7 things we learned from Day 1 of Bengals OTAs

The Cincinnati Bengals hit the practice field for the first time this offseason on Tuesday. There, a few players were surprisingly rehabbing injuries while other players who ended the season injured were happily practicing.

Here are seven things we learned from Day 1 of OTAs.

1. Clint Boling and George Iloka are doing well in their shoulder surgery recoveries

Boling had shoulder surgery in Week 17 of the 2016 season after originally suffering an injury in Week 4, which he played through up until Week 16. Iloka never had a know shoulder injury, but also had shoulder surgery following the completion of the season. On Tuesday, both were practicing with the Bengals, though, not at 100 percent. This round of OTAs doesn’t feature any contact in practice, but, the players are still out there, running around and attempting to make plays. It’s great news that both Boling and Iloka were able to participate, even if in limited fashion. Boling is expected to take on a bigger leadership role with Andrew Whitworth and Kevin Zeitler gone and it’s important for him to be out there, helping lead the young players.

2. Injured rookies

Rookie offensive lineman and fifth round pick J.J. Dielman is recovering from a foot injury and didn't participate in team drills on Tuesday. Dielman's injury occurred five games into the 2016 college season and caused him to miss out on Combine drills, too. Additionally, rookie sixth round pick Brandon Wilson was seen on the rehab field, though he did participate in drills with his fellow defensive backs.

First round pick John Ross is recovering from shoulder surgery. But, Ross isn’t present in Cincinnati as he awaits Washington’s graduation — on June 10 — before he can participate in team activities. It’s a strange and unfortunate rule that’s keeping Ross away from his new teammates. Still, he’s not expected to be fully recovered from his surgery until July.

On a related note, the rookies volunteered at the Ronald McDonald House on Tuesday night. Ross Tweeted that he was disappointed to have missed the opportunity, but, the Tweet has since been deleted.

3. Kickers will rotate practicing

According to Local12, the Bengals will be using only two of their three kickers per day in practice and will rotate the three on a daily basis. On Tuesday, fifth round rookie Jake Elliott sat out while veteran Randy Bullock and first year player Jonathan Brown took turns kicking field goals. Per Local12, Brown, a former soccer player, missed two of his four field goal attempts from 39 yards out and 43 yards out, while Bullock missed one of his four, a 43-yard attempt.

I wonder what these guys did for the rest of the nearly two hour practice if they only kicked four field goals each.

4. A.J. Green experienced a groin injury

Iloka always goes hard in practice and while trying to snatch away a pass from Green, the Bengals' safety accidentally hit Green in the groin area. Green took a few minutes off the field, but, returned shortly after.

Ouch.

5. Rehab field featured some surprises

On the rehab field were tight end Tyler Eifert and running back Giovani Bernard. But, both were expected to be there as they recover from back and ACL injuries, respectively. Unexpected players rehabbing injuries were C.J. Uzomah (unknown injury) and Wilson (as mentioned above, who also has an unknown injury). Dre Kirkpatrick also experienced a “freak accident” in recent weeks, which caused him to fracture a bone in his hand. More information wasn’t divulged and Marvin Lewis didn’t offer a timetable for his return. Though, he’s only expected to miss a few weeks and should be good to go for training camp.

6. 2 coaching interns

The Bengals have two coaching interns in OTAs this week. Former NFL linebacker Aaron Curry, who played for the Seahawks and Raiders is one of them. He is the defensive line coach at University of North Carolina - Charlotte and is helping with the defensive line during OTAs. The other intern is Roderick Plummer, who is the linebackers coach and special teams coordinator at Holy Cross. He'll be helping out with the Bengals' running backs and special teams unit. Plumer has also coached at UMass, Cornell, Florida A&M, Hampton and James Madison, among other colleges.

7. Andre Smith takes on the right guard job

Though offensive lineman don’t do all that much in OTAs, Smith took on the right guard role in practice with the starters. This year’s starting line figures to be Cedric Ogbuehi at left tackle, Boling at left guard, Russell Bodine at center, Smith at right guard and Jake Fisher at right tackle. It will take some impressive play from the backups for a change to be made to that situation. But, it’s entirely possible as guys like T.J. Johnson, Christian Westerman and Alex Redmond (among others) push for playing time.