By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis at minicamp Friday. (Ernest Coleman photo) | ZOOM |

Marvin Lewis ran onto a football field for the first time Friday as a head coach.

The Bengals opened their first three-day voluntary minicamp at Paul Brown Stadium, and Lewis - a former defensive coordinator - said he liked overseeing the offense. A 22-year assistant and coordinator, he liked dictating the pace of practice.

And when the afternoon workout was over, as the head coach, Lewis had the responsibility of explaining why the team's best-known player and lone superstar - Corey Dillon - was the only one missing.

"It's voluntary," Lewis said when asked the first of nine questions about Dillon. "We want to have our guys here. But we'll be fine. We're going to move forward and on."

Center Rich Braham did not attend, but he is an unsigned, unrestricted free agent. Three Bengals are playing in NFL Europe.

Joby Branion, Dillon's agent, did not return a phone message left Friday at his Newport Beach, Calif., office. A receptionist said Branion was in a meeting.

Dillon spoke Friday night to bengals.com and was not happy with the national media attention his minicamp absence attracted.

"They made it out like I'm some kind of monster," Dillon told the team Web site from suburban Los Angeles. "They should look up voluntary in the dictionary. I volunteered to be with my family this weekend and if anybody there thinks anything is more important than my people, they better talk to me. If it's mandatory, I'm there."

Dillon has said in the past that he is annoyed by what he says are intrusions into his private life and personal matters.

Carl Powell fights through a block. (Ernest Coleman photo) | ZOOM |

"I've got no gripes with Marvin Lewis," said Dillon, addressing rumors that he wants a trade to Oakland. "If I wanted to be traded, don't you think I'm bold enough that I would have come out and asked? This has nothing to do with Marvin or the Bengals. This is about me and my family, and I'm sick and tired of people always trying to get in my business."

Dillon is entering the third year of a five-year contract paying $26.5 million. He was the only player under contract missing, but he has been one of the best physically conditioned Bengals players in his six-year career.

"I probably had a pretty good feeling where he'd be," Lewis said.

But does Lewis interpret Dillon's absence as slap in face to the coaching staff and players?

"No, it's voluntary,' Lewis said. "We cannot require people to be here. We're right where we need to be. We'll move forward. His teammates are moving on and working and we'll fit the next guy back into the fold, whoever it is, from this point on."

Backup tailback Brandon Bennett played in Dillon's spot. Rudi Johnson and former UC star Ray Jackson also carried the ball and lined up at tailback.

Lewis offered no explanation or reason for Dillon's absence. Bengals media relations director Jack Brennan referred questions about Dillon to Lewis.

Beside Dillon, the only other Pro Bowl player on the Bengals roster is linebacker Kevin Hardy, who made the all-star team while playing in Jacksonville.

The mandatory minicamp is in June.

"I wish people would just get off my back," Dillon told bengals.com. "I wish they would just leave me alone. I'll be there smoking for the mandatory. Smoking mad."

But Dillon's absence could be viewed as significant because Lewis and his assistant coaches have repeatedly said they want players who want to be in Cincinnati. That attitude appeared to play a part in Lewis' decision not to match the offer sheet that linebacker Takeo Spikes received from the Buffalo Bills. Spikes had said he wanted out of Cincinnati. He was given his wish.

Dillon came up again at the end of Lewis' afternoon press conference.

Is Dillon buying into Lewis' program and organizational changes?

Lewis: "I don't know that he's not buying in."

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E-mail mcurnutte@enquirer.com

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