The Bengals might have had one of the costliest victories Sunday. Linebacker David Pollack, who has been battling injuries at the beginning of the season, suffered a neck injury that concerns the team. Though it doesn't appear to be a long-term injury, the Bengals may be without him for a couple of weeks. The other concern is a knee injury to center Rich Braham. Free safety Dexter Jackson suffered an ankle injury. Wide receiver Chad Johnson was so disoriented after the game from a late-game hit that sent his helmet flying that he didn't do interviews. For No. 85, that's being out of it.
Week to think: Art Shell will have a lot of thinking to do during the bye week. His team is 0-2 and looks horrible. First, he has to decide whether to keep Aaron Brooks as a starter. Brooks was sacked seven times in the opener and had a couple of fumbles and injuries that led to Andrew Walter going the distance. It wouldn't be a bad idea to see if he can trade Marques Tuiasosopo for a draft choice and bring in Jeff George as an insurance policy. This would also be a good week for Shell to talk Al Davis into trading Jerry Porter. Porter has been inactive for two games. If the Raiders can get two draft choices for two players they aren't using, that's building toward the future.
On the defensive: You figured Bill Belichick would make it a point to keep his former pupil, Eric Mangini, guessing. The Patriots opened Sunday's 24-17 victory over the Jets in a 4-3 with Mike Wright and Vince Wilfork at defensive tackle, Junior Seau at middle linebacker and Rosevelt Colvin and Mike Vrabel at outside linebacker. The 4-3 allows Wilfork to be a little more dominating than he can be when he's playing nose tackle. Wilfolk had five tackles and a sack. By the way, Tedy Bruschi, who didn't start, had six tackles.
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John Clayton
