NFL.com - the league reporting on the league - said Sunday that Lewis has an invitation from the Brown family to coach the Bengals for as long as he chooses. Lewis - his Bengals are 7-14 in their last 21 games - also was rumored to be fired last week.

His job status came up at his regular news conference Monday, the day after the Bengals fell to 0-5 with a loss at Dallas. He is under contract through 2010, after receiving a contract extension in February 2006.

"Yes, I am very committed to doing the right thing here," Lewis said. "I honestly don't think anything has ever changed here. The commitment that I made five years ago here and three years ago, two years ago, whenever, is that we'd see this thing all the way through and get us back to where we were."

Lewis has a 42-43 regular-season record since he was hired in January 2003. The Bengals won the AFC North in 2005, and the wildcard loss to the Steelers stands as the Bengals' only playoff appearance since the end of the 1990 season.

"We've taken some lumps this year, and that doesn't change how I approach what I do," Lewis said. "I'm excited about our football team. I actually like our football team, other than being 0-5. I like our guys. I like what we're doing.

"We're not creating enough plays. Our margin for error is very, very slim. But they come here and they come to work. We go out there and we play football games. We dug a bad hole (Sunday)."

The Bengals trailed at Dallas 17-0 before losing 31-22.

"It wasn't all pretty, but it all wasn't totally bad," Lewis said. "We fought the thing down and we had a chance to make some plays at the end of the football game that mattered."