HBO's "Hard Knocks" kicks off Tuesday chronicling the Cincinnati Bengals' 2013 training camp.
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A second team will be seen early in this year's edition of the football documentary series, as the Bengals travel to practice with the Atlanta Falcons in advance of Thursday's preseason opener for both teams.
The Falcons, who turned down a chance to be the focus of the show, might be the home team for the practices, but they only plan to make a guest appearance on the show.
"We will not have any of our players miked," Falcons coach Mike Smith said, per The Associated Press. "This show is about the Cincinnati Bengals."
Bengals coach Marvin Lewis, who worked with Smith on the Baltimore Ravens' staff from 1999 to 2002 (the Ravens were the featured team on "Hard Knocks" in 2002), said the two spoke at length about the show, saying both teams held "the same concerns" about certain information becoming public.
"I'm not really a miked-up guy," wide receiver Roddy White added after Sunday's practice. "I just like to come out here and practice. I don't want them to hear what I'm saying because I don't want them to say it on TV. We'll be going over signals and things like that, so I don't want to give away our calls early in the season."
Whether White wanted to be miked-up or not, the immersion effect of "Hard Knocks" will make it nearly impossible for the Falcons to be completely silent on the show. That's why we love it.
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