Kicker Dave Rayner is your newest member of the Cincinnati Bengals.
And he’ll be bombing away against the New York Jets today at the New Jersey Meadowlands.
With Shayne Graham nursing a strained right groin, the Bengals signed Rayner to help with the kicking duties.
To make room on the 53-man active roster, the Bengals waived backup fullback Reagan Maui’a.
If Graham is activated for the game, he’s expected to kick field goals and extra points, while Rayner handles kickoff duties.
Rayner, a fourth-year veteran from Michigan State, has 41 games of NFL experience with Indianapolis (2005), Green Bay (2006) and both Kansas City and San Diego in 2007.
He has made 41 of 58 field goal attempts (70.7 percent), with a long of 54 yards, and has missed one extra point in 46 attempts. He has 15 touchbacks on 41 kickoffs.
Rayner became a free agent when his San Diego contract expired with no qualifying offer.
He was signed and later released by Miami in June, and signed with Detroit on Aug. 9.
He played in the preseason with Detroit, hitting 7 of 8 field goal attempts.
Instead of a game-time decision, Cincinnati Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis decided to pull the trigger on Friday.
Ryan Fitzpatrick will start at quarterback against the New York Jets on Sunday, Oct. 12, in place of starter Carson Palmer, who is nursing an inflamed right elbow.
No decision was made on whether Palmer will be the No. 2 or No. 3 quarterback.
Sunday’s game marks Fitzpatrick’s second start in three weeks.
He completed 21 of 35 passes for 156 yards, one TD and three interceptions in the Bengals’ 20-12 loss to the Cleveland Browns on Sept. 28.
Palmer had his most productive game of the season in last Sunday’s 31-22 defeat at Dallas — 23-for-39 for 217 yards, two TDs and one INT — but admitted afterward that he never “cut it loose” and chose not to make some throws he normally would because he didn’t trust his arm strength and didn’t want to risk further injury.
Palmer told LUDWIG AT LARGE in the open locker room on Wednesday that his elbow injury will be a season-long ordeal that won’t be resolved until the offseason because, in order to heal, the elbow demands total rest.
As for Fitzpatrick, Bengals fans should expect a solid performance because he’s gotten a bulk of the repetitions in practice the past two weeks.
Prior to the game against the Browns, Fitzpatrick worked very little with starting wide receivers Chad Ocho Cinco and T.J. Houshmandzadeh.
With his increased snaps, Fitzpatrick’s chemistry with T.J. should be much better.
EXPLANATION OF ‘THIRD QUARTERBACK’
—-A roster has 53 players.
—-Teams can activate only 45 players for a game.
—-Of the 8 “inactives,” a club can designate a “third quarterback.”
—-The “third quarterback” can only play the QB position.
—-If the “third quarterback” enters the game, the other two QBs become ineligible to participate and may not return to the game thereafter under any circumstances UNLESS THE THIRD QB’S INITIAL ENTRY INTO THE GAME IS IN THE FOURTH QUARTER OR AN OVERTIME PERIOD.
—-Example: Jordan Palmer is the “third quarterback.” If he enters the game in the first, second or third quarter, the other two QBs can’t return. However, if Jordan Palmer enters the game in the fourth quarter or overtime, one of the other two QBs can re-enter the game.
I believe Sunday, Oct. 12, is the day the Cincinnati Bengals scratch out their first victory of 2008.
Brett Favre is a lean, mean INTERCEPTION throwin’ machine.
The final: Bengals 24, Jets 20.
And while I’m at it, I’ll just go ahead and say once the Bengals get this win, another will follow — quickly.
On Sunday, Oct. 19 at Paul Brown Stadium, the Bengals will defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers.
I know what loyal LUDWIG AT LARGE readers are thinking and saying:
“Chick, what R you smokin’?”
That’s fine. Go ahead & rip me if the Bengals lose to the Jets.
But feel free to praise me if the Bengals win.
And if the Bengals lose, I can only imagine what PBS will look like a week from Sunday.
Lots of black & gold.
INITIAL REACTION
From Keith in Cincinnati: “Chick, is it free liquor day at the paper? Back-to-back wins for the Bengals against teams each coming off the bye? I say Jets win 30-20 with Favre throwing 3 TD passes. If the Bengals are 0-6, PBS will look like Heinz Field next week, Steelers win going away.”
There’s a rumor floating around that Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh could be traded before the Oct. 14 deadline to the San Francisco 49ers.
I believe the rumor should be put to sleep before it gets run through the shredder.
Houshmandzadeh, an eight-year veteran and 2007 Pro Bowler, has emerged as the Bengals’ most productive, consistent, reliable and dependable player in 2008 with 31 catches for 351 yards (an 11.3 average) and three touchdowns.
Why would the Bengals want to get rid of arguably their finest player? And why would any team want to acquire him now — coughing up a draft pick or two — when a team can get him in the spring (without a trade) when he becomes an unrestricted free agent?
I can’t remember the last time the Bengals pulled off an in-season trade. It hasn’t happened in my 12 years on the Bengals beat. I know there’s a first time for everything, but Houshmandzadeh doesn’t expect a trade, the Bengals don’t expect a trade and LUDWIG AT LARGE certainly doesn’t expect a trade.
Nevertheless, Houshmandzadeh’s future with the Bengals remains uncertain.
If they don’t sign him to a multi-year contract, he will likely leave via free agency in March 2009. But hold it! Houshmandzadeh is also a candidate to be designated as the club’s franchise player in 2009.
Houshmandzadeh said the Bengals have not approached him about a new contract.
That doesn’t surprise me at all.
The club is notorious for not making moves until it has to.
Houshmandzadeh interprets the “silence” as meaning the club doesn’t want him back. That’s not necessarily the case.
The club loves T.J. (almost as much as the fans do). And I’m convinced Katie and Troy Blackburn — the Bengals’ “Salary Capologists” — are working the numbers to see how much they can afford to offer T.J.
I believe the Bengals want him back, but not for Larry Fitzgerald money (4 years, $40 million). After all, T.J. just turned 31 years old. And he’s NOT A NUMBER ONE RECEIVER. HE’S A NUMBER TWO.
Fans need to know the club drafted Jerome Simpson and Andre Caldwell for a reason — THE FUTURE.
They are heirs to the throne of Chad Ocho Cinco and T.J. Houshmandzadeh.
Simpson and Caldwell just have to wait their turn.
IN T.J. HOUSHMANDZADEH’S WORDS:
“If it happens, which I doubt very seriously, I can’t control that. I’ve got to play football. That’s what I do. It’s just good to know that people think I can play, that they would throw my name in something like that. (Management) makes that decision (on a contract offer or franchise tag). It’s not under my control. Lord willing, I stay healthy and keep playing football, and everything will fall into place whether I like it or not.”
IN MARVIN LEWIS’ WORDS:
“Boy, that’s a bad rumor, huh? I mean, let’s just talk about it a little bit — and I’m sorry, I have to. No. 1, OK, No. 1, you’re going to get a club in trouble for tampering. That club has already been penalized once this year, very harshly. No. 2, what club in its right mind would trade for a player that’s going to be an unrestricted free agent? Again, if you’re going to start a rumor, make it a good one. OK? Make it something that makes some sense to people inside the NFL and so forth. You know? It’s unfortunate. The thing I hate about it is the fact that that headline gets on the Red Zone or whatever one of those sites are, that make it look like a story, when it’s not a story and it’s unfortunate it ever got posted. Let’s try to do a better job of reporting facts and so forth that way. OK?”
BENGALS POTENTIAL FREE AGENTS IN 2009
The following veterans’ contracts expire at the end of the 2008 season. Anyone not re-signed by the Bengals becomes an unrestricted free agent in MARCH 2009, free to sign with any NFL club:
Player (Years of NFL service)
OT Stacy Andrews (5)
TB Cedric Benson (4)
LB Darryl Blackstock (4)
QB Ryan Fitzpatrick (4)
C Eric Ghiaciuc (4)
PK Shayne Graham (8)
WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh (8)
DT John Thornton (10)
FRANCHISE TAG FOR T.J.?
Houshmandzadeh is a candidate to be designated as the Bengals’ franchise player in 2009.
The franchise tag is designed to help a team retain the rights to a top player who reaches free agency.
Franchise players are owed a one-year salary equal to the average of the top five players at his position from the previous season.
This 2008 franchise tag for a wide receiver was $7.848 million.
===LUDWIG AT LARGE remembers NFL draft analyst Mike Mayock calling Mangold the finest pro prospect at center in the last 15 years. The Bengals passed on him and took cornerback Johnathan Joseph No. 24. Mangold went No. 29 to the J-e-t-s Jets! Jets! Jets!===
Just got off the telephone with another one of my main men — Nick Mangold.
He was, as always, AWESOME.
He was awesome at Alter High School. He was awesome at The Ohio State University. And he’s just as awesome as the starting center for the New York Football Jets.
Talk about rapid fire.
I had 10 questions mapped out and he zipped through them in my allotted time of FIVE PRECIOUS MINUTES.
I can’t tell you how much I appreciate Nick delivering the interview and the Jets’ public relations staff for setting up the interview for me.
Nick was dressed in his football gear and ready to head out to practice.
But he took a “time out” for The Chickster.
Sure hope Nick doesn’t mind me calling him “Heavy Metal” Mangold.
I fired up his Web site — www.nickmangold.net — and loved the sound of Metallica blasting away.
My “Nick Mangold Package” is scheduled to be published in Friday’s (Oct. 10) Dayton Daily News.
Highlights from “Heavy Metal:”
—-On snapping to Brett Favre:“Oh, it’s fantastic. When I was growing up, you dreamed of being able to play with Brett Favre and now you get the chance. It’s something special and very exciting for me.”
—-On his bye week:“My wife (Jenny) and I went to Napa in California. I always heard that it was a beautiful time of year to do it. So we had the early bye and tried to take advantage of it, and headed out there for a little fun and frivolity.”
—-On what he does in Manhattan:“I enjoy getting into the city — just to get out and see the sights and sounds. Really, being 300 pounds, you don’t do much other than eat. So usually it’s just going to new restaurants. Luckily the city has more than their fair share. You can always find something good no matter what time.”
—-On his advice for high school kids:“Keep working and keep studying in the classroom because you’ll never make it to college without your grades and never be able to get ahead in life without working hard. Those are my two main points whenever I get a chance to talk to someone. It’s always work hard at whatever you want to do, and work hard in the classroom.”
Chad Ocho Cinco didn’t kiss the Dallas “star” at midfield at Texas Stadium.
Instead, he kissed head coach Marvin Lewis. Yep, right there on the sidelines.
“He whispered something in my ear that I really liked, so I kissed him,” Chad said in Wednesday’s open locker room.
“That was my star. That was the whole point. That was the star,” Chad added.
(ARE YOU SCRATCHING YOUR HEAD? I AM!)
It was the first time he had ever pecked a coach on the cheek.
“Yeah. It was probably the last,” Chad said.
What did Lewis tell him?
“I can’t tell you,” Chad added.
And then he told us.
IN CHAD OCHO CINCO’S WORDS:
“I’m very emotional. Y’all don’t know that? Very emotional. No, we were just talking about a previous play that went on. He just said keep your head in the game, stay focused, stay focused, blah blah blah. And he said, ‘Smile.’ And this little thing coach Lewis and I have: When things aren’t going right, he just looks at me and says, ‘Smile.’ Whatever’s going on, it goes away right away. It’s a little thing we’ve got going, so it’s pretty cool. It’s kind of been able to keep myself from getting angry, from getting mad, from getting frustrated. Smile. And I do the same to him when he’s out there screaming in practice or something doesn’t go right in the game, I’ll just walk by him and just say ‘smile.’
“I’m not sure what’s going to happen (against the Jets). I’m not sure. It’s been frustrating all year. Of course, I’ve had to keep my mouth shut. Really don’t want to say anything to be a distraction. But when my opportunities do come, I am here to make the plays. But, based off of how things have gone this year with nothing really changing about my game, injury is not an issue, my shoulder’s fine, my ankle’s fine. But for those who don’t know why I’m not getting the ball, I have my own little philosophy on what’s going on. And I broke it down like this: Never, ever, ever, ever go against the monster, because the monster always wins. Get it? So y’all put that in your own perspective and you’ll understand where I’m coming from and why things are going the way it’s going right now.”
I’m no astrologer, but I believe it’s safe to say the stars are not aligned for the Cincinnati Bengals.
They can’t get all their cannons lined up straight. They’re crooked.
Wide receivers Chad Ocho Cinco and T.J. Houshmandzadeh were injured when quarterback Carson Palmer was healthy.
Now Carson’s hurt when Chad and T.J. are healthy.
Once again, Palmer (inflamed right elbow) will rest his arm until Friday, Oct. 10.
That’s when he’ll test it in practice and wait for the team doctors’ evaluation before he gets medically cleared to play against the New York Jets.
Palmer, who was on a 40-throw “pitch count” in practice last week, hopes to increase that number this week.
One thing’s for certain: Carson is coping with a season-long elbow injury that won’t heal until the offseason because it demands total rest.
Palmer admittedly passed up some throws against Dallas that he’d normally make because he lacked confidence in his arm strength.
“It came through as expected. Probably go with the same approach as last week and hopefully be ready to play on Sunday,” Palmer said.
The strategy?
“Throw as little as possible and let it rest as much as possible, and make a decision later in the week and see what the doctors say.”
IN CARSON PALMER’S WORDS:
“There were a couple times where I didn’t have the confidence I normally have, just because my arm’s not the same as previous to the injury. But as far as throwing balls, I felt like I missed a couple I shouldn’t have missed, but the only thing I noticed was just a little less confidence in throwing some. I saw holes in certain spots that I kind of held back on and moved on to the next guy.
“I think they were good decisions not to throw. Balls I normally zip right by somebody, I felt maybe there’s a chance they get their hands on it or make a play on it. Just pulled some of those down and moved on.”
Area H.S. football: Week 8
Little Miami vs. Turpin
Spotted at the Palin rally
Chick Ludwig covers the Cincinnati Bengals. He also writes about his other passions: college football, basketball and golf.
What do you think?
Be the first person to comment on Bengals sign kicker Dave Rayner...