SB Nation - Maurice Purify

Bengals bring Shaun Smith back (again) and release wide receiver Maurice Purify

Kirkendall — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 16:25:56 -0000

It was partly expected that when the Bengals released Shaun Smith after being on the squad for three days, that Cincinnati simply needed his spot on the roster with injuries to Chris Crocker, Morgan Trent and Kyries Hebert -- all of whom missed some practice during the week leading up to the Vikings game. Smith was cut to make room for Rico Murray to sustain some depth in the secondary and, more specifically, on special teams.

Now Cincinnati figured that they needed defensive tackle help to sustain the defensive tackle rotation against the league's 31st ranked rushing offense. On Wednesday, the Bengals brought Shaun Smith back (again), tweets Joe Reedy.

Now the question is, who did the Bengals release? The answer: Maurice Purify. Most likely, Purify will pass through waivers and re-sign on the team's practice squad. Meanwhile, is this the first indication that former second round draft pick Jerome Simpson will be activated for the first time this year? One possible answer: If he ~~contributes~~ possibly helps special teams.

Six-Pack of Hu-Dey: Bengals passing game, Cedric Benson's expected return

Kirkendall — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:10:43 -0000

Perhaps expectations for Laveranues Coles were misplaced. When the Bengals signed wide receiver Laveranues Coles to a $28 million contract soon after losing out on the T.J. "ain't no way I'm staying in poor ass Cincinnati" Houshmandzadeh puppet show, we tried to justify that signing Coles was sensible because, while he brought different attributes to the table, the Bengals offense wouldn't miss that much. Boy, we nailed that one like Homer Simpson reroofing his house.

Through 11 games this season, Coles has recorded only 31 receptions for 379 yards receiving and three receiving touchdowns. At this pace, he'll finish the season with 45 receptions for 551 yards receiving. This would be, by far, his worst 16-game season in his career (he missed four games in 2007 and three games in 2000). Of the 61 times Carson Palmer has thrown to Coles, the 31-year old wide receiver has caught only 51% of his passes, of at least six being drops. And during the team's 16-7 ~~loss~~ win over Cleveland, Coles caught two of nine passes thrown his way.

Now, let's also be fair. Palmer hasn't been the most accurate passer -- especially under pressure where his completion rates dip considerably to under 54%. Cincinnati has changed philosophy to a much more aggressive rushing offense, reflective of Palmer's and Chad Ochocinco's season statistics compared to their 16-game averages.

However, the notable issue is cost over production. When Coles signed his $28 million deal earlier this year, we broke it down. His base salary this year is a lowly $1.9 million. That number significantly jumps in 2010 ($4.65 million), 2011 and 2012 ($6.4 million respectively). Furthermore, a majority of Coles' guaranteed money was reportedly earned already in 2009, making us conclude at the time that his four-year deal could be viewed as a one-year deal with three option seasons.

Cincinnati will have to answer the question if Coles is worth having on the roster next year, after a projected 45-reception season, with an increasing base pay, or if the Bengals will finally start showcasing some of their younger talent in Andre Caldwell, Jerome Simpson and Maurice Purify.

Can the Bengals finish the Trilogy of Terrible Teams with a winning record? The loss to the Oakland Raiders, while heartbreaking, wasn't totally unexpected. Having watched these Bengals for so long, and the NFL for that matter, games in which an underdog beats a heavy favorite is completely within the realm of possibility. Oh, and the Bengals have never won in Oakland and sport a .257 winning percentage when playing games in California. Hey, it happens. Even Ohio State University lost to Purdue. In 2005, the Cincinnati Bengals were 11-3 heading to Buffalo, only to lose by ten points to the 5-11 Bills. Hey, it happens.

Even though some called it the biggest loss of the season, I maintained that losing to Oakland was a mulligan. I believe it still. The entire division lost that weekend, including Pittsburgh to their own 2-7 opponent. However, the thing about mulligans in the NFL is that you only get one. While the score never reflected it, the Bengals dominated the Cleveland Browns the following week.

This week, the Bengals play host to the 2-9 Detroit Lions. If the Bengals lose Sunday, in one of the few potential trap games left this season, they'll lose all momentum at a very inopportune time with the Vikings and Chargers on deck. Now, this is the pessimistic old Bengals fan point of view where anyone associated with the Cincinnati Bengals would do something disastrous; like how a sneeze can set up a series of events that entire nations declare war on each other. With a win over Detroit and then two losses against the Chargers and Vikings, the Bengals will at least hold the division lead by way of tie-breakers if the sinking Steelers and Ravens win their next two. Win the games you're suppose to win.

Starting Cedric Benson against Detroit is the right choice. With the Lions coming into town this weekend, it's a sound decision to bring Cedric Benson back into the fold. But slowly. Detroit ranks 19th against the rush allowing 112.9 yards per game, a 4.3 yards-per-rush average and 13 20-yard rushing plays allowed, which is only two away from Oakland's league leading 15. Detroit will help Benson get his legs under him again, but more importantly, the team could rotate backs this weekend to ease Benson back.

After Detroit, the Bengals will play another critical stretch of games in Minnesota and in San Diego. Minnesota sports the league's second best rush defense and the Bengals are currently battling the Chargers for the second seed in the AFC. If Benson gets sporadic work against the Lions, he'll start getting into the offense's rhythm, to prepare for the Vikings, as well as be nasty once again against the Chargers.

Speaking of which. Is it time to air out the football against the Lions? Cincinnati has rushed the football 40 times or more in three games this year (Chicago, Oakland, Cleveland II). In two of those games, the Bengals averaged 4.7 yards rushing or more and won by at least two possessions, dominating the time of possession. Four times this year the Bengals rushed the football less than 30 times; they lost to Denver and Houston, beat the Steelers twice by less than a touchdown. As written above, the Detroit Lions sport a middle-of-the-road rushing defense.

On the other hand, Detroit has the league's worst passing defense, allowing 281.4 yards passing a game, an opposing quarterback rating of 111.8, a 70.5 completion percentage allowed, 13 passes of 40 yards or more and an average of 8.2 yards allowed per pass.

Chad Ochocinco jokingly said, "We would like to throw the ball 50 times." It's not egotism playing a factor. I think he knows what we know. The Detroit Lions can't stop the pass.

Where is Palmer's deep pass accuracy? Even though we think that the Bengals should air it out against the Lions, there is some general concern that Palmer's accuracy on the deep pass isn't what it used to be. For example, when passing beyond 20 yards, Palmer has completed six of 23 passes for 266 yards. More importantly, that's where three of his eight interceptions have come from.

An argument could be made that Palmer just doesn't have time to throw it deep. That's certainly been true the past two weeks. Another argument could be made that the Bengals simply don't have that deep threat outside of Chad Ochocinco, who is double covered and smothered on nearly every play.

Still, if the Bengals are going to go back to their old school explosive offense, they'll need Palmer to make better throws down field. Actually, the Bengals will just need to make more throws down field. Only 23 passes beyond 20 yards? That's surprising.

Note: five of Palmer's eight picks have come when he throws to his right.

How could Tennessee factor into the Bengals playoff race? The Bengals still hold the second seed for the playoffs with five games to go. The San Diego Chargers have the same record as Cincinnati, but are on the losing end of a tie-breaker that gives Cincinnati the edge. If we look at both team's remaining schedule, you'll see several similarities. Each team faces three teams with a losing record, one team with a winning record and each other. The Titans play a Wild Card in this because while they're 5-6, they're also on a five-game winning streak and could present the biggest problem for San Diego -- other than Cincinnati of course.

Here's a side-by-side comparison of the remaining games with the Bengals and Chargers.

Week	Bengals	Record	Chargers	Record
13	Detroit	2-9	@ Cleveland	1-10
14	@ Minnesota	10-1	@ Dallas	8-3
15	@ San Diego	8-3	Cincinnati	8-3
16	Kansas City	3-8	@ Tennessee	5-6
17	@ NY Jets	5-6	Washington	3-8

All stats provided by ProFootballFocus.com, Stats, Inc. and NFL.com. If you have a topic you'd like explored, email me.

Bengals have eight players on Injured Reserve; Cincinnati has players to fill those roles

Kirkendall — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 16:41:15 -0000

Remember last year? I know, I know. Why bring up terrible memories of a team that started the season on an eight-game losing streak. Why bring up terrible memories of a team that actually finished a game in a tie causing the entire NFL world to shouting, asking why ties in the NFL? I remember when the active report came in during the fourth week of the season against Cleveland, seeing that Carson Palmer was inactive. It took weeks for me to fully comprehend the implications of Palmer's injury. I was in denial.

This week gave us a few reminders of how much better this team is, in terms of talent and pure luck, which is (if people want to admit it or not) critical to team's successes in a season.

The Bengals placed two players on Injured Reserve this week with arm injuries; wide receiver Chris Henry and safety Roy Williams. This brings the total to eight players on injured reserve since the start of training camp.

Player	Position
Antonio Chatman	WR
Chris Henry	WR
Reggie Kelly	TE
Ben Utecht	TE
Matt Sherry	TE
Antwan Odom	DE
Dan Santucci	C
Roy Williams	S

On November 28, 2008, the Bengals had just put Andrew Whitworth and Scott Kooistra on injured reserved, the 20th players lost for the season due to injury. In fact, I mused at the time that the Bengals could nearly fill out a starting lineup with players on Injured Reserve.

Oh, what a difference a year makes.

While the Bengals can't come close to filling out a starting roster, the biggest difference this year is that the team's depth is strong enough to replace those injured players -- except for maybe Tight End -- and lose limited production. Chinedum Ndukwe, the guy replacing Williams in the starting lineup, has 17 career starts. In the first game he started this season against Cleveland, Ndukwe recorded seven tackles and a quarterback sack. Against Houston, Ndukwe recorded a season-high 11 tackles. Along with Brandon Johnson, Ndukwe recorded a quarterback sack deep in the fourth quarter against Baltimore. NFL.com ranks Ndukwe fifth on the team with 35 total tackles.

Chris Henry is a loss in terms of taking advantage of match-up problems. However, through eight games, Henry only caught 12 passes -- then again, he averaged a team high 19.7 yards-per-reception. Based on the talent and depth chart ahead of him, Henry's loss, in terms of overall production, isn't very significant. The Bengals will likely replace Henry with the receiving committee of Maurice Purify and Jerome Simpson; two unproven players that could surprise/disappoint us.

Antwan Odom is perhaps the biggest injury this team has suffered. Through the first two games, the Bengals recorded nine quarterback sacks -- seven from Odom alone. After going down to injury against Houston, the Bengals production hasn't slacked much -- they've recorded five quarterback sacks in the past two games with the following combination of defensive players: Frostee Rucker (1.0), Brandon Johnson (1.5), Robert Geathers (1.0), Michael Johnson (0.5), Jonathan Fanene (0.5), Chinedum Ndukwe (0.5).

Even though Odom's injury was the biggest this team has suffered, in terms of season production coming to a premature end, the team's tight end spot was decimated by injury. However, there was never really any expectation that tight ends would become vital in the passing game, save for pass protection. J.P. Foschi and Daniel Coats are reasonably good when it comes to rush blocking and the biggest difference between the Foschi/Coats tight end era compared to the Kelly/Utecht era is the dropped passes -- admittedly, there's been a few but fortunately, they're not targeted as much.

Two of the biggest improvements this year over the 4-11-1 team in 2008, is that injury isn't crushing the team's chances and the depth chart is as strong as its ever been during the Marvin Lewis era. And the injuries suffered this season hasn't hurt the team's overall production.

Marvin Lewis wants Roy Williams back next season

Kirkendall — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:14:41 -0000

More photos » by Al Behrman - AP

7 months ago: Newly-signed free agent Cincinnati Bengals safety Roy Williams smiles during a news conference at the Bengals NFL football stadium, Thursday, May 7, 2009, in Cincinnati. Williams had gone to five pro bowls during his seven seasons with the Dallas Cowboys. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)

Browse more photos »

In the latest update of Maurice Purify making the 53-man roster, Pragmatic briefly notes that the team decided to place safety Roy Williams on Injured Reserve to make room for wide receiver. Williams had reportedly suffered another hit on the forearm this week during practice -- the same forearm he broke in 2008 -- causing it to fracture again. It will be put in a cast now, reports Geoff Hobson, in the hopes that surgery isn't required.

Williams only played in half of the season's eight games. And in those four games, Williams was a monster. He recorded nine tackles against Denver, eight against Green Bay, eight against the Pittsburgh Steelers and five against the Baltimore Ravens. He initially suffered a forearm injury against the Steelers, sidelining in the past three games -- he attempted to come back against Baltimore.

This is Williams' only season under contract with the Bengals. Marvin Lewis wants him back.

"We know he's a hell of a kid and that he wants to play in the worst way," Lewis said. "The pain and the trauma on the site of where he had the injury is too much. ... I think the medical people just feel the best way is for him to have a couple of options. He'll explore the best option to go forward for his career next year.

"He's a great player, a great person. He's uplifted this building and we want to have all those guys we can have here. Tough guy to lose. But he's empowered other guys to play better and that's what you want guys to do. It's been good for us."

And I agree. The team should bring Williams back.

UPDATE: Purify joins 53-man roster, Roy Williams to IR

A Pragmatic Bengals Fan — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:03:58 -0000

C. Trent Rosecrans, the Bengals' official Twitter account and Joe Reedy (in that order) confirm that Maurice Purify is indeed joining the 53-man roster today. To make room for Purify, safety Roy Williams was/will be placed on season-ending Injured Reserve.

And I was really looking forward to having Roy back to scramble some Steelers' eggs on Sunday, too.

Report: Maurice Purify expected to join the 53-man roster

Kirkendall — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:20:03 -0000

If you read into Maurice Purify's quotes, the guy is itching to join the 53-man roster. He feels that he's ready and Carson Palmer has shown confidence in the young receiver from Nebraska. Purify signed with the Bengals on May 8, 2008 and joined the team's practice squad when the season started. He's been on the Bengals' practice squad ever since, which allowed him to continue learning the system, get work with the veteran wide receivers and quarterback Carson Palmer.

Purify said earlier this week, “I’ve been waiting for it for two years. I think I was game ready since Week 1 or Week 2. It’s about time I get a chance, if I get the chance. I’m still in a situation that a lot of people want to be in.”

The only game situations that Purify has played in was two years worth of preseason, where he caught seven passes for 71 yards receiving in all eight preseason games.

So is Purify coming up? Bengals.com writes that the "Bengals are expected to make a roster move after Friday morning's practice and the assumption is that they'll sign wide receiver Maurice Purify from the practice squad."

If Purify signs to the 53-man roster, then the Bengals will have to free up a spot, either by putting someone on Injured Reserve, or releasing them outright.

Question of the Day: Maurice Purify or Jerome Simpson?

Kirkendall — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:02:47 -0000

The interesting unknown this week is whether the team will activate Jerome Simpson or bring up Maurice Purify from the practice squad to replace Chris Henry. One receiver thinks he has a shot, if not actually expecting it, while the other is hoping his time has come.

Maurice Purify: “It’s going to feel great (whenever I get the call),” Purify said. “I’ve been waiting for it for two years. I think I was game ready since Week 1 or Week 2. It’s about time I get a chance, if I get the chance. I’m still in a situation that a lot of people want to be in.”

Then read this blurb on Chick Ludwig's blog.

In the wake of Chris Henry’s season-ending injury (fractured left forearm), this has to be Simpson’s time, right?

“Nah,” Simpson said. “It still ain’t. Maybe I’ll get some more reps. It’s up to the coaches.”

I didn’t sense anger or frustration from Simpson. Only resolve. I looked him in the eye and asked, “How much does this opportunity mean to you.”

Simpson looked me in the eye and answered, “It means my life. This is my life. But you’ve got to roll with the cards and how the cards are dealt. I’ve just got to keep working hard and do what I always do. Just keep learning to play and keep opening up eyes every day.”

But Purify thinks that Palmer's endorsement last week helped his cause. “What Carson said was a big deal,” Purify said. “I appreciate that from him that he trusts me and is willing to step up front and say something like that about somebody.”

So if you make the call, who do you replace Chris Henry with? Jerome Simpson or Maurice Purify? Now there's something you need to keep in mind. Even if the Bengals call up Purify, it doesn't mean he'll play over Simpson. In truth, the Purify promotion would really mean the Bengals are back to their full six-receiver compliment. Then again, they wouldn't bring up Purify if they didn't think he was worth playing.

Poll

Who would you replace Chris Henry with?

Maurice Purify

208 votes

Jerome Simpson

99 votes

307 votes | Poll has closed

Bengals Banter: Head coach Marvin Lewis has Coors Light commercial potential. He just needs that moment.

Kirkendall — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:44:36 -0000

More photos » by David Kohl - AP

about 1 month ago: Cincinnati Bengals coach Marvin Lewis watches from the sidelines in the first half of an NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009, in Cincinnati. Cincinnati won 17-7. (AP Photo/David Kohl)

Browse more photos »

Three things happened. One, we posted a lengthy midseason review on Wednesday that we wanted to keep in your peripheral vision so that more readers will see and comment on it. Two. I got two brand spanking new video games within the past week. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Dragon Age: Origins. Three. I was off work yesterday, which meant a whole lot of #2 (go ahead with your Peter Griffin laugh). All things considered, we have a lot to get through today.

Bengals players nominated. On Wednesday, player of the weeks were announced by the NFL. In the AFC Dallas Clark won on Offense, Tyrone Carter on Defense and Stephen Gostkowski on Special Teams. The Bengals did receive two nominations this week. Cedric Benson on offense and Johnathan Joseph on defense.

If we're forced to look at the Wild Card. Even if the Bengals lose to the Steelers, there's an interesting dynamic here that could reverberate for the rest of the season. The Houston Texans (5-4), Baltimore Ravens (4-4), San Diego Chargers (5-3) and New York Jets (4-4) would be fighting either the Bengals or Steelers for two wild card spots. The Bengals already lost to Houston, swept the Ravens and have the Chargers and Jets on tap.

While some call it an easier schedule, it doesn't make it any less critical. In fact, I feel I'd rather the Bengals have a tougher schedule. This team seems like the team that raises the ante when challenged. What we saw against Cleveland earlier this year scares me.

Time to start thinking about a contract extension for Johnathan Joseph. I felt very strongly naming Johnathan Joseph and Leon Hall as the team's Defensive Player(s) of the Midseason. Not only are they on one of two teams with "two players with at least four interceptions", they "are tied for second for most interceptions in the AFC behind Buffalo's Jairus Byrd, who has seven." Leon Hall has the third most tackles among cornerbacks and one could argue that their coverages have enabled pass rushers the additional time needed to get to the quarterback.

Johnathan Joseph will enter the final year of his five-year contract in 2010 and it's time to start thinking about an extension. I know what you're thinking. It's a bit soon. I disagree. Once the season is over and if the Bengals and Joseph go through an entire offseason without conversation, then Joseph will feel insulted. With players as young as Joseph, whose biggest contracts usually come after their rookie deals (save for the first five picks of any NFL draft and elite superstars), the Bengals should reach out to Joseph soon and, at least, get the dialogue rolling. Once his contract is up and he declares free agency, there's probably a very small chance the Bengals sign him back. If he does sign an extension, this offseason will be when he does it. And considering how slow the Bengals are to get things like this done, it's time to start thinking about that now.

We let one get away. There really isn't an award for something we meant to mention yesterday at our cyber-cafe awards ceremony. I suppose we could call it "Coach of the Midseason" and nominate all of the coaches, like Paul Alexander or Mike Zimmer (or god forbid, Bob Bratkowski). What we really wanted to honor is how Marvin Lewis has turned this team around a second time. In 2003, Marvin Lewis took a 2-14 team and made them 8-8. In 2008, Marvin Lewis took a 4-11-1 team, turned them into a team that's 6-2 and preparing to battle the Pittsburgh Steelers for the lead in the division. How does one award that type of turn around from a head coach twice? I'm sure you could nominate all of our coaches for something, but Marvin Lewis should get the bulk of the credit for this team's complete reversal of holy crapiness to holy crap, they're good.

Should we talk about another contract extension? Lewis' contract expires after 2010.

Quote of the Day:

"That's why they brought me here - get the ball in my hand on third down and pass-protect for the quarterback," Leonard said. "Of the two, protect the quarterback is my No. 1 job."

Lewis really, really, really defends Jerome Simpson. One of the more interesting notes from yesterday comes from head coach Marvin Lewis' defense of Jerome Simpson.

“Jerome is doing everything he can to try to prove that he can get out there and make productive plays for us,” Lewis said. “He hasn’t lost an ounce of his athleticism and so forth but he has a lot to learn in coming to the NFL.

“He’s working diligently. Hell, he’s got his own coach. Which is great. He’s getting personal tutoring on every single play, every single day. Just trying to get where we can be confident that the quarterbacks can be confident in him understanding everything. He’s working hard at it. But some guys come here and they have a little better knowledge of how coverages unfold and things work. And Jerome’s working extremely hard at it. The other part of it, shoot, I don’t know if there’s a guy at any position that has the skill level of Jerome.”

OK, OK, coach. Anyone else see Joe Reedy during the ~~Coors Light commercial~~ press conference? I don't think anyone has disputed this kid's talent. But the truth of the matter is that he's probably going to be the team's fourth receiver. He needs to get on the field sooner or later. And if he's still not capable of being on the field as the fourth receiver, then you have to do something to utilize that roster spot. The deeper the Bengals get into the season as playoff contenders, the greater the possibility is that they'll need that roster spot on the field.

Bengals, no longer a finesse team, will beat the crap out of you. I've always wondered how Football Outsiders obtain their analysis. I don't mean the people. They're brilliant. I mean, do they watch game tape? A recorded broadcast? Or do they have access to All-22 -- an angle that shows all 22 players throughout the play. Can you imagine if we had access to that?! The analysis would be ridiculous. That's all we'd do -- once we tire of Modern Warfare 2 and Dragon Age... of course.

"Hello."
"Yea, bossman?"
"What is it, Josh."
"Yea, got the tape from last week's game. Going to take off work to check it out."
"You've got to be kidding me."
"I know!! I actually got the tape."
"Josh."
"Well, it was a sloppy win. But a win is a win, right?"
"Josh."
"I really want to watch the pass coverages and how offenses react. I need one of those video tape dial thingys that slows and rewinds the plays."
(sigh) "Fine. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Actually, can we make it two days."

With that said, Football Outsiders wrote a piece on the Cincinnati Bengals' offensive line.

It's typical to think of teams with great passing games and previously ineffective power blocking as "finesse", but any opponent harboring that assumption about the current Bengals is making a very big mistake. This is as much a power team as any AFC North bully could be, with its stacked lines and inside running, and the schematic variations tell the story of a line with great confidence and continuity. If the Bengals capitalize on their hot start down the stretch, the line will be a major factor -- with or without Andre Smith.

More, more, more.

All Bengals fans should read this Bob Labriola piece on Steelers.com, briefly explaining that the history between Pittsburgh and Cincinnati is a lot richer than you might think.

I was a part of The League panelists on Wednesday talking about Larry Johnson. I wrote that if Johnson wants to get back into the league, he should follow Cedric Benson's lead.

Laveranues Coles isn't very open with the media. “Uh, I don’t really speak (to the media),” Coles said. “I’m just chillin’.”

James Walker's biggest disappointment in the Bengals on his Midseason Report is that Andre Smith hasn't played yet. That's it? That's it.

Chick Ludwig thinks of ways to bring Maurice Purify to the 53-man roster, no matter what.

Steelers vs. Bengals: AFC North Game of the Year

Congradulations for Bengals fans, who donated "9,234 pounds of non-perishable and canned goods, 1,604 pounds greater than in 2008. In addition, Bengals fans gave $11,061 in cash donations to help feed the hungry in our community, a $3,041 increase over 2008."

Remember when we remarked that Ed Reed missed a lot of tackles last week against the Bengals? We weren't the only ones that noticed.

Steve Wyche handed out some love for the Bengals in his mid-season review. Cedric Benson was named as the Comeback Player and Andrew Whitworth was "Most critical to teammates' success".

Picture of the day. A reader sent this picture (a bit blurry) of a man wearing an Odell Thurman jersey... in France! And here we thought Steelers fans traveled well.

Note: if you have anything you want to share, email me anytime.

Bengals sign former draft pick Freddie Brown to the practice squad

Kirkendall — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:08:47 -0000

When the Bengals put Chris Henry on Injured Reserve, there was some speculation on what the team could do, which largely depended on what they wanted to do at wide receiver. Do they find a replacement? Do they restock the position after Andre Caldwell? Instead, they re-signed utility offensive lineman Scott Kooistra, giving the Bengals a full 53-man roster. Kooistra is expected to earn $620,000 in 2009.

However, with Henry out for the year, the Bengals felt there was enough of a shortage at the position that they signed former seventh round draft pick Freddie Brown to the practice squad. To make room, they released rookie tackle Gerald Cadogan. Here's a listing of the team's wide receivers under contract and not on IR (like Henry and Antonio Chatman):

Receiver	Roster	Notes
Chad Ochocinco	53-Man Roster	Bengals leading receiver with 44 receptions, 639 yards receiving and five touchdowns.
Laveranues Coles	53-Man Roster	Played in all eight games, caught 22 passes for 227 yards receiving. Tied for second on the team with three touchdowns receiving.
Andre Caldwell	53-Man Roster	Second on the team in most receiving categories. Caught two game winning touchdowns against the Baltimore Ravens (first time) and Pittsburgh Steelers.
Jerome Simpson	53-Man Roster	Yet to be activated in any game this season.
Quan Cosby	53-Man Roster	Primarily a punt returner. Average 12.4 yards-per-return ranks fifth in the NFL with ten punt returns or more.
Maurice Purify	Practice Squad	Caught four passes for 46 yards receiving during the 2009 preseason.
Freddie Brown	Practice Squad	Brown was the 11th pick by the Bengals in 2009 NFL draft, selected 43rd in the seventh round.

Henry placed on IR after season-ending surgery; Kooistra to re-sign.

A Pragmatic Bengals Fan — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:21:08 -0000

Chris Henry had season-ending surgery on his broken forearm today and was placed on Injured Reserve. Evan Mathis is considered week-to-week and Scott Kooistra is reportedly to be re-signed shortly.

Per the Bengals' official Twitter account, first reported by C. Trent Rosecrans of CNati.com. Rosecrans' Twitter account can be found here. @ctrent

Please continue to debate the merits of Chase Coffman vs. Jerome Simpson vs. Maurice Purify in the event that the discussion is once again relevant when Evan Mathis is fully healthy after getting shaken up yesterday, I don't expect Kooistra to be around for very long. This seems to be a stop-gap type of move to get the team through the next couple of weeks. I still hope to see either Purify, Simpson or Coffman soon.