Fans young and old, including Jacob Enderle, 7, of Fairfield, Ohio, front left, and Storm Mason, 10, in orange, of Williamstown, Ky. waited patiently for autographs from players at the Bengals' training camp held at Georgetown College. At right, players Cory Hall, front, and Justin Smith, rear, sign autographs for fans. (Gary Landers photo) | ZOOM |

        GEORGETOWN, Ky. — Veteran Bengals offensive lineman John Jackson, 37, will not practice until the results of an angiogram, to be administered Monday afternoon, are known. The test will be done at Christ Hospital in Cincinnati.

        Jackson was pulled from Friday morning's skills session after a cardiovascular stress test, completed earlier Friday at Georgetown Community Hospital, showed “marginally abnormal” results.

        The test was repeated at the Ohio Heart Center in Cincinnati on Friday afternoon, and the results also came back as slightly abnormal.

        The Bengals decided to have Jackson undergo the initial test because of his age and family history, trainer Paul Sparling said. Jackson's father, Samuel, died of a heart attack in May at age 62.

        The tests also came on the heels of the death of St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Darryl Kile, who had a major artery blockage near his heart when he died at 33 last month.

        Even if the results of the angiogram are negative, Jackson is expected to miss up to two weeks while his groin heals from the procedure, which requires the insertion of a thin tube through the upper thigh.

        Jackson, who is entering his third season with the Bengals, graduated from Woodward High School.

        NO WORRIES: The way Brian Simmons views the season, he's already under contract and won't think about ongoing efforts to extend his five-year deal.

        “If it happens, it happens. Right now I have to worry about playing football and concentrating on that,” the linebacker said after the morning skills session. “Anything that happens on that end of it is between management and my agent.”

        Now that all of their draft picks are signed and free agent defensive tackle Sam Adams apparently isn't interested in the Bengals, team management has focused its attention on reaching new agreements with Simmons and fellow linebacker Takeo Spikes.

        Their five-year rookie contracts expire after this season.

        “It's no distraction,” Spikes said. “I just look at it like if it's meant to be, it's meant to be.”

        OUCH: Quarterback Akili Smith jammed the middle finger on his left (non-throwing) hand during practice. Trainers treated the dislocation on the field, and Smith returned to practice. The finger will be taped for today's practices.

        The action was Smith's first since his tore his hamstring in December against the Jets.

        SNAPS: Quarterbacks Jon Kitna and Gus Frerotte shared most of the afternoon practice snaps. After Smith jammed his finger, Scott Covington took a couple of turns running the offense.

        TIMETABLE: Coach Dick LeBeau would like to find a starting quarterback as soon as possible, and he repeated that it's a two- man competition.

        “You have to give them both (Kitna and Frerotte) an opportunity to play in games and see how they're going to move the football team,” LeBeau said. “It all has to be put into the preseason. We'd like to get one up and going as soon as possible, but in this scenario, it's going to take a little time.”

        As for Smith, LeBeau said, “We'll watch Akili, and we'll give him his opportunity when we're sure he's physically ready to take a full load.”

        BOMBS AWAY: The prettiest play of a practice dominated by the defense was a 70-yard touchdown pass from Frerotte to wide receiver Michael Westbrook.

        “It made up for the drop,” said Westbrook, who earlier missed an underthrown ball. “See, a drop to me and a drop to you are different. I'm the type of guy who says if the ball is anywhere around me, if I don't catch it, it's my fault. I'm capable of making any catch.”

        The completed deep ball was a go route.

        “Oh, that's something (fans) will definitely see during the season,” Westbrook said of the long catch.

        FIT AND TRIM: LeBeau liked what he saw of his players' physical condition. No players reported grossly overweight.

        “We have a couple of guys — fewer than ever, certainly in my area of experience,” LeBeau said. “I'm pleased with the reporting weight. We still have a few guys who need to come down a few pounds.”

Now signed, rookies work on delivering Bengals brimming with confidence Abnormal heart tests send Jackson to sideline Potential unfulfilled, Seahawks' Leaf retires

Mets 3, Reds 2
Reds box, Runs
Fehr: Avoiding strike possible
Boone feels good about meeting with Fehr
Mo called his shot
Patriarch of umpire family dies at age 84
Angels move into 1st in AL West
NL roundup
AL roundup
Notes from Friday's games
UC's Hicks rebuilding strength in injured leg
Agassi duels with Kuerten
Day of upsets sees 3 of 8 top seeds fall
New division, same intensity
Deveroes' finest strut their stuff
As Paris nears, Armstrong is in command
Pocono polesitter Elliott chases mountain milestone
Warriors tap Musselman as team's new head coach
Watson 5 off lead at British Seniors
Coming up this week

• Return to Bengals front page...