John Ross got up to top speed Kyle Long Bears Jersey , ran past a defender and caught Andy Dalton's long pass in stride, drawing an ovation from the approximately 950 fans watching the first practice of Bengals camp.

A day later, he made another impressive catch on a deep throw and heard more applause.

Fans haven't seen any of this since the Bengals made him their first overall pick last year.

The speedy receiver from Washington expected to show his big-play ability during his first season in Cincinnati. Instead, he missed most of camp while recovering from shoulder surgery and wound up playing in only three games.

He didn't catch a pass and fumbled on a reverse 鈥?the only time he got the ball 鈥?before another shoulder injury ended his season.

As debuts go, it was about as bad as it gets. He was playing catch-up from the start because of his injury, and every mistake got magnified.

"It was everything Saquon Barkley Game Jersey ," Ross said. "When one thing went wrong, six things went wrong. Not to make excuses, but it was so much more than me making one mistake on the field. I think it kind of beat me up mentally and took me away from my game."

The Bengals are trying to dig out of one of the worst seasons offensively in franchise history. They finished last in the league in yards in 2017, a franchise first. Offensive coordinator Bill Lazor was given wide latitude to overhaul the playbook.

The offensive line has been revamped. Coach Marvin Lewis has said repeatedly that the offense needs to have more big plays this season, the kind they thought Ross would provide when they took him with the ninth overall pick in the draft.

Ross ran a record time of 4.22 seconds in the 40-yard dash at the NFL combine, and the Bengals envisioned him providing another deep threat to A.J. Green. Instead Cheap Joseph Noteboom Jersey , Ross barely got on the field. He's been healthy and making a good impression.

"I've kind of showed that I can relax and play the game I'm used to playing," Ross said. "Mentally, that was the toughest challenge for me last year. Being hurt kind of messed with me throughout the whole year. When you're beat mentally, I don't think you can really be yourself."

Ross was still recovering from shoulder surgery when camp opened in 2017 and wasn't cleared to practice at the outset. He wound up playing in only two preseason games and making one catch for 6 yards, his total contribution to the passing game last year.

He's already way ahead of last year.

"John Ross has done things this offseason we saw at the University of Washington," said Duke Tobin Authentic Mark Stone Jersey , director of player personnel. "We're looking for him to take the next step."

EIFERT BACK: Tight end Tyler Eifert was cleared to practice on Monday after working out on a side field the first four days of camp. Eifert was limited to two games last season before more back problems required another surgical procedure. He signed a one-year contract loaded with incentives.

Eifert mostly worked out with the backups on Monday. He made a couple of diving plays late in practice, drawing applause from fans.

"I could understand how it would be frustrating as fans, hearing, 'Oh, he's on (injury) list again or whatever,'" Eifert said. "But trust me Authentic Rashaan Evans Jersey , it's 100 times more frustrating for me because all I want to do is be out there, and I'm doing literally everything I can, spending all my time trying to get back out there and stay out there with the guys."

H-back Ryan Hewitt also was cleared to join practice, leaving only linebacker Vontaze Burfict yet to get approval to practice. Burfict is suspended for the first four games of the season for violating the NFL's policy on performance-enhancers.

The Tennessee Titans have told defensive lineman Sylvester Williams they are releasing him after one season into a three-year deal signed a year ago.

The Titans announced Saturday they were releasing Williams.

The 28th pick overall in 2013 by Denver, Williams spent his first four seasons with the Broncos where he started 48 games and had 5陆 sacks with 94 tackles. Williams signed with Tennessee in March 2017 and started 11 of 15 games. He finished with four tackles for loss and three quarterback pressures with 26 tackles.

Williams' base salary for this season was $5 million and $5.5 million in 2019.

The Titans also released defensive lineman Karl Klug on Friday with Williams the sixth player released since March 8.

.