Much Ado About Nothing
A lot has been made of Bengals QB Carson Palmer's comments on a radio interview with the Sirius NFL radio program "Movin' The Chains" last week. Of teammate Chad Ochocinco and his absence, Palmer said, "Well, I really don't know. I haven't talked to him. I haven't talked to anybody that has talked to him.
"He wasn't here last year, so I'm expecting him not to be here at all this year. Last year I think he was here for the mandatory camp but didn't participate in it.
"So I'm planning on him not being here just because he hasn't been here yet."
What those words say to me is that Palmer is focused on who is in camp and doesn’t want the distractions that come with talking about a player not present.
Palmer also understands that Chad does his own thing in the offseason: Ochocinco trains with Charles Collins, who runs the Phenom Factory in southern California.
I think that the media, especially ESPN and NFL Network, were trying to make a story were there wasn’t one. Does Palmer want Chad in OTAs? I would say after the abysmal season they had last year, of course he does.
But he understands that these are voluntary workouts and that the real work begins in Georgetown.
A Knock 'Em Out Receiver
Chad Ochocinco had not been heard from since the Super Bowl interview he gave with the NFL Network. But now, the same guys have tracked him down for another interview; this time, he was found at Freddie Roache’s Wildcard Gym in Hollywood, CA.
The segment containing the interview showed Chad lifting, running, and of all things, boxing. Chad is up to 200 pounds and looks as fast as ever; he was doing agility drills in the boxing ring. Asked if he was not in Cincinnati as a statement that he doesn’t want to be there, Chad said that 2008 was an embarassment and he felt like he had to rededicate himself to being in rare form before he ever hit the field.
He went on to say that he will be at minicamp when it opens, and he will repair the bridges between Marvin, Carson, and himself when he shows up in Cincinnati.
Competition for Third RB Off and...Running
Bernard Scott isn’t going to make it easy for the coaches to cut him. All reports out of camp are that he is shining. The coaches love the fact that he will serve as a change of pace back to Cedric Benson.
The Bengals just released the failed experiment that was change-of-pace back Chris Perry, an oft-injured former Wolverine.
Bernard had over 1,000 yards receiving last year, and the Bengals are hoping to get the most out of his speed this year. They'll try him out at running back, punt returner, and kickoff returner.
