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Chick Ludwig covers the Cincinnati Bengals. He also writes about his other passions: college football, basketball and golf.Home > Blogs > Chick Ludwig At Large > Archives > 2008 > August > 06 > Entry
Rivers flows in first workout
RIVERS LOOKS STRONG;
NDUKWE OK AFTER SCARE
===LUDWIG AT LARGE IS impressed by Bengals first round draft pick Keith Rivers, who worked out by day and studied his playbook by night during his 10-day holdout.===
Outside linebacker Keith Rivers was up.
Strong safety Chinedum Ndukwe was down, but only temporarily.
All eyes were on Rivers, the Cincinnati Bengals’ first-round draft pick, on Wednesday morning, as he endured his first practice since signing a six-year contract late Tuesday night.
Then second-year strong safety Ndukwe gave everyone a scare, crashing to the turf, writhing in pain with an apparent knee injury. Ndukwe got immediate attention from medical personnel and was taken off the field on a golf cart.
Less than a half-hour later, Ndukwe jogged back onto the field and on the sidelines, where he was closely monitored by trainers.
Rivers looked good physically. On one particular drill, he smashed into a blocking dummy — that’s attached to a pulley — and drove it 10 yards.
When the offensive line and running backs got together with the defensive line and linebackers, Rivers ran with the second unit. On several plays, he stood in the defensive backfield, simulating his movement as if he were in on the play.
“I’m ready to rock ‘n’ roll,” said Rivers, who said he exchanged text messages with teammates Frostee Rucker, John Thornton, Pat Sims and even Carson Palmer, who sent him defensive and offensive installation material each night.
Linebackers coach Jeff FitzGerald said Rivers will play at Green Bay on Monday night.
“I think he’s ready. We’ve just got to get him reps and keep him working out here,” FitzGerald said. “Expectations are high and I really feel like they’re going to be met in a very short period of time.”
QUICK HITTERS
—-Tailback DeDe Dorsey, finally recovered from a pulled hamstring suffered in June minicamp, practiced for the first time in camp … and fumbled after bursting through the line of scrimmage.
If Dorsey gets cut, here’s the reason why — BALL SECURITY! He fumbles too often in practice.
—-Wide receiver Jerome Simpson needs to keep running hard in an attempt to make yards after the catch. He slowed down after making a nice catch and got stripped by strong safety Dexter Jackson.
WR coach Mike Sheppard screamed: “YOU DID THAT AT COASTAL (CAROLINA)! YOU DON’T DO THAT HERE!!!”
—-Resting: TBs Rudi Johnson and Chris Perry, WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh, DT John Thornton, LB Rashad Jeanty, OT Willie Anderson, FS Herana-Daze Jones.
—-After practice, FitzGerald and kicker Shayne Graham spoke with IndyCar series driver Jaime Camara, who is getting ready to compete at Kentucky Speedway.
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