You force us to make bad conclusions. Levi Jones made this blogger characteristically jump to a the conclusion that he was pulled from Sunday's game because of poor performance, rather than, as Marvin Lewis said, struggle "a little bit with his leg." We believed Jones was hinting that he was pulled because of his performance, giggling a bit when Lewis was speaking during the post-game press conference. "What do you think," he replied either hinting at being pulled for performance, or us not believing it was injury related.
On Monday, Lewis was evasive when asked if Jones (and Whitworth) would be ready to play on Thursday. "I don't need to make that determination now. It's a short week. We'll see." And people wonder how we make our own conclusions. Therefore, my subsequent conclusion is that Jones will start at left tackle, while the team keeps his injury status quiet, like adding his name on the injury report under full practice. Anthony Collins couldn't play, to give room for our second-to-newest center, Andrew Crummey; not that it matters. Lewis is pretty content with having Kooistra as the team's third guard, and likely starting guard if Whitworth can't go.
When tearing plantar fasciitis is a good thing. Where the beer goes in, and where it comes out is about the summation of my basic understanding of the human body. Dealing with a foot injury that apparently got fixed during an NFL game, Chinedum Ndukwe tore the plantar fasciitis in the first quarter. Rashad Jeanty dealt with the same thing a "few weeks ago" and now you see he's playing. Ndukwe is still uncertain, dealing with the soreness of having a body part torn, which is apparently how they roll in the NFL. Either way, he's better off now with the torn plantar fasciitis.
Another placed on IR. Livings is back. UC center signed. Included with Andrew Whitworth's undetermined recovery, the Bengals choose to pull Nate Livings from the team's practice squad, and sign UC center Glenn Bujnoch to replace him. Abdul Hodge suffered an "arm injury" and was placed on Injured Reserve to make room for Livings.
Bengals press release (per C Trent)
Signed G Nate Livings to the roster from the Bengals practice squad. Livings (6-5, 335; Louisiana State) is classified a first-year NFL player. He has been on the practice squad for Games 1-10 after playing in all four Bengals preseason games. He was also on the Bengals practice squad for the full 2006 season and for Games 1-15 of 2007. He was signed to the roster in ’07 for the final regular season game, but was inactive for that contest.
Placed LB Abdul Hodge on the Reserve/Injured list. Hodge suffered an arm injury in yesterday’s game against Philadelphia at Paul Brown Stadium. Hodge played in six games (Games 5-10) after being signed from the Bengals practice squad and had four special teams tackles.
Signed rookie C Digger Bujnoch to the practice squad. Bujnoch (6-5, 285) is a Cincinnati native, a product of Elder High School and the University of Cincinnati. He is the son of Glenn Bujnoch, who played G for the Bengals from 1976-82. Digger Bujnoch entered the NFL on May 1 of this year as a college free agent signee of the N.Y. Giants. He played in all four Giants preseason games, but suffered a knee injury in the preseason finale and was waived/injured on Aug. 30. He reverted to the Giants’ Reserve/Injured list on Aug. 31. He was waived from the Reserve/Injured list with an injury settlement on Sept. 5.
Call 'em Digger, for he is center. Mr. Digger Bujnoch, son of former Bengals guard Glenn Bujnoch (1976-1982), joined the team's practice squad Monday afternoon. Reshirted in 2003, Digger became a tight end in 2004 to help out with injuries. Then he started the rest of his career at right tackle, partially injured throughout his career.
He suffered a knee injury with the Giants this preseason, waived a week later after receiving a settlement. Sports Illustrated wrote up draft analysis on him.
POSITIVES: Hard-working small-area tackle who projects to guard at the next level. Quick in all aspects of his game, makes terrific use of angles and body positioning, and attacks assignments. Stays square, effectively places his hands into defenders, and keeps his feet moving. Plays with a good degree of intelligence and keeps his head on a swivel.
NEGATIVES: Struggles to adjust and beaten by quick opponents. Lacks a dominant base and does not get much movement run-blocking.
ANALYSIS: Bujnoch has been a productive and mostly durable prospect in college, yet he must improve his playing strength for any chance at the next level.