Jon Kitna got the start and got the guarantee he will be the Bengals' quarterback for the rest of the season.

Dick LeBeau and Jon Kitna confer on the sidelines during Sunday's loss to Tampa Bay. (Craig Ruttle photo) | ZOOM |

        “Coach (Dick) LeBeau stood up in front of the team today and said that I am the guy they're going with,” Kitna said Wednesday. “He said we're going to sink or swim (with me). I think that's what the team needs more than anything, because now it doesn't matter if you like me, I'm going to be in there.”

        Kitna, who made 15 starts in 2001, will be the Bengals' third starting quarterback in three weeks.

        “I think it's important that we stabilize things,” said LeBeau, who is 2-11 in his last 13 games. “I told Jon to get ready to play and not to look over his shoulder.”

        Kitna played 2 1/2 quarters in relief of Gus Frerotte in the Bengals' 30-3 loss at Atlanta. He was 18-for-35 passing for 136 yards and one interception. On Monday, the day after Akili Smith started, Kitna criticized LeBeau and the organization for juggling quarterbacks.

        “My feeling is the team needs one quarterback, and they need to know who that is,” Kitna said. “I felt so strongly about it that I was willing to be the third-string quarterback.”

        Kitna lost the job to Frerotte in training camp. Frerotte started three games, throwing one touchdown pass and five interceptions. The TD pass to Chad Johnson in Game 2 is the team's only offensive touchdown. The Bengals have just 16 offensive points in four games.

        The Bengals had built momentum in the pass offense under Kitna at the end of 2001. He threw for 751 yards and two touchdowns in upsets of Pittsburgh and Tennessee.

        Kitna knows the offense of coordinator Bob Bratkowski better than Frerotte or Smith. Not only did Kitna have 15 starts last season, he played in the same system in Seattle for two years.

        He can play it. And he can teach it.

        “Right now, Kitna is a guy who can help people on the field,” fullback Lorenzo Neal said. “There have been times when the receivers might run a wrong route, but the quarterback is indecisive and he can't correct them because he's not sure.

        “That's the difference. (Kitna) can hold them accountable. That brings the leadership back. Jon is not going to accept anything less. He gives us a fighting chance to win.”

        Kitna criticized wide receivers in public last season for running incorrect pass routes at times. He has said only nine or 10 of his 22 interceptions were directly his fault. He had 12 TD passes.

        Some receivers Wednesday stood by LeBeau's decision to start Kitna.

        “I thought Kitna should have been our quarterback,” wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh said. “That's my opinion. Maybe I shouldn't be saying that. We were all in the system last year. And we got familiar with Kit.”

        Johnson, another second-year receiver, agrees. “He knows all the little nuances,” he said.

        Houshmandzadeh is probable for Sunday's game at Indianapolis with a rib injury. But he stayed after practice to stretch while Kitna and Frerotte worked with the receivers. Peter Warrick and Ron Dugans went inside at the end of practice, but Johnson, Danny Farmer, Michael Westbrook and tight ends Matt Schobel, Brad St.Louis and Chris Edmonds stayed an extra 15 minutes to catch passes.

        Kitna brings an outward fire to the job.

        “I told the guys the only thing I want all this week is for them to go full speed all week,” Kitna said. “We'll be timed-up and ready to go.”

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