After practice, Jones said he doesn’t expect to be back on the side field for today’s practice.
“I didn’t get my physical done, so I couldn’t practice (Tuesday),” Jones said. “You’ll see me (today). There’s nothing to be alarmed or worried about. I obviously could have practiced.”
Even though Burfict was on the field doing rehab work, he was limited and still faces a lot of rehab to recover from the knee injury that forced him to miss the final nine games last year.
“Vontaze will be in rehab all the way through the summer,” head coach Marvin Lewis said. “So he’s got a long ways to go. He had surgery in January. That’s a surgery that takes a bit. He’s trying to beat the odds and do it quicker, but he’s got a lot of work to do. It’s part of the injury.”
Asked if he thought Burfict would be back for training camp, Lewis was vague.
“It’s like with Marvin Jones,” he said. “When they get here and prove that they’re ready, then they’ll prove that they’re ready.”
Starting safety Georg Iloka was not at practice with what defensive coordinator Paul Guenther described as a “ding.”
Iloka was in the locker room during the period open to the media, and he said he’s fine.
“I’m good,” Iloka said. “Everything’s great. I’ll be out there when I’m out there.”
Also not practicing were defensive tackle Devon Still, who has been gone all offseason to spend time with his daughter Leah as she battles cancer and undergoes chemotherapy, and defensive end Margus Hunt. No reason was given for Hunt’s absence.
Joint practices: Several outlets in New York have reported the Bengals and New York Giants will hold joint practices in the days leading up to their Aug. 14 preseason game at Paul Brown Stadium.
“We’ve had something set up for awhile,” Lewis said.
When asked if the team is, indeed, the Giants, he said “We’ll see.”
The Bengals have held joint practices in the past with the Atlanta Falcons (in Atlanta in 2013) and New Orleans Saints (in Cincinnati in 2007). And the team has a joint practice scheduled with the New York Jets last year, but logistic issues forced a cancellation.
The Giants haven’t had a joint practice since 2005 when one with the crosstown rival Jets ended with tight end Jeremy Shockey starting a fight.
The Bengals-Giants practices at PBS are expected to be held Aug. 11-12.
Burkhead blow: The OTA practices are supposed to be conducted without pads or contact, but sometimes bodies collide in live action.
Rex Burkhead was on the receiving end of a blow by defensive end Wallace Gilberry, the force of which knocked the running back’s helmet off and left him looking dazed.
“Luckily I don’t have much hair up there so the helmet just kind of slid off,” Burkhead said. “It’s one of those things that happen. We’re both playing fast. He reached his hand out to tag me off, and it got caught on my helmet.”
Gilberry joked that he owes Burkhead a massage.
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