By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The Bengals on Thursday signed rookie wide receiver Kevin Walter to a three-year contract and waived rookie wide receiver Lawrence Hamilton.

Walter had been on the Bengals practice squad since Sept. 1. He was acquired off waivers Aug. 26 from the Giants, who had drafted him in the seventh round.

He is 6-feet-3, 218 pounds.

Hamilton had played in all five Bengals games as the fourth receiver but had no receptions. The Bengals obtained him off waivers from the Cardinals on Aug. 6.

Walter holds the Eastern Michigan record for career receptions (211) and touchdown catches (20).

BLACKED-OUT: Sunday's game against Baltimore did not sell out by 1 p.m. Thursday and will not be shown on local television.

The Bengals sold out the first two home games in September against Denver and Pittsburgh.

The Baltimore game will be the Bengals' 27th in Paul Brown Stadium in three-plus seasons.

Ten have sold out.

INJURY UPDATE: Linebacker Riall Johnson (calf) was upgraded to probable. Tailback Corey Dillon (groin) and wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh (hamstring) remained questionable.

Dillon practiced for the third consecutive time and participated more in drills. Coach Marvin Lewis said Dillon's status would be decided Sunday morning.

Houshmandzadeh, however, did not dress for practice.

The Ravens had some good news on the injury front. Starting guard Edwin Mulitalo (ankle) and backup Casey Rabach (hip) - the top reserve at center and both guard positions - were upgraded to probable.

FEELING BETTER: For the first time in a month, tight end Matt Schobel was not listed on the injury report. He had been dealing with a hamstring injury.

"I always have confidence I can get open and make plays down the field, but I'm trying to really make a conscious effort to improve my blocking," said Schobel, who has six receptions for 118 yards (a 19.7-yard average). "Then we could be less predictable, instead of just coming out on third-and-8 or worse."

STAT OF THE DAY: Ravens tailback Jamal Lewis has 797 yards from scrimmage. The Ravens as a team have 1,484 scrimmage yards.

Lewis has accounted for 53.7 percent of their total offense.

E-mail mcurnutte@enquirer.com

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