Bengals Rookie Minicamp Recap: Day Two

Snap shot storylines:

1. The Bengals concluded the second day of rookie minicamp on Saturday.
2. Andrew Whitworth addressed the media about his comments from Monday, essentially concluding this storyline.
3. Jake Kumerow may have a broken finger, but Josh Shaw prematurely ended practice with cramps (calf). Floyd Raven sat on Saturday out of caution from a minor injury.
4. Terrelle Pryor is making the most of his opportunity; he could sign by the end of practice on Sunday.

+ Offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth was on hand coaching offensive linemen, then spending a few minutes to clear the air following the day's first session. Andy Dalton joined Whitworth and both Bengals players had their cubs with them.

My boys playing right and left tackle at minicamp today for Noah Dalton!! @jjdalton5 @mrs_whit77 @andydalton14 pic.twitter.com/VZE1zirk68

— Andrew Whitworth (@BigWhit77_fndn) May 9, 2015

Rookie Jake Fisher, taken in the second round of the 2015 NFL draft out of Oregon, is listening.

"He’s been doing it forever. He knows what he’s doing," Fisher said via Bengals.com. "What we do here is completely different. The footwork, the whole philosophy. Just where we’re placing our hands, the footwork. The hands are what offensive line play is and that’s what we work on the most. Yeah, he’s a good teacher. He’s been here almost 10 years."

Whitworth worked mostly with Fisher on Saturday, but also spent time with Cedric Ogbuehi, who is recovering from an ACL injury from the Liberty Bowl in December.  "He gave me some pointers about technique," said Ogbuehi via ESPN. What to work on, what to expect, how to be a pro. He's done a great job with that. So I can listen to him."

"They're thirsty, man. I always gauge rookies by their mentality, and that is: are they coming in here defensive or are they coming in here with an attitude that they don't need to be told anything or how they need to be communicated to? And both of them are hungry, both of them are excited for the opportunity to learn something," Whitworth said.

Saturday's story was mostly two-fold:

1) Practice amongst the rookies;
2) Whitworth's relationship with the Bengals (and the front office)
3) Whitworth's relationship with the offensive tackles who were draft last weekend.

In retrospect, everything appears to be fine.

+ Bengals CFA running back Terrell Watson really likes the situation in Cincinnati, despite the mountain of difficulty he will face to climb into the Bengals' depth chart. That being said... special teams isn't a position that's impossible for him to break into:

"I talked to a lot of teams when it came before the draft and after the draft going free agent, and I know they have (Jeremy) Hill and Gio (Bernard) here and it's a great opportunity just to learn, too," Watson said via the Cincinnati Enquirer. "I look at those guys and watch them run. With Hill, we have the same running style, which is really cool, so it'll be great to watch him and learn off of him and hopefully come in and play, too."

Above him on the depth chart includes Giovani Bernard and Jeremy Hill. However, there is no reason that he couldn't break into the lineup as a special teams ace, challenging players like Rex Burkhead and Cedric Peerman.

"Even my role on special teams," said Watson. "I'm a big special teams guy. Nothing wrong with special teams. I love special teams."

+ Fisher worked at left guard during the first session on Saturday; he moved to right guard in the afternoon.

+ Wide receiver James Wright was there for the first session while linebackers Nico Johnson and Emmanuel Lamur was there in the afternoon (second session).

+ Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson said of the team's tight end situation: "I like what I see there. I think we’ve got something to work with there. They’re big guys that can run. I like their athleticism and you have to like the fact they're big." The Bengals have four tight ends at rookie minicamp this weekend: Tyler Kroft, C.J. Uzomah, Jake Murphy and Matt Lengel.

+ Cornerback Josh Shaw (calf cramp) and CFA Jake Kumerow (hand) couldn't complete the second session on Saturday with injury issues. Shaw attempted to return but watched the remainder of the session from the sidelines. Floyd Raven also sat out for most of the day on Saturday. According to Bengals.com, Jake Kumerow may have suffered a broken finger during practice on Saturday.

+ Writes ESPN, in regards to Shaw:

Shaw was quite reflective Friday when asked about the moment he stepped on the Bengals' practice field for the first time. "This is a day I'll never forget," he said. "It's my first practice ever in the National Football League. It's truly a blessing. When I walked out here on the field it was like, 'Wow. All these years of hard work are finally paying off.' So now I'm here, and really it's just the beginning of my journey."

+ Terrelle Pryor spent Friday night working on a throwing motion, applying a regiment that was created by Dr. Tom House. "People think arm strength is your accelerator of de-accelerator in the back of your shoulder, or you get it from lifting," Pryor said via Bengals.com. "It’s all about arm speed. Flicking it. That’s what I was working on. My arm speed. A baseball just teaches it and then when you get the football, you just flick it." According to Bengals.com, the team is "leaning to" signing him following Sunday's practice.

+ Per this story at Bengals.com, the similarities between Chris Henry and Mario Alford, both West Virginia alums who repped No. 15, (Alford's new number with the Bengals) are growing:

He said his Twitter blew up Friday about the similarity and although he had heard Henry’s name, he had never seen him play. So he spent part of Friday night watching him on video. "He was really good," Alford said.

+ Mario Alford continues to impress everyone, with ESPN's Coley Harvey predicting that he'll make it extremely difficult on Brandon Tate and Denarius Moore.

+ In other news, the Bengals announced that Robert Livingston, who has been a scout since 2012, has moved to the coaching staff under the title of Defensive Quality Control/Special Teams Assistant. Livingston became the scout responsible for the southeast region after replacing Bill Tobin, who is the father of Duke Tobin, the team's Director of Player Personnel.