Bengals' Jerome Simpson Excused From Practice; Anthony Collins Back With Team

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Jerome Simpson, who is being investigated by authorities after a package containing 2.5 pounds of marijuana, which was shipped from Northern California and intercepted by law enforcement official was delivered to his Northern Kentucky home where six more pounds of marijuana along with scales and packing material were found, was dismissed from practice on Thursday to deal with the situation. Offensive lineman Anthony Collins, who was at Simpson's home when the authorities arrived, was at practice, though.

Marvin Lewis appeared on XM's NFL radio on Thursday morning to address the situation.

"I've been appraised of the situation for a few days now and unfortunately Anthony's name got up into it for no reason. It was at Jerome's house and it's an investigation that's going on. He's cooperating and doing what he can help in the investigation."

Other than that, the Bengals have been fairly quiet on the situation, which is to be expected. However, left tackle Andrew Whitworth, who is one of the team's leaders, said that the Bengals will deal with the situation as a team.

"This is a football team. We talked about being all in together, we talk about supporting one another and this is another instance where we are going to do that," Whitworth said. "This is a situation where we are not going to jump out there and judge people or do things or that kind of stuff, we are here to support our guys, help them through situations no matter what guy gets into a situation. This just happens to be one that is public and it will be no different, we are going to rally around our guys and support them through this."

There have been no charges filed against Simpson at this point, but Michelle Gregory, spokeswoman for the California Department of Justice believes there could be prison time in Simpson's future.

"These can be very serious charges," Gregory said. "You are sending illegal drugs through the mail. Depending on the charges, I think at the very least there will be prison time."