This and that

• Now it sounds like the Bengals might not have to deal with Willie Parker, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

• C. Trent has a strong Carson Palmer update on his blog.

• Post-gazette.com also has a piece about how Chad thinks his production is down this year because of the way he mouthed off during the offseason. He figures he's being punished. Wow. Really? I can't imagine it has anything to do with his bum shoulder, or the fact that he refuses to block ANYONE (maybe because of the shoulder, I realize), or the fact that he's known to run the wrong routes. I find this just as laughable as some of the ridiculous comments he made during the summer.

• By the way, we might finally see Jerome Simpson and Andre Caldwell this Sunday. Here's the quote from Marvin ...

Lewis said he wants to get "the young guys a little bit more involved - at least get 'em to suit up. It's a good opportunity for them. I think they've been up to the task. They've had good practice weeks thus far, and I know they're excited."

I figure, if these guys are on the sideline Sunday IN UNIFORM, the Bengals have got to have a better chance of beating Pittsburgh, right?

• The Enquirer's Mark Curnutte points out that Roethlisberger is 10-0 in NFL games in the state of Ohio.

• Injury update: T.J. stretched out before practice and then disappeared. Sounds like Shayne Graham is starting to feel better and may play Sunday.

• SI.com's Don Banks writes about a survivability factor for Marvin Lewis and Detroit's Rod Marinelli that makes both of their seats a little cooler than that of the 49ers' Mike Nolan.

• Are you following the Troy Aikman-Boomer Esiason war? You should. This Yahoo! story contains all of the links you should need.

• And news about another former Bengals signal-caller, as Jon Kitna is saying the Lions used his back injury as an excuse to replace him.

• Among his news and notes from around the major leagues, SI's Jon Heyman says it's time for Junior to retire. You'll recall Junior just had knee surgery.

• MLB.com has a strong package about the minor leagues and future Reds, including Lisa Winston's feature about how the organization's farm system is ripe with quality middle infielders, among others.

• Charlie Coles' resilience is something to marvel at.

• TwinCities.com points out that Tubby Smith and his staff are doing quite an impressive job with their recruiting at Minnesota. (Cruise past the first couple of items to get to it.)

• And another former UK-related item: The Celtics will pick up Rondo's option.

• SI.com's 2008 Midseason All-American team includes MU senior punter Jacob Richardson and, on the second team, UC senior punter Kevin Huber, as well as James Laurinaitis and Malcolm Jenkins.

• Jason Whitlock's 10 Truths column wins for non-local link of the day (only because he doesn't specifically mention the Bengals) ... although he does say, "Pittsburgh can't protect Ben Roethlisberger," which would help the Bengals this Sunday if they had a decent pass rush.