Center of Attention

If you haven't heard, or don't know already, the Bengals Center Kyle Cook injured his ankle in last week's preseason game against the Green Bay Packers. This is unfortunate because, not only is he a great Center with great ability, his back-up is a Rookie in Trevor Robinson. Robinson hasn't had very many starts at the position and is a real wild card come game day. So, not know exactly what they were up against with the injury and scared about letting an inexperienced rookie in to start the season, with an already struggling line, the team worked out veteran Center, Jeff Faine. He came in to the league in 2003 and has played for the Browns, Saints, and Bucs. He seems to have pretty good credentials, being a first round draft pick and 2007 Pro Bowl Alternate. Another plus for him, he has already worked under Jay Gruden, so he is familiar with the offense and schemes. 

Drum roll please...dadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadada
Meet Your New Bengal

                                                                             Jeff Faine

Height: 6'3"
Weight: 303 lbs
College: Notre Dame
Draft: 21st Pick by Brownies
Previous Team: Tampa Bay - Released in March, many think due to cap issues.

He seems like he might be a good pick up, but he hasn't had an offseason to speak of in real team drills, so hopefully he has stayed sharp. I am sure that they wouldn't have picked him up if there were questions. 

In the meantime, the Bengals had to drop someone to keep the roster level in tact per NFL standards. Unfortunately, that man was Justin Hilton, Rookie WR, out of Indiana State. That is too bad. I guess I knew it was going to happen one way or the other. Either via the practice squad or on Friday. We were just so deep at that position. He just seemed like such a good guy and so grateful. I really thought he would make it to the practice squad. I guess anything possible, so who knows, maybe that will still come to fruition. He had a great camp and had a few good catches in the preseason games, most notably, the catch against Green Bay on the sideline last week. Anyway, he was our latest casualty. 

A little slip up, though, came from Bengals.com. When they first tweeted the Faine signing, they said the team released Nick Hayden, the 3rd year DT out of Wisconsin. Hayden has had a solid camp, but he is down the roster on an already talented defensive line. So even though, the Bengals deleted their tweet, is it still a sign of things to come. Oopsie! Let's not look any more into that. I don't want rumors to get started.