Johnson makes appearance at minicamp

Chad Johnson showed up for the start of the Cincinnati Bengals’ mandatory minicamp on Thursday. Beyond that, nothing was clear.

The disgruntled receiver didn’t participate in the morning workout after telling the team he has an ailment – fittingly, there were conflicting descriptions of what was wrong.

After the team asserted that he had refused to practice, Johnson went out for the afternoon workout, caught a few passes during drills, then removed his helmet and covered his head with a white towel, a signal that he was done.

Since the end of last season, Johnson has been pushing for a trade. He stopped talking to the local media after his look-at-me antics were criticized during the Bengals’ 7-9 season. Agent Drew Rosenhaus tried to strong-arm the Bengals into trading him before the draft, but they refused.

Then, Johnson claimed he would sit out the season. Bengals coach Marvin Lewis called his bluff, urging him to go ahead and do so.

Johnson skipped the voluntary off-season workouts but was required under threat of fine to attend the three-day minicamp that started Thursday.

Lynch case moves forward

Rookie receiver James Hardy was one of three Buffalo Bills players subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury looking into a hit-and-run accident involving running back Marshawn Lynch’s SUV.

Besides Hardy, the Bills’ second-round draft pick, rookie receiver Steve Johnson and second-year offensive lineman Christian Gaddis also were subpoenaed, a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation confirmed to the Associated Press.

Buffalo Police Department spokesman Michael DeGeorge said “a high-ranking member of the Bills’ security staff” also was subpoenaed.

Erie County District Attorney Frank Clark has impaneled a grand jury to investigate the May 31 accident in which Lynch’s 2008 Porsche Cayenne allegedly sped off after hitting and injuring a female pedestrian.

Former Bills lineman dies

Mitch Frerotte, an offensive lineman who played in three Super Bowls for the Buffalo Bills, died in Kittanning, Pa., of an apparent heart attack. He was 43.