Odom injures ankle

GEORGETOWN, Ky. -- Toward the end of this morning's practice, starting Bengals right defensive end Antwan Odom was taken off the field in a cart.

He sustained a left ankle injury, and later walked out of the locker room on crutches with his left ankle in a protective.

Odom would be one of the primary players the Bengals could least afford to lose.

"I don't know," Odom said when asked about his condition. "I'm going to find out now."

Head coach Marvin Lewis didn’t go into detail about Odom’s injury at his late-morning news conference.

“I cannot,” Lewis said when asked if he could say what happened. “They’ll do some scans on his foot. We have an idea of what it is.”

Odom was signed in March as an unrestricted free agent from the Tennessee Titans. He is being counted on to bolster what was the NFL's worst pass rush in 2007.

The Bengals had just 22 sacks defensively in 2007, and the lack of pressure on the passer put an inordinate amount of stress on the secondary to cover receivers for a long period of time.

Frostee Rucker is listed as the second-string right end. Rookie Angelo Craig is third. On the left side, behind starter Robert Geathers, Jonathan Fanene and Eric Henderson are listed.

In other news this morning, Lewis sounded an ominous note for starting fullback Jeremi Johnson, who is not practicing and was placed on a reserve/non-football injury list.

“He’s not in the condition he needs to be in to practice football,” Lewis said of Johnson. “He’s battling for his job on this football team.”

Lewis and offensive coaches moved second-year tight end Daniel Coats to fullback during the offseason. Coats is No. 2 on the depth chart behind Johnson, who appears to be several pounds over his listed playing weight of 270 pounds.

The morning practice was cut short about 20 minutes, ending about 10:50 instead of 11:10, because of a thunderstorm.

With Chad Johnson out because his ankle rehab, Marcus Maxwell lined up opposite T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the starting offense against the defense in 11-on-11 drills.

Offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski said Johnson would be healthier starting the season this year than last.

Tailback Chris Perry made another fine showing this morning as he continues his comeback from ankle and shin injuries that kept him out all of last season.

"I've graduated from hungry and made it to greedy," he said of his desire to get back on the field.

Lewis said Perry also is fighting for a roster spot.

http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll.../1055/NEWS

That would be funny if Perry got injured again after the "move" he is making. He probably will.

Odom getting injured sucks. He was actually a good signing who I consider way better than Justin Smith and also came a lot cheaper.

foot sprain per Hopson

http://www.bengals.com/news/news.asp?story_id=6900

we can all sleep tonight

So what's the word up there on Rivers' contract negotiations?

oleskl Wrote:So what's the word up there on Rivers' contract negotiations?

heard on the news tonight that he is around georgetown, ky so that way he can make it to practice as soon as the contract is figured out. i guess that doesn't necessarily mean they're close to a deal, but i dont think its bad news