DaytonDailyNews.com

CINCINNATI — Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis won't resign and isn't about to get fired despite the club's 0-5 record — its slowest start since 2002 when Dick LeBeau suffered through the worst season (2-14) in franchise history.

NFL.com reported on Monday, Oct. 6, that Bengals management has told Lewis "he is welcome to coach in Cincinnati as long as he wants."

Lewis, whose contract runs through 2010, saw his regular-season record dip below .500 at 42-43 (.494) after Sunday's 31-22 loss at Dallas. Only Paul Brown and Sam Wyche have had longer tenures (eight seasons each) as Bengals head coach.

"I am very committed to doing the right thing here," Lewis said Monday at his weekly news conference. "The commitment I made is that we'd see this thing all the way through and get us back to where we were (in 2005, the club's first postseason berth since 1990).

"We've taken some lumps this year, and that doesn't change how I approach what I do. I'm excited about our team. I actually like our team, other than being 0-5. I like our guys. I like what we're doing. We're working very, very hard.

"We're not creating enough plays. Our margin for error is very, very slim. But they come to work. We dug a bad hole (a 17-0 deficit at Dallas). I mean, we dug a huge hole. And to play on the road, a tough place to play against a good team, and we were able to dig out of it by making some things happen.

"It wasn't all pretty, but it all wasn't totally bad. We fought (back) and we had a chance to make some plays at the end of the game that mattered. I told our team we needed to win the third quarter. Well, we won the third. We won the second half. We just didn't win the fourth.

"We have to find a way to not be behind in the game, and go ahead and win the second half and win the fourth quarter. We've made some progress — not nearly enough, and I'm not satisfied with where we are that way."

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2253 or cludwig@DaytonDailyNews.com.

Next game

Who: Cincinnati Bengals (0-5) at New York Jets (2-2)

When: 1 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 12

TV: WHIO-TV (CBS, Channel 7)

Radio: WTUE-FM (104.7)