CINCINNATI -- It's the first Monday of the NFL regular season. Locker rooms are thinner. There is definitely more elbow room at Paul Brown Stadium. Since the last time the Bengals were in here, 22 players were told they weren't good enough to make the team's 53-man roster for one reason or another. Eight of those players were re-signed to the practice squad.
It's a position Wallace Gilberry experienced six years ago. The New York Giants had signed Gilberry as a college free agent after he hadn't been selected in the 2008 draft. Gilberry was among the final preseason cuts for the Giants that year but they liked Gilberry's potential and signed him to their practice squad. That's where he was when Kansas City called and wanted to sign him to its active roster in November of that season.
Gilberry has always been that player trying to prove himself. Every player has to prove himself but some have more to prove than others.
Gilberry goes into this season as a starting defensive end for the first time in his career. The spot opened when Michael Johnson signed with Tampa Bay as an unrestricted free agent. The Bengals have successfully used as many as eight players in games as part of their defensive line rotation for the past few seasons and Gilberry has flourished coming off the bench in the rotation.
But there is meaning to being a starter.
"I'm going to grab (the chance) by the horns," said Gilberry on Monday as the Bengals began preparing for Sunday's opener at Baltimore. "I haven't stressed about it, thought about it, if I was going to be the starter or not. However it played out I was going to be ready for it. I've put myself in the position to be able to accept this work, this bigger workload.
"I'm looking forward to what the season is going to bring. I've put a lot into this offseason. I've put a lot into myself and my confidence is where it needs to be."
Gilberry, 29, has produced 14 sacks totaling more than 100 yards in losses as well as 70 tackles, three pass breakups, a pair of forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries since signing with the Bengals two weeks into the 2012 season.
"He's just one of those guys that seems to make plays," said defensive line coach Jay Hayes. "He's at a point in his career where he wants the moniker of being the starter and he's worked hard to get it."
Gilberry will be splitting time with Robert Geathers at right end. Geathers has been a starter before and is coming back from missing all but two games of last season with an elbow injury. The rotation has worked well in the past for the Bengals because of their talent depth and the fact that players buy into the system. Geno Atkins is an All-Pro tackle but Brandon Thompson has earned playing time behind Atkins and Domata Peko. Margus Hunt is going to see more time this season at left end behind starter Carlos Dunlap.
"The fight starts up front and you want to have guys that have been in a fight and know how to fight," said Gilberry. "We've got guys that you can qualify as having been in a fight and knowing how to fight."
Gilberry has played in 83 games in his career, although only five times has he started. He has been a constant on game-day since getting into five games with the Chiefs as a rookie; the only reason he hasn't played a full 16 games in any other season is because he came to the Bengals after the 2012 season had started.
Gilberry's story of perseverance is a good reminder for all of those players who didn't end up on some team's 53-man roster over the weekend.
"Wallace seized the opportunity is what's most important," said head coach Marvin Lewis. "I think he sees the light at the end of the tunnel and he's not going to let somebody pass him up. He really has done an excellent job of ... putting on display that I'm the player that deserves to go out there first.
"We're going to rotate guys and roll guys through, but in Wallace's mind he wants to be the guy who goes out there first and I have to take my hat off to him for doing that. He's done that. He's displayed that. He's stayed out on the practice field when he's had some nicks, because he wants to be out there."
