The Bengals have acquired 26-year old free safety Reggie Nelson from the Jaguars for 24-year old cornerback David Jones.  Nelson was a former first round pick who disappointed the Jags.  He played in 16 games (14 starts) for the Jaguars last season and he had 70 tackles and 5 passes defensed.  Nelson has played in three years in the NFL appearing in 45 games (42 starts) in which he has 187 tackles, 1 sack, 20 passes defensed, 7 interceptions and 1 forced fumble.  David Jones played in 12 games (0 starts) for the Bengals last season and he had 11 tackles and 1 pass defensed.  He finished his three years in Cincy playing in 33 games (7 starts) in which he had 56 tackles and 7 passes defensed.  This was a outstanding trade for the Bengals as Nelson might have just needed some new scenery to excel.

The Bengals have chosen 28-year old Mike Nugent to be the kicker.  Nugent played in 6 games for the Bucs & Cardinals last season and he connected on only 4 of 8 field goals (50%).  He also made all 14 of his extra points to finish with 26 points.  The Bengals have cut loose Dave Rayner.  They might want to keep his number on speed dial in case Nugent implodes which is entirely possible.

The Bengals looked really sharp offensively last night.  Carson Palmer made a brief appearance in which he completed 4 of 5 passes for 28 yards.  J.T. O’Sullivan looked his best of the pre-season last night completing 9 of 12 passes for 102 yards.  Jordan Palmer also looked outstanding in this game completing 10 of 14 passes for 114 yards with 2 TD passes.  Cedric Peerman led the way on the ground for the Bengals in this game with 6 carries for 100 yards (16.7 ypc) with a TD run.  James Johnson pitched in with 45 yards rushing on 8 carries (5.6 ypc).  WRs Jerome Simpson (6 rec, 68 yards, TD) and rookie Dezmon Briscoe (1 rec, 50 yards, TD) led the way for the Bengals in the passing game.  The Bengals finished up with 158 yards rushing (6.6 ypc) and 236 yards passing in this contest.

Safety Kyries Hebert led the way for the Bengals’ D in this game with 7 tackles and 1 pass defensed.  DT Pat Sims was unstoppable too with 3 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, 2 sacks and 2 QB hits.  The Colts finished up with 91 yards rushing (3.3 ypc) and 279 yards passing in this game despite not even playing Peyton Manning.  The Bengals finish up the pre-season with a 3-2 record.

The Bengals have released WR Antonio Bryant.  Bryant played in 13 games (11 starts) for the Bucs last season and he caught 39 passes for 600 yards (15.4 avg) with 4 TD grabs.  He just couldn’t get on the field for the Bengals this year due to a gimpy knee.  Just cutting Bryant lose in the fashion the Bengals did will cost them just under $8 million bucks.  I can hear Antonio Bryant yelling, “Yahtzee!”

The Bengals have placed 28-year old safety Gibril Wilson on the Injured Reserve List with a torn left ACL + MCL.  Wilson played in 16 games for the Dolphins last season and he had 93 tackles, 8 passes defensed and 1 sack.  This will hurt the depth of the Bengals’ secondary but it won’t cripple it as Wilson was down a bit on the depth chart.