Dennis Roland
The final Bengals roster move before Sunday's opener in Chicago (1 p.m.-Cincinnati's Channel 12) is expected to come before Wednesday's practice and indications via media reports and elsewhere are that backup right tackle Dennis Roland returns to the club when wide receiver Andrew Hawkins (ankle) goes on injured reserve-recall, shelving him until the second half of the season.
With the status of left tackle Andrew Whitworth (knee) cloudy after he hasn't practiced in a couple of weeks and right tackle Andre Smith (knee) missing the preseason finale with a tweak, the six-year veteran Roland gives the Bengals some backup at right tackle and brings the total of offensive linemen to 10.
Former Bengals linebacker Thomas Howard, a year removed from tearing his ACL, worked out Tuesday but there were no indications the club is going to sign him in the near future as it continues to monitor his progress.
It's also expected via multiple media reports that the Bengals will sign former Jets quarterback Greg McElroy to the practice squad Wednesday if he clears waivers and passes muster when he arrives from an injury settlement. It's unclear what the injury is, but it's not supposed to keep him out of action long.
