Friday, December 10, 1999Mack impresses ex-Bengals returner
BY GEOFF HOBSON
The Cincinnati EnquirerStanford Jennings, the man who raced the Bengals back into Super Bowl XXII 10 years ago with a 93-yard kick return, dropped by practice Thursday and smiled when special teams coach Al Roberts mentioned he wouldn't mind having Jennings around Sunday.
“Al, you've got a great one here,” Jennings told him.
Tremain Mack, averaging nearly 27 yards a return, is three games from becoming the first Bengal to lead the AFC in kick return average.
“He's fearless back there,” Jennings said. “Everything he does, he's trying to do something positive. He's moving forward. He's not a dancer back there. That's what you have to do. I didn't have the speed he has, but you have to attack the angles and the hole.”
If there's one thing Mack does, it's attack. The Mack mantra seems to be: There's always a seam, you just have to find it.
“I take what they give me,” Mack said. “There'll be a hole somewhere. I take the first one and hit it as hard as I can.”
Mack's all-out runs, which resulted in a momentum-swinging 72-yard return last week, invigorate his blockers.
“He makes you want to block him for him,” fullback Clif Groce said. “He can take it all the way at any moment, You love a guy like that. You can't turn your head and watch him, you have to just go block and and you know you don't have to pitter-patter with a guy because Tremain is going to be right there.”
Mack is making Bengals kickoffs fun again for the first time since, well, Jennings went all the way in '89.
“Every time I watch him, I truly anticipate him having a big run on all of them,” Jennings said. “He's that explosive.”
NEXT TIME: Bengals President Mike Brown doesn't know if and when the NFL will approve the club's request to play the Cleveland Browns next year in the first game at Paul Brown Stadium.
“We see them as a real good rival for us and would like to play them,” Brown said. “It's a fit. But we could ask to play the '40 Bears. Asking and getting are two different things.”
THIS AND THAT: Guard Brian DeMarco (elbow) is doubtful for Sunday's game. ... Cornerback Artrell Hawkins worked out on his gimpy ankle and should play Sunday.
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