The position group considered to be the deepest at the start of training camp was the thinnest in just the third day of practice.

Loaded with six first-round draft picks at cornerback, the Cincinnati Bengals were without the services of five of them Sunday night.

Leon Hall, Terence Newman and Adam Jones sat out with what are believed to be minor issues, while Nate Clements is still recovering from an abdominal injury that kept him out of OTAs and Dre Kirkpatrick is scheduled to miss four weeks with a knee injury suffered prior to the start of camp.

That left Jason Allen, the other first-round pick, and Brandon Ghee to handle most of the duties in front of the first sellout crowd of camp.

“We’ve got some corners banged up right now, so I got some reps out there and just tried to make the best of my opportunity,” said Ghee, the team’s third-round pick in 2010. I’d take it as a challenge if it was six fifth-rounders I was competing against. I’m just trying to be one of the best and out-play everybody.”

With only two other cornerbacks on the roster – rookie Shaun Parter, who also sat out, and Chris Lewis-Harris, a free agent the team just signed Thursday – Ghee had plenty of chances to make plays, and he turned in one of the highlights of the day with a diving interception of an Andy Dalton pass.

Safeties George Iloka and Tony Dye slid over to give the team some depth at corner.

“I played corner about half my senior year at Boise (State), and they used me there some during minicamp and OTAs,” said Iloka, one of the Bengals’ two-fifth round picks in April. “But getting to know corner, it’s giving me a better grasp of the whole defense.”

Ghee and Iloka are in a battle for a spot on the 53-man roster. The odds are even longer for Dye, an undrafted rookie free agent out of UCLA.

“Nobody’s blind to the reality of what’s going on,” Dye said. “I’m a college free agent, so I’ve got to work a little harder. That’s how it’s always been for me, so I just have to continue to do so.”

While five of the team’s six first-rounders weren’t practicing, they stayed involved.

“Leon and Nate are who I look at the most,” Ghee said. “They taught me a lot the last couple of years. That’s who I’m learning from, and that’s how my technique got better.

“Even though it’s a competition, they’re good people. This is a family, and we root for each other and may the best man win.”

Time change: The Bengals announced a time change for several practices at training camp. Instead of beginning at 3:15 p.m. as originally scheduled, the practices today, Tuesday, Friday, Aug. 7, Aug. 8, Aug. 13 and Aug. 14, will start at 3, with gates opening at 1 instead of 1:15.

All seven practices will be held on the field across the street from Paul Brown Stadium. The 10 a.m. start time for the distribution of free tickets remains unchanged.