Lewis on Chad, running game

PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis, holding court at the annual AFC Coaches' Breakfast during the NFL annual meeting, said this morning that the Bengals are committed to running the ball offensively in 2008 and does not "know what (Chad Johnson) is going to do.

Johnson, the team's disgruntled, five-time Pro Bowl wide receiver, has made a series of comments -- most of them negative about the Bengals -- over the past three months. He has threatened to sit out, though he remains under contract through 2011 with Cincinnati.

"It's unfortunate that Chad has put himself in that situation because a lot of people who really had affection for him now see him in a different light," Lewis said. "Hopefully some of the things he said, he's going to have to face one way or another. If he shows and does things, and does (them) the right way, I'm willing to take the bullets for him again and allow him to come back the right way."

The Bengals will not trade Johnson, Lewis said again.

"We are prepared to move on," Lewis said when asked if Johnson decides to sit out. He is not required to be in Cincinnati until the mandatory full-squad minicamp in the middle of June.

Lewis said he has told his staff that the offense will run the ball like it did in 2003 and 2004 and will be "more physical" on offense. "There are a lot of times you need to run the football to finish the game, and we didn't."

On the injury front, the Bengals are optimistic that tailback Chris Perry might be on the field come May and June, but Lewis said that Perry – who has missed most of three of his first four NFL seasons because of injury, including all of 2007 because of a serious ankle injury – remains under the supervision of the Bengals’ athletic training (medical) staff.

The team is not counting on tailback Kenny Irons, who missed all of his rookie season after sustaining a knee ligament injury in the preseason.

And linebacker Odell Thurman, who has been serving a two-year league suspension, might know by mid-April whether he will be re-instated, Bengals president Mike Brown said Monday night.
Still, Lewis said this morning, “We’re not counting on Odell."

In terms of rules changes the league's owners will vote on today and Wednesday, Lewis said he favors keeping the playoff seeding the way it is, to reward a division-winning team with a home game. "I would hate to see us go away from that model," he said.

He favors the rule to eliminate the "force-out" call on a receiver and the in-helmet communicator for a defensive player.