Bengals coach Marvin Lewis turned down a contract extension last season, leaving him with only this year left on his deal. He’s got a half-season left before becoming a free agent.
And he doesn’t seem at all concerned by his lame-duck status.
“I am not, no,” he said last week. “Whatever will happen will happen, so I am not at all.”
Lewis turned down the extension to see what happened this year. He has bristled at some of owner Mike Brown’s decisions, notably bringing back wide receiver Chris Henry over the coach’s objections. Lewis also has lobbied for years to get a covered practice field; the Bengals had to take a bus to an indoor soccer facility to practice for their playoff loss to the Jets last season.
The Bengals are 2-5 heading into a Monday night game against Pittsburgh, but Lewis thinks the poor record has little to do with his contract status.
“The NFL is different from college football, where your guys are stuck in spots,” Lewis said. “In the NFL, everyone knows that none of them are really promised anything beyond for the most part. We have a number of players who are in the last year of their contract, so to have the opportunity next year – whether it be here or somewhere else – is by playing good, and it has always been that situation in the NFL. They get an opportunity to get rewarded with a new deal here or with someone else.”
Lewis has only two winning records in his seven previous seasons with the Bengals, going 0-2 in the playoffs.
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YOUNG O-LINE: Among Mike Singletary’s top priorities last offseason was upgrading San Francisco’s inconsistent offensive line. The 49ers sure did that, getting Anthony Davis and Mike Iupati with their 11th and 17th draft picks, respectively.
Both became starters immediately. While the line is still a work in progress for the Niners (2-6), Singletary is encouraged. Especially considering center David Baas is in a new position, too, having replaced injured veteran Eric Heitmann – he was placed on injured reserve Tuesday.
“I think that unit is continuing to make strides,” Singletary said. “When you have two rookies starting on the offensive line, that is such a huge part of the team. It’s just a matter of knowing you have to have patience. You have to know that there are certain setbacks that are going to happen. But overall in the past few weeks, those guys have continued to make strides of being a solid group and a very effective group. And as they continue to grow and mature, that gives the entire team the confidence that we need going into the second half of the season to battle for the division title.”
San Francisco began 0-5 before winning two of its last three games, including a victory over the Broncos in London last Sunday. The 49ers are off this week.
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TILLMAN SCHOLARSHIP: An Army staff sergeant currently attending Minnesota State will receive the first NFL-Tillman Military Scholar award.
Nelson is a former paratrooper with 39 months of combat experience in Iraq and Afghanistan while serving nearly seven years of active duty in the Army. He will be the Vikings’ honorary captain Sunday against the Cardinals, for whom Tillman played. Tillman died in Afghanistan in 2004.
“Pat Tillman means so much to the NFL family and we are proud to honor him by saluting Patrick, who continues Pat’s legacy of service and is an inspiration to others,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said.
The scholarship was created this year to honor an individual who exemplifies Tillman’s legacy of service and is part of a program established by the Pat Tillman Foundation. The foundation helps veteran and active service members from the U.S. military who wish to start, finish, or further their education, and also aids dependents and survivors of service members.
There are currently 111 Tillman Military Scholars pursuing their education at every level, from college freshmen to doctoral candidates.
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GOING DEEP: New York Giants career receiving leader Amani Toomer has traded in his football cleats for a pair of running shoes.
Toomer will become the first former NFL player in 17 years to run the New York City Marathon when he competes Sunday. Known for his tireless work ethic and training regimen, Toomer has added incentive to complete the 26.2-mile race through New York’s five boroughs.
Toomer will start the race in last place, and Timex will donate $1 to New York Road Runners Youth Programs for every runner he passes on his way to the finish line. He will use Timex’s Ironman Global Trainer Bodylink System, a GPS-enabled training instrument that has allowed him to track his progress over the last five months and ultimately reach his ideal pace.
“As a football player, I learned the value of physical fitness early in life,” Toomer said. “By using the top-of-the-line training instrument, I am confident I will raise significant money for NYRR’s youth programs and encourage thousands of children across the country to participate in physical activity and create their own personal fitness goals.”
Toomer played in the NFL for 12 seasons and played a key role in the Giants’ Super Bowl victory over the unbeaten New England Patriots in February 2008. Toomer holds a number of Giants records, including receptions (668), yards receiving (9,497), touchdown catches (54) and most yards receiving in a single season (1,343).
The last time an NFL player ran the marathon was 1993, when Lynn Swann finished in 4 hours, 26 minutes, 21 seconds.
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DEFENSIVE DROPOFF: After leading the league in sacks and surrendering the second-fewest yards rushing last season, the Vikings brought back their entire starting defensive lineup.
This proud veteran group with Pro Bowl players at four positions and potential standouts at a few others has underperformed. The defense that kept the Vikings competitive during the first month of the season while Brett Favre and the offense struggled has started to hurt them with costly breakdowns leading to big gains by opponents.
New England converted 6 of 11 third downs last week, including three on a touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter that sealed the 28-18 win. An earlier score was set up when Madieu Williams whiffed on an interception deep in Minnesota territory. And another touchdown came on a 65-yard pass by an improvising Tom Brady to a wide-open Brandon Tate, who beat Asher Allen.
“It’s uncharacteristic of us,” defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier said. “We’ve been in some games where we were able to get the ball back to our offense to try to win the game on the last drive, and we weren’t able to get that done on Sunday.”
The secondary took a big blow last month when cornerback Cedric Griffin was lost for the season, and rookie cornerback Chris Cook has been hindered by knee problems himself.
But arguably the biggest letdown for the Vikings has been the lack of a pass rush by their big-name, big-money line. Their 48 sacks last year were most in the league, but this season they have only six in seven games – going three straight games without one for the first time in franchise history, according to researcher STATS LLC. All-Pro end Jared Allen has just one.
The Vikings have also forced only nine turnovers, last in the NFC.
“With the games we have remaining, we have to make those plays,” Frazier said. “We really can’t do much about what happened in the past, but we can do a lot about what’s going to happen in the future. That’s the way we are working.”
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AP Pro Football Writer Barry Wilner and Sports Writers Janie McCauley in San Francisco, Dave Campbell in Minneapolis and Joe Kay in Cincinnati contributed to this report.
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