Bengals Terence Newman and Anthony Collins return to practice

For the first time since suffering a sprained MCL against the Indianapolis Colts, Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Terence Newman returned to practice on Friday, according to Bengals.com.

Newman has missed the final three games of the regular season against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Minnesota Vikings and Baltimore Ravens. Second-year cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick filled in for Newman. In the three games that he played substituting for Newman, Kirkpatrick allowed 10 completions but only an opposing quarterback rating of 52.7.

It's unknown what role Newman will have at this point, or if he'll stand in as the third cornerback while leaving Kirkpatrick as the starter. Or if he'll even play (he has missed a month, after all).

Also returning is Anthony Collins, who missed practice on Wednesday and Thursday with an ankle. Kyle Cook and Dre Kirkpatrick are also on the field, according to Bengals.com. Cook suffered a foot injury against the Ravens and showed up in the Bengals locker room with a boot and crutches earlier this week. Kirkpatrick was dealing with a bug Thursday.

The team will release the final injury report and their overall status later on Friday afternoon.