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Jones probably out; Woodley out; Dunlap, Gresham ?; Lewis reacts to Penn St.; Dalton wins ROW vote

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Jordan Shipley

Updated: 3:50 p.m.

Left end Carlos Dunlap and tight end Jermaine Gresham tried it at Friday's practice in limited fashion with their injured hamstrings and are questionable for Sunday's game (1 p.m.-Cincinnati's Local 12) against the Steelers, but it looks like cornerback Adam Jones is going to sit out another week with his hamstring problem because he didn't practice and is doubtful.

Tight end Donald Lee (foot) is out and so that probably means Gresham is going to play.

Middle linebacker Rey Maualuga (ankle) is probable after missing three straight games even though he's been limited all week. Also probable after going full go Friday following limited practices all week are outside linebacker Thomas Howard (hamstring), right tackle Andre Smith (toe) and wide receiver Andre Caldwell (groin). Running back Brian Leonard (knee) has been limited all week and is questionable.

Jones didn't practice Friday after seemingly suffering a setback in limited work Wednesday and not working Thursday, and appeared to be the only Bengal not dressed. Gresham (hamstring) also didn't go Thursday after being limited Wednesday. Dunlap (hamstring) didn't work Wednesday and Thursday after he got hurt making a sack with seven seconds left in Sunday's win in Tennessee.

Steelers sack ace LaMarr Woodley (hamstring) has been ruled out but safety Troy Polamalu (rib) practiced Friday afer missing Wednesday and Thursday.

LEWIS REACTION: Marvin Lewis, a rare NFL coach once invited into a Joe Paterno staff meeting at Penn State, couldn't hide his sadness after he came off the practice field Friday. With the school and program wrapped up in a sexual abuse scandal that has claimed the nation's winningest college football coach and the school president, Lewis, a native Pennsylvanian, could only shake his head.

"I just think for college football, for us as coaches, it's a shame," Lewis said. "It's a shame that Coach Paterno's legacy is marred in a year where he sets the record for all-time wins and this comes up and it's now part of the season and that's how he finishes. It's a shame.

"I don't think any coach, if you know Joe Paterno, if you know Jerry Sandusky, you know these guys and they're very, very fine coaches. It's just a shame that this had kind of gone on and I think for all of us it just lends to the fact that when you know something has happened that shouldn't happen, the best way to go about it is you have to jump in right away and do what we can to stop it and get to the bottom of it. Because it's not going to work out the other way. Unfortunately it has happened twice now in college football this year."

Lewis, a native of McDonald, Pa., never got the recruiting pitch from Paterno, but he said one of his greatest memories came 10 years ago when he was the defensive coordinator of the Ravens and the Penn State defensive coaches invited him to spend some time with them. He was pleasantly surprised when Paterno, extremely protective of his program's exposure to NFL types, walked in during one of their meetings and immediately began picking Lewis's brain.

"Everybody was surprised because he's so supposedly against the NFL. For whatever reason, he always liked me," Lewis said. "I had gone up there to clinic the coaches in '01 and (he came) into the staff meeting room saying, 'Hey Michigan State does this … and when we play Iowa …' And I was like 'Woooa.' I didn't know he was still so involved in everything and he was. Offense, defense, he was asking me questions about how to defend this because they were doing this. How did people attack us on defense? I was really impressed. I went back one or two years later, and he brought me into the staff room and that was cool."

Lewis doesn't think Penn State is going to be down for long. Not after he made a trip there in 1991 when he was an assistant at the rival University of Pittsburgh and saw exactly how the Nittany Lions were doing it.

"(We) got a chance to finally look under the hood and we said, 'No wonder we can't beat these guys.' To go to them on your recruiting visit and you go to Pitt on your recruiting visit, it's a little different," Lewis said. "Depending on what you're looking for. The campus, the atmosphere, and everything, it's just amazing. The facilities and everything, all the things the kids look at. As I went and visited, I was just like, 'Oh.' If you've got a kid from New Jersey and he's trying to decide between Pitt and Penn State, chances are he's going to Penn State."

Lewis made a brief trip to State College this season to watch son Marcus play for Indiana State, but didn't get a chance to see Paterno.

SHIP COMES IN: Bengals wide receiver Jordan Shipley surfaced Friday morning five weeks and a day after Dr. James Andrews performed ACL surgery on his knee following the Sept. 19 injury in Denver. Shipley had ACL surgery reconstruction on his other knee as a college freshman, when he said it took about five months to start doing football-related activities.

He's back for the rest of the season to rehab, with the doctors telling him six to eight months from the surgery. He thinks he could be back doing some things in May on the field, which would be seven months.

"I've already got pretty good range of motion," said Shipley, without crutches or cast and walking around. "I'll do whatever the doctors say. It helps (it is the second one). I know the things to focus on and the things to avoid. What I would have done differently the last time. The second time it's easier for sure."

Shipley, probably quarterback Andy Dalton's closest friend on the team, was visibly pleased to be back around his teammate and has been watching and cheering.

"I'm really excited, 6-2 is pretty solid," he said. "From what I've seen so far, and I think some of it is probably attributed to Andy, they're doing well as far as not getting rattled. It seems like they don't ever get frustrated or rattled. They keep playing and keep playing and good things happen."

With Shipley shelved, Andre Caldwell has become the slot receiver in a corps Shipley gives high marks.

"I think they're playing great. From talking to everybody I think they're having fun," he said. "That's huge. When you're out there having fun, enjoying it, good things are going to happen. It's a tribute to the coaches, Andy, and those guys."

DALTON WINS VOTE: Thanks to votes on NFL.com, Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton won his first Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week vote for the fourth-quarter Bengals comeback in Tennessee last week with his first three-TD game in the pros. He beat Redskins running back Roy Helu, Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray, Falcons wide receicver Julio Jones, and Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson.  

After the regular season, five players will be nominated for Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Year honors. Fans can vote on NFL.com/rookies throughout January with the winner announced at Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis.

Dalton has been nominated four times. The only two-time winner has been 49ers linebacker Aldon Smith.

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