Paul Dehner Jr.

pdehnerjr@enquirer.com

Devon Still didn't like the phone call he received Saturday from coach Marvin Lewis saying he didn't make the team's 53-man roster. But he understood, and was grateful for being offered a position on the practice squad in order to help pay for his 4-year-old daughter's cancer treatments.

There haven't been many positives for Still since news broke June 2 that his daughter, Leah, has stage 4 cancer, but he'll accept any bit of silver lining available. The Bengals' loyalty in sticking with him on the practice squad when he admittedly can't offer them his best effort meant a great deal to the former Penn State captain.

"They could have just washed their hands completely of it," Still said. "Say we don't care what's going on in his personal life, we just want people who can care 100 percent on football, that's what they pay us to do. But they thought about my personal issues and allowed me to come back on the practice squad so I still have insurance. They said if I keep working on my physical with my injury and mentally prepared myself to focus on football, then they can move me back up to the roster, so I am not all the way out of the loop."

The 2012 second-round pick can openly admit he's been in no position to impact the team to his full ability.

"I completely understand where they were coming from," Still said. "I can't give football 100 percent right now. In the business aspect they want guys to solely focus on football, which is understandable. We are here to win this city a Super Bowl and right now I am not in a position where I can give football 100 percent of everything I have."

Instead, 24-year-old defensive tackle Christo Bilukidi took the final spot in the defensive line rotation.

As a member of the practice squad Still won't travel on road trips. This instead affords him an opportunity to travel back to Philadelphia to see his daughter, who recently began her fourth round of chemotherapy.

Leah continues to handle the treatments and is doing well, according to Still, but the anxiety level hasn't decreased.

Still injured his hamstring early in the third preseason game against Arizona and been sidelined ever since. This adds onto a career marred by ailments to this point. He injured his elbow and suffered a herniated disc in his back last season.

In two full seasons with the Bengals, Still has played in 18 games without a start, notching 28 tackles and half a sack.

Lewis suggested Monday the decisions to place both Still and center Trevor Robinson into the two spots now reserved for players with more than a year experience on the practice squad were being debated until the final days.

Expectations are both will play a role with the 2014 Bengals.

"We have two good quality guys who at some point will be on the 53-man roster, almost undoubtedly," Lewis said. "We're fortunate enough to have them here right now as reserves for us."

Still will focus on healing his hamstring and allowing his personal life to sort itself out in the meantime so eventually he can repay the Bengals for keeping him around.

"The Bengals were loyal to me," he said. "I'm not about to up and leave them. Loyalty is something I really need right now because I never know what direction this is going to go with my daughter."