By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Former Boone County High School star Shaun Alexander will play his first NFL game in Cincinnati Sunday, and he will have a lot of support in the stadium.

More than 300 people are committed to buying package tickets for the "Shaun Alexander Homecoming Day," said Durran Alexander, Shaun's brother.

Shaun's fans will be sitting together in an end zone section at Paul Brown Stadium when the Bengals play the Seattle Seahawks. The event is a fund-raiser for the Shaun Alexander Family Foundation, which has assisted hundreds of families by paying specific bills or donating furniture. Alexander on Monday told reporters who cover the Seahawks that he was a Bengals fan as a child.

"I was in sixth grade when they went to the Super Bowl (1988)," Alexander said. "That's the time when you're really paying attention. Boomer Esiason and those guys, they were my heroes."

Alexander has rushed for 497 yards (4.4-yard average) and five touchdowns and has another 115 receiving yards on 17 receptions and one touchdown for the Seahawks, who are 5-1 and lead the NFC West.

NO SELLOUT YET: The Seattle game has yet to sell out and is believed to have sold about 50,000 tickets. Some 15,000 tickets remain. "We have to get the place filled up and loud," Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said. "Our guys had fun playing to (the home crowd in the 34-26 victory against the Ravens), and big plays came."

DAY OFF: Lewis also explained his reason for giving his players Monday off following the victory.

"You can't be complacent with one win," he said. "We're not going to be complacent Wednesday because we're going to hit them straight in the face when they get here. They all had to come in. They had to get weightlifting done and the training room taken care of. That's part of the responsibility, or we can't do this any more."

Essentially, all players missed Monday were their regular meetings with coaches.

MORE CARSON: Lewis went on to explain his decision to promote rookie quarterback Carson Palmer to No. 2 behind starter Jon Kitna on Sunday. It is part of Palmer's grooming as the team's future quarterback and another step in getting him ready to play.

TORY, TORY: Lewis praised the season-long performance of Tory James on Monday and said the veteran cornerback is "a great student of the game." James has team highs with two interceptions and nine passes broken up.