Bengals OC Hue Jackson: Dalton is improving

The first ball sailed against the backdrop of empty, green seats and crisp, blue sky inside Paul Brown Stadium on Tuesday afternoon, then buzzed toward the turf before A.J. Green ran underneath it in stride for a touchdown.

Moments later, another took the same path on the opposite hash mark, this time Marvin Jones running under with one step on his defender and little room for error. Touchdown.

Three drills later, a strike crossed deep down the field from left hash to far sideline, hitting Green in stride. Degree of difficulty: High.

This was the first day of mini-camp. One practice in June, still more than two months away from the opener in Baltimore. This was in shorts and no pads.

Andy Dalton still hasn't won a playoff game. He still owns an uncertain situation with his contract. He still has one touchdown to six interceptions in the postseason.

But new offensive coordinator Hue Jackson doesn't worry about those variables. He trusts his eyes. He sees a different quarterback.

"I think he's throwing the ball fantastic," Jackson said. "I really do. He's improved. I see it. I see it on the practice field."

Visual cues span beyond a more compact delivery or aesthetic deep passes on point. Jackson notes Dalton's command of an offense that is increasing the tempo exponentially. His knowledge of the playbook and execution in keeping new pieces on the same page, quickly, allows Jackson's plan to attack at a game-changing speed to unfold.

"I see a very confident player who goes in and calls the play and makes decisions, who redirected things and gets us in the right place," Jackson said. "There's not a lot of negative football plays. That's what you want. He's taken charge and control."

Now the Bengals would like to see him take charge and control of his contract situation. Both sides continue to talk about an extension as Dalton enters the fourth and final year of his rookie deal. The recent contract of Colin Kaepernick, which gives him the opportunity to be one of the richest players in the NFL, but allows the 49ers to get away early without much liability, provided the latest data point in the discussions.

As for how it affected Dalton, pundits debate about structure, money and finding a market, but one primary opinion came to the quarterback's mind.

"I think the biggest thing is that it got done," he said. "That's one thing that you see, that they took the time and were able to find a middle ground and get it done. So I'm hopeful that will happen for me soon."

Until then, Dalton will keep working, improving and catching the eye of his new coordinator.

"He's done everything I've asked him to do so far," Jackson said. "That's why I'm very excited about his potential and his future and what he's doing."

UPDATES ON HALL, ATKINS: Head coach Marvin Lewis spoke more specifically about the recovery status of cornerback Leon Hall (Achilles tendon) and defensive tackle Geno Atkins (ACL) during his press conference Tuesday.

He couldn't have been more optimistic about Hall, and essentially said he's made a similar recovery to the one he made two years ago when tearing his opposite Achilles.

"Leon has had, again, an amazing recovery thus far," Lewis said. "Hopefully he continues with that pace. I will tell you if we were lining up to start training camp tomorrow, Leon would probably be lining up to start training camp as he did two years ago. He's done incredible again."

So, the consensus seems to be that Hall is on schedule for a full recovery. The prognosis was slightly murkier for Atkins, but nonetheless optimistic. Atkins tore his ACL on Halloween, so he faced a tighter time frame and different injury than Hall. But when asked if he has any concern that Atkins wouldn't be on the field to start the season, Lewis didn't.

"I don't have any concern, no," Lewis said. "Geno, all intentions is whenever he can get back. But, again, you have to go through the process."

GRESHAM SPOTTED: For the first time since organized team activities began, Jermaine Gresham was spotted in the locker room on the field during a practice open to the media.

Gresham, who is battling an injury, has been performing his rehab with the team, according to Lewis, but hadn't been seen during the OTA portion of the offseason program.

Lewis said last week that he expects Gresham to be ready for the beginning of training camp.