Four defensive starters for the Bengals did not participate in Wednesday’s practice and six more players, including quarterback Andy Dalton, were listed as having limited participation as the team started on-field preparations for Sunday’s game at Paul Brown Stadium against Cleveland.
Dalton was listed as having a right shoulder injury. He was seen working out in team drills during the 30-minute period media is allowed to attend practice. During his weekly press conference following the morning walk-through Dalton gave no indication he was having any health issues.
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Dalton’s only other injury of note this season came in the season opener. He hurt his right wrist late in the first half at Cleveland after being hit by Browns rookie defensive tackle Phil Taylor and didn’t play in the second half. Bruce Gradkowski led the Bengals back from a 17-13 deficit to a 27-17 win.
Cornerback Nate Clements (knee), safety Chris Crocker (knee), defensive tackle Domata Peko (foot), defensive end Carlos Dunlap (hamstring) and backup cornerback Brandon Ghee (groin) did not practice on Wednesday. That is normal routine for Clements and Crocker but a setback for Dunlap. He was originally injured on the second-to-last play at Tennessee on Nov. 6 and did not play against Pittsburgh on Nov. 13.
He played sparingly in last Sunday’s loss at Baltimore and did not record any defensive stats after entering the game with three sacks and a team-high 20 quarterback pressures.
“It was pretty good to be able to get out there (in Baltimore). I didn’t get many reps but I got enough,” said Dunlap. “While I was in there they didn’t really test me. They ran away from me. I don’t know if that was part of the scheme or it just happened that way but they did a lot of screens and runs away when I was in there.”
Besides Dalton and wide receiver A.J. Green (knee), left tackle Andrew Whitworth (thigh), cornerback Adam Jones (groin), tight end Donald Lee (foot) and defensive end Michael Johnson (shoulder) were also limited in practice.
RUNNING IT UP: Since the Browns franchise was reborn in 1999 the Bengals have played them 25 times. In 15 of those games the Bengals have had a running back top the 100-yard mark, including three times by Cedric Benson in the five games he’s faced the Browns.
Benson had 121 yards on 25 carries, including a 39-yard touchdown with one minute, 49 seconds remaining to seal the season-opening victory.
“I was able to do some positive things on the ground against those guys. I was fortunate enough to get a lot of opportunity that game to help the team get a win,” said Benson. “Just getting out there and being physical with them. They are a division team, AFC North guys, they play good defense. You just got to get out there and play physical and execute. It’s not rocket science.”
Cleveland is ranked 29th in the NFL allowing 139.3 yards per game.
Benson has 634 yards this season, averaging 3.8 yards per carry and has scored four touchdowns. Two of those scores came against Baltimore last week. His only other 100-yard game this season came against Buffalo when he gained 104 yards on 19 carries.
The Bengals have had at least one running back gain more than 100 yards against the Browns for eight straight seasons and in 12 of the 13 seasons the Browns have been back. Corey Dillon (five), Rudi Johnson (five), Kenny Watson and Larry Johnson are the other Bengals who have rushed for 100 yards against Cleveland since 1999.
FOOD DRIVE: The Bengals will be accepting non-perishable food items and cash donations prior to Sunday’s game as part of the annual Meijer Canned Food Drive with the Freestore Foodbank.
Last year’s food drive collected 7,107 pounds of food and $11,500 in cash donations
The Freestore Foodbank anticipates providing more than 23,000 families with meals this holiday season while distributing more than 790,000 pounds of food during the three days prior to Thanksgiving and the three days prior to Christmas.
PRACTICE SQUAD MOVE: The Bengals announced Wednesday that they signed linebacker Bruce Davis to the practice squad. Davis was a third-round pick of Pittsburgh in 2008 and has 15 games of experience with the Steelers and Oakland in his career.
Davis takes the place of cornerback Walter McFadden, who was released on Tuesday.