Does anyone think that Pollack is remotely healed?

[Kazkal]

Guess only time will tell...... is it sept 10th yet /cry

[ArmyBengal]

Pollack watches game tape like a madman and has a determination about him that others would kill for... Or something to that extent has been said before. I know I haven't given up on him and am willing to give him another year, but you can watch all the tape you want and be as determined as you want, but if you always have something nagging you or are hurt, what does that make you ???

A determined, tape watching, broke d*ck who ends up being a 1st round bust...

That being said, I hope him lights sh*t up this season and goes to the pro-bowl !!!

WHODEY !!!

[derekshank]

I'll admit that Hoosier has a point, because there is a bit of a doublt standard. But only a bit. There are some very key differences.

1. I defended Perry the entire year last year, and have only recently changed my perspective due to the expectation of his name on the PUP list. This makes his 3rd straight year of sitting out games and making no contribution. Therefore... to be consistent, I would need Pollack to miss several games this year, remain a back-up, and then start out next year on the PUP before I can officially become irate in his direction.

2. Pollack changed positions, and therefore was granted more patience. He played one hell ofa game against the Steelers in the playoffs, which has given hope that he will soon be a great OLB. Perry has had incredibly few moments in his career that have led people to believe he will be anything but injury prone.

3. Perry played for Michigan. Most Bengals fans are from Ohio, and therefore are OSU fans. This really does hurt Perry's cause. Sure... I'm being a bit tongue-in-cheek, but the hatred for Michigan doesn't just go away when he puts on the Bengal uniform. How accepted would Hines Ward be if he were traded to the Bengals? We'd live with it... but hate every moment of it.

That's pretty much all I can come up with. If Jeanty continues to play as well as he's looked, and Pollack struggles to stay on the field, I'm sure there will be plenty of Pollack bashing to go around. There is just a bit more patience with him at the moment.

I haven't lost patience with Pollack yet... because he's been on the field about the same amout of time as Deltha this pre-season... and similar to Deltha, I'm not convinced his injuries are serious enough to keep him out when it matters. Time will tell.

[HoosierCat]

1. I defended Perry the entire year last year, and have only recently changed my perspective due to the expectation of his name on the PUP list.

Yeah, that was about the last straw for me as well. Whether or not it was the med staff's fault, whether or not he has talent, whether or not he's an asshat...the bottom line is that he isn't on the field, isn't gonna be on the field for some time (at best), and we have better uses for his roster slot, like Wilson or Dorsey. I have a feeling that Perry will eventually do well in the league, but I also think that he won't do it in a Bengals uniform.

2. Pollack changed positions, and therefore was granted more patience. He played one hell ofa game against the Steelers in the playoffs, which has given hope that he will soon be a great OLB. Perry has had incredibly few moments in his career that have led people to believe he will be anything but injury prone.

I would be willing to grant more patience to His Lordship had he actually been around to get the one thing he desperately needs to accomplish that position change: reps. But he's had two camps wasted now, the first via holdout, the second due to injury. He's still not ready to start at LB. It now appears he will begin the season behind Jeanty (!). If he manages to turn a situational role into 8 or 10 sacks then we'll at least have some value for our first round pick. But absolute minimum you want your first round pick to be a starter, and here we are in year two and we aren't there yet. Frankly I wonder whether it would not be better just to abandon the whole LB thing and line his butt up at DE.

3. Perry played for Michigan. Most Bengals fans are from Ohio, and therefore are OSU fans.

Michigan and OSU both suck. Go Bobcats!

[Stripes]

I would be willing to grant more patience to His Lordship had he actually been around to get the one thing he desperately needs to accomplish that position change: reps. But he's had two camps wasted now, the first via holdout, the second due to injury. He's still not ready to start at LB. It now appears he will begin the season behind Jeanty (!). If he manages to turn a situational role into 8 or 10 sacks then we'll at least have some value for our first round pick. But absolute minimum you want your first round pick to be a starter, and here we are in year two and we aren't there yet. Frankly I wonder whether it would not be better just to abandon the whole LB thing and line his butt up at DE.

The holdout certainly set him on the wrong trail, as we all feared it would a year ago. Still, I can't really place any blame on him for his injury struggles since. He did play a lot in 2005, and showed consistent improvement with each appearance. It's going to take him a while to adjust to a new position at the NFL level, and the setback at this year's camp is only testing our patience further. He was back on the field yesterday, albeit behind Jeanty (who has played phenomenal football this preseason, you gotta hand it to him). He'll play against Kansas City, even if not as a starter.

He is too talented to stay a backup for long. With the last few games he played in '05, it shouldn't be long before he is back up to speed. Certainly not as long as we had to wait last year for him to contribute.

I hope.

[HoTbOy]

I too was on the CPerry wagon, because I thought he could/would be able to take the load in a RJohnson for JAbraham trade, boy was I wrong....I am all about ready to give CPerry the axe and give that roster spot to QWilson, the guy can't stay healthy...as for DPollack I like the guy when he is on the field, but getting on the field is the problem...If DPollack can get on the field for 16 games maybe he will have a monster year...

[Spain]

He deserves the nick waterboy. the guy held out when he was slotted.

[Jonboat]

I hate to say it but so far it does seem to be a fair comparison from an injury stand point. Both have all the talent in the world but if they can't get on the field it's all for not. I haven't lost all hope on either one but getting real close on Perry. Pollack needs all the PT he can get , he can watch all the tape he wants & it'll help no doubt but he won't be able to get the feel of say how deep he needs to drop in coverage. That's what is disappointing to me is missing pretty much all of training camp. Hopefully, he won't be as prone to injury as Perry seems to be & I don't think he will, it just sucks because he could be so much further along if he had got those reps. Time will tell I guess.

[Tasher]

8 days to chief day. Let him heal. Besides, we don't really need him until weak 3.

[BengalChamps]

Michigan burned up Perry's future by giving him 40 carries per game. You only have so many carries in you and Perry left too many of them in college.

Pollack gave Georgia 4 years but i dont think he has the mileage that Perry does. RB are taken to the ground every play. Many plays, Pollack would run upfield but would not have a lot of contact. I think Pollack will be fine in the long run.

[Kazkal]

Pollack is opening day starter

Breaking new ground since New Year's

By GEOFF HOBSON

September 4, 2006

6 p.m.

Let’s face it.

Say what you want about the return of Carson Palmer. But Sunday’s opener in Kansas City has always been about which Johnson rushes for the most yards.

The Bengals’ Rudi or the Chiefs’ Larry.

That’s the way it was when Larry pilfered the Bengals on 201 yards in last season’s odd regular-season finale. But for the Cincinnati defense, that was an era ago, not just nine months. Just three of the starters are in the same spot they were on New Year’s Day.

“I said the top 10 was a real goal for us and I still believe that,” said Bryan Robinson before Monday’s practice. “We are a confident bunch over there as opposed to last year.”

It’s hard to count that last game when the Chiefs went all out for the retiring Dick Vermeil and the Bengals just went out and tried not to get anyone hurt for the playoffs. In that predictable 37-3 loss, Rudi barely broke his own season rushing record with 18 yards on 10 carries.

But as Rudi says, “We’ve had that date circled on the calendar. It left a bad taste in our mouth. It was what it was, but we didn’t play our best football.”

Now it’s the New NFL Year Day and it is new coach Herman Edwards’ defending NFL offensive champions vs. the Bengals’ new-look front that has breathed life back into the league’s No. 28 defense.

Right defensive tackle John Thornton is the only line starter in the same spot. Robinson, who didn’t play in that last game, is at a new position at left end. That moves Justin Smith to right end and free agent Sam Adams anchors his three Pro Bowls in place of Shaun Smith at left tackle.

Strong-side David Pollack is the only linebacker in the same spot, and right cornerback Tory James is the only incumbent defensive back in the same spot against Green after he quietly torched them for 344 yards while missing just six of his 29 passes.

“We’re bigger. Sam is a big wide body that takes up two guys,” said Shaun Smith, now part of a tackle rotation that includes rookie Domata Peko. “I like him. He’s a big guy that can rush the passer, too. We’ve got more depth. I think we’re going to rotate more, so we’ll be all right.”

Boy, what a difference nine months makes at Arrowhead Stadium. Instead of seeing tackle Matthias Askew in the trenches in the former Bengals’ only game last year, perennial Chiefs Pro Bowl guard Will Shields gets Adams. Plus, book-end tackles Willie Roaf and John Welbourn have been shelved. In place of the Pro Bowl Roaf is the 285-pound Kyle Turley in his first game in two years.

Hard enough to get a grip on this game? Palmer threw just eight passes that day against the Chiefs, a week before he ripped up his knee. Somehow, some way he’s back, but head coach Marvin Lewis insists he’s not going to give Rudi more carries to protect him.

“I don’t think we are trying to take heat off Carson; we are trying to win football games,” Lewis said.

Now we know that Rudi played last year with torn knee cartilage in all but one game, and he has responded with the best offseason of his life. After carrying 77 times over the past two preseasons, Johnson got cut back to 15 and no one seems worried. Particularly Rudi.

“I don’t know how you compare Rudi from year to year. He has just been the Energizer Bunny,” Lewis said. “Obviously this year in preseason, I didn’t feel the need for Rudi to touch the ball as much as he has a year ago or two years ago. He doesn’t have the time on the field as he normally would. We want to keep him fresh and healthy. We know what Rudi Johnson can do and now we get to see him at full speed.”

They also see him against Larry’s 5.2 yards per carry that won the AFC rushing title with 1,750 while Rudi finished fourth with 1,458. Rudi won’t get into that storyline.

“We just want to win, baby,” Rudi said. “The rest will take care of itself.”

Enter Adams and safety Dexter Jackson, the Bengals’ two major free agents that fit into this game like a golden glove. Adams is here to stop the run and Jackson is here to stop the big play. It will be recalled that Larry’s touchdowns last year went for 49, 20 and 14 yards.

Lewis won’t touch that angle, either.

“We acquired Dexter and Sam to make us a better football team. They get the first opportunity this week to prove that, which is fun,” Lewis said. “We know Larry Johnson is a fine football player and they are a fine offensive football team. They have one of the best quarterbacks in the league.”

How big of a difference can a year make for a defense with free agency, a draft, a 4-0 preseason in which it allowed the fewest points (54) in nearly 30 years? The defense that Larry turned into Moe and Curly doesn’t feel like jokes any more. They know they got pummeled by the run in just three games last year, and they believe they’re even better against it now.

STARTING DEFENSE vs. KC Jan. 1:

LE Justin Smith

LDT Shaun Smith

RDT Thornton

RE Geathers

SLB Pollack

MLB Thurman

WLB Simmons

LCB Ratliff

RCB James

SS Ohalete

FS Kaesviharn

STARTING DEFENSE vs. KC Sept 10 (Projected:)

LE Robinson

LDT Adams

RDT Thornton

RE Justin Smith

SLB Pollack

MLB Simmons

WLB Landon Johnson

LCB O'Neal

RCB James

SS Jackson

FS Williams

“Throw Peko and Shaun and Sam in there and you got three guys that move pretty well,” Robinson said. “Guys who help you first and foremost in the run game.”

Maybe Robinson is the guy that personifies the difference in the Bengals defense. The 10-year pro has moved back to his natural position of end after two seasons at tackle. And he looked good in the preseason with penetration and his typical toughness against the run.

“The transition, right? It’s enabled me to lose a couple of pounds and run around. Make me think I’m quicker than I actually am,” said Robinson, 33. “It’s a thing where I’m seeing something new every day that can help make me better. Whether it’s using my footwork to get closer to the quarterback, or put my foot down in the running game.”

The play of new guys such as Adams, a 13-year pro, and Peko, a fourth-rounder from Michigan State, have helped Robinson run around.

“I told you when he got here that I thought Sam had the quickest first step in the National Football League of any defender on the line and I’ve seen nothing to change my mind,” Robinson said. “Peko’s a little athletic. He’s kind of similar to a bigger, more athletic, stout type of Langston Moore. Another guy that can get penetration and get heat on the quarterback.”

Plus, he thinks the players have responded the way they should in the second year of coordinator Chuck Bresnahan’s scheme.

“Guys are more comfortable in their roles, so now you can kind of cut back on what you’re trying to do to install and you run some things out there that everybody knows,” Robinson said. “You don’t have new things popping up on guys and saying, ‘Where the hell did that call come from?’ I think it’s a total effort of the players and coaches getting together and being confident in what we’re doing.”

How big of a difference between games?

Maybe not all that different. Maybe it’s just like New Year’s Day at Arrowhead.

It comes down to the ground games. And the Bengals hope they used the nine months to make up the ground.

[HoosierCat]

Yippee. Now let's see His Lordship get the job done.

[Stripes]

New offensive scheme, minus two great tackles and a Pro Bowl fullback... Pollack should have a clear path to Trent Green.

[jditty47]

im still on the perry bandwagon. im not from ohio so i could give a rats ass if hes from michigan. if he helps the team win and improves the team when he steps on the field i dont give a s**t even if he was born and bread in pittsburgh, grew up a steeler fan, and then went to the univerisy of michigan and then we draft him.

hes 300 times better than wilson and watson and if u dont agree you are absolutely retarded. cutting him before his contract ends, even if he sits out a grip cuz of injury would be ignorant. hes a special type of player when hes on the field, hes worth it every day we have him on our roster. and if hes not there, its not that devastating, so get over it.

[HairOnFire]

What a goofy thread. Aren't some of you guys writing off Pollacks season before it begins? As a starter he wasn't going to get many reps in the preseason anyway, and there was no reason to rush him back from a fairly minor but nagging injury. Yet he played against the Colts and is expected to start against the Chiefs. So where is the problem? Where is the basis for comparison to a flinty and fragile piece of tissue like Chris Perry?

BTW, while on my drunken Mexican vacation I was approached by a guy who noticed the Bengal hat I was wearing while in the pool. In a long southern drawl he asked..."You'all gonna play my boy Pollack full time this season?" I quickly mentioned Pollacks holdout as the principle reason he didn't play more, before asking the rather obvious Georgia Bulldog fan about O'Dell Thurman. The response? "He's okay, but he ain't half the baller that Pollack is. When you get Pollack rolling he'll take your breath away. Next to him, Thurman is just another guy."

Finally, the guy mentions how bad he felt for Pollack when he heard he'd been drafted by the Bengals. So I responded with a question of my own. "Tell me Georgia, do you want to be the last guy on the planet that gets it? Because if you don't want to look silly during poolside bulls**t sessions you need to get your mind around the idea that the Bengals are a Super Bowl contender."

Which prompted a loud reply of.........."Sheeeeeeeeeet."

[schweinhart]

So long as Pollack shows up to rush off the edge in the nickel. Between him blowing by Will Svitek or whoever the Chiefs throw to the Bengals at RT and Kyle Turley getting bullrushed out of the starting lineup by Justin Smith, Trent Green should get wishboned a few times.