Gone and nearly forgotten, Bengals cornerback Pacman Jones returned to the active roster of the Bengals last week after nearly a year away from the field due to a neck injury suffered in 2010. After a 63-yard punt return and a pulled hamstring in Seattle, Pacman has become extremely relevant as he prepares to return to Nashville for a game against the Titans, who made him the sixth overall pick in the 2005 draft.
On Wednesday, Bengals coach Marvin Lewis had a conference call with the Tennessee media. Reflecting on Pacman’s problems in the NFL, which culminated in a one-year suspension after two seasons in the league, Jones took a shot at West Virginia University and former coach Rich Rodriguez.
“It’s unfortunate a guy could go into college and spent three years on a college campus and not learn some of the things really they should learn,” Lewis said. “But hopefully he has learned those lessons now.”
Um, really? Look, I know I’ve got a Mountaineer bias. Still, I’ll acknowledge that, under Rodriguez, the bar when it comes to problem children was pretty low.
Just like it has been in Cincinnati for the entire time Marvin Lewis has been the coach.
Marvin’s comment is easily adaptable to other circumstances. After all, Pacman spent two years with an NFL franchise in Tennessee, and he didn’t “learn some of the things really they should learn.” And Lewis (actually, Mike Brown) has welcomed with open arms plenty of guys with criminal tendencies to Cincinnati, where plenty of them didn’t “learn some of the things really they should learn” from Lewis or whoever else they should “learn some of the things really they should learn.”
Coach Lewis undoubtedly is trying to prop up Pacman, especially at a time when Jones has said he doesn’t think the Titans stood behind him. But before throwing stones toward Morgantown, Marvin would be wise to climb down from the porch of that glass house in the Queen City.