One of the newest Bengals, backup tackle Marshall Newhouse, played for three seasons with quarterback Andy Dalton in college and from what he can see Dalton has the same fire and leadership that put Texas Christian back on the map. And he thinks Dalton has taken some steps as a pro.
"You can see it in the workouts. He's in control," Newhouse said. "When I was a true sophomore, it was his red-shirt freshman year and from then until now, just his vocal leadership, the confidence. He's got a meaner walk to him. It just shows in his play. At times he can be a gunslinger and he wants to go win.
"If you've got a guy's throat down, he wants to take it. I know that's in him. Just to see that over the years is exciting being on the team and now being part of it. I'm just hoping to see more of the same. He's still growing. He's going into his fourth year and QBs in any of their first five years, you see them make significant jumps. I think he's well on his way."
WHIT WOULD HAVE SAT:
Left tackle Andrew Whitworth, the Bengals rep to the NFL Players Association, has some opinions about the alleged racial remarks supposedly belonging to the voice of Clippers owner Donald Sterling. Whitworth wouldn't have played in Sunday night's playoff game if he was on the team.
"You have to hold judgment until you're sure everything is what it is," Whitworth said. "I think those (players) were put in a horrible position to play or not to play. In this day and age in America, that kind of hate and that kind of idea should not be allowed or tolerated. I think it stinks players were put in that position where they really had to decide whether they wanted to play in that game or not and represent what they don't believe in. As a player rep, that's the part that is pitiful."
Wide receiver A.J. Green also empathized with the Clippers and backed them turning their shirts inside out during layups.
"That was good. It was thought out great and good little thing to do," Green said. "It's tough for the Clippers players. That's a tough decision of whether you're going to play or not, or if you're going to play for somebody who makes those kind of comments. But I feel like (coach) Doc Rivers, he's a guy who really handled that whole situation well. I think they'll be fine.
When you're in this locker room, a lot of players, we play for each other. We go through all the training camps and all that stuff, all the blood and sweat and tears together. We play for the guys in the locker room. We don't play for anybody else."
Asked if he was surprised ideas like that still exist, Green said, "It's tough, man. But I know it's still going on."
ROSTER MOVE:
Always looking to clear room with the draft and college free agency approaching next week, the Bengals let go center Scott Wedige on Monday, leaving centers Mike Pollak, Trevor Robinson, and T.J. Johnson on the roster. Wedige has been on four teams since he came out as a free agent out of Northern Illinois in 2012 and spent about a month total on the Bengals practice squad in 2012 and 2013.
