By Mark Curnutte
Enquirer staff writer

The Bengals returned to Cincinnati on Thursday and made immediate use of the new FieldTurf playing surface at Paul Brown Stadium.

The natural grass practice fields adjacent to the stadium were wet from off-and-on rain. So coach Marvin Lewis moved the afternoon practice inside the stadium because footing is believed to be better on the artificial grass.

There was another benefit. The team's opponent Saturday night in the third preseason game, Atlanta, plays its home games on FieldTurf in the Georgia Dome.

Lewis put the team through a scheduled 90-minute practice that ran long - past two hours.

The Bengals practiced for the final time Wednesday at training camp in Georgetown, Ky., and apparently suffered another injury to an offensive lineman.

Word around the locker room was that backup center Thatcher Szalay broke his wrist. Szalay didn't practice Thursday and was wearing a cast. Scott Kooistra (knee) and Alex Sulfsted (wrist) are other offensive linemen with injuries. Sulfsted had a heavy bandage on his left wrist before practice.

"Right now, we're pretty solid - but we have some injuries to get through," center Rich Braham said. "Time will tell how good we can be. The first half of the season, we have some challenges early. That's going to be the time we have to execute."

Braham, entering his 11th season, made each practice at Georgetown but said he has made no plans looking beyond this season. "I've got a lot of games in front of me," he said. "Week to week."

Left guard Eric Steinbach, who had elbow surgery July 28, will make his first appearance of the preseason against the Falcons. Backup Larry Moore had started both of the preseason games at left guard.

E-mail mcurnutte@enquirer.com

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