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llowing up on a previous item. ... In two moves that were widely expected before tonight's game in Miami, the Bengals activated wide receiver Andrew Hawkins from the injured reserve-recall list and the NFL named quarterback Andy Dalton AFC Offensive Player of the Month.

As Bengals.com's Geoff Hobson notes, Hawkins, a slot receiver who last season finished second among Bengals wide receivers with 51 catches for 533 yards, severely twisted his ankle in practice Aug. 1 diving for a ball. With starting wide receiver Mohamed Sanu (shoulder) questionable for tonight's game, Hawkins and Dane Sanzenbacher could team to fill Sanu's spot in the slot.

Hawkins is also an effective gunner on punt coverage and had three teams tackles last season.

Dalton has posted a 116.8 passer rating while leading the Bengals to a 4-0 record in October. The team has moved to 6-2 on the season and taken a two-and-one-half game lead in the AFC North Division.

Dalton has completed 89 of 131 passes (68.0 percent) for 1,246 yards, an average of 311.5 yards per game for the month. He has passed for 11 touchdowns and only three interceptions. All of his touchdown passes came in the last three games, and he became the first Bengals QB to pass for 11 TDs in a three-game span.

He threw a career-high five TD passes in last week's 49-9 home win over the New York Jets, with four of those going to WR Marvin Jones, who earlier this week was named AFC Offensive Player of the Week for Week 8.

Tonight Dalton will be facing the league's 9th-best pass defense.