Vontaze Burfict was back in the lineup against the Lions.
The Bengals' revamped offensive line on Sunday featured left guard Clint Boling making his first NFL start at left tackle and 2016 fifth-round pick Christian Westerman making NFL debut starting at left guard against the Lions in the Paul Brown Stadium season finale.
In what is expected to be the last home game of his 15-year run with the Bengals, head coach Marvin Lewis offered other surprises when he put starting defensive tackle Andrew Billings and back-up wide receiver Cody Core on the inactive list even though they weren't on last week's injury report.
Also, starting WILL linebacker Vontaze Burfict (concussion) returned for the first time since he got hurt against Pittsburgh Dec. 4 even though he didn't begin to go full until Friday and starting safety George Iloka was in the lineup after leaving last week's game in the second quarter with a shoulder injury.
The Bengals are thin up front. Tackles Justin Murray and Cedric Ogbuehi and defensive tackle are inactive. Westerman, active for the first time since he arrived from Arizona State, is expected to rotate with Alex Redmond. Redmond played 16 snaps at left guard back on Oct. 1 in Cleveland and eight last week in Minnesota.
