Chad. Chad. Chad. We're talking about him again. Why not? After all, we spent the past year wondering a bunch of things ranging from trade demands, motivations, injury, Oil Slick, mentalities, perceptions and perspectives. So it's only fair that, while we may recite our holier than thou passages, that we acknowledge the unexpected turn. Chad works out in Los Angeles and decides to miss several OTAs. Suddenly, he takes a flight to Cincinnati. Gets a physical. Takes the field. Now? Now he's back to being a Bengal.
Ochocinco made a nifty double move on cornerback Leon Hall on a 25-yard pattern, hauling in Palmer’s pass just inside the end zone's front pylon, then got the better of Geoffrey Pope on a route in the middle of the field.
He added a nice block on David Jones following a quick receiver screen to Antonio Chatman.
“It’s really only my second day. There are a lot of new wrinkles that I’m not familiar with,” Ochocinco said. “I’m really not comfortable going with the ones (first team) at the moment. The plan was to go in and get ready for minicamp and get up to practice speed.
“I knew I had a lot of catching up to do. This was my plan all along, to come back when I thought I was in the shape I really needed to be in.”
Offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski says, "happy days are here again." Andre Caldwell notices an improved Chad already.
"He's in a lot better shape; you can look at him and see it," said second-year wide receiver Andre Caldwell, who only saw Ochocinco play in his dismal '08 season. "He's looking a lot quicker, faster. He looks like the Ocho I've seen on TV and the highlights."
Then you have a glorious nugget by Johnson. Remember when Eric Ghiaciuc said that the Bengals lockerroom had a lot of distractions? To which Johnson replies: "Ghiaciuc's play was a distraction. Of all people to call me that."