On the one-year anniversary of the move that eventually brought him to Cincinnati, Bengals rookie cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick is ready to make his season debut.

Whether that actually happens Sunday night against Pittsburgh remains to be seen, but even Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis sounded excited about the progress the rookie has made in recovering from a knee injury.

“I’ve been really impressed with Dre Kirkpatrick in practice,” Lewis said. “More impressed than any time he’s been here, even more impressive than when he was here in rookie minicamp.

“He’s competing well, he’s practicing very hard, he’s getting his conditioning to where it needs to be to sustain playing in an NFL game, play after play after play. He’s taking all the reps versus our offense, and he’s getting the split reps with the defense in there. Zim (defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer) and Mark (defensive backs coach Mark Carrier) are doing a good job of getting him involved in the plan all the time.”

The Bengals drafted Kirkpatrick 17th overall in April, which was the pick they got from Oakland in exchange for quarterback Carson Palmer in a trade that was finalized Oct. 18, 2011.

The University of Alabama product has been sidelined since July with a knee injury he suffered prior to the start of training camp, but he’s been aggressively rehabbing in an effort to get on the field.

“He looks so much better now,” Carrier said. “He still had to get his legs underneath him. He never really went through training camp so the last few weeks have kind of been his training camp. His conditioning is getting better. He’s getting more adapted to the system, so he’s getting close.”

More than close if you ask Kirkpatrick.

“I’m ready,” said Kirkpatrick, who was cleared last week to participate fully in practice. “I’m hungry. My body feels good. I’m just waiting. My number will be called when it’s called. That’s coach’s decision. It’s not my job to ask.”

Lewis said there is a chance that call could come as early as Sunday.

“It’s possible,” he said. “Like I said last week, I don’t want to close the door to it and look like I’m fibbing, but we’ll see what happens through the week.

“If I can ever get him up and dressed, I certainly will right away,” Lewis added. “And when we get him suited up, we’ll get him playing.”

If it’s Sunday, it would have special meaning for Kirkpatrick, whose father Charles, a pastor in Alabama, will be attending his first Bengals game thanks to the 8:20 p.m. start.

“He’ll be flying in after church,” Dre said, adding that Charles won’t be able to make most games because of his services.

“That’s his calling, this is my calling,” he said. “He’s never missed a game before I got in the league, but it’s cool. I’ve got my mom. My mom will come to the games.”