--Bengals coaches and executives wrapped up a two-day visit Monday with former NFL MVP Shaun Alexander, who then spent a day in New Orleans but went home to Seattle without a contract offer. Alexander, a Boone County High School graduate from Florence, Ky., right across the Ohio River from downtown Cincinnati, was released April 22 after eight seasons with the Seahawks.

Alexander grew up a Bengals fan.

"Certainly, the home team has some weight," agent Jim Steiner said when asked if Alexander would like to play for his boyhood favorites.

Alexander played in 13 games with 11 starts last season, missing three games with a sprained left knee. He played through a left wrist fractured in Week 1. In 2006, he missed six games because of a severely bruised left foot that eventually resulted in a fracture. He will be 31 on Aug. 30.

--The Bengals had no comment about linebacker Ahmad Brooks, accused of punching a Florence, Ky., woman in the left eye. Brooks, who lives in Union, Ky., has been summoned to appear June 6 in Boone District Court to answer to the charge of misdemeanor assault, punishable by up to a year in the jail.

--Quarterback Carson Palmer and cornerbacks Leon Hall and Jonathan Joseph came out to watch the Friday morning rookie minicamp practice. Safety Dexter Jackson addressed rookie camp participants Thursday night.

"We tried to surround them with the guys here, a group that -- in the worst way -- wants to win some football games," Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis said. "They know ... a few of them (rookies) are going to help contribute to that this year early on, and hopefully the rest of them later as we go."

--Defensive tackle remains a position of uncertainty for the Bengals behind projected starters Domata Peko and John Thornton. The Bengals took Pat Sims in the third round and fellow defensive tackle Jason Shirley in the fifth.

"Yeah, I think Pat for sure should have an impact right away," Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis said during rookie minicamp. "I think Jason has a lot to learn. But he will be a willing learner. He's a big, big strong man, so we'll get him ... into the correct stances and be faster and quicker with his hands and allow him to use all that big man that he's got there because right now he's wasting about two-thirds of it."

Sims, of the team's 10 draft picks, might be the most important because of the need at the position.

"I know they expect a lot out of me," Sims said. "I'm going to work hard to give them that. As a rookie, I'm just going to try to contribute as early as I can, helping stop the run and putting some pressure on the quarterback."

--Former Bengal Chris Henry will be allowed to travel to other cities in hopes of reviving his professional football career, a judge ruled May 6.

Perry Ancona, Henry's lawyer, had asked Hamilton County Municipal Court Judge Rich Bernat if Henry could be released from electronic monitoring and house arrest (he lives in a downtown Cincinnati apartment), so he could travel to another city and try out for other NFL teams. The judge denied that request until May 6, when Ancona repeated that Henry has an offer to try out for an unnamed NFL team and needs to be allowed to travel. Before Henry will be allowed to travel for tryouts, he must bring a letter from the NFL team.

The Bengals waived Henry April 3 after the 24-year-old wide receiver was arrested and charged with assault and criminal damaging in a March 31 incident.

--Mandatory full-squad minicamp will be June 12-14.

QUOTE TO NOTE
"He showed things that are innate. Every time he was not in a meeting he was upstairs watching tape on his own. He already gets it." -- Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis, when asked about the performance during rookie minicamp of first-round linebacker Keith Rivers.

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