Updated: 3:45 p.m.
Per coach's orders, left tackle Andrew Whitworth and his backup weren't saying much about their injuries before Monday afternoon's practice but indications are Whitworth's thumb is going to be fine for the Sept. 12 opener and Anthony Collins' foot is going to be close.
It looks like the Bengals are trying to decide if it is worth playing Whitworth Saturday night in Buffalo (6:30 p.m. on Cincinnati's Channel 12), but the absence of Collins makes things dicey in trying to protect Carson Palmer. Although right tackle Dennis Roland played a lot of left tackle Friday night against the Eagles, they may not want to line him up in that first group with so few snaps at that spot.
By the way, Whitworth is extremely encouraged about the first unit's pass protection after they pretty much kept Palmer clean for a half against the aggressive Eagles scheme. Whitworth, in particular, kept sack ace Trent Cole pretty much at arm's length from Palmer.
» Right and Antwan Odom (knee), scratched Friday after aggravating an old meniscus injury against Denver, may not go until Sept. 12 but he doesn't expect there to be a problem when he does.
» Safety Gibril Wilson called his season-ending torn ACL and MCL a freak accident. The 28-year-old Wilson, who signed a one-year deal and had earned raves from the coaches, now knows the only certain thing in his future is rehab. He's expecting surgery late this week.
"I went to break down to make a tackle and I just got swiped from the side," said Wilson of the running play Friday night. "It was a freak accident. In nine out of 10 times it never happens. It's one of those things. I have never had a broken bone in my body. I thought it was a little sprain. So I tried to get up and walk it off, but I couldn't walk this one off. I figured something was wrong when I couldn't put any pressure on it."
» Palmer was a bit bemused with the not-on-the-same-page-questions concerning his two passes to wide receiver Chad Ochocinco that got intercepted Friday night.
"You're just making stuff up," Palmer said. "He and I have been on the same page for years. I'm not worried or concerned. We're just going to continue to work to get better. We're trying to hit every one. He knows that, I know that. We hope to. But every once in awhile the ball bounces off your chest and goes to the other team. Every once in a while a ball goes a little bit behind the guy or a little bit in front of the guy."
Those were certainly two rarities. We've seen Palmer and The Ocho on different pages before, but the first one was because Palmer missed a blitz read, something that doesn't happen every day. And the second one is the one that bounced off The Ocho's chest while taking a big-time hit that looked helmet-to-helmet. It's not often The Ocho is stationary that long to take a shot like that.
» The Wilson-Antonio Bryant-Brian Leonard injuries look to be the most serious, but on Monday there were still a lot of guys sitting out with what are believed to be nagging injuries. Most hard hit was the offensive line with Whitworth, Collins and center Kyle Cook (ankle) out. The secondary had Wilson missing along with two other safeties, Roy Williams and Chinedum Ndukwe, with unknown ailments. Tom Nelson (knee) also remained on active PUP while working on the side. Cornerback Morgan Trent (ankle) sat out another day. Odom, along with end Robert Geathers (foot) and tackle Tank Johnson (unknown), was out on the defensive line.
The linebackers got back rookie Roddrick Muckelroy (hamstring) but Abdul Hodge (toe) remained out and Rashad Jeanty remains on active PUP. Dan Skuta (ankle) returned to fullback while Fui Vakapuna (shoulder) still waits. Wide receiver Matt Jones (unknown) also was out.
» Bengals PR maven Jack Brennan discovered that the only other player to have three interceptions in a preseason game in the past 16 seasons is Tennessee's Dainon Sidney. He had three against St. Louis in 2001, one day shy of nine years before Trent did it Friday night.
