Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis said at his Monday news conference that his coaches are looking at personnel changes this bye week and before the Bengals resume play against the Broncos in a 1 p.m. Paul Brown Stadium game Nov. 4.
But one of those spots isn't middle linebacker. Rey Maualuga struggled some in pass coverage during Sunday night's loss to the Steelers and Lewis said he got out of his lane on running back Jonathan Dwyer's 32-yard run with 1:40 left that sealed it. Lewis said Maualuga didn't play as well he had in the last couple of games, but he also said others didn't play as well around him.
Lewis also said that rookie wide receiver Marvin Jones has a chance to play against Denver. It's believed he suffered an MCL knee sprain on a kick return before the Bengals ever got the ball in a game plan he apparently had some extensive involvement. Lewis called Jones "day-to-day."
Lewis confirmed the Monday workout of former Ohio State wide receiver Brian Robiske, a second-round pick of Cleveland in 2009 but he indicated the Bengals aren't looking to sign anyone off the street at the moment and are just checking out some guys with physicals. Lewis said that could include some players that signed injury settlements with other clubs earlier this season. It's believed the Robiske workout had been set up before the injury to Jones.
After coaching his 75th regular-season gamee at PBS, Lewis said Sunday night's atmosphere was the best he'd seen and said his players were extremely disappointed they couldn't win for the sold-out crowd of 63,411.
STREAKY NUMBERS:Some streaks heading into the Bengals bye week:
» Wide receiver A.J. Green has caught a TD pass in six straight games. The Bengals club record is 10 set by wide receiver Carl Pickens from 1994-95. The most in the same season is the 10 TDs wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh caught in the first eight games of the 2007 season.
» Which means quarterback Andy Dalton has thrown touchdown passes in six straight games, although Green caught one of his from wide receiver Mohamed Sanu. Dalton's longest TD streak last year was 10.
» Sunday night's stat sheet from the 24-17 loss to the Steelers had rookie linebacker Vontaze Burfict for 15 tackles. That number is probably going to change after the coaches' film session, but it's his fourth straight game with double-digit tackles.
» Defensive tackle Geno Atkins, with a team-leading seven sacks, has at least a sack in four of the last five games and five in the seven games this season.
The Bengals would like to get his tag-team partner going. Left end Carlos Dunlap has gone three straight games without a sack despite going against two rookie tackles the past two weeks. He came into the season with 14 sacks in 24 games and has one in five games this season.
» The Bengals are looking to snap two historical skeins when the Broncos come to town for their next game in a 1 p.m. game at Paul Brown Stadium on Nov. 4. Denver quarterback Peyton Manning is 7-0 against Cincinnati and his boss, John Elway, was 5-0 vs. the Bengals in the games he started and 7-0 in the games in which he played.
» The Bengals have lost three straight games in which they've been within a touchdown of a tie or a lead for a good portion of the fourth quarter. It was that way for the last 14:15 of the Miami game and the last 14:16 of the Steelers game and the first eight minutes of the fourth quarter in Cleveland. In his first 11 NFL starts, Dalton had four fourth-quarter comebacks last season and the Bengals had five.
