The Bengals plan to meet but won't be on the field Thursday for their last OTA of the spring in what looks to be another of head coach Marvin Lewis's team bonding off-campus trips. The scuttlebutt is volleyball.
So Wednesday was a final tune-up for next week's mandatory minicamp and all signs are that incumbent middle linebacker Rey Maualuga is feeling as comfortable as ever in his four seasons as a Bengal.
"Just think about it," he said after practice Wednesday. "Last year at this time I didn't know if I was playing SAM or the middle."
Plus, Maualuga appears to be responding to new linebackers coach Paul Guenther's mantra of "Letting Rey be Rey." That means less thinking and more reacting.
"I'm not going to try and throw everything down your throats. I'm just going to tell you what you need to do and you get on the field and play football. There's only so much a coach can do," is the way Maualuga is hearing it. "I'm going to fill your guys' heads with less info and let you go out and do what you do best. That's been awesome.
"Having to mess up a little bit and then come back, correct it, and go back out and do what you've got to do."
Maualuga reiterated he played "scared" after he missed three games in midseason last year with a severe high ankle sprain that was corrected with postseason surgery. "I played wrong," he said because he was so concerned about getting cut-blocked at the feet.
Maualuga is crossing his fingers that no news is good news. He said he hasn't heard from the NFL concerning an offseason legal case that was dismissed.
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