Marvin Lewis breezes past an anonymous, round lineman at the Bengals mini-camp in May.

"Tuck your shirt in, big boy," he says.

Chad Johnson walks up to Lewis, sticks out his hand for the coach to shake.

"Secret?" Johnson says.

"What's that?" says Lewis.

"I wanna be one of the greatest to ever play this game."

"That's not a secret," says Lewis.

"But I wanna be better than (Jerry) Rice."

"That's right," says Lewis.

"Y'all got to help me."

"And we gonna help you."

We're not sure if this exchange came before or after Artrell Hawkins said players are calling Lewis "the black Jesus" because "he's resurrecting the franchise." But it really doesn't matter. The Bengals know the way their new coach runs things. After this, so will everyone else.

An NFL Films crew shot mini-camp and miked Lewis during practices for a 30-minute slice-of-Marvin show called, naturally, "Return to the Jungle." It debuts Aug. 1 at 1 p.m. on ESPN.

We are accustomed to seeing other teams' coaches doing this. Almost every other team's coach, striding the practice field like a spike-shoed god, part Patton, part Barnum and Bailey. NFL Films invented up close and personal. It still does it better than anyone.

What we haven't seen is one of our coaches participate.

"Play the game every snap, men. Invest in yourself. No half steps. Finish football plays," Lewis says, not screaming, because he doesn't have to. But loudly enough. Just loudly enough.

Then he says something that will endear him to anyone who has watched a Bengals' false-start in the past 10 years: "That's something simple. We shouldn't screw that up."

Amen, Jesus.

Lewis didn't welcome NFL Films because he wants to be a star. He learned from Brian Billick, the glib Baltimore Ravens coach who never met a mike he didn't hug. But he isn't Billick. He's not even Bill Cowher, another mentor known for amusing sound bites.

Lewis did this to establish competence with the public. It was his way of saying, "You want to see how I do things? Come on in. I'm not afraid to let you see me moving mountains of negativity out the door." At a team meeting, Lewis said, "The difference (in the NFL) is not in talent. The difference is in execution and effort. Everything we do, let's take the extra step."

"Marvin wants to show people he's laying a foundation. A good way to do that is let NFL Films in," says senior producer Keith Cossrow. Lewis might not want to be a TV guy, but he is. He projects. He's clear. He doesn't waste words. He smiles when he needs to. He knows what he knows.

Lewis asked NFL Films to produce two short movies, a collection of great Bengals plays, and a history of the franchise. He showed them during a Bengals alumni banquet during mini-camp. Current players saw that the team did have a proud past.

"The most important thing I can do is never allow our players to accept mediocrity. I did that once before and it led to a world championship," Lewis says.

No one expects that around here. Yet. But a little walking on water would be good. NFL Films must have cut that segment.

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