Posted by ESPN.com's James Walker
Believe it or not, the Cincinnati Bengals held actual football practices today in the Queen City. Here are Hashmarks' observations from Day 1 of Cincinnati minicamp.
- Both receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh and left tackle Levi Jones showed up Thursday in good shape. Neither player participated in organized team activities and both have contract questions. But they didn't seem bothered by it and were each working with the first team.
- There was a serious case of the dropsies during the first day of camp. Among the players that dropped passes included Houshmandzadeh, tight end Ben Utecht and rookie receivers Andre Caldwell and Jerome Simpson.
"I didn't have the best practice today, so I'm trying to get myself better,'' a frustrated Houshmandzadeh said in between sessions.
- Bengals backup running back DeDe Dorsey suffered a groin injury in the afternoon and was unable to finish the second practice. The extent of his injury is unknown at this point.
"Marcus has done some good things," Bengals offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski said. "He's been very reliable, so he's going to have an opportunity to get some playing time."
