Jon Kitna says a Bengals WR was drunk in the huddle

Jon Kitna played for the Bengals from 2001-2005, so his declaration of a drunk wide receiver in the huddle demands and investigation

Former NFL quarterback Jon Kitna was on Ryen Russillo’s podcast earlier this week, and he shared some stories. Specifically, he talked about his time as the Cincinnati Bengals’ quarterback.

Via Cincinnati.com:

There were some things that were hard to believe (with the Bengals). There was a time that I played a game with a guy that was drunk in the huddle," Kitna said. "There was a time that a guy showed up late to a game. In the NFL, you need to be there two hours, two hours and 15 minutes ahead of time. And he showed up under an hour before the game's start. Those are weird things, now. That's tough. I'm not sure if the staff knew. But I think the guy was like - that was kind of his normal. I mean he was drunk and had close to 200 yards receiving now. So, it was crazy.

Kitna played for the Bengals from 2001-2005, so that’s the timeframe. 43 of his 46 starts for the Bengals came from 2001-2003, so it’s possible (and reasonable) to try to narrow to those years.

Pro Football Talk did the work to figure out who the drunk Bengals wide receiver was, using Kitna’s “close to 200 yards” threshold.

We’ve done the research and compiled a list of players that it could have been. Three had games of more than 150 receiving yards during Kitna’s time with the team. One had games of 189, 161, and 152. One had 171. Another had 152.

Kitna didn’t name names, so we won’t, either. There are so few that it could be that the ones who it isn’t should be upset that Kitna has defined the possibilities so narrowly.

Mike Florio wouldn’t name names since Kitna didn’t, which is fine. But I’m going to flesh it out and name the possible names using the 150-plus yard mark.

Darnay Scott: 9 receptions for 152 yards, Week 17, 2001
Chad Johnson: 7 receptions for 152 yards, Week 12, 2002
10 receptions for 161 yards, 2 TD, Week 13, 2004
8 receptions for 189 yards, 1 TD, Week 11, 2005
T.J. Houshmandzadeh: 10 receptions for 171 yards, 1 TD, Week 13, 2004

That’s the list Florio went with, but let’s go another layer deeper.

Among these five performances, Kitna only started (or even threw a pass) for two- Week 17, 2001 and Week 12, 2002. Carson Palmer started the other two games, one of which yielded two of the 150-plus “close to 200 yards” games.

Kitna estimate of “close to 200 yards” for a drunk Bengals’ wide receiver could cover slightly less than 150 yards of output. But it is a solid cut-off point, with Kitna saying it’s a game he played in as a greater tell.

So which of the two former Bengals wide receivers I’ve narrowed it to do YOU think it was?