Burris injured

[kevnz]

It doesn't look good for Burris. I've just read that he got his second concussion in 4 weeks in the Arizona game. This is not good for a football player. Burris has played outstanding football this year, especially considering how poorly he played last year. I can only hope that he can come back and doesn't have a negative impact on him, or the team, cause #3 on the old depth chart is Artrell "I can't cover nobody" Hawkins....That ain't good. But in addtion to Burris' play on the field he makes a great contribution in the locker room.

cheers

[HoosierCat]

Two words: Dennis Weathersby.

He cannot possibly be worse than (f)Artrell. Will he make some rookie mistakes and give up some big plays? Of course...but at least there's hope he'll learn and improve. Hawk (and I use the nickname verrrrry loosely) is a nickle back on a good day, and that's all he'll *ever* be.

All that said, best to Burris. He stepped it up this year and if he's out he'll be missed (as was seen in AZ!).

[kevnz]

I cannot agree more!

They should give the job to Weathersby, yeah he may not be the greatest special teams player in the world which it seems is why he hasn't been activated yet, but he has a better chance of playing well against top wideouts than Hawkins has. I mean Hawkins was beat Sunday like he stole something...come on. I mean I can't believe he was ever considered a starter at the corner.

[The Brew Man]

I would love to see what Weathersby can do, he has the ability to be a shut down corner in the league and may have been a steal on draft day. I hope Burris isnt done though...I would rather have Artrell "toast" Hawkins be the one he replaced.

[redsfan2]

I would love to see what Weathersby can do, he has the ability to be a shut down corner in the league and may have been a steal on draft day. I hope Burris isnt done though...I would rather have Artrell "toast" Hawkins be the one he replaced.

Post game injury report said Hawkins was sore but didn't specify. Most likely 2nd and 3rd degree burns. If Burris can't go, this could be the week to see Weathersby. This would be the week to do it against a sore starter or a back up.

[redsfan2]

Reports this morning said that Burris had been checked out and declared OK by the neurosurgeon. Team has said whether he plays or not will depend on how he feels closer to game time. For his part, Burris said he likes the scheme, feels like he's playing better than he has in recent years and wants to go Sunday. I hope he's right, and that he is ready to play. On the other hand, if there is any doubt about his health, then I'd rather see him sit for this game and give Weathersby a shot.

On Bengals.com, even Hobson was reluctantly getting on Weathersbys badwagon. I'd like to see him get the call just to see what he'll do. We pretty much know what we can expect from Hawkins, so I can't see a downside to letting him get some O J T. Of course any qb will go after him in his first game. We might as well make it one who has a sore ankle and an O line that will allow us to get pressure so he can't sit back there and pick him to pieces.

[HoosierCat]

Of course any qb will go after him in his first game. We might as well make it one who has a sore ankle and an O line that will allow us to get pressure so he can't sit back there and pick him to pieces.

*That* is a damn good point. No disrespect to Carr intended, but Weathersby would almost certainly fare better in his first outing against a 2nd year QB than he is against a more experienced vet. And looking at the Bengals' upcoming games, there are some real QB question marks coming up. Brees has been so bad in S.D. they're talking about benching him for 400-year-old Doug Flutie, Maddox has made Kordell look like Bradshaw in Pitt., and Boller certainly isn't the threat in Baltimore. If they're going to bring Dennis along, you couldn't ask for a much better setup.

[HoosierCat]

OK, I just got done reading the transcript of today's news conference with Marvin Lewis. And I have a request for, of all people, Mike Brown:

Will you go slap Lewis upside the head? His stance on Weathersby is all effed up. Here we go:

----------------

Q: Is there a chance that since Artrell (Hawkins) is hurt, that (Dennis) Weathersby might get to play?

 

Lewis: “We’ll se what happens.”

 

Q: What do you think is keeping Weathersby back?

 

Lewis: “Nothing is holding him back. He has to beat somebody out to get to play.”

 

Q: How would you describe his development?

 

Lewis: “His development is great. As soon as you are good enough to play for us on special teams, then you can play. If you can’t play on special teams, and beat somebody out there, then you’re really much good to us.”

 

Q: Then his development can’t really be that great ...

 

Lewis: “It’s great. But until you get an opportunity to do it and go show you can do it, then you haven’t done it. Again, I see better than I hear.”

---------------------

A few questions:

1) Did we draft cornerback Dennis Weathersby or special teams player Dennis Weathersby? Silly me, I thought he was supposed to play at CB...

2) In order to play he has to beat someone on ST's out but by Lewis' own admission he doesn't has an opportunity to do it. WTF?

3) Does Artrell have pictures of Lewis in bed with an underage boy? That's the only explaination I can think of for this .

[redsfan2]

A few questions:

1) Did we draft cornerback Dennis Weathersby or special teams player Dennis Weathersby? Silly me, I thought he was supposed to play at CB...

2) In order to play he has to beat someone on ST's out but by Lewis' own admission he doesn't has an opportunity to do it. WTF?

3) Does Artrell have pictures of Lewis in bed with an underage boy? That's the only explaination I can think of for this .

This didn't make a lot of sense to me either, but I thought it was just me missing something or just not getting it. If you listen to the audio, Lewis seems ticked that the guy even asked the question. As indicated in the transcript, when the reporter tries to follow up coach Lewis cuts him off. I can't figure out if he's touchy about Weathersby, about Hawkins, about Burris ( didn't want to answer questions about him either .. "his personal business" ), or about being questioned about his decisions .... or in this case lack of them.

Coach Lewis has been extremely high on Hawkins since he got here. Put him in the same category as Burris. Said they were blamed for things that were really the result of other people not doing their jobs .... and ... lack of coaching. May have had a point in Burris' case,but it hasn't seemed to make much difference with Hawkins. He was actually one of the players I was referring to when I said that in some cases, Lewis had to keep the best of a bad lot.

The only thing I can even think of is that coach Lewis plays it real close to the chest when it comes to game preparation and starters. Maybe he doesn't want the Texans to know he's going to start a rookie in the secondary in time for it to help them prepare.

Who knows ???????? He made a couple of other pretty snide remarks too. Maybe he was just in an all around bad mood.

[HoosierCat]

The only thing I can even think of is that coach Lewis plays it real close to the chest when it comes to game preparation and starters. Maybe he doesn't want the Texans to know he's going to start a rookie in the secondary in time for it to help them prepare.

That very well could be the case. On the other hand, with two of our three (allegedly) best CBs hanging around on the injury list, the Texans have to figure they'll see something of Weathersby. And it doesn't require much prep to say, if you see Weathersby come out, throw at him.

Who knows ???????? He made a couple of other pretty snide remarks too. Maybe he was just in an all around bad mood.

Yeah, he even ripped into fans who are asking questions after the horrible performance in AZ. He was forced to allow, there at the end, that folks who had season tickets had a right to b*tch. Oh, gee, thank you, most high coach Lewis.

It seems to me that Lewis is extremely reluctant to change his starting lineup. You see it with Hawkins, who sucks but stays. You see it with Dillon and Rudi. Both backs need a few carries to get warmed up and get stronger as time on the field wears down the D. But thanks to Corey's groin, he came out in the first half and Rudi went in, and as a result neither really had a chance to make a difference. Now Lewis says he's preping for Houston the same way. WTF? If there's a chance CD won't be able to finish, sit him, get him healthy, and let Rudi go from the start! The only place Lewis has made any real changes is on the o-line, but ever there it's been just shifting the existing junk (O'Dwyer, Goff, Braham) around, not tossing it out for something else. I dunno...maybe he just doesn't want to be constantly shuffling things, which makes sense, but Lewis is beginning to strike me as a little less flexible (and a lot more thin-skinned) than I thought.

[The Brew Man]

That transcript is baffling to me. I can understand that he wants Weathersby to earn his place on this team and one way to do so is on special teams. But why does he consider his development to be so good then?

Anyway, Toast Hawkins never should have been in single coverage on Boldin last week if you asked me, and I sure hope they dont try and make him stick Andre Johnson this week. Or it will be a long day....

[redsfan2]

Joisey Cat - Can't argue with anything you said. Gotta admit that my take about the preperation bit was a stretch. I just couldn't think of anything else that came close to making sense. Probably the best way to throw them ( Texans ) off, would be to put Weathersby in Burris' jersey and let him play. I'm sure that's probably against the rules though.

Bad Mood - The comment about the fans was what I was talking about when I said snide remarks. At the risk of sounding thinskinned myself, I took that as a personal insult. My son and I spent 9 or 10 hours driving from up here to go see the Bengals play the Ravens. That was a game that everybody kind of figured the Bengals would lose. Aside from the fact that we dropped a couple of hundred bucks in the pro shop, .......... you know... I don't even count that. Forget I even said it. The fact that we were willing to travel that distance shows our commitment. Commitment comes from emotional investment, and that type of invenstment after the last 12 years can't have a price tag put on it. Add that to the fact that we were doing this to watch them in a game everyone was saying they would get their heads handed to them. There were about 55,000 other people there that day, and all of them probably had similar feelings and INVESTMENTS. I now think the only one there who just didn't get it was Marvin Lewis. ............. I'm through. I feel better now.

I don't like the call on the running game either. IF Dillon is 100% and he's sure that he's 100%. then obviously he gets the start. If not then Johnson should get it for all the reasons you mentioned. If Dillon is going to get it done, it will be obvious early into the 1st quarter. If not he should get the hook so Johnson still has time to get into his stride.

[HoosierCat]

Bad Mood - The comment about the fans was what I was talking about when I said snide remarks. At the risk of sounding thinskinned myself, I took that as a personal insult.

Don't worry about venting, you certainly weren't the only one who thought Lewis delivered a kick to the fans' collective teeth. According to the Cincy papers, his comments set off a sports radio firestorm and Lewis ended up calling in to the local station to apologize repeatedly. There's a transcript of that on the Cincinnati Post's site (www.cincypost.com/bengals). Even that apology seems a little...fiduciary in nature, IMHO; Lewis seems more concerned that people might not buy enough tickets, hats, jerseys, etc. than anything else. But I have to give him props fo making the call and taking the heat.