Darnay Scott smiles as coach Bruce Coslet drives him around in a golf cart. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        GEORGETOWN, Ky. — “TV timeout! TV timeout!” Bengals coach Bruce Coslet was yelling, smiling, and driving a special passenger onto the Georgetown College practice field here Tuesday. It was Darnay Scott, himself smiling and yelling, “Hey hey!”

        The injured receiver, sitting in a golf cart, had his broken left leg propped up. It was his first visit to camp since his Aug. 1 injury, and he was mobbed by his teammates.

        The players swarmed Scott as if he were a teen idol, and Scott later feigned anger that some of his clothing — bright red shirt, blue sweatpants — had been slightly torn by his welcoming brigade.

        “I'm doing very, very, very, very good,” an upbeat Scott said. “I"m not letting myself get down.”

        Scott's return livened up a hot, sticky day that had several players and fans complaining about the heat.

        “We were having a good practice, and I think it became our best practice of the season once Darnay showed up,” fullback Nick Williams said. “We love him, and for him to come back all smiles, it's just great to see.”

        Rookie Peter Warrick, who has inherited the role of No.1 receiver in Scott's absence, said he was one of the few who knew Scott was coming Tuesday.

        “I talked to him on the phone,” Warrick said. “To see the reception he got, it's a great honor for him, and shows him he's still loved around here.”

        Scott, 28, was the team's No.1 receiver and ready to emerge from the shadow of Carl Pickens.

        “This was going to be it, my Pro Bowl year,” said Scott, who had the best year of his career in 1999, with 68 catches for 1,022 yards and seven TDs. “That's what crushes me, but I'll be back faster than ever next year.”

        The Bengals don't know if that will be the case, but said

        Scott at least will be back for training camp in 2001. Whether he makes it to minicamp, around May, is a question.

        Bengals trainer Paul Sparling said Scott already has made things easier as a willing patient.

        “He wants to do the rehab,” Sparling said. “As far as coming back, the sky's the limit for him.”

        Scott is not wearing a cast. He showed reporters his broken left fibula and tibia, which looked none the worse for wear. Except ...

        “There's a rod from here to here,” Scott said, pointing first to his knee and then his ankle. “And there's these two screws holding it on.”

        He already is rehabbing two hours per day. He will spend some time at his home in St. Louis, but plans to be at Saturday's preseason game vs. Chicago and also most of the regular-season home games.

        “I wish I could run and get out there and burn some of these guys,” Scott said. “I put it all on Peter's (Warrick's) hands now. And Griff (Damon Griffin) and James (Hundon) and those guys.”

        Hundon, one of those vying to replace Scott, said Scott is missed as a locker room presence as well.

        “He's the team clown,” Hundon said. “We hate to lose him. But the rest of us just have to step it up.”

        Williams said Scott is also missed as a leader. As a seventh-year Bengal, Scott is among the team's most senior players.

        “He's like our daddy, he's been here so long,” said Williams, a second-year player. “We were all so sad to see him go down. It's a fear for all of us. And now to see him back ... this is what it's all about.”

        Scott's return to the field was not far from where he went down two weeks ago, when his leg was broken in a pileup of players.

        “I really didn't feel much,” he said. “But (assistant trainer) Billy Brooks kept telling me, "Don't look back there.' I guess my leg was all out of whack.”

        His career, he insists, is anything but.

        “I like doubters,” he said. “I like people who doubt me. I'll guarantee you, I'll come back as fast as I was. ... in fact, faster.”

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