GEORGETOWN, Ky. - The calls begin before Bengals rookie Travis Dorsch can walk halfway across Rawlings Stadium on Tuesday afternoon.

        “Number two! Hey, number two! Can you come over here and sign this?”

        Dorsch, the Bengals' tall, lanky fourth-round draft pick, smiles. He stops at a throng of children and accepts a pen. The fans squirm with excitement, extending whatever they can find - footballs, T-shirts, programs, scrap paper. The boy next door from Bozeman, Mont., with the golden right leg obliges and takes time to chat.

        But training camp has been anything but laid-back fun for Dorsch, whose kicking game was spotlighted after a missed 41-yard field goal in Saturday's intrasquad scrimmage. In less than a week, Dorsch has developed a different public identity with a persistent personality attribute.

        A stiff upper lip.

        “I've missed plenty of field goals before,” Dorsch said. “I knew I'd get more opportunities. Once the play is made, it doesn't do me any good to sit there and think about it. The next play is just as important.”

        On Monday, Dorsch looked devastated, having landed punts of 38 and 51 yards in the defense's 12-7 victory but missing the offense's second field goal of the night. Incumbent kicker Neil Rackers missed from 48 yards in the scrimmage's second drive.

        During Monday's night practice and Tuesday's afternoon workout, Dorsch sat out the team's punting drills, in which he normally participates. Dorsch said coaches wanted him to work on his kicking game instead.

        The Bengals' bid for improved kicking comes on the heels of last year's 6-10 season. Dorsch, the only player in Big Ten history to earn all-conference honors as a kicker and a punter at Purdue, posted a school career-high 48.5-yard punting average and made 22 of 27 field goal attempts.

        Rackers finished last season under considerable fire for his 17-of-28 field goal performance, with scars such as an 0-for-3 game at Baltimore on Sept. 23. In the past two years, he has hit 29 of 49 field goals (59 percent).

        The Bengals won or lost six games by a margin of four points last season.

        Special teams coach Al Roberts said the place-kicking and kickoff specialist decisions haven't been set in stone, with Rackers and Dorsch as the contenders.

        Rackers declined comment, and Roberts had little to say about Rackers' scrimmage performance.

        “He missed,” Roberts said. “So far, he missed.

        “I try not to overanalyze those things and beat them up with it - we beat ourselves up over it enough - but it's embarrassing to be able to win two and three and four more games a year ago by missing three-point chances. Right now, we need to get those three points.”

        Bengals right tackle and offensive captain Willie Anderson is just one player with concerns, but he hasn't ruled out a Rackers comeback.

        “Hopefully, one of those guys in the preseason can show the team and management that they can kick consistently and make the chip shots,” Anderson said. “Neil Rackers has the ability to be one of the best kickers in the game, once he puts the whole mechanical thing together. He's a competitor, and I hope he can come in and make those kicks because, this season, we're going to need them.”

        Incumbent punter Neil Harris has performed well at training camp, displaying his skills in 39- and 49-yard punts Saturday night. The punting duties probably will fall again to Harris, who started all 16 games in 2001 and averaged 40.4 yards per punt.

        But Dorsch, who was drafted as a place-kicker, still harbors hope he'll be able to punt again soon. Between kicking and punting, his preference is the latter.

        “Punting is something I've always liked to do,” said Dorsch. “But if it's just kicking, it's the coaches' decision and it's something I need to live with. We can take it from there.”

        Bengals coach Dick LeBeau said Rackers and Dorsch will kick alternately in Friday's game at Buffalo to “give them a chance to compete.” LeBeau said Dorsch will probably have the chance to punt in the preseason but has instructed him to focus on place-kicking.

        While Saturday's missed field goals put the plagued kicking game back in the spotlight, LeBeau is optimistic about the future.

        “We have team goals and we're not going to be overly patient with any spot that doesn't get up to our team goals. So we're going to put pressure on people to perform - we always have,” LeBeau said. “Along with that, nobody's perfect. So let's give them a shot and see how they do once they start playing preseason games.”

        Dorsch is eager to begin. He said his brand of accuracy and Rackers' range are complimentary, and the kicking derby has served as one of the summer's biggest challenges. The bumpy start to a new season hasn't discouraged Dorsch yet - or so he says.

        “I was disappointed (Saturday),” he said. “All I'm worried about now is helping the team and getting points on the board.”

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