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NFL Preseason Preview - Detroit (1-0) At Cincinnati (1-0)

POSTED: 2:26 pm PDT August 13, 2008

(Sports Network) - Chad Johnson will make his 2008 Paul Brown Stadium debut on Sunday night, when the flamboyant Cincinnati Bengals wideout and his team play host to the Detroit Lions in the second August tune-up for both teams.

Johnson made headlines and rankled Bengals faithful by demanding a trade this past offseason, when local sentiment shifted against him in a major way. The Pro Bowl receiver has since rescinded the trade demand and made attempts to repair his relationship with the organization and its fan base, though it remains to be seen how he'll be greeted upon taking the field on Sunday.

Johnson, who also underwent minor ankle surgery prior to training camp, was in uniform and caught one pass for 10 yards in the Bengals' 20-17 victory at Green Bay this past Monday.

Cincinnati quarterback Carson Palmer completed 5-of-9 passes for 33 yards in the win, including a 14-yard touchdown pass to Ben Utecht in the second quarter. Palmer should again play into the second quarter before yielding to backups on Sunday.

On the injury front for the Bengals, running back Rudi Johnson should make his first appearance of the season after sitting out the Packers game due to a hamstring injury.

Oft-injured former first-round pick Chris Perry took Johnson's place last week and performed well, carrying 11 times for 42 yards and a touchdown and also catching two passes out of the backfield.

T.J. Houshmandzadeh (hamstring) is among the notable Cincinnati players unlikely to appear versus Detroit.

Like the Bengals, the Lions will be trying to build off a victory in the first week of the preseason. Detroit was a 13-10 home winner over the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants last Thursday.

In his first game operating new coordinator Jim Colletto's offense, Lions quarterback Jon Kitna completed 6-of-7 passes for 106 yards, including a 20- yard touchdown pass to wideout Roy Williams.

Detroit backups Dan Orlovsky (8-of-11, 81 yards) and Drew Stanton (5-of-6, 27 yards) also had solid outings.

At running back, where the team is searching for a starter, rookie Kevin Smith (8 carries, 22 yards) and veterans Aveion Cason (5 carries, 18 yards), Artose Pinner (5 carries, 14 yards), Tatum Bell (7 carries, 8 yards) and Brian Calhoun (2 carries, 3 yards) all had their struggles against New York.

Lions wideout Shaun McDonald (knee), tight end Dan Campbell (triceps), and safety Daniel Bullocks (knee) all missed the Giants game but were activated from the physically-unable-to-perform (PUP) list earlier this week. It is unlikely that any of the three will participate against the Bengals, however.

The Bengals have a 18-16 lead in their all-time preseason series with the Lions, but were 27-26 road losers in the last such matchup, prior to last season.

Detroit Lions


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