CINCINNATI — Transition is never easy in the NFL. Going from one coach to another or one scheme to another, or even one personnel grouping to another, it’s challenging to make the pieces and schemes fit. The Bengals defense is in a definite state of transition.
They knew this was coming with a new defensive coordinator in Al Golden and with the drafting of three new pieces in Shemar Stewart, Demetrius Knight Jr. and Barrett Carter. All three are projected to be core pieces of the Bengals defense going forward.
This means others get pushed to the side. Take veteran linebacker Logan Wilson. He thought with his former linebackers coach coming back this season as DC, there would be a smooth transition. But Wilson’s play hasn’t been up to the standard Golden set for the unit in training camp. As a result last week, Golden informed Wilson that Carter would be taking over for him at middle linebacker and calling the defenses and that Wilson would still have a role but it would be diminished. Wilson, voted one of three defensive captains coming into the season, let Carter know that he would support his teammate.
“We found out about this on Monday, and I put my put my arm around him, I said, ‘There’s gonna be no hard feelings between us. Just know that, like, I’m not gonna change who I am. I still want to help you out. I know I played a lot of football, and there’s things I can still pour into you.’ And I told myself I was not going to change who I am because of a time of adversity in my life,” Wilson said. “And whenever my career is done, like look back at this time of adversity and be able to tell my kids how to how to get through, how to work through adversity like this. And so that’s what I’ll be most proud of. By the end of the day, I’m still going to work to continue to get better and just continue to support him as best as I can, because that’s what a good teammate would do.”
“He’s been great. Logan, he’s been that’s just a guy I have so much love and respect for, and know, whatever coach decides to do, you know we both can live with the results, knowing that we just we go to work every single day, and we love each other, and he’s been nothing but helpful from like for me,” Carter said. “I still lean on him every single day, and I still will continue to lean on him every single day no matter what the coach decides to do. It’s not, it’s not up to me, it’s not up to him, but we both. We both love each other. We both go to war with each other.”
Wilson thought his play was good at times against the Lions, good enough to not lose his job.
“I felt like I was but obviously Zac felt otherwise,” Wilson said.
“He’s an awesome human being and obviously one of our leaders,” Golden told me. “You really have come to expect nothing less from him. He’s got incredible character and high standards. He’s being a great teammate right now. Because of that, he’s being a leader. He’s got an opportunity to show what a leader he is, and that’s what he’s decided to do, which is awesome for our locker room.
Why the move to the rookie?
“It was a collective thought of let’s give Barrett a try,” Golden said. “We’ll see where we’re at with him and see if it brings a different energy. But that’s really it. It has nothing to do with Logan. It was just about giving Barrett an opportunity, and we’ll see how it unfolds moving forward.”
Golden knows he has to live with moments like the fourth quarter, with the Bengals down 17-10, Josh Jacobs split the Red Sea for a touchdown when Carter went to one C gap and Knight went to the other with no one left in the middle.
“High anxiety any time you have two rookie guys out there,” Golden conceded. “But if you’re going to have two rookie guys out there, those are the two that we want. It was just giving Barrett an opportunity and obviously Logan’s still gonna play and he’s still part of the plan. So it wasn’t really a specific thing. It was just an opportunity to take a look at Barrett and see how that goes.”
When the Bengals were in position, they didn’t exactly respond the way Golden hoped, as the Bengals were horrendous in tackling against the Packers, with multiple analytic sites charting them at between 17 and 20 missed tackles, the most of the Zac Taylor era.
“That was the first time I was disappointed in our tackling,” Golden said. “Not that we haven’t missed tackles, because guys are good in this league. Guys in space are good. But that was the first time. Not discouraged, but that was the first time I was disappointed in the yards after catch and the number of them.”
What was the reason?
“I don’t know. I really don’t. If I could’ve solved it ahead of time, I would’ve solved it,” Golden said. “But there were too many in the game. In a one-possession game, those are the things that make the difference. Our team needed us to tackle better. Our team needed us to get the ball from them one more time. And our team needed us to make a third-down stop. Those are the three things that we’re in control of, and we need to do better.
“I think a lot of it always comes back to technique and just playing with poise understanding they aren’t always violent hits in space. The most important thing is to get the ball carrier down. Especially if you are dealing with the number of guys that can move in space for them. Whether it was zero, 87, the quarterback, eight, those guys are good in space. They are all good, really good football players. Then, obviously, Kraft is a big guy in space. They are all different. They all require different techniques. Using your leverage, using the sideline, vicing it, all those things. Collectively, we just have to do a better job.”
“Our expectation is he will be ready to go and he will see a lot of action,” Golden said. “He looked good out there (Tuesday). I know we were walking through but at least he recalls how to line up and all those things because he’s been in the meetings from that standpoint. We just have to get him to the point where he can play fast and enjoy it. Don’t get stressed out about it. Enjoy the moment and work hard for the next 36 hours and then cut it loose. That’s going to be really important. He’s a gifted young man. If you are going to play an offense like Pittsburgh you need guys like that out there.”
“There’s a lot of guys individually getting better,” Golden said. “So, collectively, whether it is Joseph (Ossai) or (Kris) Jenkins or Myles (Murphy), whoever it is collectively, we have to put a good plan together they can execute and try to challenge the Pittsburgh pass game and obviously, their pocket. If it requires pressure, bringing a fifth, we will do that as well.”
On the development of Kris Jenkins:
“Sometimes it gets lost in what we ask him to do. He’s a pocket pusher for us. We have a lot of guys moving in different directions. You can’t do that without a penetrator who can get in between guys. He has the power to do that.”
“What game was it we were sitting here talking about him? Game 2? We were saying he needs to lock in and improve and adhere to a process,” Golden recalled after the Jacksonville game. “He has done that. This last month for him has been really good. He has responded. He has kept it small. His eyes are really good. His eyes are good in the walkthrough. His eyes are good in practice. He’s finishing at the top of routes really well. His technique off the line is good. He’s not guessing, he’s trusting. He has makeup speed at the top. It takes a lot of work. Everybody collectively. Chuck (Burks), DJ, his teammates, the scheme, everything collectively to work to come to fruition. But none of it is achievable without his adherence to his process. He has been masterful over the last month. Quiet, head down, practicing with energy. We’re not surprised by his growth as a player. He has drawn the best player a lot of times. He has drawn the go-to guy, and he has responded. I’m really proud of him. The day I stop getting emotionally attached to guys that make this journey, that’s the day I’m going to not do it anymore. I’m fired up for that young man and what he’s putting into it.”
Could he travel with DK Metcalf Thursday?
“Oh, sure, yeah, we can do that. I mean, there’s a lot that goes into that. It’s not just as simple as you line up over there all game,” Golden said. “I mean, you can do that at times. So again, I would say it depends on the game, number one. Number two depends on what we’re doing from a structure standpoint, and obviously what the matchup is on that guy.”
He gave up a 35-yard pass play to Matthew Golden on third-and-10 from the Green Bay 30 in the second quarter, leading to Green Bay’s first touchdown. He also committed a defensive holding two plays later. CTB was in position to make the play on Golden and force a punt, but didn’t.
“I just think don’t worry so much about pushing him out of the red line (outside the numbers). Get your head around and that ball is yours,” Golden said. “You have great opportunity to get your head around and make a play on the ball because he’s completely in phase on that rep. That’s really it. Well we’re always challenging everybody to be better. We have to coach better. He has to be better. Got to put him in better position in some of those third downs. But I think in general, we’re always, I mean, whether it’s Marco, DJ, like, guys are always rotating in and we’re always looking to see who best fits what we’re what we need in each game.”
Is he pressing?
“We don’t want him to press,” Golden said. “I’m just big on communicating. I’m big on looking somebody in the eyes and fixing an issue that any miscommunication or any technique that may not be right or they don’t feel good about. I don’t really get into yelling like he knows he just gave up whatever (35 yards), he knows that he doesn’t need somebody to beat him up, you know, and we don’t need him to press. We just need him to focus on a little things get better, on the details every day. And obviously he’s got enough talent to take him through it.”
