CINCINNATI — Every NFL coach will admit that the goal of every season is to make improvement throughout, and that the best football to be played will be in November, December and January.
Zac Taylor is hoping that is the case with his defense. It is also why he and defensive coordinator Al Golden decided before the Green Bay game to make a move at linebacker and go with a pair of rookies. The thinking is that if the Bengals can survive the early-to-middle portion of the season, the experience Barrett Carter and Demetrius Knight Jr. get will pay off in big dividends when they are fighting for an AFC North title and a ticket to the AFC playoffs in January.
Of course, there’s a price to be paid. That price right now is upsetting one of the core leaders on defense and one of its captains in Logan Wilson. The six-year veteran Thursday confirmed to ESPN that he has asked for a trade from the Bengals. The likelihood of that happening isn’t great due to the fact that the Bengals would A) be trading away their No. 3 linebacker in a room that has only Oren Burks and Shaka Heyward behind Wilson at this point, and B) a team would have to be willing to pick up the remaining two years of a four-year, $36 million deal and C) the Bengals would have to eat $6 million in dead cap money.
Taylor must now find ways to keep Wilson motivated, engaged and on board with a defense that should be getting better as the season progresses.
“Just keep focused on being here, and helping us as best you can,” Taylor said Friday of his conversation with Wilson. “And I know it’s frustrating with the role, but he’s handled it really well. He’s done a great job with the young linebackers. He’s continued to be in a leadership role in our team. I know that this situation, it can be difficult and challenging, and just keep focused on being here and working for us, trying to find ways to win.”
Taylor re-iterated what he said two weeks earlier about Carter getting more reps as Wilson playing time decreased, eventually with Carter taking over Wilson’s role in the middle of the defense.
“Again, it was more about Barrett than it was about Logan,” Taylor said. “I see a very high ceiling and Barrett, I see some great qualities in him that wanted to see more of and the only way to do that was to expand the role. So that’s where it’s at. And I told him he’s in a position where there’s a young player that I think has a really high ceiling and so, that’s decision I made.”
So, the Bengals need to co-exist for now with Wilson at linebacker and hope he buys into being the third linebacker and getting on the field when he’s needed, primarily as the third linebacker in a base 4-3 look.
Carter and Knight have shown flashes of picking up Al Golden’s system, but more consistency both downhill toward the line of scrimmage and in coverage is needed going forward as the Bengals need to improve in both tackling efficiency and pass coverage on tight ends and running backs.
Then there’s another veteran who has been supplanted by another teammate. Cam Taylor-Britt was designated a healthy inactive before the Steelers game after another rough performance against the Packers. Taylor said Friday it’s been a good week for CTB and signs are pointing toward him returning active this week against the Jets, especially with Marco Wilson doubtful with a hamstring injury.
“He seems to be in a good headspace,” Taylor said. “He practiced, well, had a good day (Friday). I like how he’s responded, and now it’s just continuing to be consistent with the response… So, we’re just looking for ways to get a great response. And so far, so good.”
Taylor-Britt has been passed by Marco Wilson and Josh Newton on the depth chart and now must earn his way back into the good graces of Al Golden and the defensive coaching staff.
This could also be a big week for Shemar Stewart in his second game back from an ankle injury that forced him to miss four weeks. The defensive edge is another rookie piece of the defense the Bengals are counting on heavily to make a positive impact. He played just 22 snaps in the 33-31 win over the Steelers on Oct. 16. Taylor said Friday that he’s been pleased with the development this season of Jordan Battle at one of the two safety positions in the secondary. Tycen Anderson remains the third option – as was the case against Cleveland when Geno Stone left with vision issues in Week 1.
A lot of people want to know how Joe Burrow is taking to having another Joe in the locker room that is running the offense while he rehabs his big left toe. Here’s what two of the main characters think.
“Burrow’s starting to come back to the meetings, and they say Joe all the time, so obviously, we’re talking to Flacco, but – Joe (Burrow) is sitting next to me, so I’d be thinking, ‘Joe’s gonna say something sometime when he’s saying his name,’ because usually he’ll have an input. But one of these days, I’m sure it’s going to happen,” said Chase, who was then asked to gauge Burrow’s mood.
“I can never tell his mood,” Chase said. “I’ll be honest. He seems pretty happy to me, even though he looked like a rock star by the hair, but he’s pretty happy… I can tell his mood when he’s overly happy. When he’s overly happy, I can 100 percent see that. When he’s pissed, I know, for sure. I know that when he cursed me out a couple of times, so I know he’s pissed too.”
Chase has also seen him rehabbing in the building.
“He’s working pretty hard for the majority of the times that I’ve seen him in a training room working,” Chase added. “I try to walk in there give him a couple laughs. So you know, not make his day a little better, but he’s working.”
Chase has known Burrow for seven years, since the two started playing at LSU together in 2018. Flacco has known Burrow for just three weeks. Flacco made it clear this week that he is careful to give Burrow and Jake Browning respect and space when needed, both in the locker room and in meeting rooms, and that Browning has been key in being that third guy in the room to take any potential edge off.
“Great. I think it’s great just to have him in the building, have his presence and yeah, for sure. I also think to add Jake (Browning) to that,” Flacco said. “Those guys are comfortable together, so they’re able to open up a little more when they’re together and around me as opposed to being, maybe, one-on-one. I think it helps to have that third guy in there to help everybody be a little more comfortable.”
