Jon Kitna (right) appears to have a slight edge over Gus Frerotte. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        GEORGETOWN, Ky. - Coach Dick LeBeau said Monday that Jon Kitna will “probably” get the start in preseason Game 3 on Saturday against New Orleans, but a decision on the Bengals' regular-season starting quarterback remains at least a week away.

        Kitna will start for the second time in three preseason games. Gus Frerotte will relieve Kitna, and Akili Smith will pull mop-up duty in the second half.

        “I just want to look at all three of them again. That's the reasoning,” LeBeau said. “The order has no significance.”

        LeBeau also said he is “still gathering data” on the quarterbacks and that it would be an “erroneous assumption” to rule out Smith as a possible regular-season starter.

        But, later in the afternoon, Bengals offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski said the race was between Kitna and Frerotte.

        “It really is,” Bratkowski said. “Akili has done a great job. Akili has positioned himself in the event he had to be the No.2 or 1 guy. We feel we can win games with him. He's just a little behind, in the physical part and mental part because of missing that time at the end of last season and the offseason (because of hamstring surgery).

        “But right now, for the best of the team at this point, it's going to be Gus or Jon.”

        Monday was the day LeBeau and Bratkowski had hoped to come up with the starter for the Sept. 8 opener against San Diego. Drew Brees was named the Chargers' starter, ahead of veteran Doug Flutie.

        If the Bengals' starter is named next Monday, he will have eight practices with the first team before the opener.

        Kitna has played better than Frerotte and could be seen as having a slight edge, but Kitna had little to say while walking briskly to the locker room after the afternoon practice.

        “I haven't been told (about Saturday),” said Kitna, who has led the offense to 10 points in two short preseason appearances without throwing a touchdown pass or interception.

        One theory circulating throughout camp is that some Bengals coaches and officials want to see Frerotte win the job, but that he has to have a good showing Saturday night to justify the nod.

        Frerotte, who has a TD pass and two interceptions in the preseason, had more to say Monday. And he said that neither he nor Kitna has had enough playing time.

        “Jon and I have been splitting the first half, and Akili's getting all the second half,” Frerotte said. “I think the best thing for us is to play a little bit longer, to get in the flow of the game. A lot of things happen. You figure out what the defense is giving you, and how you do some things.”

        Injuries to some first-team offensive lineman could limit playing time for Kitna and Frerotte again on Saturday, but Frerotte, for one, said “it isn't going to bother me” to play with backups.

        “We're really nicked up right now, and we can't take those guys very far into the second half,” Bratkowski said of the offensive line. “It may end up where it's a quarter (for Kitna) and a quarter (for Frerotte) again. If we were completely healthy, we might think it would be a quarter and a half or five good series each.”

        Saturday performances by Kitna and Frerotte will play into the decision, but “it's going to be based, cumulative, on the three games,” Bratkowski said. “Practices, games, everything that has gone into it. We'll make the decision that's best for the team now. It will not be an easy decision.”

        Smith, who has led the Bengals to 29 second-half points in the preseason, said the decision to play him third again shows that he is out of the picture.

        “I didn't believe I ever had a chance. I didn't have my fingers crossed,” Smith said. ”All I can do is continue to be happy with my playing time, and when I get into the game have a good showing.”

        Smith said that every opportunity to play is an opportunity to show the Bengals - or another team - what he can do.

        “I hope so,” he said when asked if he is in the Bengals' long-term plans. “If not, like I said a long time ago, they might need to think about trading me or getting rid of me if I don't have a chance.

        “There are a lot of NFL teams, 31 other teams now.”

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