All things T.O.

[membengal]

I am hearing more and more about Bryant's knee. I really hope that he just needs a couple of months. We signed him to a pretty hefty contract for four years. I love the TO signing, but i really believe that this tells us a lot about the state of AB. I hope for the best. This is the most hyped I have been for a bengals team in forever.

ML says "no concern" over AB's knee per reedy on twitter...

[walzav29]

Marvin never admits someones injured. I wouldn't be surprised if he said Chris Henry may be ready for the opener.

[TJJackson]

Now that Terrell is signed, I guess that's 30 minutes T.J. wished he had back.

No, not at all

The piece I didnt have at the time was that there are significant health problem with Bryant

They can claim a thousand times that the signing of Terrible has no connection to Bryant's health, and I will laugh a thousand times in response

so

Put him on IR. He's signed for 4 years, and we have a one year fill in, so let him heal up.

In this fashion

1) you keep the youngsters developing

2) you get a healthy Bryant back for 2011 when Terrible leaves

[F.Cleveland]

Marvin never admits someones injured. I wouldn't be surprised if he said Chris Henry may be ready for the opener.

That was morbid and hilarious at the same time. Mad props.

[JoePong]

Now that Terrell is signed, I guess that's 30 minutes T.J. wished he had back.

No, not at all

The piece I didnt have at the time was that there are significant health problem with Bryant

They can claim a thousand times that the signing of Terrible has no connection to Bryant's health, and I will laugh a thousand times in response

so

Put him on IR. He's signed for 4 years, and we have a one year fill in, so let him heal up.

In this fashion

1) you keep the youngsters developing

2) you get a healthy Bryant back for 2011 when Terrible leaves

Please stop the stupidity. Bryant is fine.

And the idea that signing TO is somehow related to Bryant is stupid as well. This was a pretty sudden thing that happened when TO and his people contacted the bengals last minute. He was still available, mike Brown loves WRs, especially at a bargain price, they think they can win it all this year, so they made the move. If the bengals were really concerned about bryant's knee this whole time, they would have pursued something with TO a while ago. But the guy went through all the mini-camps, then the OTAs, off-season workouts. The bengals never made any move.

You think the bengals just suddenly woke up this weekend and said, "Hey, I totally forgot that Antonio Bryant had his leg amputated and can't play this year! I can't believe that slipped my mind! We better sign someone now!"

Throw in the fact that carson seems to be a key facilitator in this signing, and the act that they were working out together...that means this may not have happened otherwise. If Antonio Bryant's knee was the issue, they would have reached out to TO and would not have required carson pushing for TO before they were interested.

[markymark69]

Chad said this is going to be Batman and Robin, Siskel and Ebert and Bonnie and Clyde. I hope it doesn't end up being Barnum and Bailey, although I can't imagine the media will be calm about this and will try to stir things up regardless.

The potential is there and I do not see a huge problem with T.O. especially if Bryant is not 100 percent. I still don't know if I trust Caldwell. As someone mentioned earlier if Carson is on board with it - that's good enough for me.

I would say Simpson, Cosby and Matt Jones are in serious trouble of making this football team.

[Sea Ray]

It comes down to winning. If they win it'll work out. If losing ensues there'll be problems

[HairOnFire]

I won't be ripping you....as I agree with nearly everything you wrote.

Well, in that case, let's make Hair feel better tonight, shall we...

Don't worry about me as I'm not nearly as depressed as 44 seems to be. Because while I'm certainly not 100% behind this move....I am solidly 51% behind it.

You get your No. 1 defense, I get my No. 1 offense, everybody's happy.

But happiness is relative, ehh?

Look, I've begged and pleaded for this franchise to do whatever is needed to change it's core identity from that of a spastic emotionally weak team built around an inconsistent high-octane passing game to that of a stable and consistent team built around physical and mental toughness...qualities best demonstrated by a defense and running game that can dictate to the opposition by sheer force of will. And on those points plenty of progress had been made recently. The Bengals erratic and flaky reputation was actually changing right before our very eyes.

Until yesterday.

Trust me, the narrative just changed. In fact, this seasons storyline just changed from a solid core of players slowly changing it's stripes to that of Ultimate Team Diva. And while I can applaud any move that improves the teams odds of winning, and this one does, I still shed a tear or two as I watch the team rather casually discard it's newly earned reputation as bonafied tough guys capable of beating teams like the Ravens and Steelers at their own game.

[HairOnFire]

I'm still giddy. I don't care who cries about not getting the ball. If they don't like it get open. Palmer spreads the ball around, and TO ME he is the unquestioned leader in the locker room. Who has the team and city behind him.

IMHO the Owens signing won't threaten Palmer in any meaningful way.

That said, Bob Bratkowski needs to watch his back.

[walzav29]

They need to do it like the Cowboys did with Emmitt. Get the lead with a balanced attack and then run Cedric to death in the 4th quarter.

[Sea Ray]

Don't worry about me as I'm not nearly as depressed as 44 seems to be. Because while I'm certainly not 100% behind this move....I am solidly 51% behind it.

You get your No. 1 defense, I get my No. 1 offense, everybody's happy.

But happiness is relative, ehh?

Look, I've begged and pleaded for this franchise to do whatever is needed to change it's core identity from that of a spastic emotionally weak team built around an inconsistent high-octane passing game to that of a stable and consistent team built around physical and mental toughness...qualities best demonstrated by a defense and running game that can dictate to the opposition by sheer force of will. And on those points plenty of progress had been made recently. The Bengals erratic and flaky reputation was actually changing right before our very eyes.

Until yesterday.

Trust me, the narrative just changed. In fact, this seasons storyline just changed from a solid core of players slowly changing it's stripes to that of Ultimate Team Diva. And while I can applaud any move that improves the teams odds of winning, and this one does, I still shed a tear or two as I watch the team rather casually discard it's newly earned reputation as bonafied tough guys capable of beating teams like the Ravens and Steelers at their own game.

I believe the reliance on the running game went a little overboard last year but they need not go too far in the other direction either. They don't have an O-line that can pass block 40 times a game for one thing. Whether Brat will be able to find the sweet spot remains to be seen. But he sure has the tools to make this offense into anything he wants. The pressure is on Brat and Carson

[BengalByTheBay]

Chad said this is going to be Batman and Robin, Siskel and Ebert and Bonnie and Clyde. I hope it doesn't end up being Barnum and Bailey, although I can't imagine the media will be calm about this and will try to stir things up regardless.

I was going to go with Dumb & Dumber

[Kazkal]

Only people saing AB is hurt are the talking Heads,Coach lewis,Ocho and People close AB all seem imply he will be practicing today / soon...

Could be the Knee it also could be Simpson and Matt Jones still suck alot.

[Ox]

I feel like Mikey is running a wayward school for divas right now. But I guess we will all see how well this plays out soon enough. I wonder who starts bitching first?

[HairOnFire]

Chad said this is going to be Batman and Robin, Siskel and Ebert and Bonnie and Clyde. I hope it doesn't end up being Barnum and Bailey, although I can't imagine the media will be calm about this and will try to stir things up regardless.

I was going to go with Dumb & Dumber

Sacco and Vinzetti

[TJJackson]

Please stop the stupidity.

Sorry, I dont have any administrative authority on this board, and so i can't disable to logins of you and the other members of the Braintrust

Bryant is fine.

Reports from minicamp say otherwise.

Paying another receiver big money for a year says otherwise

And the idea that signing TO is somehow related to Bryant is stupid as well. This was a pretty sudden thing that happened when TO and his people contacted the bengals last minute.

Err, no.

The Bengals have been aware since the Spring (when they tried him out, remember?) that Terrible is available.

The league notifies all 32 teams when a player signs, so they were aware he was still available even if they had managed to tune out all of the media where Terrible has played his silly tune

The last minute-ness is likely more about waiting to see how Bryant's knee healed, not whether Terrible can manage to feed his family or not

If the bengals were really concerned about bryant's knee this whole time, they would have pursued something with TO a while ago. But the guy went through all the mini-camps, then the OTAs, off-season workouts. The bengals never made any move.

Yep, they waited for the knee to heal, and now that camp is upon us and it hasn't, they made a move.

You think the bengals just suddenly woke up this weekend and said, "Hey, I totally forgot that Antonio Bryant had his leg amputated and can't play this year! I can't believe that slipped my mind! We better sign someone now!"

Nope, but I can see where such lunacy might make sense to you

Throw in the fact that carson seems to be a key facilitator in this signing, and the act that they were working out together

Golly, i winder what got Carson interested in the first place. Maybe one of his receivers who he was counting on wasn't going to be ready?

Said a different way - has Bryant been working out seperately with Carson in LA?

[TJJackson]

Chad said this is going to be Batman and Robin, Siskel and Ebert and Bonnie and Clyde. I hope it doesn't end up being Barnum and Bailey, although I can't imagine the media will be calm about this and will try to stir things up regardless.

I was going to go with Dumb & Dumber

I prefer Stupider and Stupiderer

[HairOnFire]

I guess Joe Pong would describe the following as a coincedence....

Posted Today, 01:00 PM

freddie_brown Really gonna miss all of my teammates!

half a minute ago via Echofon

[ArmyBengal]

Bryant to play slot ?? I guess they are still rolling with him being healthy.

Bengals plan to use Antonio Bryant in the slot

The Bengals' plan to integrate Terrell Owens into their team is coming into focus.

Off the field, Owens will sell. The Bengals have sold more season tickets since the T.O. news broke than they did in the previous week combined.

On the field, the Bengals see Owens as a deep threat. Chad Ochocinco may have called Owens the team's new "No. 1 receiver" but ideally Owens and Antonio Bryant would be on even ground behind The Ocho.

Bryant has rarely played in the slot during his career, but the team says they "liked what they saw" from him there during the offseason.

"It's good because we can get all three guys on the field at the same time with Antonio able to go inside and outside," offensive coordinator Bratkowski told Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com. (Jordan Shipley and Andre Caldwell will go from one end of the bench to the other.)

Jason Cole of Yahoo! also says Bryant will be used to work the middle of the field, while Owens tries to get vertical on the outside.

"No, [T.O.] doesn't get away from bump coverage very well and he doesn't run the middle anymore, but you can see that he can still get vertical against a secondary," a Bengals staffer said.

Right or wrong, the Bengals are convinced Owens is ready to accept a lesser role.

"At 36, Owens was frank with the Bengals during a visit earlier in the offseason, admitting privately that his skills have diminished," Cole writes.

Everyone grab your loved ones and stock up on non-perishable foods. The end of days is near.

/>http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/07/28/bengals-plan-to-use-antonio-bryant-in-the-slot/

[TJJackson]

What's Antonio Bryant saying about all this?

[ArmyBengal]

What's Antonio Bryant saying about all this?

I was wondering the same thing and would love to hear something from him.

I'm sure he'll be the good company man with his contract and all, but still.

It's been nothing but crickets...

[HairOnFire]

Bryant to play slot ??

It's official now. Half of the players on this team are now being considered for the slot.

[ArmyBengal]

Bryant to play slot ??

It's official now. Half of the players on this team are now being considered for the slot.

Exactly why Briscoe has as good a chance, if not better, to make the roster than Simpson or Matt Jones.

[volcom69]

I still hope Shipley and Caldwell get there chances to play also, its crazy how many WR this team has to get the ball too. Lets just hope they all catch the ball i was so mad last year when Coles would drop the easy ones.

[ArmyBengal]

I think Shipley will get every chance you would expect as many thought he was going to be the top slot guy to begin with.

If they really do move Bryant to the slot, it will cut down those chances, but he will still get in there.

If Cosby isn't brought back, Shipley is looking to get all kinds of time in the return role.