CINCINNATI -- Two days after his early-season suspension ended, cornerback Chris Lewis-Harris was retained by the Cincinnati Bengals on Wednesday and was added to the 53-man roster.

The Bengals have now hit that limit once again, after spending all of this week and part of the last one player shy of the in-season maximum. Until Wednesday, they had 52 players.

Lewis-Harris had been in a sort of limbo since Monday, after the team had been granted a two-day exemption in order to figure out what exactly it wanted to do with him. The Bengals had until 4 p.m. Wednesday to inform the league whether they wanted to release him or add him back to the 53-man roster. He was granted full reinstatement to all team activities Monday, so he didn't lose any of those privileges when he first returned.

Lewis-Harris had been suspended the first two games of the season after violating the league's substance-abuse policy.

The third-year player spent the preseason with the Bengals after appearing in regular-season games the last two years. He has five career tackles in eight games.