The injury curse that has ravaged linebacker and safety for the Bengals might be focusing on a third position: running back.

Rudi Johnson, among the most durable Bengals and the NFL leader with 1,039 rushing attempts the previous three seasons, might not play Monday night against New England because of a hamstring injury suffered at Seattle.

There was no official injury report Tuesday, but during a news conference Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said, "the guys who were banged up in the Seattle game who we're unsure about would be Caleb Miller and Rudi Johnson."

Miller, a linebacker, has a back injury.

Because the Bengals' actions often speak louder - and more candidly - than Lewis' words, proof that Johnson could be out for Monday's game came with the post-news conference announcement that the club had signed running back DeDe Dorsey, who was with the Bengals in training camp in 2006, to a two-year contract. They waived rookie tailback Clifton Dawson to make room for Dorsey, who played in 13 games on special teams with Indianapolis last season and earned a Super Bowl ring.

Johnson has played in 64 consecutive games with the Bengals, dating to the fourth game of 2003. He has made 53 starts.

Kenny Watson came in for Johnson Sunday in Seattle and rushed for 60 yards and one touchdown on nine attempts.

"We bring the next guys up and we go," Lewis said.

The most carefully laid plans for the backfield have gone haywire.

Rookie second-round draft pick Kenny Irons tore a knee ligament in the first preseason game and was lost for the season. Fourth-year tailback Chris Perry, whose health issues necessitated Kenny Irons' selection, is on the physically unable to perform list for three more weeks because he is rehabilitating from a serious ankle injury and surgery last season.

And now it's Johnson. Watson could be the starter for at least one game, Monday when New England plays at Paul Brown Stadium.

Watson, one of the Bengals' most team-oriented players, is a staple of the special teams. If his role were to expand offensively, Watson would need to be replaced in the kicking game.

"Anytime a guy moves up, things change," Lewis said. "It gives us our ever-changing kaleidoscopic group of (special) teams players, so that would obviously have some ramifications in other areas."

Watson's four career starts at running back came with Washington in 2002, when he rushed for 534 yards on 116 carries. Watson had two 100-yard games, 110 on 23 carries at Seattle and 110 on 20 carries against Houston, for the Redskins that season as he filled in for the injured Stephen Davis.

"That's my job as a backup. That's why backups say, 'I'm only one play from being in the game,' " Watson said Tuesday.

Lewis was Washington's defensive coordinator that season. Asked Tuesday if Watson were a tailback who could carry the ball 20-25 times in a game, Lewis said, "He's done it before."

At Seattle last Sunday, Watson ran outside more effectively than Johnson, whose strength is running between the tackles.

"He's a little bit different style of runner than Rudi," Lewis said of Watson. "... Certain runs we do offensively have been set up a little differently than where Rudi's strengths are. We have a lot of confidence in Kenny, and we'll move forward."

Lewis also said the reason the Bengals ran more effectively late in the game at Seattle was that they huddled offensively and were not working out of the no-huddle setup.

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