Cedric Ogbuehi: 'I feel good. I feel ready.'

Off in the auxiliary locker room, Cedric Ogbuehi sat on the floor, his legs kicked out in the shape of a “v.” Dressed in all black, from neck to wrist to ankle, the Cincinnati Bengals’ first round pick did some light stretches, alone.

His black backpack, with his team iPad peeking out of the mouth, lay next to him. Ogbuehi reached down to his right ankle, and flicked the fabric of his leggings.

Quite literally, he was alone.

It’s as unlikely a scene as one could expect as an NFL first round pick was set to practice for the first time.

Ogbuehi, who has been on the non-football injury list (NFI) since the start of the season, was officially cleared to practice Tuesday afternoon. Ogbuehi tore his anterior cruciate ligament in his final college game in January, and he’s been healthy, at least in the eyes of the medical staff, for some time.

But now, with just eight games left in the season, the coaching staff decided it was time for him to be done taking mental notes and apply what he’s learned on the field.

“I’m just ready to get the rust out and get out there and start moving around and getting comfortable,” he said. “It’s been a long time, so I’m excited to get out there and just put hands on somebody just to get the rust off.”

According to Bengals offensive line coach Paul Alexander, he did just that at both right and left tackle.

"He got a little tired, he worked hard and he obviously certainly showed lots of ability," Alexander said. "And he had some 'wow' moments."

Alexander said Ogbuehi has a mountain of information to learn, but is only a "half a mountain" away from being able to contribute on the field. The team now has three weeks to either activate him, or place him on injured reserve. If he is activated to the 53-man roster, a corresponding roster move will have to be made.

A league source indicated the team is leaning toward using up the allotted 21 days to evaluate Ogbuehi before those decisions.

"I just think you never put parameters on players," Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson said. "You never know what they are, how they grow, what they know and what they can bring. We drafted the guy for a reason so we’ll see where we are when the time comes. I’m sure the organization will make the best decision for the team but that’s going to be for them to make. They give him to me we’ll find a place to put him."

In the locker room, Ogbuehi feels he’s been given every advantage in terms of learning the art of playing offensive tackle – and more importantly already being part of the chemistry of the unit as opposed to a new ingredient being added in.

“They’re good because I’m the type of person who asks a lot of questions,” he said. “They answer all them in depth and they never got annoyed wit the questions I asked. They knew I was trying to learn, so that helped a lot, just knowing that they were trying to help me and trying to get me better. Like (Andrew Whitworth) said, he can’t wait for me to come back. So knowing that they’re ready for me to come back and excited also (is good).

“Just watching 'Whit,' every week he just blocks his guy out. That’s the kind of player I want to be. So, watching those two guys and having them in my ear, I just listen to whatever they say.”

Alexander said Ogbuehi was able to translate those mental notes and question-and-answer sessions physically, even in a single practice.

"The guy's loaded with football talent, really" Alexander said. "Not just athletic ability, but football talent, which is athletic ability and football skill. He's loaded with it.

"I think when people go to the horse races and they see one horse pull away and they go 'wow,' I think that's what football coaches mean when they see 'wow.' They see an acceleration which is different than the rest. And that's what I meant by wow. Something above average."

Though Ogbuehi has been part of the team since being drafted, he’s missed out on the practice and games – the action – and is looking forward to working his way onto a team that is running away in the AFC North.

“It’s pretty cool to be a part of this and knowing I’m about to start practicing today and knowing how great this team is and just to help it any way I can,” he said.

Part of that great half of football has been the play of the defensive line, which has made 21.5 of the 23 sacks recorded by the team and Ogbuehi knows that group, especially the defensive ends (13 sacks) will force him to knock that rust off quickly.

“Of course,” he said. “Going against Wallace (Gilberry), Carlos Dunlap – he’s number two in the league sacks. If I could do well versus him I could do well versus anybody. I’m excited to go against those kind of players.”

Ogbuehi sat up, and straightened up. He is listed at 305 pounds, but it’s packed tightly to his 6-foot, 5-inch frame. He’s lean, and looks almost like tight ends Tyler Eifert and C.J. Uzomah. Back in training camp he said he was getting into the best shape of his life – and he’s tacked on an additional two months of work to that.

“Yeah, I feel good,” he said. “I feel ready. We’ll see how I do.”