The Bengals opened their rookie minicamp Friday, but the story of the weekend is the presence of former Raiders quarterback Terrelle Pryor, cut earlier this week by the Chiefs. Pryor hopes to show enough so the Bengals sign him after camp and make him their fourth quarterback behind Andy Dalton, AJ McCarron and Josh Johnson.
They could have signed him before the camp, but that would have precluded him from working with the rookies and the 2011 third-round supplemental draft pick and Ohio State great has no qualms about being with the kids. He's here because of the affinity he has for the man that drafted him when he was head coach of the Raiders, Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson
"This is a joy for me," said Pryor, wearing No. 3, as he prepared for Friday afternoon's practice. "I told Hue that I wanted to be in this minicamp. I need reps. I'm not going to get them when Andy is here. I have to take the reps, laser in, and just do the best I can."
No, the 6-6, 240-pound Pryor says he's not here as a wide receiver. Even though Jackson is liable to line him up anywhere.
"I don't think he will," Pryor said. "Quarterback is what I know how to play."
Pryor said Jackson is the best coach he's had in the NFL when it comes to relating to him and he feels it will help him that the Bengals' playbook is very similar to the one he had that rookie year in Oakland…
Second-round pick Jake Fisher ended his draft weekend trip to Cincinnati back on Saturday night at the home of left tackle Andrew Whitworth watching the Floyd Mayweather victory and said he was thrilled by the invite.
Whitworth may have some issues with the team but none, it appears, with the two tackles the Bengals took in the first two rounds.
"He was very welcoming. It was great," Fisher said. "He gave me some advice on where to live and how to get around."
Whitworth's advice?
"Downtown," Fisher said. "Stay as close as I can to the stadium." …
The Bengals have roomed two pretty smart guys together in fourth-rounder Josh Shaw, a cornerback from USC, and sixth-rounder Derron Smith, a safety from Fresno State. Smith is a four-year starter and two-time captain who called the defensive signals and Shaw was voted a captain who played virtually every secondary position.
"We were going over the playbook last night and he's smart," Smith said. "We played against him last year and he did some good things against (wide receiver) Davante Adam, the guy the Packers drafted."
Smith is pretty smart, too. One of the tattoos on his chest says, "Angela."
"My mom,' he said. "It's the first one I got, so I didn't think she'd get mad." ...
Some have wondered if Shaw projects to a safety, but the Bengals have indicated they're putting him at corner. He is wearing the number of another Bengals safety from USC with Taylor Mays' No. 26. Mays followed his old defensive coordinator, Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer, back in March...
Besiders Pryor there are some rookies who have local ties who are in for a tryout, led by former University of Cincinnati linebacker Nick Temple trying to make it at safety. Joining Pryor at quarterback is Miami of Ohio's Andrew Hendrix via Cincinnati's Moeller High School. Towering Mount St. Joseph tight end John Peters (6-8) is out of Lakota West High School in the Cincinnati suburbs...
Leave it to special teams coach Darrin Simmons to lay it right on the line for seventh-round pick Mario Alford, the 5-8 West Virginia wide receiver who blew scouts away with his 4.25-second 40-yard dash.
"Like he told me, my hand is probably going to be so messed up from catching so many punts," Alford said.
He knows he's got to return both punts and kicks (he returned two kickoffs for TDs last season) if he's going to stick on the 53-man roster and he hasn't returned punts since his junior year...
