Great Expectations, less uncertainty

[BengalszoneBilly]

By Kevin Goheen

Post staff reporter

GEORGETOWN, Ky. -- It's the same question for Willie Anderson every year when he reports to Bengals training camp. When you're 6 feet 5, weigh 340 pounds and play right tackle in the National Football League, the question is always going to come up.

"Hey Willie, you look slimmer this year? Did you lose some weight?" some reporter will ask.

Big Willie, coming off his first Pro Bowl appearance last season, claims he's at the same weight he came in last year -- 338. The one difference is his body fat is at 18 percent. It's the first time, Anderson said, he's been under 20 percent in a while.

"What we did last season is down the drain. All of the awards, the accolades are down the drain. We have to come out and be even better this season," said Anderson. "The uncertainty of training camp is the hardest part, just not knowing. This season we know what (head coach Marvin Lewis) expects from us. We know that practice is going to be intense and up-tempo and it's going to be a physical camp. At the same time he's going to take care of us and he expects us to come in and act like men, play like men and he expects us to be in shape, ready to go."

As rookie head coach last season, Lewis may have spoken the same words to players but they didn't hold the same meaning. If there is one difference in Marvin Lewis of 2003 and the Marvin Lewis of 2004, it's that when he says something to his players and they nod that they understand he's positive that they actually do understand what he's saying.

The Bengals reported to Georgetown College on Friday for the franchise's 37th training camp. They have a pair of practices today, the first time they will have put on full pads since last season ended with a disappointing 22-14 home loss against the Cleveland Browns. Much is expected from the Bengals this season based on their 8-8 finish in 2003, a six-game improvement from 2002.

Those expectations are both external and internal. The goal of training camp is to be ready to live up to those lofty hopes.

Knowing what to expect from Lewis is step No. 1 in that process.

"The thing that's going to help us is the credibility of saying 'If we do this, we will be successful and if we don't this is what will happen.' Our players have an understanding of that now," said Lewis. "Guys have really taken that to heart. A year ago, we had some fence riders. They weren't quite sure. The old axiom of the ants and roaches, when you turn on the lights the ants keep working and scurrying around while the roaches just take off. I don't think we have any roaches left.

"We have a group of guys that if you're not toeing the line, you're going to stand out."

There are 14 players who were either on the active roster or injured reserve at the end of last season that are no longer with the team, including nine who started at least one game. In the last two years the Bengals have drafted 20 players and Lewis said he believes one-third of this year's roster will be made up of players in their first or second season.

That includes quarterback Carson Palmer, who takes over as the starter from Jon Kitna. The overall No. 1 pick in the 2003 draft, Palmer is the symbol of the new Bengals. When Lewis appointed him over Kitna it was a statement that despite a good season last year, more was expected. From everyone.

"(Kitna) had a good football season. Not a great football season but very much like our football team he had a good season," said Lewis. "This year I feel strongly that Carson Palmer will be a better quarterback for us than the play we had a year ago. I think he will allow our offense to do better things. We've got to accept the responsibility for other players on our football team to play better and that competition we've had at quarterback will enable everybody to step up and play better."

The Bengals entered December of last season with a 7-5 record, winners of four straight and owning a share of first place in the AFC North along with Baltimore. They missed out on a possible division championship and playoff berth (which would have been the team's first since 1990) when they lost three of their final four games, including a 31-13 defeat against the Ravens in Baltimore. No one likes losing, but the sting can be turned into a positive.

"The players got a little bit of the taste, a sniff of what playing late in the year for the playoffs is like," said offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski. "I think they're all excited to take the next step and the most beneficial thing to the limited success that we had last year was that they got that sniff. Now they get that chance to try to take it to the next level."

[Chad Johnson]

was that a CD comment in there...lol

roach