There's two players that apply to the same question. When are Chase Coffman and Andre Smith going to make their NFL debuts? Coffman more than Smith, for now. Even though Daniel Coats and J.P. Foschi played well against the Cleveland Browns, combining for seven receptions and 80 yards receiving, there's plenty of reason to be up in arms with both players. In the past two games, Foschi and Coats have combined for six receptions for 44 yards receiving, several drops and a couple of fumbles.
However, it's not like the Bengals decided to go in this direction. They lost Reggie Kelly and Ben Utecht, their top two tight ends, during training camp. When asked if Coffman has done enough to make the active roster, head coach Marvin Lewis said:
“I think you’ll see Chase this year. I’m anxious to see Chase. Again, I’ve got to make sure those guys who suit up on Sunday can fulfill covering those kicks and doing all those things Chase didn’t do a whole lot of at the University of Missouri. Maybe when we don’t see one of these returners that are leading the league in everything week-in and week-out I don’t know why we keep drawing this card each week, but we’ll get another one this week (Chicago’s Devin Hester).
“That’s an important part of everything we do, to make sure we can fill those teams the right way, so we have an opportunity to get that returner on the ground and do all the other things that have to happen those other 25 (special teams) snaps a game. But I like everything Chase is doing. He’s all-Hamilton County every Friday out here (in practice), and that’s a good thing. That’s what you want. This is the NFL. We do a period at the end of practice every week that’s the twos versus the twos, guys who aren’t getting as much time on offense and defense, and we want to see them play football. They look forward to that, and they get some plays in, and it’s good for us to evaluate and watch them. He keeps coming and going, and I mean, he’s going to be fine."
As for Andre Smith, it's widely believed he'll be ready after the bye week. He's back at practice. Marvin Lewis said, “We’re hopeful by the time we get ready to play Baltimore (after bye week) that he’ll be full speed.”
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