DT Devon Still spoke on behalf of the Penn State football team during the tumultuous 2011 season when he was named the Big Ten defensive player of the year amid the Nittany Lions' controversy.

Here was the rookie's take on five topics, hours before his first NFL practice with the Bengals: 

Q: What was your reaction to Penn State's players standing together and saying they will stay in State College and remain committed to the school?

A: I was very proud. I texted them as soon as I saw what they said on ESPN -- how they are going to stick together and just prove everybody wrong and show everybody they can't break up that family. It makes me proud because that's what Coach Paterno instilled in us -- to be a family.

Q: What did you think of the penalties levied against Penn State?

A: I thought they were pretty strict. I felt as though the football team didn't really have anything to do with what went on. I felt it was more of a civil matter than an NCAA matter, but we are just going to have to take that on the chin and continue to move forward.

Q: Did the Freeh Report change your perspective of Paterno?

A: It didn't change my perspective of him as a coach and as our leader of our team ... but it did open my eyes to some things that were happening at Penn State. I think that's going to get taken care of.

Q: What would you say to your former teammates if you could stand in front of them one more time?

A: I would just tell them that Penn State recruits a different type of player. They recruit somebody who holds themselves to a higher standard and somebody who is going to fight through adversity. I think right now is time you have to prove what type of players we have at Penn State and I think they are going to do that.

Q: Considering what you all went through as a member of the Nittany Lions last season, does what's happened seem surreal?

A: It most definitely does seem surreal. When I was there, it was heartbreaking when all the news came out and everything was going on. I was kind of living in the moment for them. I was just worried about getting the team together. Everything that has happened since I graduated has really caught me offguard with the passing of Coach Paterno, the sanctions and just all the chaos going on up there at campus. We understood this was going to happen -- we didn't know it was going to be of this magnitude. We are just going to have to take whatever we get and move forward.

Follow Bengals reporter Paul Dehner on Twitter @CBSSportsNFLCIN.