The Bengals entered the season believing Ahmad Brooks could be the force they needed at middle linebacker.  Now Brooks' season is over.  Cincinnati placed him on injured reserve yesterday after he was unable to return from an injury sustained against the Browns in the season's second game. Brooks will have surgery next week.

The Bengals have described Brooks' injury as a problem with his groin. Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said yesterday that the injury extended into Brooks' abdomen.  "It's not a sports hernia," he said. "It's something different. I wish I had the exact medical term, which I don't have right now. But it's in the groin area."  Brooks said he was injured on kickoff coverage at the start of the Browns game. He tried playing defense briefly before leaving the game. He had a setback in practice a couple weeks later and hasn't come close to playing since.

"Some guys can tolerate it," Lewis said. "Some can't. You can tear it. It's very painful, and you need about six or eight weeks to recover."  The Bengals had hoped Brooks, 23, would blossom this season after spending last season as a glorified redshirt. Cincinnati took Brooks in the 2006 supplemental draft after his dismissal from Virginia's team.  Blessed physically, Brooks has been prodded to have a more professional work ethic.

"He could conceivably still be at the University of Virginia right now," Lewis said. "So this, in some ways, is a good thing for him maybe because it allows him to grow up and become the man and the player that he'll be.  "He made a lot of strides. It's unfortunate that he's just not been able to come back from this."  With Anthony Schlegel and Caleb Miller out because of back injuries, Lewis said outside linebacker Landon Johnson will move to the middle against Baltimore on Sunday.

Billick wouldn't want dual responsibilities:  With the Bengals' lack of a general manager becoming an issue in light of their dismal season, Brian Billick was asked in his conference call about a coach having dual responsibilities.  "Not only can I not imagine that, I can't imagine who would want it," Billick said.

Lewis has served as de facto general manager of the Bengals. Billick wasn't asked about Lewis specifically, but he said he was thankful the Ravens have Ozzie Newsome as the team's general manager.  "I guess there are those who can do it, and God love 'em, they're much more capable than I," Billick said. "But as I view it, the amount of time, energy, focus, the attention to detail, the follow-through that you have to have in either job to simply think, 'Yeah, I can do both,' I just can't imagine. … When you see someone who tries to do both, it's basically saying, 'I want the control.' "

Columbus Dispatch

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/bengals/stories/2007/11/08/bengals_notes1108.ART_ART_11-08-07_C4_MO8DK3L.html?sid=101