With his wild mane of hair and limbs full of Polynesia warrior tattoos, Rey Maualuga is an easily recognizable figure.

But lately the fourth-year pro has been walking around the Cincinnati Bengals locker room cloaked head to toe in a baggy gray hoodie and sweat pants, looking more like Rocky Balboa.

Bengals coaches have asked Maualuga, who reported for training camp weighing 260 pounds, to drop to 250 by the Oct. 28 bye week. So he’s been putting in extra workouts trying to shed the weight.

“I’m like two or three pounds away,” Maualuga said. “I’m just trying to elevate my game to be more elusive, a lot quicker. I feel as if I tone down and get down to 250 that who knows how much better my game can be as far as my quickness and being able to run down receivers and playing a lot more aggressive.”

A target of criticism earlier in the year, Maualuga recorded a team-high 11 tackles Sunday against Miami. For the season he has 44 tackles, which ranks 10^th in the NFL.

“There’s a lot of bad press out there, people saying he hasn’t been playing the best and what not,” Bengals defensive tackle Domata Peko said. “To me and to everyone in this locker room, he’s the best middle linebacker out there. If you play with confidence you can play a lot better. He knows that, and he seems to be playing confident and playing better.”

Pink pride: While players across the NFL are celebrating Breast Cancer Awareness by wearing pink cleats, gloves, towels and other equipment items in October, the month has a more personal meaning to Cincinnati Bengals safety Reggie Nelson.

“There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about my mom and the situation she went through and the situation all the other women are going through,” said Nelson, whose mother Mary died of breast cancer in 2006 at the age of 45, just before Nelson helped lead the Florida Gators to the national title against Ohio State.

“I wore the (pink) gloves last week, but I didn’t do the shoes,” Nelson said. “I’m going to break my shoes out this week and represent for breast cancer awareness.

“The NFL is doing a great job of contributing to breast cancer. It’s just a blessing that they can do that and help out the survivors, just help the situation period. It’s a very serious thing.”

Sore, smiling: Running back Bernard Scott was upbeat Thursday as he made his way through locker room on crutches.

“It’s all good,” Scott said with a smile when offered condolences on the season-ending knee injury he suffered Sunday against Miami.

“It’s just part of football,” he added.

Scott said he is waiting for the swelling to go down before scheduling surgery. He said he’s eager to get it over with so he can start rehabbing in an attempt to get back on the field next season.

Injury report: Linebacker Dontay Moch (illness) was the only Bengal player who did not practice Thursday. Tackle Andrew Whitworth (knee) and cornerback Jason Allen (quad) were limited for the second day in a row, while Adam Jones (back) and Terence Newman (knee) were limited after being full go Wednesday.

Wide receiver A.J. Green (knee) and cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick (knee) were full participants after being limited Wednesday. It is the first time all season that Kirkpatrick has been full go in practice.