July 31, 2009

(5:45 p.m.): I spent the day down in Georgetown, Ky., covering the Bengals for CBSSports.com – one training camp practice finished, 16 to go – and I caught up with former Bearcats punter Kevin Huber.

(If you’re interested in the CBSSports.com Bengals Rapid Reports, check ‘em out here.)

Huber, as you might know, is the only punter in Cincinnati’s camp, meaning he’s going to have to be absolutely terrible not to win the job. He was a little short with a few of his punts this afternoon, but at least one of his high spirals were met with appreciative mumblings from the crowd here at Toyota Stadium on the Georgetown College campus.

“I’m getting more comfortable working with (long snapper) Brad (St. Louis) and (punter) Shayne (Graham) on the holds,” Huber said. “The punts here started off a little shaky, and then I had some punts and got into the groove. I’ve been kind of anxious to start. After that first one, I kind of got myself together.”

The fact he’s the only punter here, he said, hasn’t affected his mindset. Obviously, the job security (well, as much job security as you can have in the NFL) is nice, but he really appreciates the extra time special teams coach Darrin Simmons makes to spend with him.

“I was the only punter at OTAs, and I got the whole I’m-going-to-be-the-starter deal out of the way,” Huber said. “The OTAs prepared me for that. I feel like coming to training camp was like going to camp Higher Ground at UC.”

By that, he means he’s comfortable here. He also feels pretty good about holding for Graham’s field goals and extra point attempts. He played the same position at UC for Jake Rogers, and he said holding in the pros isn’t much different than it was in college.

“I’m getting the timing,” Huber said. “Brad has been giving me great snaps. He makes it easy. All I have to do is see the ball and catch the ball. He gives it to me right there, and all I have to do is catch it clean, get the laces around and let Shane do the rest.

“There’s a lot more variables to it. I’ve been working with Shayne the whole time, seeing how he likes it to be held. It’s the exchange and getting used to it. I’ve had plenty of time to work on that. It’s all repetition and getting comfortable with it. We work with the same kind of tempo (as he did at UC), but now, it has to be a lot more consistent.”