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Billy Price on the field at rookie minicamp despite injury (Rookie Mini-cap News)


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Slants and screens: Price puts in full day despite injury; 3 more sign

Posted 4 hours ago

hobson60x60.jpgGeoff HobsonEditorBengals.comFollow Me Blog

The Bengals today signed three draft picks, including second-round S Jessie Bates, fourth-round HB Mark Walton and fifth-round CB Darius Phillips.

 

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Billy Price isn’t going to face a defensive tackle before training camp begins in two-and-a-half months but that didn’t stop him from staying on the field longer than anybody else Saturday during the middle day of the Bengals rookie minicamp.

Price, the Bengals’ Opening Day center, is doing all the things a first-round pick should do even though he’s still rehabbing from an early March surgery to repair a partially-torn pectoral muscle.

During what he calls a “self-service,” period where other offensive players act as defenders in what amounts to a walk-through, Price was the first-team center as offensive line coach Frank Pollack ran through the responses to the looks and when Price snapped the ball the players ran through their assignments.

He usually doesn’t touch anybody, although there was enough pushing that Bengals president Mike Brown expressed some concern to the coaches before Saturday’s practice. Price stayed the course, but didn’t take any snaps when the offense went against the defense. He did stay near the huddle to pick up the call against that defense. After practice Price, cleared to run a week and a half ago, stayed on the field for about 30 minutes for conditioning administered by director of rehab Nick Cosgray.

He’s confident he’ll get it all down, but it’s not pretty early.

“I’ve been speaking French and now I’m speaking Spanish,” Price said. “We did nothing like Coach Pollack is doing at Ohio State. Nothing. For me right now it’s a struggle, but it’s going to get better.

“I’m trying to pick it up faster. We’re looking at certain alignments and the different variations that can come off of that.”

Even though he’s not butting heads, Price is making strides in picking up Pollack’s technique and offensive coordinator Bill Lazor’s plays.

“With self-serve it’s a lot easier because you can recognize looks without somebody trying to take you out,” he said.

_The Bengals Saturday signed three draft picks, including second-round safety Jessie Bates, fourth-round running back Mark Walton and fifth-round cornerback Darius Phillips.

In two years (2016-17) of action at Wake Forest, Bates (6-1, 200) totaled 179 tackles, including 9.5 for losses, with six INTs, nine pass breakups and two forced fumbles. He also served as a punt returner for the Demon Deacons, averaging 9.0 yards on 26 career returns, with one TD

Walton (5-10, 202) played three seasons (2015-17) at Miami, and in 30 career games totaled 2930 total yards and 28 TDs — 26 rushing and two receiving. Although an injury limited his 2017 campaign to just four games, he still managed 428 rushing yards on 56 carries (7.6) and three rushing TDs.

 

Phillips (5-10, 193) was a three-time all-conference selection on defense in four seasons (2014-17) of action at Western Michigan, but he perhaps was best known for his impact on special teams. He finished his career ranked sixth in FBS history in kickoff return yards, with 3,145, and had four career kickoff returns of at least 100 yards. He scored 14 career TDs in five different ways — five KR, one PR, five INT, one FR and two receiving.

Of the Bengals’ 11 draft picks, just four remained unsigned, including C Billy Price (first round; Ohio State), DE Sam Hubbard (third round; Ohio State), LB Malik Jefferson (third round; Texas) and WR Auden Tate (seventh round; Florida State).

 

 

http://www.bengals.com/news/article-1/Slants-and-screens-Price-puts-in-full-day-despite-injury-3-more-sign/19159fde-be21-4f08-a798-f4d07317fec2?campaign=cin:fanshare:twitter

 

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Quick hits: Small world for Bates; Flowers busy; Put Price in No. 53; Four picks sign

Posted May 11, 2018

hobson60x60.jpgGeoff HobsonEditorBengals.comFollow Me Blog

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Jessie Bates found some familiar faces in the locker room.

-Billy Price couldn’t wear his Ohio State number of 54 because it’s retired for the first Bengal ever drafted in center Bob Johnson. So the team wanted him to go a slot down to No. 53.

No problem for the Bengals’ first-round pick

“Stay in my lane. Go to work,” said Price with a shrug as the rookies broke for lunch Friday before their first practice of minicamp.

Price was surprised by one item hanging in his temporary locker in the annex of the locker room reserved for first-year players.

“Hey, I’ve got a helmet,” he said as he mashed it on his head.

But he won’t be wearing it for real until training camp as he continues to rehab from surgery on his partially torn pectoral muscle …

-Department of It’s a Small World After All: Second-round pick Jessie Bates III, the safety from Wake Forest, found himself lockering next to seventh-round pick Auden Tate, the wide receiver from Florida State.

“He caught the game-winning touchdown against us,” said Bates of Tate’s 40-yard catch down the middle last September in the last minute to pull out a back-and-forth game.

No, Bates wasn’t covering him. (“He was going outside the majority of time where I was inside in the slot playing man-to-man.”). But it was quite a tussle just the same. Bates and Tate already knew each other before that day from playing against each other in years past and following each other on Instagram. (“Just from playing each other. That’s out of respect. He’s a hell of a player.”) But that didn’t stop Tate from drilling Bates with a blind-side block.

“We were joking about that,” said Bates with a laugh. “I’m going to get him.”

Not only that, Bates is rooming with another seventh-rounder, Toledo quarterbackLogan Woodside. Bates, out of Fort Wayne, Indiana, had actually committed to Toledo when Woodside was the quarterback but opted for Wake Forest when the offer came a week before signing day.

Woodside hasn’t forgotten.

“When he got drafted I was pretty sure he was following me (on social media) and got my number and called me the next day,” said Bates, who knows Woodside is a good find for the media. “You’ll get to know that guy. He’s a character.” …

-Woodside, from nearby Frankfort, Ky., showed up for the second time at Paul Brown Stadium. He says the first time was for a Browns game way back in the day to see University of Kentucky’s Tim Couch quarterback Cleveland …

-As advertised, the Bengals wasted no time with undrafted South Florida free agentQuinton Flowers. The highly-decorated quarterback is listed as a running back but has been told he’ll start out playing both with the emphasis on running back as well as giving returning a try.

He has checked out the tape of some other college QBs that ended up playing other positions, such as a pair of wide receivers in Antwan Randle-El and Randall Cobb.

“You can get some positive energy from those guys,” Flowers said …

-Undrafted free agent Ja’Von Rolland-Jones, out of Arkansas State, came within a half sack of Arizona State’s Terrell Suggs’ collegiate record for career sacks. But 43.5 is still pretty good. One of the reasons he signed with Cincinnati is that his defensive line coach in the East-West Shrine Game was Bengals assistant linebackers coach Marcus Lewis, whose specialty is the spin move.

“It was factor. He’s a great coach,” Rolland-Jones said. “He kind of got me to clean up some of it. I haven’t perfected it yet. It’s coming.”

He can’t wait until the veterans hit town because he wants to pick left end Carlos Dunlap’s brain. He has already heisted one of Dunlap’s moves off film.

“The way he uses the stab chop,” Rolland-Jones said. “You stab the inner pec (the shoulder) and then wipe away the other arm. I’d love to learn from watching him do it in practice.”

Arkansas State is the home of one of the all-time Bengals’ greats, linebacker Bill Bergey. But that 1969 draft he was taken with the 31st pick is nearly 50 years ago.

-The Bengals signed four of their 11 draft picks before Friday's practice Woodside and fellow seventh-rounder Rod Taylor, a guard from Ole Miss, as well as fifth-rounders Davontae Harris, Illinois State cornerback, and Virginia defensive tackle Andrew Brown.

 

 

http://www.bengals.com/news/article-1/Quick-hits-Small-world-for-Bates-Flowers-busy-Put-Price-in-No-53-Four-picks-sign/4bfcfc91-8d20-44a4-b837-6c89a0e077ce?campaign=cin:fanshare:twitter

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On 5/11/2018 at 7:41 PM, oldschooler said:

 

 

 

That's impressive.  Not as impressive as beating an NFL OL, and he's only standing out among rookies, but still.. Guy seems to have everything you could ask for as a prospect. Just needs to go out and prove it when the time comes.

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4 hours ago, T-Dub said:

 

 

That's impressive.  Not as impressive as beating an NFL OL, and he's only standing out among rookies, but still.. Guy seems to have everything you could ask for as a prospect. Just needs to go out and prove it when the time comes.

I'm impressed that he watched five minutes of a Bengals practice and did not see anyone get hurt.

1/2 :ninja:

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I just want to say a heartfelt thank you to Oldschooler. He's done a yeoman's job of keeping the Bengals team info flowing in multiple threads. This place would not be "the source" that it is without your efforts.

 

They're not unnoticed. Thank you again.

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3 hours ago, Bunghole said:

I just want to say a heartfelt thank you to Oldschooler. He's done a yeoman's job of keeping the Bengals team info flowing in multiple threads. This place would not be "the source" that it is without your efforts.

 

They're not unnoticed. Thank you again.

 

 

Thanks for the kind words. 

You're welcome. 

 

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Notebook: Rookie backer eyes Tez as camp breaks; Home base

Posted 17 hours ago

hobson60x60.jpgGeoff HobsonEditorBengals.comFollow Me Blog

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Eyes of the rookies are on Vontaze Burfict.

 

The Bengals finished off their rookie minicamp in Sunday’s one-hour workout but they’ll be back at Paul Brown Stadium Monday morning to mix with the veterans in their workouts for the first time.

That’s when Connecticut middle linebacker Junior Joseph, an undrafted rookie, is hoping to meet another undrafted linebacker. The 6-0, 229-pound Joseph, a top 15 tackler in Huskies history, hopes to glean some tips from Vontaze Burfict.

“I watched him last year. I watched him a lot last year. I’d watch (the Bengals) on prime time and he stood out,” Joseph said this weekend. “He’s aggressive, physical. That’s the type of linebacker I am. Aggressive, physical down-hill player. Burfict and NaVorro Bowman are the two guys in the NFL that I’m a fan of.”

Joseph comes out of pro-style program headed by UConn coach Randy Edsall, a Tom Coughlin disciple. So you know he comes with a hard nose.

“You have to be aggressive to play this game,” Joseph said. “If I have the opportunity I hope to learn a lot from (Burfict). Hopefully come Monday I’ll get a chance to talk to him. I was thinking coming in here that it’s kind of cool being on his team. And being able to ask him about certain things on the field and how it can help my game.”

_Home is where the heart is. Undrafted rookie wide receiver Devonte Boyd is one of the greatest receivers in the history of UNLV after going to high school in nearby Henderson, Nev. But he asked the Bengals to change his hometown on the roster from Henderson to New Orleans.

He was ten years old living on the West Bank of the Crescent City when Hurricane Katrina hit and his family was forced to live in Houston for a year. When they returned a year later, Boyd decided a few years after that to live with his uncle in Henderson.

But New Orleans is home.

“That’s where I grew up,” Boyd said. “I still consider that home. My whole family is still there.”

 

 

http://www.bengals.com/news/article-1/Notebook-Rookie-backer-eyes-Tez-as-camp-breaks-Home-base/2dc78719-2c76-4408-8a1a-b5b120a7117c

 

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Worley fitting right in

Posted 23 hours ago

hobson60x60.jpgGeoff HobsonEditorBengals.comFollow Me Blog

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Chris Worley at work this weekend.

If you’re a Bengals fan, what is there not to like about rookie linebacker Chris Worley? And forget that he’s one of four rookies at minicamp this weekend from The Ohio State or that he’s from Ohio or that he helped the Buckeyes win a national title.

Try that while growing up in Cleveland he delighted enraging his family by rooting for the Bengals against the Browns. Or try that his favorite Bengal back then was wide receiver Chad Johnson because despite the histrionics he always showed up to beat you. Or try that he knows all about the Bengals being born because the Browns fired a head coach named Paul Brown.

“Ridiculous but, hey, people make mistakes,” Worley said upon his arrival “Organizations make mistakes.”

The Bengals didn’t make the mistake of judging Worley merely on his athleticism and his measurables, which is one of the opinions why fellow Buckeye backer Jerome Baker went to the Texans in the third round while Worley had to wait for the Bengals to win a bidding war after the draft that made him their highest paid college free agent for what is believed to be about $13,000.

 The Bengals looked past the numbers and focused on Worley’s crafty instincts formed in 50 games for the Buckeyes. Not to mention his penchant for physical play and ability to fit into the Bengals scheme at both SAM and WILL right now and the middle later. 

“Tough. Hard-nosed. High motor,” said Billy Price, the Ohio State center the Bengals took in the first round, when asked for a scouting report. “Smaller guy. Especially when you look at linebackers, but a guy who gives you his all. One of these pesky linebackers who just keeps coming back. I’m glad he’s on my side.”

 If that’s not enough of a reason to like Worley then you have to love the fact that the Bengals have secured some of their best linebackers in the Marvin Lewis Era through college free agency. That’s how Vincent Rey (2010) and Vontaze Burfict (2012) got here and if you listen closely people talk about Worley the same way.

Smart. Versatile. Did we say tough?

“Tough. Physical. Took over from day one,” said linebacker coach Jim Haslett after day two. “I like him.”

That made it easy for Haslett to recruit him hard and he’s a big reason Worley is here.

“Coach Haslett talked to me through the whole process. I came down here for a visit. He came up there for pro day,” Worley said of that Columbus job fair that produced seven draft picks. “It came down to needs. It came down to scheme of things. Like how they run some of the same things as Ohio State.

“I thought this was a better fit for me personally. I love the coaching they have here. Coach Haslett was a big deciding factor.”

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Chris Worley became a Buckeye staple in 50 games.

When the last day of the draft rolled around, Worley’s name frequently surfaced and if they hadn’t grabbed Texas linebacker Malik Jefferson in the third round they probably would have pulled the trigger as early as the fifth.

 “His measurables are fine. He’s got the same measurables of everyone that was getting drafted in the third and fourth round,” Haslett said. “There are a lot of guys in that position that didn’t get drafted. There were a million DBs, a million offensive and defensive linemen. A lot of quarterbacks.”

Haslett isn’t the only guy in his corner. Try the guy in the corner office. Why not? Worley and Bengals president Mike Brown are a couple of Cleveland kids who moved to Cincinnati and always root for the Bengals when they play Browns.

 “I like Worley,” Brown said as he watched him take his first pro steps. “We’ve always liked Ohio State guys. They’ve been good players for us. And good guys. To a man.”

When Brown grew up in Cleveland, he was the son of Browns head coach Paul Brown idolizing his father’s players. Worley grew up idolizing the players that went to his high school, that parade of blue-chippers that barged through Glenville and Ohio State to the NFL.

“Ted Ginn Jr., was probably the first. He was one of the guys that always reached back to me in the process,” Worley said. “He was like a big brother to me when I was younger. He’d take me to go work out. Things like that.  Cardale Jones and I grew up together. Marshon (Lattimore) and I grew up together and played together our whole life. Since we were seven.”

His father told him early not to watch teams, but players. That was just fine. He had a problem with the hometown Browns.

“In my family, half are Browns fans, half are Cincinnati fans,” Worley said. “When they used to play each other I always used to go for Cincinnati just because I knew the Browns sucked. So I was like, ‘I’ll just roll with Cincinnati every time.’”

This is where he smiled. That seemed to upset the Browns’ half of the family. Chad made it easy to root for Cincy.

“How could you not love Chad Johnson?” Worley asked of his favorite Bengal. “You could say what you want about him, but once it was time to play football he was a fierce competitor. I always respected that about him.”

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Linebackers coach Jim Haslett had his eye on Worley.

That gives you an idea where Worley is coming from. Haslett is lining him up at SAM this weekend, but he also slid inside on passing downs. Both of them think he can play all three spots.

“I’m not trying to do the feeling out process. I’m coming here to compete. That’s why they brought me here,” Worley said. “They didn’t bring guys here to go through the flow. Be the cool guy. At the same time you have to know how to practice. I’m coming here to compete. That’s the only thing that’s on my mind. Compete in different ways. Compete on the field. Compete in the playbook. Leadership role. All that.”

It doesn’t sound like he’ll have much trouble with the playbook. He’s already got the history book down. Thanks to another Bengals fan, Ohio State coach Urban Meyer.

“When freshmen come in, especially if they’re from another state, they get the whole Ohio history. You better know that. The team up north. The rivalry. They’ve got to know all that. All the great coaches Ohio State has had. They have to know all that.”

So he knows why his new stadium has the name. After all, Meyer knows long before Paul Brown coached the Baby Bengals to the 1970 AFC Central Division title, he coached Ohio State to its first national title 28 years before that.

“I know the impact he’s had on not just Cleveland, not just Cincinnati, but Ohio as a whole,” Worley said. “I’m grateful to be in a state where there’s so much tradition. At this point everywhere I’ve been he’s had an impact. It’s kind of weird to think about it that way. It’s kind of like my grand dad.”

Now Worley knows he needs a roster spot to get in the history.

 

 

 

http://www.bengals.com/news/article-1/Worley-fitting-right-in/71028740-67f1-492e-a108-71641a1588aa

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13 hours ago, Rick said:

What does he mean?

It's a lyric by Jay-Z. He's talking about Michale Jordan when he wore the 45 number but its also a double entendre for a 45 cal pistol. The not playing games part is referring to Jordan not playing around against his competition, the aim at you part is the 45 pistol.

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2 hours ago, Jamie_B said:

It's a lyric by Jay-Z. He's talking about Michale Jordan when he wore the 45 number but its also a double entendre for a 45 cal pistol. The not playing games part is referring to Jordan not playing around against his competition, the aim at you part is the 45 pistol.

 

TY! Song is called "Encore".  I wouldn't expect Rick to get that :whistle: but c'mon folks. It got "mashed up" with Linkin Park's "Numb", I'm sure most of us have heard that one too many times. 

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3 minutes ago, T-Dub said:

 

TY! Song is called "Encore".  I wouldn't expect Rick to get that :whistle: but c'mon folks. It got "mashed up" with Linkin Park's "Numb", I'm sure most of us have heard that one too many times. 

Something more their speed...
 

 

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35 minutes ago, T-Dub said:

 

TY! Song is called "Encore".  I wouldn't expect Rick to get that :whistle: but c'mon folks. It got "mashed up" with Linkin Park's "Numb", I'm sure most of us have heard that one too many times. 

Image result for woke

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11 hours ago, Bunghole said:

I just want to say a heartfelt thank you to Oldschooler. He's done a yeoman's job of keeping the Bengals team info flowing in multiple threads. This place would not be "the source" that it is without your efforts.

 

They're not unnoticed. Thank you again.

No doubt. Thanks Old!!

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