Just four days ago, former Buckeye quarterback Terrelle Pryor was released by the Kansas City Chiefs, less than four months after signing with the Andy Reid's team. On Friday, Pryor was invited to participate in a rookie training camp for the Cincinnati Bengals, in what could be the last chance to make an NFL team as a quarterback for the 25-year-old Pennsylvania native.
Why Cincinnati? Bengals.com has pinpointed the link between the 6-foot-6, 240-pound Pryor and the Stripes.
It appears that Jackson isn't the only coach in the Queen City who saw something worthwhile in Pryor, a former five-star high school prospect.
“Terrell has a presence. This is not his first rodeo,” said head coach Marvin Lewis of the three-year veteran. “He has a confidence about him. He’s a great role model for six or seven veteran players to watch how a guy who came into the NFL is looking to get an opportunity just to make the team and the urgency in his step. That’s a good role model for these guys to observe. Even guys who have been here a couple of years. The urgency shows how important this is for him.”
His former Raiders' head coach was as impressed as Marvin Lewis based on his day-one outing.
“I thought the guy hit a lot of balls and did a lot of good things for the first time being back around me in a number of years,” Jackson said after practice. “I was impressed with what he did today. I think he had a decent day for the first time coming out and taking care of the ball and running our offense. The guy just got here yesterday and he walked out there today and did some good things. So we'll keep going from there…For a guy to just show up from being someplace else and walk in here, that's a tribute to him that he spent the time last night. I don't know how long he stayed here. I know I left, he probably was here all night grinding -- knowing him -- that he knew what to do.”
Drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the 2011 supplemental draft, Pryor has maintained that his future is at quarterback, despite plenty of discussion that he could have an NFL career if he was willing to switch positions. His athleticism still stands out to Jackson, who's hoping to revitalize the career of a player who turned plenty of heads in limited playing time in Oakland.
“Pretty damn good,” said Jackson when asked about Pryor’s ability to run the read option or whatever you want to call it. “I think he'd be very good at it. We all know that. The guy ran 4.3 coming out. He can run. I think he still can run. Again, I don't want to get my hopes up about anything other than watching what he does every day and we'll take it from there.
“There's a lot of things he can do in my opinion, but again, we don't know where all of this is going to end up. I know right now had been a good first day, it's good to be around him again, I think he's a talented young man, he's a good young man, he works hard and for that I'm glad that he's around us right now.”
Pryor should know Sunday if he's got a contract on the table from the Bengals, but at this point it's so far, so good.
Update: Here's a link to an interview with Pryor post workout from Bengals.com.
