John Ross got up to top speed James Neal Jersey , ran past a defender and caught Andy Dalton’s long pass in stride, drawing an ovation from the approximately 950 fans watching the first practice of Bengals camp.
A day later, he made another impressive catch on a deep throw and heard more applause.
Fans haven’t seen any of this since the Bengals made him their first overall pick last year.
The speedy receiver from Washington expected to show his big-play ability during his first season in Cincinnati. Instead, he missed most of camp while recovering from shoulder surgery and wound up playing in only three games.
He didn’t catch a pass and fumbled on a reverse – the only time he got the ball – before another shoulder injury ended his season.
As debuts go, it was about as bad as it gets. He was playing catch-up from the start because of his injury, and every mistake got magnified.
”It was everything,” Ross said. ”When one thing went wrong, six things went wrong. Not to make excuses Brock Boeser Jersey , but it was so much more than me making one mistake on the field. I think it kind of beat me up mentally and took me away from my game.”
The Bengals are trying to dig out of one of the worst seasons offensively in franchise history. They finished last in the league in yards in 2017, a franchise first. Offensive coordinator Bill Lazor was given wide latitude to overhaul the playbook.
The offensive line has been revamped. Coach Marvin Lewis has said repeatedly that the offense needs to have more big plays this season, the kind they thought Ross would provide when they took him with the ninth overall pick in the draft.
Ross ran a record time of 4.22 seconds in the 40-yard dash at the NFL combine, and the Bengals envisioned him providing another deep threat to A.J. Green. Instead, Ross barely got on the field. He’s been healthy and making a good impression.
”I’ve kind of showed that I can relax and play the game I’m used to playing,” Ross said. ”Mentally, that was the toughest challenge for me last year. Being hurt kind of messed with me throughout the whole year. When you’re beat mentally, I don’t think you can really be yourself.”
Ross was still recovering from shoulder surgery when camp opened in 2017 and wasn’t cleared to practice at the outset. He wound up playing in only two preseason games and making one catch for 6 yards Womens Robin Lehner Jersey , his total contribution to the passing game last year.
He’s already way ahead of last year.
”John Ross has done things this offseason we saw at the University of Washington,” said Duke Tobin, director of player personnel. ”We’re looking for him to take the next step.”
EIFERT BACK: Tight end Tyler Eifert was cleared to practice on Monday after working out on a side field the first four days of camp. Eifert was limited to two games last season before more back problems required another surgical procedure. He signed a one-year contract loaded with incentives.
Eifert mostly worked out with the backups on Monday. He made a couple of diving plays late in practice, drawing applause from fans.
”I could understand how it would be frustrating as fans, hearing, `Oh, he’s on (injury) list again or whatever,”’ Eifert said. ”But trust me T.J. Oshie Jersey , it’s 100 times more frustrating for me because all I want to do is be out there, and I’m doing literally everything I can, spending all my time trying to get back out there and stay out there with the guys.”
H-back Ryan Hewitt also was cleared to join practice, leaving only linebacker Vontaze Burfict yet to get approval to practice. Burfict is suspended for the first four games of the season for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancers.
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Rookie cornerback Denzel Ward made his way up the Browns depth chart to the first team before the end of the offseason program and his more experienced teammates had a hand in his rise.
Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams said before the end of last week’s minicamp that Ward joined 2017 first-round pick Myles Garrett in fitting “into the locker room faster than most rookies” and calls that an important part of any decision about moving a rookie into the starting lineup. There is also the matter of how things go on the field and Ward got a thumbs up from other Browns players there as well.
“When a veteran comes to me and says, ‘Hey coach, we’re better when Denzel is out there,'” Williams said, via the team’s website. “‘So really? Now you’re taking ownership of him? Oh really? Now you’re mentoring him? We’ll see. I will give him a couple of reps out there Jack Johnson Jersey , and we will see.’ After that, when you give that kid the opportunity and that he fits in the room, as opposed to just anointing him because we drafted him. He hasn’t played in this league. I don’t anoint anybody. Both he and Myles got the acceptance of everyone faster than most rookies have had.”
Williams appears to concur with the players as he also said, via Ohio.com, that Ward is “one of the best press” coverage corners that he’s seen come out of college in recent years. All of that adds up to a heavy dose of Ward right off the bat in his rookie year and making good on his promise would put another piece in place for the Browns as they try to climb out of the 0-16 hole they dug last season.