Bengals Bytes (7/26): Ripple effect

Lewis, Brown in no hurry to renew Cincinnati Bengals contract
Marvin Lewis is heading into his 15th — and possibly last — season as Cincinnati Bengals head coach as neither he nor team owner and president Mike Brown are expressing any sense of urgency in working out a contract extension.

Cincinnati Bengals: Mike Brown, Marvin Lewis together for 15th season
Another pro football season started in Cincinnati on Tuesday, and the Bengals, it’s fair to say, could be a great case study on the pros and cons of change. The franchise’s 50th season is about to begin, and for the 15th straight season the men in charge are Mike Brown and Marvin Lewis.

Cincinnati Bengals
It's time to look at 32 players who aren't getting their due and 32 more who get too much praise. The players selected for the Bengals may surprise you.

Bengals Announce All 50th Team
Two Super Bowl head coaches and 26 retired players were named to the Bengals All-50th Team, which will be recognized on banners throughout the east and west sideline concourses in Paul Brown Stadium. The banners will be unveiled at the Bengals regular season home opener against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, Sept. 10. Super Bowl XVI head coach Forrest Gregg and Super Bowl XXIII head coach Sam Wyche will be featured on the center banner on the west sideline concourse, surrounded by defensive members of the Bengals All-50th Team.

Brown looking for a banner season
Mike Brown, who has been to all 50 Bengals training camp media luncheons, had the gleam in one eye and the twinkle in the other Tuesday. Not the gleam of a club president, of which he now has been longer than he was his father’s assistant general manager. But the twinkle of a five-year-old in Massillon, Ohio, who collected tiny football players while others played with toy soldiers. Time for another football season.

Slants-screens: Gio, Eifert look good to go; All in on Ced; Kids let Paulie mix it up; K-ball crowd
All indications are running back Giovani Bernard (ACL) and tight end Tyler Eifert (back) could be available when training camp opens Friday (3 p.m. on the practice fields) and won’t have to start the summer on any restricted lists. But the Bengals are probably going to bring them along slowly in the wake of their off-season surgeries. It’s good news because the minute they take a snap in training camp they’ll lose their eligibility to start the season on the physically unable to perform list (PUP). It’s been a brilliant performance by Bernard, who went down late in the Nov. 20 loss to Baltimore.

Noel Rash of Beechwood High School Wins Paul Brown Coaching Award
Noel Rash, the head football coach at Beechwood High School (Fort Mitchell, Ky.) who last season led his team to a Kentucky Class A state title, was named today as the 2016 season winner of the Paul Brown Excellence in Coaching Award. The award has been given annually by the Bengals since 2002. It honors outstanding high school football coaches in the region and includes a $5000 Bengals donation to Beechwood’s athletic department.

Wyche banners all-50th selection: 'It's an honor'
The Bengals released their all-50th team Tuesday and plan to unveil banners honoring Super Bowl head coaches Forrest Gregg and Sam Wyche along with 26 retired players when the season opens against the Ravens at Paul Brown Stadium Sept. 10. “It’s an honor. It’s a compliment,” said Wyche when news broke Tuesday morning. “I know I worked hard, but I’m not sure I’m deserving of an honor like that.”

Bengals' Vontaze Burfict could start Week 1 for first time since 2014
Burfict has not started Week 1 since 2014 due to a combination of surgery and suspensions. He heads into training camp looking lighter, healthy and with no discipline problems hanging over his head.

Bengals' owner Mike Brown: I don't regret standing behind Adam Jones
Bengals owner Mike Brown isn't backing down on his stance to stand behind cornerback Adam Jones, and he's prepared to live with whatever outcome results from that decision. "The history is what it is," Brown said Tuesday of Jones, who has a long history of off-the-field issues. "Some of these things are more serious than others. Do I wish that we had to publicly defend him? No. But I have elected to do it and I don't regret it. We'll see how it ends up. Maybe it'll turn out the way I want to, maybe it'll go amiss. We'll see. It's up to him now."

Joe Mixon could quietly become Cincinnati Bengals' starter
As the Cincinnati Bengals prepare for another year of excitement, the backfield situation looms. Any fan with even limited knowledge of the offseason dealings knows the score. The Bengals’ O-line took a severe punch to the gut as Andrew Whitworth and Kevin Zeitler sniffed the green and rolled out. But, things are just as dicey with the running back situation. To have a consistent and intimidating offense in the AFC North, you need a RB with bite. This year, Joe Mixon may have to lead the charge.

Cincinnati Bengals: Zampese eager to improve offense in Year 2
After 13 years on staff as the Bengals quarterbacks coach, Ken Zampese knew exactly what the jump to offensive coordinator would entail. It just didn’t quite pan out like he had hoped his first year calling the plays. The Bengals finished 6-9-1 and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2010 with the offense ranking 24th with just 20.3 points per game, despite a fairly productive season between the 20-yard lines.

AC North Bytes

Pittsburgh Steelers WR Sammie Coates has knee scope
Coates suffered the injury while training during the offseason and could be placed on the physically unable to perform list to begin camp, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. Coates is coming off of an injury-plagued 2016 season, during which he caught 21 passes for 435 yards and 2 touchdowns. He managed to play in 14 games, but was hampered by finger and groin injuries.

Watch Browns QB DeShone Kizer react to his Madden NFL 18 rating
EA Sports is getting ready to unveil player ratings for Madden NFL 18, and they started the process on Tuesday with a video that included select rookies, including QB DeShone Kizer of the Cleveland Browns.

Report: Ravens RB Kenneth Dixon out for the 2017 season
According to Ian Rappoport, the Ravens will be without one of their most important players for the 2017-2018 season. Running back Kenneth Dixon underwent surgery Tuesday for a torn meniscus. Dixon was expected to be out for a few weeks with a "trim", but it turned into a full repair that will require a four-to-five month recovery. The full repair is more beneficial for his long-term health. This is Dixon's third knee injury in 12 months.

Random Bytes

Signs of Brain Disease in 99 Percent of Ex-NFL Players Studied: Paper
The brains of 99 percent of former National Football League players studied showed signs of a disease linked to repeated hits to the head that can lead to aggression and dementia, according to research published in a medical journal on Tuesday.

Brandon Linder, Jaguars Reportedly Agree to 5-Year, $51.7M Contract Extension
The Jacksonville Jaguars reportedly signed Brandon Linder to a five-year, $51.7 million extension Tuesday to make him the highest-paid center in NFL history, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. The 2017 season was scheduled to be a contract year for Linder, who inked a four-year, $2.8 million contract with the Jaguars after he was selected in the third round of the 2014 draft.

Kansas City Chiefs OLB Tamba Hali clarifies his critical comments
Kansas City Chiefs outside linebacker Tamba Hali took to Facebook Live to further explain his incendiary comments over his playing time during Kansas City’s divisional round loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers last season.