Quick notes and links for lunch

+ When Cincinnati Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis nearly left Cincinnati following the team's four-win season in 2010, there a feeling that a change was coming.

It never happened.

Dan Wetzel with Yahoo! Sports writes that, instead of a divorce, Lewis and owner Mike Brown decided to reset, apply what they've learned and start fresh.

"I believed in him and he believed in me that we could get this right," Lewis said. "I restarted here. A lot of coaches have to move. I was basically able to start again here, [to] restart in the same spot."

He didn't waste the opportunity, cleaning house that offseason, empowering a core group of character guys and riding the unexpected positive effects of the NFL lockout that offseason to rewire the entire franchise.

"The lockout was the best thing," Lewis said. "The lockout took this franchise back out of the muck. It was like an exorcism. It was really good."

Wetzel continues with how the Bengals rebuilt the franchise since then, applying better characters. A couple notes that we found intriguing was Marvin Lewis' reflection on players like Chris Henry and Cedric Benson.

"I don't think Chris Henry, we would pick today," Lewis said. "See, Chris had social issues [at the time of the draft but] he hadn't really gotten into legal issues. Chris would have a harder time today just because we would be more sketchy on if he could handle the day to day of being a good teammate.

"I think there was always a feeling that boys will be boys," Lewis continued. "There are some boys that just can't get over being boys. And unfortunately, the organization had to learn that."

Cedric Benson, Wetzel writers, sent Lewis a text "last year" and asked "why did you make the decision I couldn't do that for you anymore, run for 1,300 yards."

"And I said, 'Ced, it's not that I didn't think you could do that on the football field, it was the other [stuff] that I got tired of. When I would go to you and say we're going to rotate the backs [and Benson would take it poorly]. I don't need that anymore.' Those are the things they don't get. It could be something as simple as that. But you just get tired of it. Then they put the pout on. I don't need that [stuff]."

Like we said in an earlier post, this is a great read.

+ Kevin Goheen writes more about the leadership that offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth has applied over the years. More specifically, with the younger players on the team.

Not everyone is up to that responsibility but Whitworth has never shied away from the role, even as he takes a few days off from practice. It is part of the rehab process from offseason knee surgery but while he’s not in pads, he still councils the younger players, reinforcing Alexander’s teachings.

+ The Cincinnati Enquirer's practice notes from Wednesday.

+ The Bengals held a walk-through Thursday morning.