Bengals fans may finally get to see their first-round pick, former Alabama OT Andre Smith, in action. Maybe even soon. Smith, who held out until the end of training camp, only to break his foot in his second day of practice, has been back on the field doing individual drills for the past week. On Wednesday Smith did more individual drills, except this time with his pads on, but was still held out of any contact drills, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Bengals OT Andre Smith Does Individual Drills
Considering that Smith was originally expected to be out 7-10 days after his injury, his long absence from the field has frustrated both himself and the coaches. Cincinnati offensive line coach Paul Alexander was blunt, telling reporters:
He can't do contact. What is that? We saw him do the same things as last week. I don't know [how much progress he has made]. I have to see him do something. I wish I knew. I wish I had some more information.
CBS Sports reports that Smith did some more blocking drills on Thursday in his most active practice session thus far.
If there has been a silver lining for Smith, it’s been that he’s had a chance to both learn the team’s playbook while he’s been on the sidelines, and get his weight under control by doing cardio work. Bengals officials had fretted about his ballooning waistline to the point that they inserted a clause in his contract that for every game he weighed over 350 pounds, he would forfeit half of his game salary. Smith informed reporters that he currently weighs 330 pounds.
Smith’s presence would be a boon for the Cincinnati offense. Coming out of college, Smith was mentioned as a possible top overall choice, before a string of poor decision during the draft process caused him to slip to sixth.
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