Posted: 2:35 p.m.
Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis said safety Roy Williams banged his forearm during Sunday's 17-14 victory in Baltimore, but Chinedum Ndukwe came off the bench to play well despite his nagging hamstring injury.
Lewis wouldn't elaborate on Williams' status for this week against the Texans, but Williams indicated Monday he'd be OK after only getting a couple of snaps in the second half.
Along with Ndukwe, Lewis also praised SAM linebacker Rey Maualuga (knee) for playing through his injury and he said defensive tackle Tank Johnson (foot) could have played Sunday but Lewis chose to make him inactive and give him another week to rest.
Defensive end Frostee Rucker sprained his ankle Sunday, so if he can't go against the Texans then Johnson will. They'll get a better idea on Rucker on Wednesday, as they will with running back Brian Leonard (groin).
Quarterback Carson Palmer's left thumb is going to be sore but he showed with the 20-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Andre Caldwell with 22 seconds left that it's not bothering his ability to throw.
"The rest of his body is good," Lewis said. "He's finally getting over the ankle injury and he seems less and less bothered by it."
SNAPPY UPDATE: It sounds like the Bengals are kicking around what to do at long snapper this week, although Lewis used diplomacy on the Brad St. Louis situation at his Monday news conference.
"He's got to relax. There has been a common thing in a lot of these bad snaps. And we can fix that. But it's something we'll address as we go through," Lewis said.
Another high snap Sunday in the 17-14 victory over the Ravens that was fielded led to another blocked field goal for the second straight week and caused the third blown field goal of the season. St. Louis also let loose with a high snap several feet over holder Kevin Huber's head on an extra point, but a penalty against Baltimore for an illegal formation allowed the Bengals to re-kick it.
Still, a bad snap had produced two other extra-point failures this season, meaning there are 11 points the Bengals desperately could have used since the average margin of victory for them this season is four points.
SLANTS AND SCREENS:Andrew Brown of the Bengals tickets office reports that Monday has been busy but they are still a long way away from selling out Sunday's Paul Brown Stadium game against the Texans. It has to be done by Thursday at 1 p.m. in order to extend the sellout streak to 47 games.
The Bengals-Ravens game is the NFL Network NFL Replay game at Tuesday at 8 p.m. It is a 90-minute version of Sunday's CBS telecast with exclusive NFL Films footage and sound.
