Rookie WR Andre Caldwell returned to practice yesterday, bolstering a Bengals receiving corps that looked to be down as low as four coming out of the Eagles game. On the other hand, T.J. Houshmandzadeh’s back problems have apparently cropped up again, though it didn’t keep him off the field Monday. Backup lineman Scott Kooistra showed up on crutches with a knee injury. Combined with existing dents to T Levi Jones and G Andrew Whitworth, it appears that the Bengals will have two guys making their first starts on the o-line Thursday.
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin thinks the Bengals are in better shape than they were before the two teams met earlier this year, and singled out the play of defenders Robert Geathers, Leon Hall and Brandon Johnson.
Defensively, I think Geathers has really come alive here in the last few weeks. He’s put some impressive tape out there the last two games from the left end spot. Leon Hall continues to play great ball and I really like and respect what we see out of Brandon Johnson as an every-down linebacker. He’s a very athletic and talented guy who is making plays all over the field, running and intercepting passes and so forth.
One defender who drew the spotlight in a not-so-good way last weekend was safety Marvin White. PFW’s Mike Wilkening fingers White as the guy who missed tackles on Philadelphia’s two big plays. With newcomer Chris Crocker playing well against Philly, that performance could put White back in the doghouse he was in a few weeks ago, when he was benched in favor of Dexter Jackson. (Jackson was subsequently knocked out for the season by an injury.)
Tags: Bengals, Cicinnati, NFL
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