By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Marvin Lewis' goal for the 2003 Bengals is a division title. He doesn't expect any unsigned rookies to miss training camp in contract holdouts, and special teams is the rookie coach's chief concern heading into camp.

Lewis participated in an online chat Monday afternoon on Cincinnati.com and drew 200 participants, the site's capacity.

"Our goal is to win our division. If we don't do that, we will be disappointed. I don't think you can put a number on (the number of victories)," Lewis said.

The Bengals will report Sunday to Georgetown College near Lexington, Ky. The first practices are Monday.

Special teams will get a lot of work. The Bengals gave up five touchdowns in the kicking game in 2002 and ranked near the bottom in several special teams categories.

"I think we've got to improve a great deal on special teams," Lewis said.

As of Monday, the bulk of the Bengals' draft class remained unsigned. Though the first pick, quarterback Carson Palmer, signed two days before the draft, the team's next four picks - left guard Eric Steinbach, wide receiver Kelley Washington, cornerback Dennis Weathersby and fullback Jeremi Johnson - have not.

"I think most of them will be (signed)," Lewis said when asked of possible holdouts. "We'll go down to the wire with a couple of them."

Lewis said if the season were to open Monday that cornerbacks Tory James and Jeff Burris and safeties Marquand Manuel and Mark Roman would be starting.

Asked about backup tailback Rudi Johnson, Lewis said, "He plays behind a fine player, and we want Corey (Dillon) in there as much as we can."

Asked if 2003 is a rebuilding year, Lewis said, "That's a no-longer-used term in the NFL. You don't have the opportunity to rebuild any more. You have to make hay when you can."

Transcript

Read the transcript of Marvin Lewis' online chat at Cincinnati.com.

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