One person that might be as happy, if not more, of Bob Bratkowski's dismissal is Bengals running back Cedric Benson. On September 23, Benson said he was frustrated with the offense, claiming it to be a lack of identity. He also said that the frustrating part is that the coaches aren't listening to the players.
All of that being said, Benson said after the season that he'd still love to return to Cincinnati. But only if the team decided to make changes.
“There is a time for change and I think now is a pretty good time,” Benson said. “We found ourselves being very successful a year ago and kind of didn’t master the thing going into this year that made us successful the previous year. Somebody missed that somewhere.”
That someone was Bob Bratkowski. After the team let the team's offensive coordinator of 10 years go, Benson had this to offer up.
"It's good to see the Bengals making some moves," Benson said. "It's not just about going back to that '09 style, but being able to fit everything together and use our talent. And we've got a lot of talent and I don't see any drop off if those guys (Owens and Ocho) don't come back."
Benson, who says he could see himself here if Palmer isn't, hopes Palmer decides to come back.
"But he's got to be happy," Benson said. "He's such a big part of the puzzle that for him not to be happy, it would be tough."