By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Scott Rehberg has played mostly on special teams this season. (Gary Landers photo)

Through seven NFL seasons, offensive lineman Scott Rehberg has played in 76 games and made 26 starts.

A week ago, before entering the Bengals' game Sunday in place of injured left tackle Levi Jones in Baltimore, Rehberg toiled in the anonymous universe that most NFL offensive linemen inhabit. He played in all 13 games this year, almost exclusively on special teams.

Do your job, nobody notices. Screw up, and the glare of media and fan criticism doesn't blink.

"You live with the fact you're living vicariously through the success of your (skill-position) teammates," said Bengals radio color man Dave Lapham, a former Bengals guard. "But when it doesn't go well, unless you're a dominant player, the only time you're singled out is when you're beaten or are creating a penalty problem."

Rehberg was beaten for two of the six sacks the Ravens had of Jon Kitna, and both resulted in lost fumbles in the 31-13 loss.

Anonymity lost.

Rehberg has been a hot topic on Cincinnati talk radio all week. He's in the newspapers for the first time this season. And Sports Illustrated's Paul "Dr. Z" Zimmerman used Rehberg as the poster child to compare the old Bengals with the new.

Writing in his weekly NFL power rankings - and dropping the Bengals from No. 11 to 14 - Dr. Z made this observation: "What a fragile game it is. They're holding their own against the Ravens. Then LT Levi Jones goes out with a sprained knee and Scott Rehberg, who represents a throwback to the days when Cincinnati wasn't, ahem, very good, comes in, and from the Ravens sideline you hear the bugle sounding the cavalry charge and it was all over."

Rehberg, 30, views the negative attention as part of the job.

"Maybe if I were a young guy and hadn't been in the public eye before, I'd be upset," he said when told about Dr. Z's reference.

Rehberg patiently answered questions - many repetitious - from reporters at his locker in Baltimore's M&T Bank Stadium.

"I didn't want to, but you learn from your past mistakes," he said. "I take full responsibility for how I played. You have to accept it and get back on the horse."

Rehberg will get a shot at redemption Sunday when he starts at left tackle against San Francisco at Paul Brown Stadium. He'll be matched against 49ers right end Andre Carter, who is tied for the team lead with 5.5 sacks.

Not too long ago, Rehberg handled the media focus differently.

On Sunday, Nov. 28, 1999, Rehberg woke up at 2 a.m. in his Cleveland-area home with the flu. He had vomited throughout the night. That morning he went to Cleveland Browns Stadium and took three or four IV bags to try to get his strength back. At 6-feet-8, 325 pounds, he felt like a 90-pound weakling. Deactivated, he went home and slept for 22 hours.

Rehberg, who started 10 games for the Browns, nonetheless had his toughness questioned by Lomas Brown and Orlando Brown.

"I was real standoffish with the media," Rehberg said of attitude in 1999. "I should have just cleared the air and went about my way. It got dragged out. It became a big story."

Fast forward to last Sunday. After the Bengals' charter plane from Baltimore landed, Rehberg drove home to spend time with wife Tyna and son Matthew, 3. He didn't duck the media as a consumer, either.

"After the game, it's not like I didn't watch anything," he said. "... I like to stay informed as far as news in the NFL. I watch ESPN a lot. I go to the Internet. This is my craft."

Rehberg will have had three practices with the starting offense this week before Sunday.

"I'd like to have a strong game," he said, "and help this team win."

E-mail mcurnutte@enquirer.com