Tuesday Reads: Palmer Questions Abound, Henry Returns

Speculation continues to swirl around Carson Palmer’s elbow injury. However, Palmer insists that he will play this weekend.

The Chickster’s sources tell him that WR Chris Henry will be back on the field against Dallas. He points to TE/FB Dan Coats as the guy most likely to be cut to make room for Henry on the roster.

Doc argues that missteps in the offseason are responsible for the Bengals’ poor season.

"Chad Johnson should have been traded to Washington.The way the Bengals handled the “signing” of Sean Rogers was amateurish.Why did they tag Stacy Andrews?Jerome Simpson?The Ravens used Willie Anderson near the goal line last night. Couldnt the Bengals used him the same way? Is anyone going to say this offensive line would not be better for his presence? Would there be a better leader in the locker room now?Rudi could have averaged 2.9 yards a carry.And of course Henry. He is the centerpiece for yet another offseason muffed, by the league’s largest mom and pop operation. The owner brought him back, against his coach’s obvious objections."

Meh. I agree about Henry and Simpson, but as for the rest…? Chad hasn’t been a distraction, Andrews has been OK, Rogers hasn’t done much for Cleveland, it looked to me last night that every time Anderson came in, Baltimore ran to the other side and, yeah, Rudi would be averaging about 2.9 yards behind this line, too. I’ll stick with my previous diagnosis. The Bengals are paying the price for poor o-line personnel management in years past, the poor attitudes of key players, and the piss-poor playcalling of Sideshow Bob.

With both DeDe Dorsey and Kenny Watson down with hamstring injuries, C. Trent expects the team to call up Kansas RB James Johnson from the practice squad. In two preseason games this year, Johnson had 21 carries for 94 yards.