ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Brian Simmons, at first, turned away an inquiry about his pending contract extension.

        “Next question,” said a smiling Simmons after the Bengals' 24-17 preseason-opening victory Friday night at Buffalo. Then he answered another question.

        “I feel pretty good about where we're at right now,” Simmons said of negotiations. “We're real close. We're right there. I'm going to have to sit down and talk to my agent.”

        Agent Jerrold Colton spent two days last week in Cincinnati and Georgetown, Ky., negotiating with Bengals executive vice president Katie Blackburn about an extension for Simmons. The deal apparently is awaiting only fine-tuning before Simmons signs.

        The contract is expected to be for five years, including this season, and pay Simmons an estimated $3million-plus a year. He also is expected to get between $4 million and $5 million to sign.

        Simmons is entering the final season of a five-year rookie contract. He and fellow linebacker Takeo Spikes were first-round draft picks in 1998 and signed similar five-year deals. Locking them into long-term extensions has been a management priority since the end of the 2001 season.

        If they sign Simmons, the Bengals will have the opportunity to use either the transition tag or franchise tag on Spikes in free agency. The transition tag guarantees Spikes an annual salary equal to the average of the top 10 linebacker salaries.

        A franchise tag means Spikes would get the average of the top five salaries and would require a new team to yield two first-round draft picks to the Bengals in exchange for signing Spikes.

        DEFENSE: In the end, the Bengals allowed just 17 points, but Buffalo quarterback Drew Bledsoe had success in the first quarter. He threw for 136 yards and two touchdowns.

        The Bills' third-down conversion rate in the first half, 5-for-8 (63 percent), concerned Bengals coach Dick LeBeau.

        “Bledsoe did very well. We respect him a lot. We let them have too many third-down conversions, and you can't give a good quarterback too many chances,” LeBeau said. “That's a very valuable lesson we'll learn from this ballgame.”

        KICKING GAME: Embattled kicker Neil Rackers got a boost in the fourth quarter when LeBeau sent him out for a 34-yard field goal attempt.

        LeBeau wanted to stretch the Bengals' lead to seven points, and he said he didn't want to use rookie Travis Dorsch in that situation, even though it was Dorsch's turn to kick.

        Rackers made the field goal and both of his extra points. Dorsch made an extra point.

        Nick Harris solidified his grip on the punting job, punting four times for a 45.3-yard average.

        ONE MORE NUMBER: The Bengals scored all four times they moved the ball inside the Buffalo 20-yard line, a perfect red-zone performance. Last year, they had a 67.4 percent success rate.

        INJURIES: Wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh (ankle) and running back Brandon Bennett (ankle) were injured at Buffalo and are questionable for the Colts. Spikes will be out two to four weeks with a mild right pectoral strain.

        UP NEXT: The Bengals will practice from 3-5p.m. today at the Georgetown College training camp. Camp is open from 1-5p.m.

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