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2008 Bengals season
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Y! MyWebBengals ready to tackle 'woo factor'
Sunday, August 10, 2008
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Billboards throughout Cincinnati proclaim the Bengals' motto for 2008: "Believe in Now."
"Now" begins Monday night, Aug. 11, when the Bengals face the Green Bay Packers at historic Lambeau Field, and head coach Marvin Lewis is eager to see how his young players react — he calls it "the woo factor" — in the nationally televised preseason opener.
"It's always great to go to Lambeau Field," he said. "It's going to be a packed house and a lot of fun and a great atmosphere for these young guys to put on their NFL uniform for the first time, walk out on the field and say, 'Oh, my gosh, here I am.' It beats some of the places like the Swamp (University of Florida) and the Coliseum (Southern California) these guys have been."
Adrenaline flowing
Rookie wide receiver Jerome Simpson, a second-round draft pick from Division I-AA Coastal Carolina of the Big South Conference, said he played in front of 30,000 fans twice in his college career.
"I haven't played in a stadium that big before," he said. "But the field doesn't change. I'm just going out to play football. I'm not worried about the crowd. Big-time players show up in big-time situations. That's what I strive for."
Response time
"Every year you're excited about getting to the first preseason game, hitting somebody else and then seeing how your younger people respond in that environment," offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski said. "Some guys are in (an NFL game) for the first time. It's always fun to watch their reaction, see who seems comfortable and see who maybe seems a little out of their element.
"The games are different than practice. There's no way to simulate it. It'll be fun to watch and see how they operate."
Bright lights
The Packers use a quick-paced passing game and, similar to the Bengals, like to attack vertically.
"We have an idea of what Green Bay's going to do," defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer said. "What we'd like to do is do our thing and find out how our guys react to things they haven't seen before.
"It's mostly about, can they react under game-time pressure? This is a great atmosphere because it's Monday night and it's Green Bay. It's going to be like a regular-season game. We're going to find out if the lights are too bright for 'em or they're ready to go."
Circus city
With the trade of Packers legendary quarterback and future hall-of-famer Brett Favre to the New York Jets and the controversy surrounding it, the Bengals find themselves in the eye of an NFL hurricane, innocent bystanders sharing center stage at a football circus and media feeding frenzy.
"We're not going to be distracted by the whole Brett Favre thing," rookie defensive tackle Jason Shirley said. "That has nothing to do with the Cincinnati Bengals. That's a Green Bay thing.
"We're going to leave the distractions to the media and just go out there and hustle, play hard and do our assignments."
Having fun
Strong safety Dexter Jackson, the MVP of Super Bowl XXXVII for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, has some advice for the rookies.
"First of all, this is something you've been doing your whole life," he said. "It's still 10 yards for a first down. You still have to cross the goal line to score a touchdown. The main thing is go out and have fun because whatever you do, if you have fun doing it, you'll do it a lot better."
Preseason opener
Who: Cincinnati Bengals at Green Bay Packers
When: 8 p.m. Monday
TV: ESPN
Radio: WLW-AM (700), WTUE-FM (104.7)
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2253
or cludwig@DaytonDailyNews.com.
