Tests have confirmed that Bengals’ rookie RB Kenny Irons suffered a season-ending left knee injury during Thursday night’s preseason game at Detroit, head coach Marvin Lewis said today.

Lewis said the diagnosis was a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Lewis said the Bengals’ medical staff anticipates a full recovery for Irons, and that Irons will be ready to participate in next spring’s mini camps and OTA practices.

Irons, from Auburn, was Cincinnati’s second-round selection in the 2007 NFL draft.
Well that sucks. Maybe we should not play pre-season in Detroit. (Right Kijana Carter?)


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First off Who Dey, as a whole, our #1's, crushed, their #1's. Lets start with what I liked about last night:

Run D. We looked solid against two good running backs, we held the line well and had a couple stops for loss against Tatum Bell and TJ Duckett.

QB Pressure. I don't know if this was us or Kitnas lack of ability but I liked it.

Offense. Whats not to love, we are stacked.

Dis-Likes.

DB's It looks like teams are going to be able to pass on us this year.

Special Teams, Wow, bad onside recovery, blocked punt, missed game winner. This was always a Bengal strength.

Backup QB, if Carson needs to miss any time, we are in big trouble.


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"Brady Quinn is NFL ready," has been the most repeated quote since the beginning of the 2006 college football season. Who started saying this quote and why is it constantly repeated? Did NFL scouts and personnel begin saying this quote? Let's see, NFL ready QB, prototype QB build, Heisman Trophy finalist, 2 BCS Bowl games, drafted 22nd? An NFL ready QB with these credentials does not get passed by 21 times. Recent NFL ready QBs without Quinn's record and attributes, Eli Manning, Phillip Rivers, Ben Roethlisberger, JP Losman, Alex Smith, and Jay Cutler were all drafted higher because NFL personnel actually believed they were NFL ready. So who really began repeating this mantra? One man has everything to gain by starting this slogan....Charlie Weis. Charlie Weis has been saying Brady Quinn is NFL polished since he started coaching at Notre Dame. Charlie Weis' career at Notre Dame is rooted in his ability to develop QBs. It is supposedly his specialty, will help him recruit major QB prospects, and will raise the profile of himself and the program. Remember, prior to the draft, Charlie Weis was personally calling NFL franchises trying to sell Brady Quinn to anyone who had a high pick. Getting Quinn drafted high would equal star recruits and validating Weis as a coach. But why is Weis considered such a great coach? Well, he was the offensive coordinator for Tom Brady and the New England Patriot's efficient offense from 2000 to 2004. Here are Tom Brady's numbers under Weis:

Year---Comp %-Yards--TD---INT
2001---63%-----2,843--18----12
2002---62%-----3,764--28----14
2003---60%-----3,620--23----12
2004---60%-----3,692--28----14

Here are Tom Brady's numbers after Weis left and the Patriots top 3 receivers left and were replaced by NFL journeymen:

Year---Comp%-Yards--TD---INT
2005---63%-----4,110--26----14
2006---61%-----3,529--24----12

No real difference there. Perhaps the Patriots aren't missing anything without Weis.

In Weis' 2 seasons at Notre Dame, the Irish have played 5 ranked opponents. Their record is 0 and 5 with only one of the games not being a blowout. Brady Quinn's completion percentage in those 5 games, 54%, 64%, 50%, 48% and 42%. But it takes more than a coach and QB to win games, right? Well in the last 2 NFL drafts, the following players have been drafted:
Year----Name----------Position--Round
2006--Anthony Fasano---TE--------2
2006--Maurice Stovall----WR-------3
2006--Dan Stevenson-----OG-------6
2007--Quinn, Brady-------QB-------1
2007--Abiamiri, Victor----DE--------2
2007--Harris, Ryan-------OT--------3
2007--Landri, Derek------DT--------5
2007--Richardson, Mike---CB--------6
2007--Ndukwe, Nedu------S---------7
2007--Dan Santucci--------OG-------7
*2007 --Samardzija, Jeff--WR--Projected 1st or 2nd round pick. Chose to play Baseball.

So the top coach in the NCAA and an offensive genius has a QB who can step in and start in the NFL, has 11 NFL level players, 7 of which are on offense, and they can't beat a ranked opponent. On top of that, their offense cannot even put together a decent completion percentage. Something does not add up here.

This isn't to say that Brady Quinn is not going to be a good QB. But now that he has signed his contract, TV ramrods are saying Quinn will step right in and start because he is "NFL ready." Next time you hear someone refer to Brady Quinn as "NFL ready," please take a second to remember who started feverishly pushing that propaganda and why. Charlis Weis is the most gastric bypass ready NCAA coach....oh wait, he has already had gastric bypass surgery, yet he is still fat, and he is in the middle of a lawsuit accusing his doctor of malpractice. Weis does know how to play the recruiting game though, and it is all about HYPE!! GO IRISH!!!

Labels: Charlie Weis, Gastric Bypass, Lard Sandwich

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE; MON., AUG. 6, 2007
FROM CINCINNATI BENGALS PUBLIC RELATIONS

The Bengals will hold two joint practices with the New Orleans Saints on Thursday, Aug. 16 at the Paul Brown Stadium practice fields.

As is the case with all practices following the close of training camp, the practices will not be open to the public. The practices will be open to media, with start times of 9:30 a.m. and 3 p.m.

“We’re happy for the chance to add these practices,” said Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis. “This is not a contact scrimmage, since we play the Saints two days later, but we’re looking forward to some good, full-speed competitive work against a fine football team.”

To accommodate the joint practices, the Bengals will break training camp at Georgetown (Ky.) College after morning practice on Aug. 15, rather than on the morning of Aug. 16 as originally scheduled. The Aug. 15 practice at training camp will be open to the public and media, but the practice time on that day has been changed to 9-11 a.m. from the originally announced afternoon time.

On Fri., Aug. 17, the Bengals and Saints will hold separate practices on the game turf inside Paul Brown Stadium. The Bengals’ Aug. 17 practice will be closed to the public and media.

The Bengals and Saints will play the second 2007 preseason game for both teams on Sat., Aug. 18 at PBS.


BENGALS ROSTER MOVES

The Bengals today made the following roster moves:

● Signed rookie HB Curtis Brown of Brigham Young. Brown (6-0, 205) entered the NFL in May as a college free agent signee by Oakland. He was released by the Raiders on July 13.

● Waived (injured) rookie HB Dan Burks of Alabama-Birmingham. Burks suffered an elbow injury last Friday during the team’s Intrasquad Scrimmage. He will revert to the Bengals’ Reserve/Injured list if he clears waivers tomorrow.

Labels: press release

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It strikes me as strange that two of the most important players on offense haven't worked out with the team at all during the preseason, but no one's talking about it. Where are we going to be if Big Willie and Levi (Joey Porter's NFL brother) can't play this season? And why is no one showing more concern?

This reminds me an awful lot of Rich Braham's situation last year, when Marvin kept saying "Oh, he just has a deep bone bruise." Everyone kept thinking, "That's it? Then he should be back soon." Turns out, the bruise was caused by his leg snapping and scraping down his femur (or something like that, I'm no doctor). We didn't get the straight story from the team all year, and I'm worried that that's what's going on with Willie and Levi. That's the bad part about Marvin as our coach, he doesn't care to keep the fans informed with what's going on with the team.

From Sunday's article on the Bengals in the Enquirer:

• A couple of big questions, about 650 pounds worth, hang over the offense - the health of starting right tackle Willie Anderson (foot) and left tackle Levi Jones (knee). Neither player has practiced, though both are working out every day. How would any prolonged absence affect the offense, especially its renewed emphasis to run the ball effectively?

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Preseason Week 1 – Lions

Keys to the Game.
Watching preseason football is much like watching two girls play Tecmo Super Bowl. A lot of random plays will be called which make no sense, and you are not sure if anyone really cares if they win. So with that in mind, the Keys to the Game will be much different in the preseason. We are not looking for keys to a Bengal’s victory, but signs that the Bengals will be ready come regular season. Coaches do not really game plan for the preseason. Instead, they have lists of plays and players they want to see in specific situations to see how they work and look on film. Some things to look for that will have an effect on the regular season.

1) The third receiver. One thing to notice against the Lions is the action of receivers not named Chad or TJ. On the first 3rd and 7, who goes in and what type of route does he run? If Bennie Brazell, Antonio Chatman, Tab Perry or anyone else comes in, lines up as the outside receiver and goes deep, the coaches are trying to see if they have a legitimate replacement for Chris Henry. Or you may see them try other solutions on 3rd down, such as, lining up Tab Perry and the inside receiver and testing him over the middle. You may also see an unusual amount of passes to Kenny Irons to test his hands as a 3rd down back out of the backfield.
In the end, what you see Thursday night will be some test runs for what the Bengals will desperately need to beat Baltimore in week 1, multiple options on 3rd down. Ultimately, it may not matter because we all know on 3rd and long that a Shovel Pass to Kenny Watson will be Bratkowski’s call 9 out of 10 times.

2) The new offensive line. The offensive line really isn’t that new, but there will be two new starters from opening day last year bringing a new dynamic to the line play. Rich Braham (Pour one out for your homie) will be replaced by the more athletic, but less experienced Eric Ghiacuic. Stacey Andrews- The largest human on Earth- or Andrew Whitworth-The second largest human on Earth- will replace Eric Steinbach(Lots of BUI space on Lake Erie). Steinbach’s best attributes are his athleticism and technique while Braham was the ideal NFL center with game IQ and a West Virginia Appalachian Deliverance style mean streak. While the new starters may not be as good as Steinbach and Braham, line play may improve due to the new starters fitting into the Bengal’s system. With Rudi being a grinding running back and Carson being a straight dropback passer, the Bengals line does not need much athleticism. Nobody is getting around Whitworth or Andrews without a map, and Ghiacuic will have a 350 pound Guard on either side of him. While the loss of Braham will be felt, the bengals dealt with that last season. The offensive line, Reggie Kelly, Jeremi and Rudi Johnson, I don’t think they could spell the word ‘finesse’ between the eight of them.
What to notice Thursday night will be the difference in the running game. There will be more straight ahead running without Steinbach as a pulling guard, similar to the Ravens a few years ago. If the Bengals can run straight ahead at teams with success, that will open up the play action pass and allow more room for the passing game to operate.

3) Ahmad Brooks. Even morons that live in Bevis know the key to the Bengals defense this year is the play of Ahmad Brooks. But it is harder to analyze defense in the preseason because, again, coaches do not gameplan for preseason games. The defense will have very little idea what plays will be coming, and mainly will be working on alignment and responibilities for different defensive calls. Beyond that, the defense will not be trying to attack the offense or take away the strengths of the offense. We will, however, be able to judge the basic skills of the defense; speed, pursuit, tackling, etc. So from that standpoint, Ahmad Brooks should look very good on Thursday night based on all of the hype about his potential. We can see how comfortable he operates now that he is the leader of the defense.

What you do want to see: Ahmad Brooks running through Tatum Bell in the backfield.
What you don’t want to see: Stacey Andrews being flatbacked by highest paid NFL tackle Cory Redding on the Bengals first pass attempt.

Matchup of mullets: Alan Reuber vs Langston Moore –

The Bengals lost most of their good mullets during the offseason when Keiwan Ratliff got a haircut and Jonathan Fanene decided to un-cornrow his hair. This could be a bad sign that Reuber is the closest thing the Bengals have. Former Bengal Moore brings it home. Lions Win

Matchup of moustaches: DB coach Kevin Coyle vs Matt Millen –

Everyone Wins.

Little known Lions fact: Jon Kitna, who will throw for 50 TDs this season, was arrested for shoplifting, was a drunk and a womanizer while in college. After being caught cheating on his girlfriend, he became the cross hat wearing, Jesus loving QB we all know and love.

Labels: Awesome, Matt Millen, Totally Kick Ass

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