5-25-01, 4:20 p.m.
BY GEOFF HOBSON
Bengals wide receiver Darnay Scott may be invisible, but Steve Mooshagian thinks it might have been inevitable for a guy who broke his leg during a non-contact practice.
Mooshagian, the Bengals receivers coach, still hadn't heard from him Friday afternoon. But he thinks Scott will show this upcoming Tuesday for the last week of voluntary workouts before the club's July 20 start of training camp.
And after thinking about it this week, Mooshagian concluded Scott's absence from all three weeks of the voluntary workouts confirms something:
Scott's biggest rehab battle from his broken leg is mind over matter.
"He's got to get the edge back and I just don't think right now he feels comfortable running routes against guys," Mooshagian said. "His first step is to get back to that and the step after that is to get through training camp."
In the last 15 minutes of an Aug. 1 training camp practice, Scott was blocking downfield when tight end Marco Battaglia inadvertently blocked a linebacker into the back of Scott's legs. The result was two season-ending broken bones in his lower left leg.
"Yes, he should be here. Yes, it would help him," Mooshagian said. "But you have to appreciate where maybe he's coming from. You've got a lot of young guys out there and maybe he doesn't want guys rolling up up on him or guys grabbing him when you're trying to rehab a broken leg."
That said, Mooshagian would like him here just to learn the new offense. He thinks Scott will feel better after he spends June running in his hometown of St. Louis with Olympian Jackie Joyner-Kersee and her husband/coach Bob Kersee.
"He's looking for a comfort level and I just don't think he's there yet mentally," Mooshagian said. "He will be. He just has to go through the stages."
TICKET EXTENSION: The Bengals have extended the due date for payments by season ticket-holders to June 10 from June 1. Because of litigation involving the club, Hamilton County and some ticket-holders, the invoices were sent out in the middle of this month instead of May 1.
"The invoices were programmed to show the June 1 date," said Bengals ticket manager Paul Kelly, "and we realize that the relatively short notice may have created some difficulties for some of our season ticket-holders. Extending the due date is a way to minimize this inconvenience."
