CINCINNATI -- The Cincinnati Bengals have taken an unusual approach to fixing the problems on their offensive line this season.

First-year right tackle Cedric Ogbuehi will go in for two series and come out. On the next offensive series, he stands right next to offensive line coach Paul Alexander and watches while 11-year veteran Eric Winston goes in his place.

That system repeats throughout the game.

"We watch every play together and we talk about it, we talk about what's going on and what he sees and it's good," Alexander said.

Added Ogbuehi: "He just tells me the play and tells me to kind of visualize it out there and just watch mentally."

That was the rotation the team tried out against the Browns last week and, according to Alexander, it'll continue until he's satisfied with how Ogbuehi has progressed.

"He just tells me the play and tells me to kind of visualize it out there and just watch mentally," Ogbuehi said.

"I’ll know when we think we need to do something different," Alexander said. "I’m not going to worry about that until that happens. I don’t care if it goes on indefinitely. I don’t care if it goes on one week. I really don’t care. I just think it’s the right thing for our team right now and that’s why we’re doing it."

It's been an adjustment for the team to go from Andre Smith, who started for six seasons, to Ogbuehi, who is only in his second season and his first as a starter. He's struggled this season to take the reins permanently and was benched against the Patriots two weeks ago.

But Ogbuehi shouldn't take all the blame, as the offensive line hasn't played well as a unit this season. Quarterback Andy Dalton has been sacked 22 times--two more sacks than he had all of last season.

So if Ogbuehi is the weak link at the moment, why not just sit him completely?

Clearly, the team believes in his potential after investing a first-round pick in him last year. If they need to pull out some unusual teaching tricks to pull him through a rough patch, they obviously prefer that to sitting him and delaying his progression as their right tackle of the future.

They also understand that Ogbuehi's progress was delayed by injuries this preseason that didn't allow him to build the necessary foundation with the rest of the offensive line.

"Really last year I didn’t practice the whole year basically; this year I missed the last three games of the preseason, so missing those practices really hurt. It’s not an excuse," Ogbuehi said. "I still have to speed up the progression because we’re trying to obviously win a Super Bowl.”

This is definitely not a method seen every day at that particular position. Offensive lines thrive on consistency and repetition. It only works if all five men are functioning together as a unit.

It's also not the easiest thing for a player.

"Yeah, it's real hard," Winston said. "I've always been kind of a rhythm guy so it is definitely hard to get into a little bit of a rhythm, but that's what they want to do, and I'm definitely not going to turn down any chances to play."

But considering Alexander has coached the Bengals' offensive line for 23 straight seasons, he's probably learned some tricks along the way.

"Those guys know what they're doing," Winston said. "Paul's been around a long time, so I'm sure he has even a more in-depth purpose for that."

The theory behind this method is to give Ogbuehi a chance to watch how the veterans (Winston on the right side, 11-year veteran Andrew Whitworh on the left) react in real-time. It also provides a contrast between Winston and Ogbuehi that can help when the team reviews the game film.

Ogbuehi would obviously like to be playing every snap, but if this method helps him get there, he'll do it as long as it takes.

"I'm getting there," he said. "This past game I took a big step and I'm going to just keep going from there."

Added Alexander: "I see him getting better every week. It's a progression. He learns one thing and then he learns another thing and then he learns another thing and then he learns another thing and he's moving along."