CINCINNATI -- Fully healed from a significant injury, cornerback Leon Hall is ready to resume his role at the Cincinnati Bengals' best cornerback.
Hall reclaimed his spot on the starting defense for the first practice of camp on Friday, an encouraging sign for a team that really needs him. He had no problem with his left Achilles tendon, which he tore last Nov. 13.
"I felt rusty for sure, but the Achilles felt fine," he said, heading off the grass practice field. "I was able to move and cut and break, but my technique needs work. I've been pretty much cleared to do everything. We're still going to kind of monitor how many (plays) I get in a row, but it will be easier now that there is only one practice a day."
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The Bengals missed Hall last season, when they made the playoffs as a wild card but lost a first-round playoff game at Houston. They went 3-6 after Hall was injured.
While Hall ran around the field, top draft pick Dre Kirkpatrick rode a stationary bike or watched from the sideline. The cornerback from Alabama hurt his left knee while working out apart from the team and isn't ready to practice. Kirkpatrick acceded to coach Marvin Lewis' demands that he not talk about the injury or his recovery in any detail. He denied a report that he has a broken bone.
"It was a bump and a bruise, it wasn't no bone break," he said. He walked around the practice field with a slight limp, wearing a support wrap around the knee. Kirkpatrick declined to wear a brace for the workouts. "They think I'm hurt," he said. "I ain't hurt. I'm an iron man."
The Bengals decided to hold their training camp at Paul Brown Stadium and adjacent practice fields for the first time this year. The team will allow up to 1,600 fans at the practice fields, where bleachers have been set up at one end. Team spokesman Jeff Berding said "a little over" 1,500 people attended the first workout, some of them showing up as early as 5:30 a.m. to make sure they reserved a spot.
Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press
