Free-agent Benson sends message at Bengals' workout

CINCINNATI -- By carrying the ball in the rain with his former Bengals teammates, running back Cedric Benson sent the front office another reminder that he wants to be the centerpiece of Cincinnati's new offense.

The free agent joined his former teammates for a voluntary workout Wednesday at the University of Cincinnati, acting much more like someone who's ready to lead rather than leave. Benson has topped the team in rushing each of the last three seasons, but didn't receive a contract extension.

During the NFL's lockout, free agents can't negotiate or sign with teams. The 28-year-old running back from Texas not only wants to stay, but he's ready to become one of the leaders in an offense undergoing dramatic change.

"I've been very passive the past three years, maybe just because I had to," said Benson, who revived his career in Cincinnati after tough times in Chicago. "I'm not saying I'm a totally different person or that I'd be crazy vocal or nothing like that, but I'd be a little more expressive on work ethic and passion for the game just because that's how I am."

The Bengals plummeted to 4-12 last season, when reality-show hosts Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco became the faces of an offense that had a lot of self-promotion but not nearly enough production. The defending AFC North champions put the focus on their look-at-me receivers and ended up in last place.

The T.Ocho show has been canceled, and quarterback Carson Palmer -- the face of the franchise since 2004 -- likely isn't coming back. While the NFL and its players try to resolve their labor dispute, Benson is trying to remind the front office that he's ready for a much bigger part in a new-look offense.

"Cedric wants to be more than the guy who gets the ball in the backfield," quarterback Jordan Palmer, Carson's younger brother, said after a morning workout in the rain. "He wants to be a leader. He wants to be the identity of the team and the franchise, and I'm all for that."

He attracted the attention of his former teammates by flying in from Texas to join them for several voluntary workouts.

"To have a guy like Cedric out here -- unsigned, showing his leadership by being here -- that's tremendous," offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth said.

Benson was the focal point of the offense when the Bengals won the division in 2009 and then lost to the Jets in the first round of the playoffs. The Bengals decided to emphasize the passing game last season, a move that backfired. Benson thought it was a mistake to de-emphasize the running game.

"The Top 100: Players of 2011" countdown continues on NFL Network on Sunday, June 19 at 8 p.m. ET. Stay tuned for a reaction show after players Nos. 21-30 are revealed.

Offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski was fired after the season. Replacement Jay Gruden is bringing in a new scheme, one that's more West Coast-style. The Bengals drafted TCU quarterback Andy Dalton in the second round as Carson Palmer's eventual replacement.

With the quarterback position in flux, the Bengals need a dependable running back to carry the load.

"You have an offensive coordinator who's coming in and saying that we're having a running identity," Jordan Palmer said. "And you have an uncertain quarterback situation, which is going to mean more carries. That's a green light for him. I know he wants to be here. He's close with these guys.

"I think he's one of the best running backs in the league, and he's going to be primed to have the best year of his career. I want him here more than anybody."

Benson likes the changes so far.

"Change can be good," he said. "Considering the way things went a year ago, it's time for change. I think it's going to be a good look."

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press

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Suh attends first player-only workout with Lions teammates

Ndamukong Suh's busy offseason included breaking a sweat with the locked-out Detroit Lions for the first time on Friday.

Even though Detroit hasn't made the playoffs since 1999, Ndamukong Suh says the Lions could go 16-0, and should shoot for nothing less if they want to be taken seriously. More...

"I got some good work in," he said in an interview with NFL Network after joining his teammates for conditioning drills at Detroit Country Day School.

Suh declined to talk with reporters after the workout.

He started his offseason by having shoulder surgery that prevented him from playing in the Pro Bowl. He won the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award and was the only rookie on the All-Pro team after Detroit drafted him No. 2 overall last year.

Suh was among the celebrities who sped out of London last month for the Gumball 3000 Rally, a seven-day car race stretching across 10 countries in Europe, but insisted he wasn't just kicking back and relaxing overseas.

"No vacations -- I enjoyed myself," Suh told NFL Network analyst Willie McGinest. "No question, I worked out in Europe."

The Lions are wrapping up a second week of practices they've organized on their own during the lingering lockout.

"We're not going to plan another week of workouts, hoping the next time we see each other a deal is done," offensive guard Rob Sims said.

About 30 Lions attended this week's gatherings, including quarterback Matthew Stafford and two second-round picks from the team's 2011 draft, wide receiver Titus Young and running back Mikel Leshoure, who were about as wide-eyed as expected.

"We're going to try to make it as easy on them as possible, and catch them up to speed as much as we can," Stafford said earlier this week.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Facility can't accommodate open Titans workout, Finnegan says

Tennessee cornerback Cortland Finnegan's plan to welcome the public to the Titans' player-organized workout Wednesday at Father Ryan High School in Nashville won't happen as planned, he said Tuesday via his official Twitter account.

"If you planned to come tomorrow be mad at me but I didn't get it approved I was excited about seeing fans and didn't go through proper chane", Finnegan wrote, adding, "Be made at me not at father Ryan."

Finnegan instead encouraged fans to attend former coach Jeff Fisher's charity softball game on June 18 at Greer Stadium.

Finnegan had invited Titans fans to show up Monday night.

"It's official we are gonna open up Wednesdays practice to the public everyone tell everyone come out at 10:30 and bring the whole family” Finnegan tweeted.

Titans linebacker Gerald McRath told The Tennessean that the organizers are hoping at least 40 players, including rookies, show up for the workouts.

Two rookies -- linebacker Akeem Ayers and defensive tackle Zach Clayton -- said via Twitter they are planning to be present.

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First-round pick Wilkerson joins Jets' D-linemen for workout

MORRIS COUNTY, N.J. -- Sione Pouha was getting ready to work out with his New York Jets defensive linemates and realized he still needed a regulation football.

He looked around his house and found one -- in his trophy case.

"I figured it had some more meaningful uses than it being on display," said a laughing Pouha, who had the ball as a memento of his two fumble recoveries against the Baltimore Ravens last season. "Maybe next time we'll use a Nerf ball."

Hey, whatever works. That's what life's like these days for NFL players as the lockout lingers.

"This lockout has really given me an appreciation for the equipment that we have, because you're trying to replicate that," Jets defensive end Mike DeVito said, "and this is the closest we can get."

Pouha gathered a handful of his linemates, including DeVito and first-round draft pick Muhammad Wilkerson, on Thursday at a high school field in New Jersey to go through position drills. Because of the lockout, players have been on their own -- no contact with coaches, no workouts at team facilities -- to try to stay in football shape.

"It was nice to get out here, do some drills and go through some of the techniques," said Wilkerson, the 30th overall pick out of Temple, who met his teammates for the first time. "It's kind of a difficult situation. Pouha got in touch with me and some of the other D-linemen, and it's cool for them to take the time out and show me some things."

Pouha, Wilkerson, DeVito, Jamaal Westerman and Ropati Pitoitua hit blocking sleds and went through other drills for about an hour, adding the physical element they've been missing while working out individually.

"It was good just getting our feet back under us," DeVito said. "All the lifting and running is great, but for it to translate to football, it takes some time, so to do the bags and hit the bags and sleds and get the feet moving, I think it really helps mentally with your timing and everything. It was good to just get back in the groove and to build from that now."

Pouha, who received permission from the school's football coach to use the field and equipment, says the group plans to meet frequently while the lockout continues.

"Mark Sanchez has 'Jets West,' " Pouha said, referring to the Jets quarterback's camp for offensive teammates in Southern California. "Well, we have 'Florham Park Jets City Club League,' or something like that."

Sanchez had flashy T-shirts made up for his camp, but the five defensive linemen were in normal workout shorts and T-shirts -- with Wilkerson wearing a green Jets shirt -- while practicing on a patch of grass down the left-field line of the school's baseball field.

"Maybe we'll make up our own socks or something for our camp," Pouha quipped.

Sanchez has said the entire team plans to meet up for a group practice sometime this month, but no concrete plans have been made.

"If Mark makes the call," Pouha said, "we're there."

For Wilkerson, the session was important as he tries to learn Jets coach Rex Ryan's defense. Wilkerson received a playbook the day after he was drafted, while the lockout had been briefly lifted, but he hopes to pick his teammates' brains to try to learn it.

"I'll bring that tomorrow, and the guys will help me out with that, too," he said. "I'm just looking forward to what we started today."

Wilkerson has been working out on his own at his old high school in Linden, N.J., so this get-together was a welcome change. He also impressed his new teammates.

"I'll tell you what, he's a natural athlete," DeVito said. "We'd tell him something one time, and he's already got it. Just from this little bit today, you can tell he's going to be good. That's a great sign."

Pitoitua, who has impressed the Jets' coaching staff, appeared to be on the road to being a big contributor last season before tearing his Achilles' tendon in training camp.

"Right now, I would say I'm about 75 percent," said Pitoitua, who added that doctors told him his recovery would take about 18 months. "I need to try to get the strength back. Right now, the strength is still a little weak, so I'm doing exercises, and I have a routine."

Pouha believes the attendance will increase during the next few weeks as more teammates get word of the workouts and make room in their schedules. Meanwhile, the players will just try to keep preparing for a football season.

"My wrists are still getting used to the jolting," Pouha said, shaking his hands, "and my reads are barely coming out of hibernation, I guess you could say, but it was good to be out here."

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press

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Seahawks' workout includes QBs Hasselbeck, Whitehurst

SEATTLE -- For a few hours Thursday morning, Seahawks linebacker Aaron Curry didn't feel locked out. Being around teammates, and even a few guys from other NFL teams, provided a bit of normalcy in an otherwise abnormal offseason.

"Workouts like this today are helping me get over the fact we're not playing football," Curry said. "It's just tough without doing it."

Curry and about 35 other players gathered inside the University of Washington's indoor practice facility for a planned but informal workout. It was spearheaded by Seattle running back Justin Forsett, but the mix of players was far from Seahawks specific.

There were those who are under contract and likely to be key players for the Seahawks whenever the season begins: Curry, Forsett, quarterback Charlie Whitehurst, cornerback Marcus Trufant, linebacker David Hawthorne and offensive lineman Max Unger.

There were a handful of college kids, including former Washington linebacker Mason Foster -- drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers -- and safety Nate Williams.

Then there was arguably the largest group -- the free agents, most of whom were connected with the Seahawks last season but face an uncertain future. At the top of the list was quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, but others such as offensive linemen Sean Locklear and Chris Spencer, safety Lawyer Milloy, defensive tackle Craig Terrill and defensive back Jordan Babineaux also participated.

"I think it was more, 'We're all locked out,' " Whitehurst said of the practice's purpose. "It was just get together, get some work and try to get better."

Whitehurst's presence was notable considering he's the only quarterback under contract with the Seahawks for the 2011 season. He flew in from Atlanta to participate in the largest gathering of Seahawks or Seattle-based players so far, although the workouts have been going on informally for a couple of months.

Hasselbeck has been the leader at many of those practices since he lives in the Seattle area year-round, but his future with the Seahawks is unknown.

"I'm always looking for a chance to get together with the guys I'm going to throw to," Whitehurst said. "I don't know if it matters what position you play, but the guys who came felt it was important. Quarterbacks, obviously every opportunity we get, we're going to take it."

The workouts likely will continue, at a time when the Seahawks normally would be in the midst of minicamp and prepping for their final month of rest before training camp in late July. No one has a good sense of when the NFL lockout might end, with Unger saying he has heard a resolution could come in two weeks and in the same breath saying the entire season could be missed.

"It's just weird not playing football right now," Unger said. "We'd normally have just less than a month of offseason and then we'd be off 'til fall camp. ... I don't really know, man; that stuff is up in the air. There is a lot of red tape to cut through."

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press

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Rookie Locker joins future Titans teammates for workout

Rookie quarterback Jake Locker was among 15 Tennessee Titans who gathered to work out together Tuesday morning, The Tennessean reported via Twitter.

Locker, whom the Titans selected eighth overall in April's draft, did not throw during the workout because only two receivers showed up at Father Ryan High School in Nashville, according to The Tennessean.

Locker said he planned to spend two weeks in the Nashville area, and that he is staying with second-year receiver Damian Williams.

The group at Father Ryan has been working out together for several weeks, according to The Tennessean. Cornerback Cortland Finnegan said last week that plans are in the works for as much of the team as possible to meet for a minicamp on June 8-9 at the high school.

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Newton receives Gruden's endorsement after personal workout

Count Jon Gruden among those who believe in Cam Newton.

Gruden, a former NFL coach and current ESPN analyst, put the Auburn quarterback through passing drills Friday and came away impressed, telling The Tampa Tribune "I think Cam Newton's the best player in the country."

"I agree with the Heisman Trophy people that gave him the award," said Gruden, the famously quarterback-minded ex-coach of the Oakland Raiders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. "He's got everything I'm looking for."

But do the Carolina Panthers, who own the No. 1 overall pick, agree with Gruden? Panthers coach Ron Rivera said Friday that the team is beginning to narrow its candidates for the top selection in the April 28-30 draft.

Newton has met with the Panthers and hopes he makes the cut.

"To some degree, I'd like to go No. 1," Newton said after the 20-minute workout at the University of South Florida. "The most important thing is to come out each day and get better. That's what I can control. ... I can't control where I get picked."

Gruden's praise of Newton came just days after coach Marvin Lewis, whose Cincinnati Bengals own the No. 4 pick, backed the quarterback's credentials. Lewis said Newton is "a real fine NFL prospect" who has "kind of had that 'it,' been that kind of guy for awhile."

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