Bengals linebacker Takeo Spikes is beginning to attract national attention as a possible Pro Bowl player.

        The third-year linebacker from Auburn averages 8.7 tackles a game and has two interceptions and a sack.

        During the broadcast of Sunday's game in Dallas, CBS' Kevin Harlan said, “From our meeting with him (Saturday), I don't know when I've been more impressed with the way a player conducts himself and projects a winning attitude.”

        Spikes, who earlier had hoped for a playoff berth, still plays with passion.

        “Coming into the league, I know a lot of people say it's team, team, team,” he said. “But it's got to start with you as an individual. You have to want to be great.”

        Now that the Bengals are 2-8, he said: “I don't know of any team that makes the playoffs with eight losses, so we're playing for pride. I've got plenty of that. It never runs out. I just wish I could take it out and give it to everybody.”

        IT'S OFFICIAL: Coach Dick LeBeau said Wednesday that rookie cornerback Robert Bean will start Sunday at New England.

        Bean replaced Tom Carter for more than two quarters in Dallas.

        Carter, a veteran, is one of the most popular players on the Bengals and, as an evangelical Christian, is the team's spiritual leader.

        “Well, I talked to Tom and told him I respect him very much,” LeBeau said. “He's done a good job. He's helped us, and I think he's having trouble over there.

        “Bean has been showing us in practice that he's making strides, and I just thought it was a good move to make at this time.”

        ADVICE FOR AKILI: As a rookie in 1993, Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe lost 11 straight games.

        Bledsoe, who since has had 21 games in which his passer rating was higher than 100 and who has led the Patriots to the Super Bowl, feels for Bengals quarterback Akili Smith. Smith, the No.3 overall selection in the 1999 draft, lost his starting job this week to veteran Scott Mitchell.

        “The biggest thing you have to have as a rookie quarterback — especially as a guy who comes in as a high draft pick — you have to have some patience,” Bledsoe said Wednesday. “You have to realize it's not going to all happen for you right away. You have to be able to weather the storm. That's the biggest thing I'd tell Akili at this point.

        “When you're drafted very high as a quarterback, the reason that team had a high draft pick is they weren't that great the year before, otherwise they wouldn't be drafting that high.”

        Bledsoe, who has been troubled by a jammed right thumb, said he will be ready to start Sunday.

        MORE PROBLEMS: Bengals defensive back Tremain Mack reportedly has broken his probation for driving with a suspended license.

        Mack, who turns 26 next week, has three DUI convictions and had his license suspended until next October following a 1998 arrest in Cincinnati. His previous arrests for DUI were in his native Texas and in Clermont County.

        Mack has been driving this fall. WLWT Channel 5 showed footage on its Wednesday evening news of Mack driving at Paul Brown Stadium and his apartment.

        “I'm not talking to anybody,” Mack said Wednesday after practice.

        Mack was suspended by the NFL for the final four games of 1998 and the first four of the 1999 season after he failed a field sobriety test and pushed a Cincinnati police officer. He was found asleep in a parked car in the slow speed lane of Interstate 75 at 4:45a.m. Oct.13, 1998.

        The Bengals released this statement Wednesday in response to the Channel 5 report: “The Bengals make an active effort to counsel our players regarding their personal lives, primarily through the office of Eric Ball, our director of player relations.

        “But players' off-field activities are ultimately their own affair, and any issue involving Tremain Mack and his probation is between Tremain and the court. We will not prejudge or comment further on the matter at this time.”

        TWO CHEERS: After practice, Bengals players let out two loud cheers when they met for some final words from LeBeau. The first round of cheers went to former Cincinnati wide receiver Isaac Curtis, who addressed the team.

        The second round was in response to LeBeau canceling post-practice sprints in honor of Curtis' visit.

        NOMINATION: Bengals left tackle John Jackson has been chosen the team's recipient of the annual Ed Block Courage Award, which is organized by the league's training staffs.

        The award, named for the former trainer, honors players who “exemplify commitment to the principles of sportsmanship and courage.”

        Said Bengals trainer Paul Sparling, “John is a wonderful example to our younger players to see, because he's been through it all.”

        Jackson, 35, is a 13-year veteran.

        SIDELINE VIEW: Jackson, John Copeland, Marc Megna, Adrian Ross, Clif Groce and Vaughn Booker were among the Bengals players who didn't practice Wednesday. Booker was sent home ill. Right tackle Willie Anderson (back) also didn't participate in practice.

A veteran approach SULLIVAN: Scott Mitchell Bengals notebook: Spikes' play could lead to Pro Bowl

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