CINCINNATI -- Although they have been present for the Cincinnati Bengals' first two mandatory minicamp practices this week, a pair of key defensive players were noticeably absent from practice drills Wednesday.
Starting linebackers Rey Maualuga and Vontaze Burfict, reportedly overweight at the end of the Bengals' springtime workouts, spent the practice running wind sprints and doing other conditioning drills off to the side. For Maualuga, it was the second straight day of such activity as he also didn't practice during Tuesday's start to the minicamp. Burfict did practice Tuesday, but by Wednesday ended up on the conditioning island with his fellow linebacker.
The Bengals end their minicamp Thursday, kicking off a five-week break until before training camp.
Asked Wednesday if he was concerned at all about the time Maualuga has missed practicing this spring, Bengals defensive coordinator Paul Guenther said he was unfazed.
"He's working hard to get where he needs to be, and I've got confidence he will be there," Guenther said.
In addition to missing minicamp practice time, Maualuga also didn't participate in the Bengals' open organized team activities the past three weeks. He was around the facility at the time, but he didn't make it out for practice any days when reporters were present. Burfict, who was limited in the first OTA open to reporters, did participate in all three OTAs media could attend.
Earlier this week on Cincinnati's ESPN radio affiliate, Bengals radio color commentator and former Bengals player Dave Lapham said both Maualuga and Burfict showed up to OTAs overweight.
Last season, the two linebackers were among the Bengals' most prolific tacklers. Maualuga ranked third on the team with 75 tackles and Burfict had 74 through 10 games. Hobbled by recovery from a knee injury, Burfict was unavailable for the first six games of the season. He also will miss the first three this year as he serves a three-game suspension that went into effect in January.
