Coley Harvey, ESPN Staff Writer 10y

Bengals sign nine to practice squad

CINCINNATI -- With their initial 53-man roster set Saturday, the Cincinnati Bengals turned their focus Sunday to the practice squad.

In all, nine players were added. Per NFL rules, all teams are allowed 10 practice-squad players.

Eight of the nine spent training camp and the rest of the preseason with the team. The other player, tight end Kevin Greene, comes to the Bengals after having spent the preseason with the 49ers.

Greene had one catch in the preseason for 48 yards. The Southern Cal product went undrafted in May after playing on both offense and defense in college. He spent time at tight end on offense, and was a defensive end and outside linebacker on defense. Last year with the Trojans, he registered 11 tackles, two sacks and forced two fumbles and recovered another.

In addition to Greene, the Bengals brought back offensive tackle Dan France, center Trevor Robinson, receiver Colin Lockett, cornerback Onterio McCalebb, defensive end Sam Montgomery, running back James Wilder Jr. and defensive tackles Devon Still and David King. Each of those eight was waived Saturday when the team had to trim its roster to the 53-man limit.

It's worth noting that Lockett beat out Cobi Hamilton, the 6-foot-2 former practice-squad player who had bouts of inconsistency during the preseason. While he had nice catches like his 50-yard touchdown catch against the Colts in last Thursday's preseason finale, he also had his share of drops. In the Week 2 preseason game he caught just two passes while being targeted 13 times.

Another position battle that was decided after Saturday's cuts was at defensive end, where Montgomery edged out Dontay Moch, a former Bengal who was in his second tour with the team. In another position battle, McCalebb outlasted Victor Hampton, an undrafted free agent who entered the draft as an underclassman.

Wilder, another player who went undrafted as an underclassman, remained with the club in the role that had long been expected for him. Against the Colts last week he rushed 11 times for 49 yards and a touchdown.

While the Bengals shored up several key areas, one spot they didn't address Sunday was the quarterback position. Backup Tyler Wilson was cut Friday and still could be added to the practice squad this week. If he doesn't get added, the Bengals will go to the waiver wire to select another quarterback who has been cut. For now, they only have two quarterbacks on their active roster -- starter Andy Dalton and Jason Campbell. Rookie AJ McCarron was placed Saturday on the non-football injury list, and isn't available to practice until after Week 6.

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