CINCINNATI — Zac Taylor has never been one to try and play a role that doesn’t feel right.
As head coach, Bengals players have come to appreciate his direct and honest communication. If he’s upset, disappointed, proud or handing out praise and game balls in the locker room postgame, he gets right to the point.
To Taylor, there’s no sense in trying to act like someone he’s not. His players respect that and consider him one of the best leaders to play for. There’s no BS to his message.
After every Bengals win, there’s Taylor on Bengals social channels addressing the team and handing out game balls. The most striking aspect is his straightforward delivery.
Joe leads the Who Dey Chant and everyone gets a game ball… what's better than this?!
Locker Room Celly | @KetteringHealth pic.twitter.com/ImwWTRYhDV
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) October 30, 2023
Does Taylor think he has a special ability to read a locker room?
“Do I do it well? I don’t know,” Taylor said Wednesday. “Some days I don’t feel like it but I think I just learned through my own experiences whether it’s an offensive install meeting, whether it’s an offensive unit meaning, whether it’s a team meeting. Those are just things I think you’ve had the experience firsthand and learn and evolve. I’m not a big get up there and give a long speech guy. That’s not my strength.
“I think I’d put a lot of people to sleep pretty quickly. So I just try to be to the point and if I don’t have anything I don’t need to get up there just hear myself talk. And so, I know that’s one thing I’ve learned in five years is when there’s nothing to be said don’t don’t manufacture something if if it doesn’t fit the moment.”
Over the course of a three-game winning streak, Taylor has seen his team take leads late and hold onto them. Their steadiness has mirrored their coach’s approach.
Against Arizona, the Bengals held a 24-21 lead heading into the fourth. They outscored the Cardinals, 10-0 in the fourth to close it out. Against Seattle, the Bengals were clinging to a 17-13 lead and got a pair of red zone stops in the final three minutes. Against San Francisco, the Bengals led 24-17 and the Niners were driving for a game-tying touchdown before Germaine Pratt picked off a pass and changed the tenor of the final 12 minutes.
“You feel really good when we have had a lead, I think our confidence is really strong,” Taylor said as he knocked on the wooden table of the press conference room. “Guys don’t get careless and reckless. They really lock in on the details and things that are important. If you look back on games taht we have won and had leads on, the guys have really locked in. That’s a big part of doing it.
“There is no fear of failure. I don’t feel, coaches or players, when we have a lead get tight or worried about what could go wrong. There is none of that. You have to go take what’s there. I feel like that kind of started in the Kansas City game a couple years ago when we won the division. Our guys have just eaten it up and they want to go attack success. Maybe, maybe that’s why. You feel that with the guys when you have a lead on people.”
Zac Taylor says his team won’t let one big road win go their head. pic.twitter.com/bYUEsd1wum
— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) November 1, 2023
In all three games, the Bengals have found ways to close out strong, the sign of a potential championship team. It’s a trend that is built on execution and good habits. Practice good habits and they become part of your DNA as the season moves toward the cold weather that shapes championship contenders.
“I think belief and energy is good,” Taylor said. “That comes from winning, but that also comes from having the confidence and the preparation that you’ve had, so it’s all tied together. I think our confidence comes from we practiced really well last week. Our guys I think believed in what was going to happen. We have to make sure we do the same thing this week. You can’t just subscribe to stacking wins for momentum if you’re not willing to come out here on Wednesday and do all the things that we know are important.
“I think what is good is there are a lot of guys on this team who have experienced continued success before and they know how hard it is and so they’re not going to be fooled by having a big road win and thinking we’ve arrived here in week eight. Not even close. That is the benefit of having the team that we have is they know how hard it’s going to be going forward to continue this. I know that they’re willing to put in the work for it.”
Everyone knows Joe Burrow is a proud Buckeye. He’s Ohio, through and through. Asked Wednesday what makes Cincinnati’s first Sunday night home game in 11 years so special before a national NBC audience, Burrow wore his Ohio heart on his sleeve.
“The people. That’s why I love Ohio,” Burrow said. “The people are great, down to earth, humble, hard working. Just made of the right stuff. I love the people here, that’s what makes Ohio, Ohio.”
Don’t expect too much pomp and circumstance commemorating the return of Bills safety Damar Hamlin to Paycor Stadium for the first time since his collapse on Jan. 2, 2023. In the final game of Week 17, Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest and collapsed on the field after making contact with Bengals receiver Tee Higgins. The game, which Cincinnati led 7-3, was postponed, and eventually canceled.
Hamlin received immediate emergency attention on the field, then was taken to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where he spent the next six days before being transferred to the Buffalo General Medical Center to continue his recovery.
“What happened is in the past, I think everybody remembers it but you know (we’re) not going to dwell on it,” Burrow said. “I know he’s not either. I know our fans are going to support, be loud, be proud. We’re going to fight our tails off for it.”
Joe Burrow, fighting a cold, expects to give crowd an exciting game Sunday pic.twitter.com/8acoXqT4oj
— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) November 1, 2023
Certainly, there exists the possibility of the first responders and medical staff at the University of Cincinnati being honored. The two teams met 20 days later in the AFC Divisional round in the snow in Buffalo on Jan. 22, with Cincinnati recording a 27-10 win. Hamlin has been active just once, in Week 4 during a 48-20 win over the Dolphins at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park.
Nothing says Burrow is back more than the quarterback returning to his rightful spot as AFC Offensive Player of the Week. Burrow earned his sixth career AFC Offensive Player of the Week honors in last Sunday’s 31-17 road win against San Francisco. Burrow, showing no ill effects of a strained right calf from training camp, completed 28-of-32 passes for 283 yards and three touchdowns. He also completed 19 consecutive passes at one point, one shy of Ken Anderson’s team record set on Jan. 3, 1983.
Trey Hendrickson (foot), Josh Tupou (shoulder) and Tycen Anderson (knee) were absent from practice, with Tupou on the rehab field with Chase Brown (hamstring). The news was encouraging on Brown since he was placed on IR with the injury last week. The fact that he was on the rehab field and was in the locker room getting tub treatment already could be an indication that his hamstring is responding well to therapy. Returning to practice Wednesday was linebacker Akeem Davis-Gaither, who has been sidelined for the last three games with a right knee injury. He was limited Wednesday, as was running back Joe Mixon with a chest injury.
