Story by:Geoff Hobson, Editor - Bengals.com

In the wake of Bengals rookie left guard-tackle Tanner Hawkinson shelved indefinitely with an ankle sprain, the Bengals reached back into the 2010 draft on Saturday and re-signed guard Otis Hudson.

Hawkinson, who left Thursday's game with an ankle sprain, surfaced in the locker room Saturday wearing a boot. Lewis ruled him out of Saturday's 7 p.m. game at PBS against Tennesse but said the ankle has improved.

Hudson has spent seven weeks on the active roster since they took him out of Eastern Illinois and has yet to play in a game after he served last season on the practice squad for the third year.

They didn't pursue him in the offseason and he thought about giving up the game, but he didn't and the phone rang Friday. It wasn't for an interior designer.

"I was in the process of trying to be an interior designer. I just decided to put that on the back burner now and focus on football," Hudson said. "I'm not ready to do that at all. I thought I was, but I'm not.

"I was just trying to find myself in the whole process. To see if football was really for me," Hudson said. "I think I'm going to play for a while and worry about after football when that time comes."

The 6-5, 330-pound Hudson, 27, had such a good start to training camp in 2011 that the Bengals thought he was practicing at a starting guard caliber. But when he injured his knee early in camp, he never re-captured the form.

He made the club out of camp in 2011 when Bobbie Williams began the season on the suspended list, but Hudson returned to the practice squad when Williams returned. When Williams suffered a season-ending ankle injury, Hudson was signed to the roster for the last three games and Wild Card Game, but was inactive.

"I was at a big crossroads. I had my ups and downs here. It was very frustrating at times," Hudson said. "Now it comes a day at a time. Enjoy the moment. And see what happens. When I hurt my knee, it took a lot out of me because I set out in 2011 to really prove I could play in the NFL. And when I hurt my knee, I thought I was done. I just have to find that '11 (form) again."

Cincinnati returns to action on August 17 against Tennessee in preseason action.