GEORGETOWN, Ky. — Cedric Benson lined up at running back for the first play during 11-on-11 drills, veered left after the snap and caught a dump-off pass from Andy Dalton.Finally, the Cincinnati Bengals’ offense was back at full strength, though still not all on the same page.Benson was still learning the playbook when he and the rest of the Bengals’ free agents lined up for the first time on Thursday night. A bunch of them were making up for lost time, including quarterbacks Jordan Palmer and Bruce Gradkowski.”We have a new offensive coordinator, it’s a new playbook,” Benson said before practice. “I’m only one day in. So I’m just trying to catch up on everything. It always is a little overwhelming. As soon as I get this playbook down, the defensive guys had better be ready.”Like other teams, the Bengals were short-handed while their signed free agents sat out the first four practices. They weren’t allowed to participate until the new collective bargaining agreement was signed on Thursday afternoon.”We’ll try to ease them into practice,” coach Marvin Lewis said. “Some of them have been here with us longer than others, but we will still try to ease them in as we go into this weekend. We want to come out of this weekend full of strength.”Their first full-squad practice clearly showed where they’re going at quarterback.Bengals owner Mike Brown indicated last week that he’d like Dalton to start, even though the second-round pick wasn’t able to work with coaches over the summer because of the NFL lockout. Dalton was the first quarterback during 11-on-11 drills Thursday night and took the overwhelming majority of snaps during a spirited practice.”I felt like I had a good day,” Dalton said. “Having everybody back, everybody was excited out there.”Gradkowski, signed as a free agent from Oakland, was the second quarterback. Palmer got by far the fewest plays of the three.Gradkowski was in Tampa from 2008-09 with Jay Gruden, Cincinnati’s new offensive coordinator. Although he knows Gruden’s style, he’s still learning a playbook that’s much different than the one he had there.”There’s a few similarities,” Gradkowski said. “Jay Gruden definitely has his own offense, his own style. There’s some things I remember, and there’s a lot of things that are different. So I’ve just got to come in and learn as much as I can and help this team any way I can.”With a new quarterback this season — Carson Palmer says he’ll retire rather than return — there’s likely to be more emphasis on Benson, whose role changed last season as the Bengals put more emphasis on the pass. Benson was a free agent and likely would have left if the offense had stayed the same.Gruden replaced Bob Bratkowski as offensive coordinator and told Benson that the running game will be important in his system.”He said, `Well, if you’re going to get paid like the Big Dog, you’re going to get the ball like the Big Dog,”‘ Benson said.Lewis sees him in a little different role in the new offense. Benson is known for his tough, up-the-middle running style. Lewis thinks that Benson, who caught only 28 passes last season, needs to be more of a receiver.”What he needs to do is become a better receiver and do some of the other things that are going to be more important to us in our offense,” Lewis said Thursday before practice. “He has to be more diligent in the passing game: being in the right spots, getting the right route run, and getting it run correctly and precisely while having the speed and energy out of the cuts.”Sure enough. Benson spent time one-on-one with an assistant coach during practice, learning the new pass patterns.Benson was arrested in July on a misdemeanor charge of assaulting his former roommate in Texas. He was arrested in the offseason last year as well, but NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell didn’t punish him that time.He’s wondering if he’ll be disciplined this time.”Of course there’s concern,” Benson said. “You don’t want to hurt your team. You don’t want to miss any games. You don’t want to be fined or anything like that. It’s unfortunate. For that, I’m greatly sorry not only to the team but the fans. Hopefully matters won’t come to that.”

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LAS VEGAS, Nevada (AFP) – Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Adam ‘Pac-Man’ Jones was put on probation and sentenced to 200 hours’ community service on Thursday after a plea deal regarding a 2007 brawl in Las Vegas.

The suspended sentence was contingent upon Jones completing anger management classes as well as undergoing random drug tests for his role in a shooting at a strip club that left a club employee paralyzed.

Two others were also wounded.

While Jones has denied any role in the shooting, he pleaded no contest in 2007 to a misdemeanor charge of conspiring to commit disorderly conduct.

The plea deal saw two felony coercion charges reduced.

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Ochocinco underwent X-rays on his left foot on Thursday, according to the player.

“My left foot is totally jacked up, not sure why but bad enough to need X-Rays, im nervous as hell,” Ochocinco tweeted Thursday morning.

Ochocinco’s tweet included a photo that showed him undergoing the procedure.

Ochocinco was limited in practice Wednesday due to an ankle injury. He caught six passes for 71 yards in the team’s Week 14 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Bengals, who face the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, have only two winning records in the past 20 years, one of the worst stretches of futility in league history. The team has an option to keep Ochocinco for one more season.

On “The T.Ocho Show” on Versus cable network Tuesday night, Bengals teammate Terrell Owens asked Ochocinco why he thought the team is 2-11.

“I’m not sure why we’re 2-11 this year,” Ochocinco said. “But the thing with me is I’ve become numb to the situation of losing, being that I’ve lost for such a long time that I have not been able to point the finger on what it really is.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.