standing for the Cincinnati Bengals Youth Tom Brady Jersey , and even he was limited in practice on Wednesday.The Bengals (2-0) head to Carolina (1-1) with Bernard as their only experienced back who knows their system. No. 3 back Tra Carson was waived Wednesday after suffering a hamstring injury in practice.The Bengals signed free agent running back Thomas Rawls, who was released by the Jets at the end of training camp.The running game has shown significant improvement over last year, helping the Bengals get off to their fast start. The challenge is to keep it going with only one proven option to carry the ball."I feel like people are freaking out but my goodness, it's football," Bernard said Wednesday before his limited practice. "Guys are going to go down and the next man has to step up and be prepared."Joe Mixon hurt his right knee during a 34-23 win over Baltimore on Thursday night. He had a surgical procedure over the weekend to remove a piece of torn cartilage. He walked without a limp or a brace Wednesday, saying the knee felt good. He'll be sidelined for a few games as the knee recovers."I'm not sure of the timetable and however the recovery process is going to be or whatever they are going to let me do," Mixon said.Mixon's injury opened the way for Carson to move into a bigger role behind Bernard, but he got hurt during practice on Monday.The Bengals decided they needed another healthy runner and signed Rawls, who played for Seattle from 2015-17, starting 17 games.Rawls did his best in his rookie season, carrying 147 times for 830 yards and a 5.6-yard average. His production dropped each of the next two seasons, and he was released after carrying 58 times for 157 yards in 2017.The Bengals also have rookie Mark Walton, a fourth-round pick in 2018. Walton had only 21 yards on 22 carries in the preseason."I was hesitating, second-guessing myself," Walton said. "I had a lot of cutbacks."Provided he's healthy, Bernard will get the ball a lot at Carolina, moving into a role that he's filled on occasion during his five-year career. He's been used more as a complement to BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Jeremy Hill and Mixon over the years, pressed into a featured role when the starter was injured."He may be 5-foot-8, 200 (pounds), but he's about 6-foot-4, 250 in heart White Lawrence Guy Jersey ," running backs coach Kyle Caskey said. "So he's one of those guys who's going to be more productive and explosive than you think he's going to be with his size."Bernard has carried the ball 20 or more times in three games during his career, including a 23-carry, 116-yard performance during a 26-17 win over Detroit on Dec. 24.Bernard's biggest contribution to the offense has been as a receiver. He's caught at least five passes in a game 23 times, with nine as his career high. He has two 100-yard receiving games."He does the same things I do," Mixon said. "I have complete faith in Gio and however they are going to use him. I'm not worried about any downfall in the running game and passing game. He's done it for years."PRICE IN THE BOOTRookie center Billy Price was walking with a boot on his injured right foot Wednesday. He sprained the foot when it was stepped on during the win over the Ravens. Doctors concluded on Wednesday that the injury won't need surgery.He'll wear the boot continuously for two weeks and get treatment."We'll reevaluate in two weeks and see where we're at," Price said.ALSO SIDELINEDDefensive end Michael Johnson hurt his left knee early in the game against the Ravens and was limited in practice on Wednesday. Linebacker Preston Brown missed the Ravens game with a sprained right ankle and also had a limited workout. While we’ve already established this week that the Kansas City Chiefs defense is more toothless than the Abominable Snowman in that Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer Christmas movie from back in the day...(get it? Cause Hermie the elf steals all his teeth? Get it? Get it?? No wonder half of us are terrified of the dentist)....it sure is nice to know the Patriots offensive line is flexing on everyone a little bit going into the game all of America’s talking about this weekend.(Note: ‘game all of America’s talking about’ isn’t just homer hyperbole; they had a question on the Dan Patrick Show yesterday on whether you’d rather watch Pats-Chiefs this Sunday or every other game this weekend (meaning if you watch Sunday Night Football, you can’t watch any of the other games)...guess what everybody chose)Fair is fair, since your faithful keyboard quarterback over here spent most of last season praying that Tom Brady’s recovery PJ’s were legit given the pounding he was taking, we’ve got to give them the props they deserve when they’re playing like a top-10-level brick wall in front of the GOAT.Which they are.Last week, we pointed out that Tom Brady hasn’t been sacked since that part in Week 3 where they jumped into the pool with their cell phone in their pocket, and Pro Football Focus’s offensive line grades are here to confirm that it’s not just you, this O-line might actually be good.How good? Trent, Joe, David, Shaq, and Marcus grade out well enough to be ranked 9th overall in PFF’s offensive line rankings this week. These are assessments for every team’s offensive line through the season so far, keep in mind, so New England faceplanting through weeks 2 and 3 is all in there too. Meanwhile, as I write this, and I take absolutely no pleasure in having to break the news here, Nate Solder is doing...not great things:Back to our boys up front: PFF has New England’s offensive line graded as the 9th-best unit in football right now. Shot/chaser - they’re also graded as better than the Dallas Cowboys, who http://www.authenticsnewenglandpatriots.com/cheap-adam-butler-jersey , correctly or not, are usually referred to as the manliest of the manly when it comes to O-line wrecking crews.Here’s PFF’s grades for the guys individually:Left Tackle: Trent Brown, 61.0Left Guard: Joe Thuney, 70.0Center: David Andrews, 71.8Right Guard: Shaq Mason, 72.8Right Tackle: Marcus Cannon, 61.7And here’s their notes on the guy who’s probably picking up the dinner check for everyone for a while, the newly extended Shaq Mason:Four pressures allowed by Shaq in five games. From a fourth-round pick that ran a triple-option offense in college. Drink it in, it always goes down smooth.Without knowing too much about the Ancient Aliens technology that PFF uses to grade offensive line play, it’s also encouraging that the interior of the line appears to all be on the same page and playing at a high level. Sure, there’s been mistakes, and there’s been plenty of times they’ve been beaten and Sony Michel or James White’s been stacked up for no gain, but at the same time, you get three guys like Thuney, Andrews, and Mason playing together for the third straight season now, and that’s what that whole “trust” thing is all about.Enjoy your weekend, everyone, and maybe just go ahead and call out of work on Monday now. Pats-Chiefs AND Red Sox-Astros Game 2, and...yeah, they’re both at home.Never take these runs from these teams for granted.
