Three and out: Not out of the woods yet

1) Not out of the woods yet. Originally the Cincinnati Bengals had announced, via their twitter account, that 3,500 tickets were available for Sunday's game against the San Diego Chargers. Within minutes, that tweet was pulled with the team saying that that number wasn't accurate. Regardless of the number, the end result is that the number at 4 p.m (ET) has to be zero (or comparable to whatever defines an actual sellout).

Extensions usually lead to sell outs because they are usually only granted when there's assurances that a sell out will happen -- usually a commitment from local companies or the owner paying for full price for unpaid tickets (it's 34 percent during the regular season to cover the visiting team's share). Since 100 percent of the ticket revenue goes to the NFL, that doesn't apply.

On the other hand, the team announced an extension, not a sell out. So until that happens, the game is blacked out and we'll know more later this afternoon.

2) Take a knee, Chris Crocker. No, really. After being absent from the team's injury report on Wednesday, the veteran defensive back showed up on Thursday as a limited participant with a knee.

These things tend to freak me out ever since the late Thomas Howard's ACL tear in '12. He was fine on Wednesday. Limited with a "knee" on Thursday. Done for the year on Friday. Then there's the Andrew Hawkins and Larry Black's of the world that suffer a serious injury during practice and miss significant playing time.

When players show up on Thursday's injury report as a limited participant, after not being mentioned on Wednesday, it means they suffered an injury during Thursday's practice.

I'm sure it's nothing but it won't stop freaking me out.

3) Sunday's forecast is now all rain. Though not a meteorologist by trade, the updated forecast for Sunday's game is all rain with temperatures above freezing. Earlier this week the forecast dictated snow and a wintery mix (aka, a lot of crappy winter weather).

Head coach Marvin Lewis wanted the Bengals to practice in those conditions Thursday, where anywhere between 2-6 inches fell in the area.

Having gotten the work in, the team will work indoors Friday at the University of Cincinnati.

Uniform combination: Bengals will black shirts with white pants. They're 24-25 (.490) all-time in that combination.