11-5-02, 2:50 p.m.
BY GEOFF HOBSON
For the second time in his two –year career, tight end Sean Brewer ends his season on injured reserve. The Bengals made the move Tuesday and filled his roster spot with tight end Chris Edmonds from the practice squad.
The transition is now complete for Edmonds, in his second season out of West Virginia as a college free agent who spent most of his rookie season on the practice squad last year as a linebacker before making the position switch in minicamp.
Also Tuesday, the club learned cornerback Artrell Hawkins has been named the AFC's Defensive Player of the Week for his 102-yard interception return that set the tone
for Sunday's first victory of the season, 38-3, in Houston. Hawkins also had six solo tackles and three passes defensed.
Brewer, a third-round pick from 2001, has been active for just three games and he's still looking for his first NFL catch. He went on injured reserve last year after injuring his groin in the first week of training camp, and then started this season before tearing a knee cartilage in the third game of the season.
Brewer was supposed to return for either of the last two games. But when his progress from arthroscopic surgery slowed, he had another "scope," last week.
"We don't know how long it's going to take for him to come around and by the time he does get back there will be little time and we have to move on with what we have to do," said Bengals President Mike Brown. "Edmonds is a guy who has shown some pop and speed and he'll be able to go into a game for us."
The Bengals have been playing with basically just one tight end in rookie Matt Schobel. Fullback Nick Williams is being used as a move tight end in running situations, but the Brewer injury has forced them out of traditional two tight end-sets. Now they might be able to do more if they decide to activate Edmonds for games.
With the promotion of cornerback Reggie Myles off the practice squad last week, the Bengals now have two slots open on the squad. They signed a local product in Kentucky tight end Derek Smith, out of Highlands High School in Fort Thomas, Ky., who had been with the Colts in preseason. They hope to sign Central Florida linebacker Tito Rodriguez, cut after training camp, to fill out the squad on Wednesday.
The club also Tuesday cleared defensive tackle Mario Monds to practice. Monds, a University of Cincinnati product, tore his anterior cruciate knee ligament back in March during a workout with NFL Europe.
