Michael Johnson says Bengals teammate Carlos Dunlap will “be back ready to roll”

Bengals teammates Carlos Dunlap and Michael Johnson will be back on a football field together this weekend! But it won’t be in Cincinnati and won’t be on an NFL field.

They’ll be in Charleston, South Carolina at the Carlos Dunlap Foundation’s Low Country Family Fun Day and the Low Country Football Camp. The two day annual event includes face painting, a bounce house and family-fun activities on Friday followed by a football camp featuring Dunlap, Robert Quinn and more NFL players on Saturday.

Johnson and Dunlap always attend each others community events and both are former Walter Payton Man of the Year nominees. The two Bengals defensive ends haven’t shared an NFL field since January when the 2017 season ended as Dunlap has been skipping out on Bengals OTAs.

These are optional practices during the spring months, but Dunlap is the only Bengals player who hasn’t been attending. Dunlap is likely skipping out while sending a message that he’d like a new contract as he’s set to hit free agency in 2019. The Bengals are surely trying to get one of their defensive leaders re-signed, but it could take some time.’

With that said, Johnson spoke to Bengals.com this week and suggested Dunlap could be back in Cincinnati soon.

“He’ll be back ready to roll,” Johnson said.

The Bengals finish off OTAs next week and I don’t imagine Dunlap will be there. But, mandatory minicamp runs from June 12-14 and you’d have to think that’s when Dunlap will make his return to Cincinnati, as Johnson alludes to.

For now, Dunlap has been training in Miami where he lives during the offseason and he has been working hard, despite not being in Cincinnati with his teammates. We’ll have to see when he makes it back to Cincinnati, but it seems his return will be soon.