Anthony Collins credits Andrew Whitworth for preparation against Chicago

Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis expressed some optimism that Pro Bowl left tackle Andrew Whitworth could play this Monday against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Great. But as we've pointed out last week, we'll assume that he's out until he's not.

The truth is that Anthony Collins' performance against Julius Peppers and the Chicago Bears gave Cincinnati a level of comfort when deciding when Whitworth returns. If he needs another week, there's no reason to press Whitworth back into service. And maybe there's a few that'll argue Collins as the regular starter even when Whitworth returns because he looked that good on Sunday. Well, it was impressive -- but I'm not one of them.

For the time being, the same gameplan will apply. Whitworth will try and if not, Collins starts. And the younger credits the elder for getting him ready last week.

"He’s real big on watching film so I had to make sure I can’t just let my talent take over I got to watch film and study the player I’m going against," Collins said on 700 WLW's Bengals line on Monday night. "He made sure I stayed in the video and made sure my technique was perfect."

All in all, Collins grades himself with a good score.

"I feel real good," said Collins on his performance. "We trained for this. We worked all week for this. We watched film on Julius Peppers and made sure we knew him in and out. Big Whit (Andrew Whitworth) had me working on the video all week so I was ready for him. I know he is the all world Julius Peppers. He’s the $100 million man, but I was ready for him."