Ask Mark

Readers are putting the heat on quarterback Jon Kitna and coach Marvin Lewis for his clock management at Buffalo. And readers were really letting former punter Nick Harris have it before his release Tuesday afternoon.

Question, from Jonathan in Independence: I noticed in your column last week that the Bengals had tried out some punters at Paul Brown Stadium. Do you happen to know if Glenn Pakulak was in that group? What about a guy like Andy Groom, who used to punt at Ohio State?

A: No, Pakulak was not among the punters invited in. But Kyle Richardson was, and he was signed Tuesday afternoon to replace Harris, who was waived.

Groom, who remains based in Columbus, did get an audition with the Bengals.

Harris was ranked No. 31 of 32 punters in both net average (30.0 yards) and average (38.7).

Q, from Jason in Pennsylvania: Is there any chance that Marvin will reconsider and bring Travis Dorsch back to punt? Has Dorsch signed with another team? And has Ron Dugans signed anywhere else?

A: Steve Dorsch, Travis's father and agent, said Tuesday that he has not heard from the Bengals. But Travis has worked out - as a punter - for Seattle and Minnesota and was in Detroit on Tuesday to punt for the Lions. Pakulak also tried out for the Lions on Tuesday.

Steve Dorsch said his son no longer is a place kicker but is exclusively a punter, holder and kickoff specialist.

"Would he come back to the Bengals? Yes," Steve Dorsch said. "Travis is a professional football player and wants to be in the league."

Travis Dorsch has received what his father termed "soft offers" from other teams, who want to sign him when rosters expand after the regular season.

Additionally, since the topic is former punters and kickers once drafted by the Bengals, kicker Neil Rackers had a tryout Tuesday with the New York Giants.

Switching now to the subject of former Bengals wide receivers and special teams stars, Dugans remains unsigned, said his agent, Darrell Wills. Dugans had Achilles tendonitis that prevented him from playing, the Bengals said.

"They did what they had to do," Wills said Tuesday. "The door remains open for him to come back."

By rule, Dugans cannot re-sign with the Bengals until after Week 10.

"If he's still around then, it would be an option," said Wills, who also reported that Dugans' condition is good and that he has been getting treatment on the heel in Florida.

Question, from Sam in Massillon: Week in and week out, I am reminded that in close games we need someone better than Jon Kitna pulling the trigger if we are actually going to win the game (case in point, Oakland and Buffalo in overtime). But now something else has started to bother me about the 2003 Bengals - their rookie head coach.

Let me explain: Sure, I think Lewis has done too much in the offseason to even enumerate. He has us playing better. But I don't know if it's because he is a rookie head coach (which I hope it is) or if it's his style of football (which it better not be) that has made me think he is playing not to lose instead of to win.

At the end of halves or at the end of games, Marvin acts like he has no idea how to manage a clock. At the end of the first half in Buffalo, we sack Drew Bledsoe with around 50 seconds left, but wait to call a timeout until there are around 30 seconds left - hence, we have time to only run one play before getting a chance at a field goal. Even worse, this clock management travesty is repeated at the end of the game. When Travis Henry was stopped short of the end zone, everybody should have known that they were going for the tie into the wind there. There was at least one full minute left when Henry was brought down. Instead of calling a timeout immediately, and giving our team a chance to win with the wind at our backs, it seems like he fell asleep.

We could have never gone into overtime and escaped Buffalo 2-3.

In general, I am all for Marvin, but when you're 1-4, I think you have to look at what you're doing as a coach and re-evaluate that as well. So the question: What is your opinion of these late game decisions and ultra-conservative calls (see Pittsburgh game and two chances for 50 yard field goals gone by the wayside) by our rookie head coach?

Q, from Eugene in Findlay: Do you think the Bengals coaching staff made a decision that cost their team a legitimatechance of winning? At the end of regulation, there was over a minute left on the clock, the Bengals had all three time-outs remaining, and they knew Buffalo was going for the field goal. Instead of immediately calling the time-out after the third down, the Bengals let the clock run down to around 30 seconds and then called a timeout to ice the kicker.

A: Here's what happened in Buffalo before Rian Lindell kicked the tying field goal into the wind on Sunday.

The third-down dump pass from Drew Bledsoe to Henry started with 1:17 remaining in the fourth quarter. Brian Simmons and Artrell Hawkins tackled Henry at the 11, a yard short of the first down. The exact time the play ended is not available, but it ended with roughly a minute to play.

The Bengals had all three timeouts remaining at that time. They did not call their first timeout, presumably to ice the kicker, until the clock read 31 seconds. Lindell made the field goal to tie the score at 16.

The failure to call a timeout after the Bengals stopped the dump pass to Henry did cost them at least 30 seconds.

Kenny Watson returned the kickoff to the 21. By that time, only 23 seconds remained when Kitna took the snap and kneeled. The Bengals had two timeouts remaining.

"I would not change (the call)," Lewis said Monday. "From our 21-yard line, that is how many yards (40) we would have had to make. It would have been more yards than we made all day in one play. The chances of that aren't very good."

Lewis went on Monday to say that the theme for the day for his team was to worry about what each man could do to help the team. And he included himself.

"Look and make sure we are getting done what we need to get done," he said, "myself and all of the players. We (must) look at ourselves and make sure we are getting it done the right way in every area."

Asked specifically what he could do, including game management, Lewis said, "Just do a better job."

The Bengals did use their timeouts more effectively at the end of the first half. Bledsoe dropped to pass with 24 seconds remaining. The Bengals had taken their second timeout after a short completion to Eric Moulds at the 29-yard line. It was third-and-9. Duane Clemons sacked Bledsoe, and timeout was called with 15 seconds left in the half. About three seconds were lost in celebration before the timeout was called.

Brian Moorman's punt was 24 yards from the 19, giving the Bengals the ball at Buffalo's 43-yard line with no timeouts remaining. Kitna hit Tony Stewart on an out pattern for 7 yards. Stewart got out of bounds, leaving kicker Shayne Graham the opportunity from 54 yards. He hit it hard, and with the wind, it had enough distance but was just a couple of yards wide left.

Q, from Brian in White Oak: How is Dennis Weathersby progressing? Wasn't he a projected second-rounder who fell to the fourth round after his injury? (He was shot in the back April 20.) I have noticed the last two weeks that when (Jeff) Burris went out that Terrell Roberts came in. Roberts was an undrafted free agent who played at Oregon State with Weathersby. Is Roberts that much better, or has Weathersby not full recovered? I think Roberts does an OK job, but he's a lot smaller than Weatherby. I know (defensive coordinator Leslie) Frazier likes big defensive backs.

A: Weathersby continues to get necessary physical work in practice, and Lewis has hinted that Weathersby was close to being activated for the Cleveland game following an outstanding week of fieldwork.

It's still amazing that Weathersby has come so far from April 20. He is getting closer to being activated for a game, and, yes, Frazier does like big corners. And in his style of defense, big corners are a necessity. Look at what Tory James has done. But Burris, too, has lifted his level of play.

Q, from Big Red in Dry Ridge: It's more than coincidence that Corey Dillon was on the sidelines while the first win of the Marvin Lewis era unfolded. He was the only guy to miss (the first voluntary) minicamp. He was the only guy late to (training) camp. Bring on Rudi (Johnson).

A: Not so fast. Rudi Johnson has potential to be an outstanding NFL running back. But he's no Dillon.

For the Bengals at this stage in the rebuilding process, Dillon remains their best option in the backfield. Do they win at Oakland and Buffalo with him running the ball 25 times? Maybe. Dillon was headed for one of his 140-150 yard games against the Raiders.

Has Rudi Johnson become the No. 2 back when Dillon's healthy? Maybe. Brandon Bennett, by his own admission, played the worst game of his career against the Bills.

As for Dillon, nobody plays forever. And, in Lewis' way of thinking, no one player - no matter the accomplishments - is bigger than the team.

Q, from Frank: Just curious, since Kitna has been with the Bengals, what's the team's record when he starts and throws no interceptions?

A: Kitna has made 32 starts for the Bengals, and his overall record as a starting quarterback is 9-23 (6-9 in 2001, 2-10 in '02 and 1-4 in '03).

He has had nine starts in which he did not throw an interception, and the Bengals are 5-4 in those games. Kitna has 23 starts in which he has thrown at least one interception, and the Bengals are 4-19 in those games.

Kitna has thrown 44 interceptions in his career with the Bengals (starts and non-starts) and has 34 touchdown passes.

Since he started Game 5 last year, Kitna has made 17 consecutive starts, and his touchdown pass-interception ratio is 22-21.

In Kitna's defense, there are still incorrect routes being run by Bengals receivers. It's not Kinta's fault the Bengals opened the season with just two veteran wide receivers and two rookies. The loss of third-year receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh to a hamstring injury has hurt the passing game. His return for Game 6 against Baltimore on Oct. 19 will definitely help.

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E-mail mcurnutte@enquirer.com

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