Minicamp Wraps Up

Ocho Cinco participated in WR drills during the final practice of minicamp. The team continues to urge him to get his ankle cleaned out.

"“He worked hard; he was rusty,” said offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski. “(The defensive backs) are playing hands on and a very physical style of defense. If you haven’t been working and preparing against that, it takes you a while to get back used to it.”Bratkowski thought Johnson looked a little gimpy on the ankle.“He’s got that ankle issue at the end of the season. They were trying to get it taken care of, it hadn’t been taken care of, he needed to get it taken care of,” Bratkowksi said. “He’s going against guys that have been out here 14, 16 practices. You’re going to look that way when you have none. He worked hard.”"

Chad’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus said his client would report to training camp. Meanwhile, Yahoo Sports’ Jason Cole wastes our time with yet another column calling for the Bengals to trade Chad, while PFW’s Eric Edholm think the Bengals should swap Chad for TE Jeremy Shockey.

Defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer is in everyone’s face trying to improve the D.

Fullback Jeremi Johnson is on the bubble after after ballooning up to more than 300 lbs. during the offseason.

Former Bengals WR Chris Henry has been suspended again pending the outcome of his trial on assault and criminal damaging charges. While we’re on the subject of ex-Bengals, Kirkendall pases along word (from ESPN’s Chris Mortensen) of some bizarre behavior by Odell Thurman before he was cut.

Extending Domata Peko has provoked mixed reactions in the Bengalsphere. Put me in the Blitz’ corner on this one.

DT Jason Shirley’s new trial date has been set: August 27. The judge in the case rejected a request by Shirley’s attorney, Charles Magill, to delay the trial until after the NFL season. Pointing to the presence of Jon Skiles, a top-ranking official from the District Attorney’s Office, at the hearing, Magill said the prosecution was bent on making an example out of Shirley.

"“The DA’s office doesn’t send over an assistant district attorney on a run-of-the-mill misdemeanor DUI,” Magill said. “The only reason why he’s here is they’re trying to make an example of Jason Shirley at the cost of that young man’s career.”Magill said Skiles’ presence is designed to sway the court’s judgment, adding that he isn’t suggesting Bramer or any other judge would be influenced by this attempt.Magill said the District Attorney’s Office is leveraging his client’s commitments to the Bengals to squeeze an unfair deal out of Shirley.“They’re aware that Jason Shirley is going to be subjected to more problems as an NFL player if he has a guilty plea to a DUI than any other similarly situated defendant” because of the league’s code of ethics, Magill said. “This misdemeanor could effectively ruin his career, and [the District Attorney’s Office] knows this."