News

Jermaine Gresham

» Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis said after the 24-19 win that tight end Jermane Gresham was fine. When Gresham walked off the field he said he was fine and thought he could play next week, but he doesn't know what the team will decide to do.

» Lewis also said that middle linebacker Vontaze Burfict should be fine but he wouldn't say if he had a concussion.

» Lewis on the win:
"I've said this many times. We play very good opponents in the preseason that are well coached, well put together personnel-wise. We've had a chance to play NFL football and we've held up our end. It's good but we have to keep it going. We have to get better."

» Quarterback Andy Dalton couldn't hide the fact that he savored proving his critics wrong once again. During the summer, national pundits floated the idea that Dalton lacked arm strength. On Thursday night he threw a perfect 50-yard touchdown pass to A.J Green that went at least 60 yards in the air as he stepped through the pocket.

"Any time a long ball is called you want to hit it ... on national TV," Dalton said. "Maybe people will start to say things differently now."

Dalton pulled the trigger on third-and-15 on a throw that was dictated by the play before as Green worked against Falcons cornerback Asante Samuel.

"He sat on the route before," Green said, "so we got him on a double move. We took advantage of that."

» Safety Jeromy Miles came up with the second Bengals interception of the preseason, this one in the end zone that preserved Cincinnati's 17-13 lead with 2:35 left in the third quarter.

"I just dropped into a zone and did what Coach (Mike) Zimmer always tells us; read the quarterback's eyes and his eyes took me to the middle of the field," Miles said.

» For the second straight week safety Taylor Mays played so aggressively that he was in a play that injured one of his teammates. Last Friday, he was in on the scrum in which middle linebacker Rey Maualuga sprained his knee. On Thursday night he was in on the play that Burfict took a hit in the head and had to leave the game.

"I've got to talk to the coaches about it," Mays said. "I want to play aggressively but I have to play smart."

» The leading tacklers were middle linebacker Roddrick Muckelroy and safety Reggie Nelson with seven apiece. Miles added six to go along with his interception, forced fumble and pass defensed.

» For the second straight game SAM linebacker Dontay Moch had a sack playing defensive end.

» The Bengals, who had five sacks last week against the Jets, had two Thursday. Rookie cornerback Chris Lewis-Harris had the other one.