Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Dalton returns
Wearing his bright orange No. 14 jersey, Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton carefully threw spirals on a sunny, 40-degree afternoon Thursday, getting back to football after one nasty day of recovering from the flu.
CINCINNATI — Wearing his bright orange No. 14 jersey, Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton carefully threw spirals on a sunny, 40-degree afternoon Thursday, getting back into football after one nasty day of recovering from the flu.
He had a little catching up to do.
Dalton came down with the flu on Wednesday morning, forcing him to miss an important practice for a playoff game in Houston only three days away. He went to a hospital for treatment to help him recover quickly, and was back at Paul Brown Stadium on Thursday morning. He still looked a little ragged. “I saw him this morning,” cornerback Leon Hall said. “I gave him a hard time about how he looked. He didn’t look himself, to say the least.”
Dalton said he was able to eat a little before his limited practice on Thursday. The weather was much better than earlier in the week, when there were wind chills in the teens. The Bengals don’t have a covered practice field.
“It was a tough day yesterday, but I feel a lot better than I did,” he said.
Dalton watched tape of the practice that he missed to get up to speed on the game plan. He took it easy while warming up during the first half-hour of practice that was open to the media.
“I can’t try to do too much,” Dalton said. “I’ve watched the film and I know what’s going on. Obviously I would have liked to have practiced yesterday, but it didn’t happen.”
Coach Marvin Lewis declined to say how much the rookie was able to do in practice. He thought Dalton was up to date on the offensive plan.
“He’s fine,” Lewis said. “He’ll go through the video. He’s already been through it (from Wednesday). It’s not a big deal.”
The Bengals are trying to get their first playoff victory since the 1990 season, when they beat the Houston Oilers. They’ve made the playoffs only three times in the past 21 years, losing their opening games in 2005 and 2009.