CINCINNATI -- Rookie running back Joe Mixon seems to know he's good. It hasn't taken long for the rest of the Cincinnati Bengals to see that as well.
Take Tuesday, for example: In the last padded practice prior to the preseason opener Friday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Mixon essentially embarrassed fellow rookie Carl Lawson, who has been no slouch during camp.
If Mixon has been the star offensive rookie, Lawson certainly has been the star defensive rookie. But Mixon got the best of him on that particular play.
Lawson, the outside linebacker, tried to follow Mixon as he rounded the corner, but he lost his footing and fell to the turf as Mixon raced down the sideline for a touchdown.
Mixon took it a step further. He jogged back slowly, gave visiting fans high-fives and screamed, "Too easy!" That continued until a coach told him to get back to the sideline.
Bengals coach Marvin Lewis, who left practice early to deal with a knee issue, wasn't there to see that.
Over the years, Lewis has made it clear he doesn't like individuals putting themselves over the team. This summer, he even said he wasn't a fan of the NFL's relaxed stance on celebration penalties.
Lewis' stance caused quite a stir because former Bengals receiver Chad Johnson was known for having some of the more outlandish celebrations in the league. Johnson, who was with the Bengals for 10 seasons, spent many of those years driving Lewis crazy with his antics. Despite that, the two maintain a relationship to this day.
Even Lewis might have shook his head and smiled on Tuesday. What he likes to see is enthusiasm, and Mixon has that, along with a strong work ethic. Lewis hopes both of those things never go away.
"From the very first rookie camp here in Cincinnati, you felt that, but you aren’t sure because it’s a very limited exposure. Now that’s a day-to-day thing with the ups and downs in camp -- being tired, being asked to run and finish every play. He likes to do that," Lewis said. "He likes to run down that field like he is scoring a touchdown, and we are going to give him a lot of opportunities to do that.
"That’s just part of his makeup, and that’s good. He can never lose that. That’s the other part of it, you don’t want him to lose that. I hope he keeps that enthusiasm that he has now. We have to continue with that because he is still a very young guy.”
Lewis said he wants to see a few things from Mixon on Friday, but one of the biggest priorities is protecting the quarterback.
"He’s very natural at the other stuff. And then he is going to get an opportunity to protect the quarterback," Lewis said. "The rest of the stuff he does very naturally, like running or catching. But [I want to see] his pad level, and making sure his tracks are correct. Those are the things we are going to continue to evaluate and make sure he gets up to speed on and stays consistent. So far, he has been very good with that, and I don’t expect that to change.”
Lewis on who will play Friday: "The starters [will] play until we pull them out. ... There will be some guys that won’t play. ... I don’t know if you call them ‘starters,’ but there are some members of the football team that won’t play."
Lewis on the lack of joint practices: “[The Buccaneers are] going to Jacksonville next week, and that’s been in their plans. I was not really looking to do that this year. I wanted to do what we’ve been doing. Unfortunately, the last three or four years we’ve had a guy get injured on today [the last practice before a preseason game when the teams were practicing together]. There will be no chance of anyone getting injured today."
Practice observations: The Bengals had their easiest day of camp on Wednesday, coming out in T-shirts and shorts for a 45-minute walk-through. George Iloka, Brandon Wilson and Tony McCrae worked on the rehab field.
Bengals transactions: The Bengals signed punter Will Monday and waived wide receiver Jake Kumerow, who sprained his ankle early in camp. Kumerow will revert to injured reserve if he clears waivers.