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Bengals receiver Chris Henry was deactivated yesterday as punishment for accompanying Odell Thurman when the linebacker was arrested for driving while intoxicated early last Monday morning. Henry was not charged, but Thurman told the attending police officer that his passengers, Henry and rookie Reggie McNeal, were in worse shape than he was. Thurman’s blood-alcohol level was measured at .18, more than twice the legal limit. Henry has been arrested four times since December. As a condition of bail in one of the incidents, the judge ordered him to abstain from alcohol. Henry has 11 catches for 177 yards, including two touchdown catches in Pittsburgh the previous game. Kelley Washington and Antonio Chatman shared third-receiver responsibilities in Henry’s absence. Washington had three catches for 28 yards. Chatman, playing in his first game since suffering a groin injury early in training camp, was held without a catch. "It’s tough," Palmer said of Henry’s deactivation. "I think he’s one of our best receivers. Losing him hurts." Key penalty
The Bengals trailed only 14-13 late in the fourth quarter when safety Kevin Kaesviharn drilled Patriots receiver Reche Caldwell on a deep pass. Kaesviharn dislodged the ball, only to be penalized for unnecessary roughness. "The ref said my shoulder hit his head," Kaesviharn said. "But he was ducking his head, so it’s not like I can control what he does." On the next play, Laurence Maroney broke a 25-yard touchdown run and New England rolled to a 38-13 win. Conservative coaching
Lewis defended his decision to punt instead of going for the first down on fourth-and-2 from the Patriots 38-yard line late in the third quarter. The Bengals trailed by eight at the time. When Lewis decided to take a delay-ofgame penalty for punting purposes, receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh threw up his hands in disgust. Washington made a nice play to down the ball at the 6, but New England drove for a field goal and Cincinnati never again got the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead. "We had 18-something minutes (left) in the game," Lewis said. "Yeah, it’s the way to do it. You’ve got to play defense. If we’re not going to stop them there, we’re not going to stop them at any point." Earlier, Lewis opted for an extra-point kick to cut New England’s lead to 14-13 instead of a two-point conversion attempt that would have tied the score. Later, leading by 11, New England coach Bill Belichick went for it on fourth down inches from the goal line, and it paid off when Corey Dillon scored. Bengals bits
Chad Johnson, who had only one catch for 11 yards in Pittsburgh, caught passes on Cincinnati’s first two offensive plays. He finished with six catches for 64 yards, but none was for longer than 16 yards as New England’s scheme was based on preventing deep completions. … Linebacker Caleb Miller started in place of injured Rashad Jeanty and was credited with seven solo and six assisted tackles. Columbus Dispatch
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