Lewis vows he'll keep tighter rein on Bengals

CINCINNATI — Cincinnati Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis heard his players' plea for change. His answer is to crack the whip with more discipline.

Lewis said Tuesday he won't just hit players in the wallet with monetary fines for their future misbehavior. He'll bench them.

He believes the tighter reins will help clean up the mistakes on Sundays in the fall.

"We've tried to allow guys to grow — both mature as men and mature as players," Lewis said. "But the thing we continue to find is they've got to be constantly coached, policed and corrected. So that at times of adversity, we can do the right things. I think that's important as a team.

"They long for that from me to be the hard (guy) all the time in certain areas. So we'll make sure I give them what they want."

Lewis admitted to becoming more lenient in 2006, and it backfired with an 8-8 record and a three-game, season-ending losing streak that denied the Bengals a playoff bid. Sunday's 23-17 overtime loss to Pittsburgh was the club's latest sin against football.

"The word of the day, on Sunday with our players, was change. And that's very true," Lewis said. "There's some things that in the first year (2003) or so I wouldn't tolerate, and I've become a little bit more tolerable of. And I think there's an outcry from our guys to go back that way. I hear it and see it, so that's my challenge — to go back to that."

Lewis said he's discovered that "the money thing doesn't deter it. The only thing we're going to deter it with is playing time. And that's a drastic step because that affects everybody in this building. That's got to be the way it goes. It's going to be unfortunate, but hopefully it saves everybody in the long run."

Chick Ludwig writes for the Dayton Daily News.