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Keith Rivers Signed


HoosierCat

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Wraith, I hope you're right. I just know that there's a lot at stake for both player and team, therefore so many things can get in the way. No one would like to see Rivers in camp more than I because I watched Brooks be very ineffective this weekend and watched him live yesterday and saw very little burst out of him. Rivers is very much needed ASAP but I'll believe his holdout is over when he's in stipes!

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If Rivers signs soon there shouldn't be any long-term impact from his holdout, and there may not be any short-term concerns either. Zimmer and Lewis have both remarked about how training camp has been little more than a review of the things that were introduced previously, when Rivers was in attendance, and new wrinkles are only now being added. So if he's behind it isn't by much. Plus, numerous articles have noted how roughly 85% of a players time is currently allotted to meetings and film study....brainwork that can be done individually after hours. Last, Rivers comes to the NFL with a reputation as one of the most ready to play prospects in the entire draft and as a prospect who simply won't be outworked.

Rivers is going to play early and often.

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... I watched Brooks be very ineffective this weekend and watched him live yesterday and saw very little burst out of him.

There was a blurb a few days ago noting how he'd complained about his groin again, and I think he had been held out of a practice. Since those restrictions didn't last I have to assume it's not a major concern, but........(voice trails off)

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Positive movement on Rivers

Posted by MarkCurnutte at 8/5/2008 11:54 AM EDT on Cincinnati.com

GEORGETOWN, Ky. -- Neither agent David Dunn nor the Bengals will comment, but there is a buzz today around training camp that the club and Dunn have moved forward in talks to sign first-round linebacker Keith Rivers to a contract.

Rivers' holdout is in its 10th day today. He has missed 11 on-field practices, which includes the intra-squad scrimmage and mock game.

There is no word on whether he could sign quickly enough to practice today at 3 p.m. Coach Marvin Lewis said last week that Rivers is nearby and could get to camp quickly.

But, for now, the sense is around camp that the stalemate has been broken and progress has been made toward a contract for the linebacker.

In Rivers' place, journeyman linebacker Brandon Johnson has moved into the starting role on the weak side and impressed so far in camp.

More as it develops.

http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/s....cincinnati.com

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Can Rivers’ deal finally get sealed?

By Chick Ludwig | Tuesday, August 5, 2008, 01:14 PM

TALKS HEATING UP

AS PRESSURE MOUNTS

Negotiations between the Cincinnati Bengals and the agents for first-round draft pick Keith Rivers accelerated on Tuesday, and the mounting pressure from both sides has generated enough heat to strike a deal as early as today, Aug. 5.

“I’m led to believe something could happen, but I have nothing as of right now (1 p.m.),” Bengals spokesman Jack Brennan said from Bengals training camp headquarters at Georgetown (Ky.) College.

Rivers’ holdout reached nine days at midnight Monday, but there’s a push to get the weakside linebacker into camp for today’s 3-5 p.m. practice.

It’s 70 degrees in central Kentucky and thunderstorms hit the area this morning. It’s still raining, but the club is confident the storm will pass and that the Bengals will be on the practice field at 3 p.m.

The Bengals coaching staff has grown increasing frustrated by Rivers’ holdout. Rivers, the Southern Cal star and No. 9 overall pick in the first round of the 2008 draft, has lost his starting job at weakside linebacker. Luckily for the club, Brandon Johnson and Jim Maxwell have performed well in Rivers’ absence.

“Keith’s missing some things, but I’m not going to make a big deal out of it,” head coach Marvin Lewis said after Saturday’s mock game.

Defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer and linebackers coach Jeff FitzGerald were more pointed.

“It’s starting to get old now,” Zimmer said. “He’s starting to lose a lot of time. A lot of the install we’re doing, he hasn’t been through yet. He’s got a lot of catching up to do.”

IN FITZGERALD’S WORDS:

“We’d like him here, no question about it. When you take a guy as your No. 1 pick, you know he’s going to come in and help you immediately, and it’s a little frustrating when you don’t have him.

“Let me tell you what. We can get him schooled up on everything, the system and so on and so forth. But me personally, it’s this time right now that he’s not with his teammates and not spending time with his teammates is what he’s missing.

“Going through the things that they’re going through right now helps bond our football team. Our approach that we’re taking with this will build that. For me, that’s the biggest thing right there is that he’s not here to be with his teammates and work with his teammates and go through this process with them.”

http://www.daytondailynews.com/o/content/s...on/chickludwig/

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PFT now says the deal is done & Rivers is on his way to sign it.

http://www.profootballtalk.com/2008/08/05/...al-nearly-done/

Not the best way to start but expected he'd miss a chunk of camp. Given he's a USC guy, where everyone there knows they are smarter than everybody else, he should have no problem teaching the playbook to the rest of the defense by end of this month. Incidentally, has a Trojan let us down, I know I've never been let down by one. Munoz, Palmer and now Rivers.

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FWIW Hobson notes that the team cut 2 and signed 1 today...leaving a roster spot open...

One sign that the Bengals could be close to a deal with first-rounder Keith Rivers surfaced in a move after Tuesday's practice. The Bengals left a roster spot open when they waived Ohio State rookie fullback Tyler Whaley and waived/injured cornerback Jonathan Zenon while signing only one player.

With cornerback Ethan Kilmer still not practicing with an unknown ailment, they need corners desperately and opted to re-sign Jerrid Gaines, a rookie free agent out of Miami of Ohio they cut just before camp.

While progress appears to have been made, there was no sign of a Rivers deal after Tuesday's lone practice.

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Not the best way to start but expected he'd miss a chunk of camp. Given he's a USC guy, where everyone there knows they are smarter than everybody else, he should have no problem teaching the playbook to the rest of the defense by end of this month. Incidentally, has a Trojan let us down, I know I've never been let down by one. Munoz, Palmer and now Rivers.

Does Frostee Rucker qualify?

EDIT: Ifeanyi Ohalete also played at the University of Spoiled Children...

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PFT now says the deal is done & Rivers is on his way to sign it.

http://www.profootballtalk.com/2008/08/05/...al-nearly-done/

Not the best way to start but expected he'd miss a chunk of camp. Given he's a USC guy, where everyone there knows they are smarter than everybody else, he should have no problem teaching the playbook to the rest of the defense by end of this month. Incidentally, has a Trojan let us down, I know I've never been let down by one. Munoz, Palmer and now Rivers.

Mike Williams, Dwayne Jarrett, Deuce Latui, Matt Leinert, Dominique Byrd.....basically most of the players from those championship teams that USC had are letting down NFL teams around the league these days. Let's hope it stops with Rivers.

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Hobson says it's done & Rivers is in Georgetown...

http://www.bengals.com/news/news.asp?story_id=6928

Good deal! Let's just hope he makes it out of preseason, with the way that Bengals picks usually go. He even has an outside chance of playing against Green Bay, as he'll have some practices under his belt.

I am completely unworried about Rivers. Maybe he misses a game or two, or his development gets held up a week or so. The guy was among the most (as they say) NFL-ready players coming out of the draft, and while I'm not expecting him to turn into Super-LB-man, I see a fire-and-forget guy here. Plug him in at WILL and we can forget about the spot for the next 7-8 years easy. Maybe 9 is high for a lunchpail guy, but give me 11 of them on defense and I'll take you to the big game.

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