Storm puts halt to first practice for the Bengals
Associated Press
GEORGETOWN, KY.
Quarterback Andy Dalton was warming up on the field when a storm moved in, forcing him and the rest of the Cincinnati Bengals to run for cover.
Another setback in Cincinnati’s rough year.
The Bengals’ first scheduled practice of training camp had to be pushed back several hours on Saturday because of a storm. Dalton, a second-round pick from TCU, was on the field with teammates warming up in an orange No. 14 jersey when heavy rain and lightning arrived.
Players ran to the locker room, then returned a few minutes later after the rain abated. They were out there for only four minutes when another cloudburst forced the team to reschedule practice for the evening.
That’s how it’s gone for Cincinnati.
Whether it’s Carson Palmer retiring or Johnathan Joseph leaving or Chad Ochocinco finally getting his trade, the Bengals have been weathering one long storm for months.
Their first practice summed up the seismic change from a year ago, when the Bengals were coming off an AFC North title and signed receiver Terrell Owens right before their first practice. Fans greeted Owens at the airport in Cincinnati, and packed the stands at Georgetown College that night for his first workout.
So much has changed.
Only about a hundred were in the stands on Saturday night when the Bengals took the field to warm up for the rescheduled practice, many of them wearing the jerseys of departed players.
“It was not quite as empty last year,” said Brandon Wilson, 22, from the Cincinnati suburb of Norwood. “They were coming off a good year, they had T.O. and the big guys. Now they’re all gone and they didn’t have such a good year. Not a lot of people want to show up.”