DaytonDailyNews.com

GEORGETOWN, Ky. — Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson refuses to take the steps from the locker room to the conference center, which houses the team's cafeteria and meetings rooms at training camp. Johnson sprints up the grass hill.

To say he's on a mission is a cliche. It's also the truth.

Johnson became the first Bengal to lead the NFL in receiving yards in a season when he piled up 1,369 in 2006, and he accomplished the feat despite a season-ending slide — 10 catches for 122 yards and no TDs in the final three games.

"The last three games of the season, I stink," Johnson said. "It was brought to my attention by coach (Marvin) Lewis. He threw it in my face.

"He told me that's why I'm underpaid, because I stink the last three games of the season. He said when I step it up the last three games, they'll give me more money."

Johnson's 2007 base salary: $2.5 million.

Oklahoma drill

The famed Oklahoma drill — a man-to-man blocking drill and a brutal test of manhood — was the featured attraction Sunday. "It's a high-adrenaline drill where you get after each other a little bit," rookie center Dan Santucci said. "It gets everyone fired up."

The drill ended with linebacker Eric Henderson out-muscling Chad Johnson.

"They're always talking during stretching," Lewis said. "So (Chad) asked me if he could go against him to finish it. It didn't go his way. It's his new emphasis on blocking. He was trying to show that he's not afraid, so it was good."

Bridezilla? Not

Rookie corner Leon Hall married his college sweetheart, Jessica Cobb, in Detroit on July 14. So he's the club's newest newlywed and millionaire. "She takes a lot of weight off my shoulders so that I can concentrate on football," he said. "I can fully attribute that to her."