Bengals Officially Announce Signing of UFL WR Calvin Russell

On Tuesday, we reported that the Bengals would host Calvin Russell, a former UFL wide receiver for the Florida Tuskers who was coached by Jay Gruden before he came to the Bengals.

While head coach Marvin Lewis was on a Cincinnati sports radio show, not only did he deny the rumors that the Bengals were interested in Brett Favre, but he confirmed the signing for Russell, the former UFL speedster. Russell will join a very talented and deep wide receiver corps consisting of A.J. Green, Jerome Simpson, Jordan Shipley, Andre Caldwell, Ryan Whalen, Quan Cosby, Andrew Hawkins, Jamere Holland, John Standeford, Landon Cox and Bart Johnson. 

Russell, an extremely fast receiver, could be utilized by the Bengals as a deep threat, and Gruden, who has is attempting to install a West Coast offense in Cincinnati, knows the important of deep threats and the long passing game.

"We've been focusing on ball control, but it's hard nowadays to keep having eight-, 10-, 12-play drives. You have to get the big chunk," Gruden said Tuesday here before the night practice at Georgetown College. "We're going to be focusing on that pretty soon. Your play-action lets you take shots. Obviously everything starts with the run, but we have to do a better job in pass protection."