2012 Bengals Training Camp

CINCINNATI -

After a humidified steam bath of a practice to open the first ever 2012 training camp at Paul Brown Stadium on Friday, today ( Day 2) felt like someone had turned the air conditioning on with a light breeze and temperatures in the mid 80’s.

Two days of camp have proved it is pretty obvious that guys are in shape, probably more so than when they would report to Georgetown. Marvin Lewis was asked if guys are in better shape under the new CBA and he said “It’s hard to tell but it’s better in general, because last year I felt after the conditioning test that there were five or six guys that weren’t quite where they needed to be.” He went on to say that “Some people had handled the lockout a ton better than others. But right now I think we are in pretty good shape.”

I personally think the team looks as good as any team I have seen report to camp since 2005. Nobody is overweight and I have not seen a player get sick on the field, yet.  

WR Jordan Shipley, CB Nate Clements, DT Pat Sims, CB Dre Kirkpatrick, DE Robert Geathers, and K Mike Nugent did not practice as they recover from various injuries. “We had guys like Nate, who ran on the field and passed his test. Shipley passed the test. So there are guys that, even though they are on PUP, they’re in pretty good position in that way,” said Marvin. “It’s just that there are other things we’re dealing with until we’ve had our eyes on them for enough days to put them out there.”

It’s pretty obvious that the offense is light years ahead of the defense and you could tell that by watching Mike Zimmer explode several times today asking defenders to wake up. Bernard Scott and Brian Leonard broke off a few nice runs that could have went for big gains if this were a real NFL game. Taylor Mays continued to be the starting safety opposite Reggie Nelson and struggled in coverage giving up a couple long pass plays. Reggie came up with his second interception in as many days. 

Adam Jones did have to leave for the second consecutive day, Friday with cramps, today it was a kick in the calf in coverage.

The star of the day: Benjarvus Green-Ellis staying for twenty minutes after practice signing autographs for as many of the 1500 fans that he could.

The Bengals next practice is Sunday July 29 from 6-8 p.m. on the Paul Brown Stadium practice fields, their first in shoulder pads. Get your passes at the north ticket window starting at 4:00 p.m..