 11 years…

"Rudi (Johnson) was pretty close to this. Rudi probably was not the receiver Gio is going to have the opportunity to be. He didn't have those chances at Auburn to develop that way. This kid has played in both the downhill, I-formation style running offense as well as the spread-out-the-field offense. He's had an opportunity to do it all like that.

"And he goes back to even his high school, St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), so he's had opportunity both ways. To me his running style is a lot like Rudi, although he's probably a little quicker than what Rudi. But obviously, the way they're built to the ground … We've got two styles of backs being productive right now in the National Football League, and he would be in that other style.

He's different than Rudi, Cedric (Benson), and BenJarvus (Green-Ellis) ...

"Bennie's not the same as those guys. Bennie's a better cut runner than what those guys were, Cedric or Rudi. Bennie's different than those guys. (Bernard) is in the same style as Bennie, but a little more agile at this point, that's all."

http://www.bengals.com/news/article-1/Marvin-Lewis-news-conference-transcript/8118b133-3935-456d-8f2d-94ac8ca21716

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whodey1971 Pro Bowler

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Random observations after watching the day 1 videos

 

  • Most impressive WR was Roy Roundtree (#86)
  • Gio seems to have quick feet
  • McCalebb (39) struggled in the backpeddling drill...but he's likely doing that drill for the first time ever (he gets a pass?)
  • Margus looks freakishly athletic for a guy his size
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As advertised

 

On his first day as a Bengal Friday, tight end Tyler Eifert lined up in more spots than a flip-flopping politician during a drip-dry rookie minicamp at Paul Brown Stadium.

But Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis approved this message as truth in advertising. The man who has spent 21 seasons in the AFC Central and North trying to defend those two-way threat tight ends that can catch and block, could barely contain himself at the end of the day.

"He's as advertised. What I was most impressed with is how he did a great job in the running game and the techniques he's being taught," Lewis said. "I know he can run and catch, and turn get-back shoulder plays and all those kinds of things that you have to do in tight spots in the NFL. I know he can do all that. But the other stuff was impressive today."

And as if to produce a character witness, the Bengals gave a tryout to Eifert's Notre Dame teammate and high school quarterback. John Goodman, a fellow Fort Wayne, Ind., native has known him since he was 12.

 A year older, when Goodman was a freshman at Notre Dame he advised then-head coach Charlie Weis to check out his favorite target at Bishop Dwenger High School.

"Touchdowns," said Goodman after the first practice, when asked what Bengals fans can expect from his friend. "A player that can block and play the receiver position, too. I mean, not just like a slot guy. But like an outside receiver that can run a go. It's going to be hard to cover him. He utilized that in college. You saw. His actions spoke. He did well. I think he'll do the same in the NFL."

The Bengals think Eifert means touchdowns because he'll team with two-time Pro Bowl tight endJermaine Gresham to make offensive coordinator Jay Gruden's system more versatile. Gruden said last week that in order to make it work Eifert is going to have to block to keep teams from playing a pass defense whenever he's on the field,

They truly won't know if Eifert can block the way they want until the August preseason, but Lewis apparently saw enough Friday. His last year in Pittsburgh, the Steelers took tight end Mark Bruener in the first round of the 1995 draft. His last year in Baltimore, the Ravens took Todd Heap in the first round of the 2001 draft.

It sure sounds like he wants to stick around to see Eifert's second season after the Bengals took him with the 21st pick.

"His body position and everything," said Lewis of what impressed him in the run game Friday. "When I was there in Pittsburgh, they drafted Bruener. You looked at his body and how (he) looked like a linebacker, and had that kind of hips and flexibility like a defensive end. And later in Baltimore, we picked Todd Heap, and watching Todd as a young player, blocking well, even though Todd didn't come out of Arizona State with that kind of reputation."  

Neither does Eifert, but he certainly put those first-round hands on display. In the morning practice he caught a one-handed fade right in front of a smiling Andy Dalton standing in the PBS runway and in the rainy afternoon practice he tipped a ball to himself and caught it as both knees hit the ground on a route over the middle.

The Bengals didn't hesitate in imitating how Notre Dame used him last year. He caught balls in both slots and from both in-line positions.

"Day One they already moved me around a lot. That was good. I think I picked it up better than I thought I would have at first," Eifert said. "It's not a whole lot, but it's definitely something new for me. I'm catching on pretty quickly and moving around quite a bit.

"The new part is just learning the plays, the verbiage, and what we call things here and just how things work, it's all different… I'm used to lining up (all over), it's just knowing when to line up in different places and things like that."

Eifert not only fit like a glove on the field, but his minicamp was made to order when Goodman got the call the day after the draft for a tryout with the Bengals when they were golfing together at Glendarian in Fort Wayne. And, by the way, when they golf that's not exactly news. They've been doing it almost every day after they work out in the morning.

And Goodman always turns his phone off when he plays. But when he got to the sixth hole, he realized a team may be calling and he saw the missed call from the Bengals.

The golf game was suspended for a minute or two for him to call back, after which Goodman said, "Ty, here we go again."

So they drove the three hours down here Thursday and Goodman agreed with an estimate of how many car rides they shared (1,000) and they ended up being roommates for Friday's 6 a.m. wakeup call.

Eifert and Goodman have been hand in glove for a long time. After a senior season the junior Eifert was his favorite receiver, Goodman became a receiver at Notre Dame. But he reminded Weis about his go-to guy in school.

"I told him, 'Coach Weis, you've got a great receiver tearing it up at Dwenger,'" Goodman said. '"You should check him out,' and they checked him out. Coach Weis said, 'With that athletic ability, we need him.'  I threw to him in high school and I knew what he could do. He was a true receiver back then. He's got the same speed, maybe a little faster. But since then he's put on 50 pounds."

Goodman may have an uphill climb to get a contract. But his future may be in scouting.

 

http://www.bengals.com/news/article-1/As-advertised/ad3d25e4-0e15-459f-8ee0-b90768f2317c

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Who was # 80 in the WR video ?

 

I think it's John Goodman, former WR at Notre Dame - I thought he looked pretty good. 

 

Also, was wondering who #51 was... looked like he had very quick feet on the LB video. Assume it's not Aaron Maybin. I saw a numerical roster for the camp, but he and #80 weren't on it. 

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