THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CINCINNATI — Last in the league. Even now, it’s difficult for the Cincinnati Bengals to accept how poorly their star-laden offence played last season.
Last?
"Oh, it kills your pride," offensive co-ordinator Bob Bratkowski said. "I take a lot of pride in what we do. To finish last in the NFL in offence — we’re used to finishing in the top 10. To finish last, that hurts your pride."
Bengals coaches responded by redesigning the offence, which will be the focal point when players report for camp in Georgetown, Ky., on Thursday. Bratkowski has thrown out some plays, added others and reconfigured everything else.
"It is different," Bratkowski said. "We are going to be different."
The biggest difference is at quarterback.
Carson Palmer partially tore a ligament and tendon from the bone in his passing elbow, forcing him to miss a dozen games last season. The Bengals dropped their first eight games — Palmer played in half of them — and finished 4-11-1, their worst mark in coach Marvin Lewis’ six seasons.
Instead of having surgery, Palmer chose to let the injury heal with rest. His arm was back to normal during the team’s mini-camp in June. He was still a little rusty from missing so much time during the season, but the Bengals think he’ll be back in form by the season opener against Denver on Sept. 13.
One change during camp: Palmer will be limited in the number of snaps he takes, allowing him to gradually build back his arm strength.
"At any point, you don’t want your quarterback’s shoulder to become sore," Lewis said Tuesday, before the team’s annual pre-season luncheon. "It has nothing to do with the elbow. Our quarterback likes to take every snap, so we have to pull him back."
The Bengals can redesign the playbook all they want, but they’re going to flirt with another bottom-of-the-barrel finish on offence unless they get some stability on their offensive line. Asked to describe the state of the line with two days left before the start of camp, Bratkowski said, "The offensive line is interesting."
Only right guard Bobbie Williams returns in the same spot. The Bengals went through a major overhaul, deciding not to keep right tackle Stacy Andrews, left tackle Levi Jones and centre Eric Ghiaciuc. Kyle Cook takes over at centre, and left guard Andrew Whitworth moves to left tackle.
The Bengals are counting on first-round pick Andre Smith to start at right tackle, a position he has never played. First, they have to sign him.
The line struggled to open holes for running backs and protect the quarterbacks last season. Unless the line stabilizes and improves dramatically, it could be another season similar to the last one — one that still makes the Bengals cringe.
"It was miserable," Bratkowski said. "It was the most miserable season I’ve ever had as a coach."
