Sports Today: Same old Marvin Lewis quells Bengals draft excitement

Marvin Lewis spoke Tuesday in Cincinnati about the NFL draft.

That’s it.

That’s the update.

Well, maybe that's not all.

While the final draft decision is his, the coach explained how the new assistants on his staff have their say and that could affect how they put together their board.

He also assured everyone in the room that he did not negotiate for any more say in personnel decisions or anything else during that weird few days between the end of the 2017 season and the announcement he signed a new two-year contract to remain the coach of the Bengals.

"I didn't talk about anything in any contract negotiations. We knew we had to make changes. We've made changes. We've added new players. Those are the things that were important. Everybody (here) was on board and in line with the same things."

That nothing of the sort would be discussed during contract negotiations seems far fetched, but he was pretty adamant — and unusually animated — about this point.

RELATED: Marvin Lewis signs 2-year contract extension

The saying goes coaches and managers often get fired because that’s a quicker fix than turning over the whole roster.

Owner Mike Brown apparently does not follow this logic.

Plenty of players will be back from last season, of course, but there have been some significant changes to the staff, including a new defensive coordinator, new offensive line coach, new quarterbacks coach and essentially a new offensive coordinator.

The team is pushing it hard as an overhaul motivated by a desire to win now.

They may truly see it that way, but with the same coach, quarterback and of course same ownership in place that have never won in the postseason, it is hard to follow that logic all the way through.

Maybe I’ll get there by the end of the summer, but I’m not there yet.

›› Jay Morrison’s full 7-round mock draft for the Bengals

Hiring new assistants was probably a good idea.

Bringing in new players certainly was.

The draft is always fun because of the new possibilities it opens up.

Having the same guy to put the spin on it at the end of the day — especially with Lewis being a guy who seems to hate actually doing that — makes it hard to escape the notion we’re all headed to the same place (home by the middle of January, if not before) when all is said and done…

The team that plays just down the road did finally make a move with its manager, and the Reds’ results have been mixed so far. 

They are 2-3 under Jim Riggleman — yeah, yeah, but that’s a lot better than 3-15 — and he has had some adventures the last two nights.

The offensive explosion Monday night made Riggleman look like a genius for tinkering with the lineup.

Last night he appeared to be stung by waiting too long to replace Amir Garrett with Raisel Iglesias and the recurrence of the defensive problems than have plagued the team all season.

But Scooter Gennett, whose error allowed the game-tying run to score in the ninth inning, went from goat to hero when he clubbed a walk-off two-run homer in the 12th inning, giving a team that hasn’t had much to feel good about this season a much-needed chance to celebrate at home plate with a 9-7 win.

Since I’m pretty sure the point in changing managers was more to perk up the clubhouse than anything else, that resilience has to be considered a good sign.

Getting another good start — this one from Tyler Mahle — and finally hitting some home runs certainly helps, too…

More good news: Eugenio Suarez started at third base for the Louisville Bats on Tuesday night and went 1 for 2 with a double. He also walked twice.

Nick Senzel started at second base and went 0 for 3 with a walk. He also reached base via a hit-by-pitch and is batting .246 on the season.

Catcher Stuart Turner went 0 for 2 with a walk but made the SportsCenter Top 10…

Ohio State basketball got a big boost Tuesday with the announcement Keyshawn Woods will join the team as a graduate transfer.

Coach Chris Holtmann needed another experienced ball-handler to play with senior C.J. Jackson as youngsters Luther Muhammad, Duane Washington and Justin Ahrens of Versailles work their way into the rotation, and Woods is just that.

A double-digit scorer at Wake Forest, Woods can play point guard or off the ball, versatility that should give Holtmann needed options in shaping a lineup next season…

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