As we creep closer and closer to the regular season, some of the Bengals' most important players -- receivers T.J. Houshmandzadeh, running back Rudi Johnson and defensive end Antwan Odom -- have yet to play in the preseason and will also most likely miss Saturday’s third preseason game, against the Saints at Paul Brown Stadium.

Those stalwarts won't be lonely on the sidelines as receivers Chad Johnson and Marcus Maxwell will join them after injuries within the last week, Maxwell's for the season, according to the team's official website.

Another receiver, the recently signed Chris Henry, probably won't play Saturday and is suspended for the first four games of the season. The oft-arrested receiver also has to avoid violating his latest zero-tolerance directive before he can play for the Bengals.

In the end, the Bengals on the field Saturday won't be the Bengals that started the season on paper.

"You have to go play with what you've got," Bengals offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski said. “We've still got people who will be playing that we are counting on. They're just going to have a chance to get more plays earlier in the game."

Jerome Simpson would be the receiver benefiting the most from the extended opportunity. Simpson led the Bengals with five catches for 114 yards in Sunday's loss to the Lions.

Quarterback Carson Palmer said the gameplan won't change Saturday just because it's Simpson, Antonio Chatman and company instead of Chad Johnson, Houshmandzadeh and Maxwell.

"We're going to come out and try to execute and run the ball effectively and set up the play-action pass and just be consistent, because that's one thing we've lacked so far this season is consistency in every drive," Palmer said. "So to come out and score on every drive is your goal, obviously, and not having three-and-out situations like we've had in the past because it just puts a lot of stress on the defense and makes their game a lot longer and a lot harder. But just come out and be consistent and not worry who's at X, who's at Z, what tailback we have in the game, which one we don't have in the game. Just execute and play."

Although both Rudi and Chad Johnson, as well as Houshmandzadeh, say they'll be ready for the season-opener in Baltimore, will their absence hurt the timing of the offense?

“That's a good question," Palmer said. "There's so many circumstances: Are T.J. and Chad going to come back at 80 percent? Are they going to come back at 90 percent? Are they going to come back at 100 percent, run full-speed routes? Are they going to be in full-contact drills? There are so many variables to it, it's a tough question to answer. And if I had to answer: I don't know.

"I want as much time as I can get with the guys I'm going to be throwing to, and now I'm limited with their two situations. All I can say and all they can say is we're going to do everything we can to get ready for that Sept. 7 opener and do whatever it takes."