A recent report suggests that head coach Marvin Lewis is "not entirely on board" with the recent signing of Terrell Owens. To be honest, I was hesitant to post something like this -- it seems more like tabloid journalism. I know what you're saying. "But you just wrote on a report that Lewis wasn't happy with Andre Smith's rehab." Boom. You're right. However, quite frankly, Lewis' frustration with Smith is somewhat expected and I'd be surprised if we heard nothing on the subject anyway.
Anyway, Newsday's Bob Glauber, through PFT, writes that Lewis "had more reservations" regarding the Bengals signing of wide receiver Terrell Owens.
"He's got big concerns," a source with "direct knowledge" of Lewis' mindset told Glauber. "T.O. is more than just a receiver, and Marvin is aware of the potential for problems."
Gregg Rosenthal surmises that "with Lewis' contract situation up in the air, we wonder if this will serve as another grating reminder of his limited personnel power." That, I can't dispute. Lewis' lack of power surfaced in 2008 when many believed that Lewis wasn't on board with Mike Brown's decision to bring Chris Henry back and Lewis had little input on the matter.
Either way, it's understandable why Lewis would be hesitant with Owens. The team has worked hard putting together a solid chemistry of mature players, which was shown last year during various tragedies, and the potential of splitting that up has to weigh on Lewis. We're not exactly saying that Owens will blow anything up, but you have to admit, the handgun is cocked and many are wondering if that hammer will fall. Until then, it's not good to wonder about such things out of our control. Owens will be a wide receiver and the Bengals passing game will benefit from it.
UPDATE: Peter King responds, tweeting (it's frickin' Twitter world now): "Just spent 70 minutes with Lewis. I'd heartily disagree."