CNATI: Cincinnati OH Sports Journalism

Cincinnati Bengals

Drops still a problem

By C. Trent Rosecrans, CNATI.com Posted October 18, 2009 5:00 PM ET

In the week leading up to Sunday's 28-17 loss to the Texans, Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis was asked if his team had a problem with dropped passes. Incredulously, Lewis stated he didn't remember any dropped passes against the Ravens. When pushed, he said tight end Daniel Coats had "flashes" - not drops.

On Sunday, it looked as if the Bengals had a strobe light.

No matter what Lewis says, Coats acknowledged he had a big drop, Andre Caldwell claimed two and there was another that looked to be a drop from Laveranues Coles.

"It's totally my fault," said Coats. "I have to hold onto the ball."

Coats finished the game with four catches for 32 yards, but it's the drops from the last couple of weeks that have stuck in his mind.

"When you go on to the next play, the last pay comes back into your mind," admitted Coats, who also had a fumble in the game. "You have to push it out. You just have to."

Quarterback Carson Palmer said he couldn't let the drops bother him. He sees them, but knows there are other circumstances and that sometimes his throws aren't perfect, either.

"It's frustrating, but it's part of the game," Palmer said. "I don't think there's a quarterback that doesn't have dropped balls. You just have to continue to work on, continue to focus and keep your focus up the entire play. It's me too, I need to put the ball in an easier place - a number of time I threw the ball low. It's from top to bottom, it's everybody, not just the guy who drops the ball. Sometimes you put the ball on the wrong shoulder or lead him too much. We just need to continue to work on it."

Palmer said he hasn't lost confidence in any of his receivers.

"No one is trying to drop a ball, nobody wants to drop a ball," Palmer said. "I don't think there's a guy on our team you'd say whose hands aren't good. We have guys who have good hands, but a number of times when a ball is dropped, it's lack of concentration or maybe they're taking their eyes off the ball at the last second to look at their next move. ... It's something that can be fixed and will be fixed. There's going to be dropped balls, but there's been too many."

Of those four drops listed above - both of Caldwell's drops and Coles' drop were on third down. One of Caldwell's drops wouldn't have been good for a first down, but the other would have.

"No one is stopping us," Chad Ochocinco said.

Nobody but themselves.

Categories: Cincinnati Bengals, News

Tags: Andre Caldwell, Carson Palmer, Chad Ochocinco, Daniel Coats, Laveranues Coles, Marvin Lewis