Cincinnati Bengals Head Coach Zac Taylor on Injuries, Matchup With Baltimore Ravens

Cincinnati Bengals On SI

Transcript

00:00Horrible for him, he obviously rehabbed,

00:02put himself in a position from a previous one a year ago.

00:06And did all the things he could do to help us win.

00:10And just a guy you love being around and appreciate and

00:12held back, he knows this process, he's done it before.

00:15We'll figure out what all the ins and outs are, the surgery, how long, all that.

00:20But it's unfortunate for him.

00:22How was his reaction?

00:25I mean, I can't speak for him, just seeing him in the training room,

00:29disappointed, but right attitude to attack it, as always.

00:33Do you think you'll have T Higgins and Orlando Brown back this week?

00:37We'll see, yeah, we'll see.

00:38I think we're limited with our field work, but

00:42both those guys have the right attitude about it.

00:44And so that's step one, is they both wanna do it.

00:48And now, just physically, we'll put them through everything we can

00:52over the next couple days to see where that can help us.

00:55Did you know it was gonna be-

00:57Better than expected.

00:58So again, we'll let time pass on that one.

01:00But I'd say better than I would have thought coming out of yesterday.

01:04What do you need to see from the team, Orlando, for the league?

01:09Just dealing with, yeah, dealing with the trainers.

01:11Dealing with the trainers and kinda getting the feedback from the players and

01:15the trainers, and just making sure we're not putting them in a bad spot

01:19by putting them out there.

01:20So again, those are two guys who have been through a lot of seasons and

01:25know how to communicate it.

01:26And so there's that level of trust there that we're gonna get the right information

01:29we need to make the best decision for them.

01:31What happened to Sam Thomas?

01:34He's got a neck issue that we're working through.

01:37How did that apply?

01:38No, hopefully more information this week.

01:43Something that occurred at practice on Friday?

01:46Well, that's the first that really came to our attention,

01:48was Thursday night, Friday morning.

01:52But again, I think it was, that's the best I can say right now.

01:56And then you said Chase Brown, he just really took a bruise.

02:01So he took a rib shot that you were unsure on, it ended up being a bad bruise.

02:06Played through it, did a great job coming out of it.

02:08I'm sure there was some soreness there today, but

02:10with all the carries and all the plays he got, but that was it.

02:13Is the expectation that Jermaine will practice this week and play on Thursday?

02:17Yeah, that's where we're gonna push him towards.

02:19Jermaine or Jermaine?

02:22We'll see about Jermaine.

02:23He did it, I think, Thursday during practice, the groin.

02:27So we'll be cautious with him as well.

02:29You don't wanna overdo that one.

02:30So again, that's one of the situations on a short week like this,

02:33deal with the trainers, deal with the player, and

02:35we'll see where he gets to over the next 48 hours.

02:37Given the way you've transformed the offense and

02:40really built the run game around Eric, how big of a hit is it for you and

02:43the team to lose him?

02:44Well, it's unfortunate any time you lose a player who's doing so

02:47well that you're counting on.

02:48We got a really smart, good, tight end room that can fill those roles.

02:52And again, we'll always adapt and

02:55find the right ways to keep the offense moving forward.

02:58Obviously, I think people see the role he's playing for us and

03:03had a lot of responsibilities in our system.

03:05And so it hurts, but this is part of this league.

03:08A lot of teams are losing key players, and

03:10that's just the moment we're in right now.

03:12And fortunate that we have, we got a big group in that tight end room.

03:15And so those guys are gonna step up and fill that role for us.

03:18When you opened the draft process with him,

03:20did y'all get any sense that given what had happened and

03:23kind of how early he came back, that this was a risk that he could be at the same?

03:28Honestly, I can't get into all the medical part of it.

03:30He obviously had rehabbed it.

03:32He's had an ACL before, had rehabbed it.

03:35Everything was done appropriately.

03:36And so it's just fortunate it happened.

03:38Do you feel like you need an addition in the running back room now at this point?

03:42I think we gotta be open to everything.

03:44And that's what Duke and his staff do, an excellent job of always just making sure

03:47we're equipped with everything that we need.

03:49And so going through that process of seeing what's available,

03:53seeing where we can help ourselves in all areas, and we'll go from there.

03:56How much could a guy like Milton even help you right now?

04:00I mean, he's new, newish here.

04:01I mean- Yeah.

04:02Or do you need someone to take some of the load off of Chase?

04:05I imagine 20 plus carries between now and however long you're playing.

04:09Does it probably feel like the greatest plan?

04:11Maybe you feel like it does, I don't know.

04:13Well, it's a short week and then a long weekend.

04:15And so we'll just, the first issue is this Thursday and

04:19seeing what our best plan is to win and going from there.

04:22But again, we'll assess all the possible options.

04:24I know Duke and his staff are grinding on that, Steve and all those guys.

04:28And so we'll see where all that takes us.

04:31Do you worry about wearing care on Chase Brown potentially?

04:34I mean, he's been built for a type of run where he's got to carry so

04:38much more of the load.

04:39I think it's important that you have another guy that can take some of the work

04:42off of him, whether that's a couple carries,

04:44whether that's some other snaps in some other areas.

04:48He has proven that he's a durable guy and can do a lot of stuff for us.

04:52So excited to see him in this continued role.

04:55And again, we'll always make the best decisions on how we can help him,

04:58how we can make the offense, and what backs fit in what situations for us.

05:02Just to follow up on Paul's question about adding a running back.

05:05Yep.

05:06We don't get a chance to talk to Duke, so I know what your answer's probably gonna be.

05:09But over the weekend, there was a report out that you guys were looking to maybe

05:13add to the defensive line and cornerback room with the trade deadline tomorrow.

05:17Do you have any comment on that?

05:19No, I think what I'd say is Duke always comes to me with information I need when I

05:22need it.

05:23And so the beauty is understanding that we had a big game last week,

05:28a short week this week.

05:30Any information he always gets is critical information for me.

05:33They work like crazy to make sure that we feel the best team.

05:36And so again, there's a lot of work that I know they're always doing behind the scenes.

05:41And you never know, if something happens, something happens, and that's great.

05:45So again, I've got a lot of trust in those guys, and

05:47they do a great job of communicating with our coaches.

05:49Back to Jermaine, your theme is figuring out what were the resources you guys

05:54have here to help any young player who's figuring it out?

05:58Tremendous resources, and I would say that we go above and

06:01beyond to make sure everyone's put in the best situation.

06:03And I won't get into what that all looks like, but, and

06:09you'll just have to take my word for it, that we go above and

06:11beyond to make sure everyone's put in the best place possible to succeed.

06:14And we're gonna continue to do that.

06:16I know the word accountability has come up throughout the season in terms of

06:20the coaching staff, but what about, and the players, but

06:23what about the accountability you feel the players have for each other in the locker room?

06:28How would you characterize it?

06:31It's important.

06:32I think that's, I don't know what word to use best, but

06:34it's important that you can count on your teammates,

06:38that the players can count on us, and we can count on the players.

06:41And so, again, it's everyone's coming in this league and

06:44has got things they gotta continue to work through.

06:46It takes everyone to bring them along.

06:48And so I'm excited to watch how that process unfolds.

06:51And everyone's on board and

06:53willing to get the best out of every player we got in the locker room.

06:56I guess a better way to ask the question is-

06:58I can't wait, cuz I appreciate that.

07:00I do.

07:07I think I won't get into specific position groups, but

07:12I think that there's a lot of good guys that are willing to help.

07:15And regardless of the situation with any player,

07:19I've always gotten really good feedback where people are understanding and

07:22want what's best for the team.

07:24As a head coach, how do you kind of learn to discern when you get to the root of

07:27any kind of issue with a player over time?

07:29Are you really at the heart of it?

07:31What's the hardest part in trying to discern exactly what the issue is with

07:35anybody?

07:36Everything's different.

07:37It's no two people are the same.

07:39It's always unique situations that you try to assess as best you can.

07:43And I won't list them all, but everyone's unique and

07:48you gotta handle them all differently and find the best way to solve the problem.

07:52What did you take, going back to the Baltimore take the first time,

07:56first game, week five, that you think gave you the most signs of hope

08:02that coming into this week's game?

08:04I think we always have great hope.

08:06I think this team believes that whoever walks on the field against us,

08:09we have a tremendous opportunity to find a way to win.

08:11These divisional games, again, it's always stated when you play these games,

08:15we know them well, they know us well.

08:17It was a great game.

08:19The last time we played him, we came up short and

08:22excited for the opportunity to get another crack at him in third place.

08:26I mean, obviously, blitzed him our last time, but

08:28when you just look at how well he's playing, how important is it to create

08:31pressure, and what does pressure do in a particular, in a matchup like this?

08:34Yeah, he's playing as good as anybody in this league right now.

08:39With a score on seven straight possessions yesterday.

08:41And so they're doing a lot of really good things.

08:44He's playing with a lot of confidence.

08:46There's a lot of things that are double edged sword when you're attacking him,

08:49whether you're pressuring, and he makes the extra guy miss.

08:53And now you got a whole world of problems, because he's as unique as it gets in

08:57terms of his athletic skill set, but

09:00his ability to beat you with his arm creates a real challenge.

09:16He's a really good player, and I think he's going to do a really good job at it.

09:19I think he's going to do a really good job at it.

09:21I think he's going to do a really good job at it.

09:22I think he's going to do a really good job at it.

09:23I think he's going to do a really good job at it.

09:25I think he's going to do a really good job at it.

09:26I think he's going to do a really good job at it.

09:27I think he's going to do a really good job at it.

09:28I think he's going to do a really good job at it.

09:29I think he's going to do a really good job at it.

09:30I think he's going to do a really good job at it.

09:31I think he's going to do a really good job at it.

09:32I think he's going to do a really good job at it.

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