Posted: 5 p.m.
Chris Perry, who should get another preseason start Saturday night against the Saints, doesn't mind the work.
Forget he's missed 42 of his 64 NFL games. He thinks people forget what he was coming out of college.
"I was a pounder at Michigan," the 6-0, 225-pound Perry reminded the other day. "I didn't become a scat back until I came here."
While some wince at the work he's getting in games that don't count, Perry says it's all the same to him. "They were impact injuries. Nothing you can do about them."
 Perry |
Indeed, Perry says he actually feels more comfortable running now than he did three years ago. With Rudi Johnson nursing a hamstring injury for the third straight game, Perry knows he's going to get the ball.
"In '05 every time I got the ball I wanted to make a big play because I didn't know when I was going to get it again," said Perry, who thinks patience is best. "It's a lot different. It makes you take your reads all the way. When you're trying make a big play, you may try to cut it back too soon, or try to make something when you shouldn't have to."
GRAHAM FOCUSED: Shayne Graham, the NFL's most accurate active kicker and the only Bengals kicker to ever go to the Pro Bowl, is poised for another 90-percent season. He had his first field goal blocked in six seasons as a Bengal Sunday night on a play that came through a hole flanked by tackles Domata Peko and Stacy Andrews, but there are no worries for a guy who is coming off a Bengals season-best 31 field goals.
He's focused on the uprights and he wants to keep it that way as he heads into his contract year. He says his agent has had some talks with the Bengals, "but nothing notable," and he said if there isn't an extension before the opener there won't be one during the season.
"I just want to think about football and winning, not money," Graham said. "We can pick it up after the season or see what free agency brings. There's no question I want to come back here. It's home."
