Bengals sign OL Hicks

By Mark Curnutte
Enquirer staff writer

GEORGETOWN, Ky. -- The Bengals this morning announced that they had signed free agent offensive lineman Reese Hicks to a two-year contract. Hicks practiced with the team this morning.

Hicks (6 feet 6, 310 pounds) attended Lebanon High School and played at Georgetown (Ky.) College, host school for Bengals training camp. He is classified as a first-year NFL player.

Hicks first entered the NFL in May 2003 as a college free agent with Cleveland. In 2004, he saw preseason action with San Diego and later was on the San Diego and Houston practice squads. He was signed by Denver as a free agent on Jan. 7 but was released by the Broncos on July 25.

He played 10 games with eight starts for the Scottish Claymores in NFL Europe in 2004. He has not yet seen regular season action in the NFL.

E-mail mcurnutte@enquirer.com

Podcast No. 4: Ghiaciuc to sign; C. Perry sits

Podcast No. 3: C. Perry, L. Johnson practice

The Bengals practiced for the first time of training camp this morning. Running back Chris Perry and linebacker Landon Johnson were cleared medically to practice.

Missing the first practice because of injuries: Wide receiver Peter Warrick, right tackle Willie Anderson, defensive end Jonathan Fanene, defensive tackle Matthias Askew, center Ben Wilkerson, linebacker Caleb Miller and linebacker Nate Webster.

3:20 p.m. update: The Bengals this afternoon announced that they had waived Wilkerson because he failed his physical.

4:55 p.m. update: The Bengals just retracted the previous news that they had waived Wilkerson. Instead, he has been placed on the active/non-football injury list, which means he is still on the roster but did not pass his physical.

Podcast No. 2: Henry signs; Pollack a holdout

Podcast No. 1: Bengals agree with Tab Perry

The Bengals held their annual pre-training camp luncheon today at Paul Brown Stadium.