Marvin Lewis consulted players before decision made on Hard Knocks

When rumors and reports were surfacing Friday evening that the Cincinnati Bengals would be featured on this year's Hard Knocks, players took to twitter. Geno Atkins and Vontaze Burfict were only asking if it was true. Rookie Sean Porter and veteran James Harrison really don't care. Rookie Giovani Bernard is looking forward to it, Devon Still, who is also excited, is correcting followers who believe the show is on Showtime, and time stopped for Reid Fragel, who is excited that Travis Burger reopened.

But it wasn't entirely a totalitarian decision.

According to Fox 19 in Cincinnati, "several Bengals players were approached by Coach Marvin Lewis with the idea to do the show again."

We can only assume that Lewis has Andrew Whitworth, Leon Hall, Domata Peko, and maybe even Andy Dalton on speed-dial; all of whom have become leaders for the Bengals with a good head on their shoulders. And clearly everyone involved in the decision-making process is far more confident in the Bengals maturity to handle Hard Knocks than many observers (fans, media).