Bengals expected to make roster moves on Wednesday

When Tuesday morning's sun broke the horizon, obsessed Bengals fans took to twitter and wore out their F5 button in effort to gain the premium knowledge on the inevitable roster changes that are coming. Only that by Tuesday evening, the team's active and practice squad rosters haven't changed since the weekend.

That will likely change on Wednesday.

According to published reports, former offensive lineman Dennis Roland will return. The Bengals will be placing either Andrew Hawkins or Andrew Whitworth on Injured Reserve with the designation to return, and Greg McElroy will clear waivers to join the team's practice squad.

Roland's return is directly related to Whitworth's surgically repaired knee, which hasn't responded as well as the team had hoped. The veteran left tackle has argued that it's just a matter of strengthening the ligaments around his knee, but a new bandage encasing his knee has only added to existing concern that he won't be ready for the regular season opener. In fact, there's a belief that it'll be Whitworth going on the temporary injured list instead of Hawkins.

That being the case, Hawkins would be on Cincinnati's roster but unavailable for a while -- the caveat is that he'll be ready sooner than the week eight return date (players have to be out for eight weeks if they're on IR with the designation to return).

It's just a matter of whom will be ready sooner.

The moves are expected to happen prior to Cincinnati's 1 p.m. practice on Wednesday.