BEREA, Ohio — The Cleveland Browns have won four of their last five games, but are they ready for prime time? They’ll answer that question Thursday night when they play the Bengals in Cincinnati on the NFL Network.

This is the Browns’ only prime-time game of 2014 unless they are flexed into one later in the season, which is a strong possibility if they keep winning. They are 5-3 and will share first place with the Steelers in the AFC North if they win in Cincinnati.

“These are circumstances that we’re going to have to learn to deal with — playing with different schedules and not playing at 1 o’clock every Sunday,” coach Mike Pettine said. “If you want to be a good football team, you have to get used to it, so this will be a good test for our mental and physical toughness this week.”

The Browns have not played a prime-time game other than a Thursday night game since 2009 when they lost to the Ravens on Monday Night Football. To get ready for a night game, Pettine scheduled practice at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday. Tuesday is normally a day off for the players.

“You’ve going to try to condense everything that you normally get into a week into two or three days,” Browns Pro Bowl tackle Joe Thomas said. “Obviously, that’s not completely possible, but you’re going to try to get a couple extra massages and do more stretching, more cold tub.

“Wednesday, we’ll do as much as we can. We’ll leave a little bit later for Cincinnati than we usually do, but it’s really just a lot of walk-throughs, as much film as you can possibly digest in a couple days and then, you get down there. You probably won’t be feeling good, but you’ve just got to know the guy across from you is feeling the same way.”

The Browns are 1-2 in the AFC North. They split with the Steelers and lost to the Ravens in FirstEnergy Stadium on Sept. 21. They meet the Bengals on Dec. 14 in Cleveland and close out the regular season in Baltimore on Dec. 28.

The Bengals are in first place at 5-2-1. The Steelers are 6-3 and the Browns next at 5-3. The Ravens are fourth in the division at 5-4.

“This will be our best opponent that we’ve played in a few games so it’ll certainly be a good measuring stick because Cincinnati this year has been probably the best team in the AFC North,” Thomas said. “If we want to win the AFC North, we’re going to have to beat Cincinnati, and this is our first opportunity.”

The Browns beat the Steelers and Titans, lost in Jacksonville and then beat the Raiders and Buccaneers during the five-game stretch since their bye. The Browns play five of their final eight games on the road.