Maybe the Bengals cornerbacks should move their meeting space to the training room. It would save time and energy.

Seven practices into training camp, only one cornerback -- undrafted rookie Christopher Lewis-Harris -- participated in every session.

Leon Hall, coming off an Achilles injury, had his workload scaled back as he returns. Nate Clements eased into his return from a groin/abdominal injury. Adam Jones is still missing practice with a strained calf. Terence Newman missed a session with an illness. First-round pick Dre Kirkpatrick is yet to leave the sidelines with a knee injury. Jason Allen missed the last two practices with an undisclosed ailment. And the list goes on.

What appeared to be the deepest unit in camp suddenly transformed into the thinnest. A total of five corners didn't participate in Saturday's scrimmage with reserve bodies being signed off the street to fill the reps and not gas those who are healthy. WR Taveon Rogers moved to corner from wide receiver to soak up snaps.

Defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer won't be found fretting on the ledge just yet.

“I’m not really that concerned, because I think we’ve got some and we’re going to get them back,” Zimmer said. “I think [Dre] Kirkpatrick will get back. He’s going to be behind, obviously. Newman’s done a good job. And we’re being careful with some of the guys. We’ve got Clements back. Obviously Leon is doing a nice job, and Jason Allen will be back shortly. I think we have a good group. I feel good about the group. I think they’ll compete and they’ll try to do what we ask them to do. And I think they’ll all tackle.”

The road to recovery appears relatively clear for all except emerging CB Brandon Ghee. The 2010 third-round pick was finally healthy and making an obvious impact the first week of camp. He'd been as consistent a playmaker as the Bengals placed on the field and owned a good shot to supplant one of the veterans for a roster spot.

Thursday he left practice nursing his wrist, and Marvin Lewis offered little besides vague diagnosis of the problem. Reading through the tea leaves, however, it appears Ghee could be lost for weeks if not months. Lewis stated he “had his wrist set” Friday and is now “on the mend.”

Lewis, however, couldn't offer an answer when asked if he expects to see Ghee back at some point this season. For a broken wrist, if that's what it is, the standard recovery time is at least two months.

This brings to mind a number of interesting options for how the Bengals could hold on to Ghee while not sacrificing a veteran like Allen or Jones on cutdown day, assuming he would be missing some if not all of the first half of the season.

  • Cincinnati could hold on to Ghee and suck up the roster spot waiting for him to be healthy. That would likely leave a quality veteran corner waived and gone for good.
  • The Bengals could place him on IR and hope he stays healthy next season. He would then be assured to stay a member of the organization.
  • Ghee could be held on the 53-man roster and placed under the new IR rule where one player can be placed on IR but brought back off later in the season. That player must be on the roster in Week 1, but the Bengals could sacrifice a fringe player they plan to keep because he could slip through the waiver wire then be re-signed.
  • The Bengals could cut Ghee with an injury settlement, hope nobody snags him up and place him on the practice squad where he still owns eligibility.

The decision will be worth watching and will significantly affect the back end of the roster cutdown day.

Follow Paul Dehner Jr. for real-time Bengals updates on Twitter: @CBSSportsNFLCIN.