By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Texans quarterback David Carr was upgraded to probable and is likely to start Sunday against the Bengals.

Carr suffered a high ankle sprain Oct. 26 at Indianapolis and was inactive for last Sunday's upset of Carolina. Tony Banks started.

Carr has completed 59.8 percent of his passes for 1,483 yards, six touchdowns and eight interceptions.

Houston also downgraded starting cornerback Marcus Coleman (neck) to questionable.

The only change Thursday on the Bengals' injury report was the addition of strong safety Rogers Beckett (abdomen), who is probable.

FAMILIAR FACE: Former Bengals linebacker Steve Foley, released Aug. 31, will return to Cincinnati as a member of the Houston Texans.

Signed Sept. 2 by the Texans, Foley played in two games as a linebacker and on special teams.

But, he has played the last five games only on special teams with no tackles.

HE'S CONSISTENT: Rookie quarterback Carson Palmer has again expressed his support for starter Jon Kitna and said calls for him to start come from uninformed sources.

"I'm not worried what people outside this team think, because they really don't know what's going on," Palmer said.

Said coach Marvin Lewis: "We're going to be in the (division) race no matter what. We're going to play to win football games. That's our key. That's the only way it's fair to the other guys on that football team.

"So when he can do it and he's the best option, he'll be our quarterback."

EXPANSION BULLY: The Bengals are 6-0 against first-year expansion teams, including their victory last season at Houston. During the 12 previous seasons, in which the Bengals didn't make the playoffs, they won five of their 55 games against first year expansion teams (9.1 percent).

E-mail mcurnutte@enquirer.com

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