The Bengals, like Americans all over the country, went to work Monday with heavy hearts but resolve to carry on.

        Bengals players and assistant coaches are taking coach Dick LeBeau's lead.

        “My belief — as Americans, we do what we do. Football is what we do,” LeBeau said after practice. “We'll help in any way we can.”

        The Bengals (1-0) will entertain Super Bowl champion Baltimore (1-0) on Sunday. The NFL didn't play 15 Week 2 games in the wake of the terrorist attacks a week ago. The league is expected to announce today that the postponed games will be played the weekend of Jan. 5-6 in place of two wildcard playoff games.

        Monday, though, the Bengals were focused clearly on this coming Sunday, as is Paul Brown Stadium management. In keeping with larger NFL security crackdowns, the Bengals will increase uniformed police presence at the stadium and restrict the items fans can bring into the stadium. Coolers, backpacks and oversized purses will be prohibited, and all other carry-in items will be subject to visual search.

        Still, the Bengals were able to do something Monday they couldn't last week — begin to focus on an opponent.

        “It's going to be a tough thing,” said Willie Anderson, the right tackle and offensive captain. “You got to go back to work. People are going back to work trying to get on with their lives, but they're still concerned with the people who lost their lives. We can't shut down America. We got to get out and compete, and compete to win.”

        The Bengals were one of only three teams to practice Sunday.

        “I didn't want to have too many days away from our football,” LeBeau said. “I didn't think there'd be a lot of people traveling all over the country. So we wouldn't have been gone.”

        LeBeau met with his team Monday morning and, said player rep Tom Carter, encouraged them to make a group donation to recovery efforts in New York and Washington, D.C.

        “We haven't made our final decision,” Carter said. “I'm sure there will be something.”

        Bengals players, like LeBeau, agreed with NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue's decision to not play this past weekend. The Bengals were scheduled to play at Tennessee. They wanted to show respect for victims and their families.

        “If we would have had a game this past Sunday, I'm not sure what the people could have expected,” linebacker Steve Foley said. “There are guys on this team not sure of what happened to friends, and that's a big burden. Not playing (this past Sunday) is really going to help us and the league.”

        Still, even as focus turned toward the Ravens, came news that there were two more Bengals ties to the terrorist attacks. Cornerbacks coach Kevin Coyle found out last Tuesday that his brother, Harry Coyle, a New York City firefighter, was in one of the World Trade towers but escaped its collapse.

        And Bengals wide receivers coach Steve Mooshagian and fullback Lorenzo Neal learned a friend from Fresno State is missing in the Pentagon wreckage. Lt. Cmdr. Otis Vincent Tolbert, 38, of the U.S. Navy was a Fresno State fullback and teammate of Mooshagian's. Neal broke Tolbert's rushing records at Fresno's Lemoore High School.

        Neal, whose father is a Pentecostal minister, spoke of the events of the past week in spiritual terms.

        “Unfortunately, it takes a tragic incident to bring the country closer to God,” he said. “My prayer is that (Tolbert's) somewhere hiding. My prayer is for his family and his kids.”

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