Bengals coach Dick LeBeau welcomed his players to minicamp Friday night wearing an Elvis Presley costume and dancing as the Spencer Davis Group's “Gimme Some Lovin'” blasted through the speakers.

        The 63-year-old coach was a smash with his players.

        “He came in and loosened everybody up, especially a lot of the rookies,” linebacker Takeo Spikes said. “I wondered what the rookies were thinking. I bet they're probably saying, "No wonder they were 4-12 last year.'”

        Spikes liked the message. “It was, "Fellas, just relax. This is all that we got. We're going to trust in each other. We're going to love each other, trust each other, and I promise you'll work hard, so there's no reason we can't win.'”

        Quarterback Jon Kitna said, “I thought it was awesome. I couldn't wait to call up my folks, my brother, tell my wife. It was great because what he's done is break down the barrier that sometimes exists between a head coach and his team.”

        LeBeau explained his performance the first practice of minicamp Saturday.

        “My career is going to be a very short-lived one as a stage entertainer,” LeBeau said. “It was just something between the players and myself to let them know we're going to work hard but this is a minicamp and nobody's going to get cut in these three days. It was a way to say "Let's go to work, let's have a focus, but let's have some fun, too.'”

        The stunt appeared to work. LeBeau liked what he saw at practice.

        “Excellent attitude,” he said. “It's a long way to go between here and September, but for the first day, I was very pleased.”

        CONDITIONING: Most players looked fit and trim at minicamp, but there were exceptions.

        “We have some isolated players who are carrying too much weight,” LeBeau said. “That is typical of this time of year. The players, for the most part, that I think might be a pound or two over are guys I would trust to lose the weight. But we won't trust them. We will encourage them to do so.”

        Defensive tackle Oliver Gibson, who participated in the entire two-hour, 45-minute practice, was the most noticeably heavy player on the field.

        DARNAY'S BACK: Veteran wide receiver Darnay Scott practiced Saturday and said he felt good.

        “I got running out there, and my leg starting shaking a little bit,” said Scott, who broke the tibia and fibula bones in his left leg at training camp last year. “But my body got cool, and I was ready to go again. I'm feeling good and don't feel like I've lost anything.”

        Receivers coach Steve Mooshagian liked what he saw from Scott.

        “We didn't have him run the 40 (yard dash). And anytime we put a defense over there, we held him out,” Mooshagian said. “The only route that's giving him trouble is the speed route (that requires a sharp cut). It's mainly just a mental block with him.”

Bengals' pick just a hard-workin' boy from the heartland Elvis is alive - in LeBeau Bengals pin hopes on Webb Bengals waive former No. 2 pick

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