Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis said he's talked to cornerback Adam Jones several times since Sunday's postgame traffic accident resulted in Jones getting handcuffed before Cincinnati police let him go without charging him.
"He's disappointed he was put in that kind of light. There's nothing to it," Lewis said at his Monday press conference. "The people who made a story about it, shame on them."
» The Bengals practice Tuesday and Wednesday before taking Thursday through Sunday off. Lewis says some of the younger payers will get more work in practice.
» The theme for the next two weeks appears to be "Get out your shovel," in an effort to get back to basics by ignoring all possible distractions and focusing on the task at hand.
"Taking a look at the five games we've played, there have been a lot of things done very positively, very well," Lewis said. "We need to continue to build on those. And look at some of the things we're not doing well enough and take hard looks at those. Revise, cut out, eliminate so that we eliminate the error and lack of execution in some things we're doing. Don't hurt ourselves with some of the things that have (hurt), with cadences and so forth, particularly offensively. Those are the things from a technical standpoint."
» Things to work on? The Bengals are tied for fifth in the NFL with 36 penalties, 30th in sacks per pass and 27th in covering kickoffs as well as 31st in returning them. They are also 24th in average per rush and 25th in converting third downs as well as 22nd in stopping third down.
» Things to build on? The Bengals are ninth in total offense, but they have to find a way to be better than 17th in scoring. Same thing with defense. They are 14th overall, but also 17th in scoring.
