Head Coach Zac Taylor
(on the Bengals' defensive performance)
"I thought the defense did a lot of really good things. The offense put the defense in a lot of tough positions with turnovers, penalties, and really, the defense gave up 20 points over the course of the game. We had a fumble for a touchdown at the end. They did a lot of good things we can build off of. If they play like that again, we can win a lot of football games. Again, this is one of those times when we didn't complement each other on both phases of the ball, and offensively, we have a lot of work to do. The one thing I can tell you is we are not going to panic. We know where the issues were. We knew we had to be efficient on first and second down. We had three turnovers, we had what felt like a ton of penalties that took us out of position, minus-yardage plays, which in some cases can be very avoidable. When you do that against the Baltimore Ravens, they are going to make you pay for it, and it is going to make you feel like that. But again, no time to hit the panic button. We can regroup and have a great week and go play well on Sunday."
(on Wink Martindale and his defensive creativity scheming specific blitzes against specific opponents)
"It is difficult to hold up for too long. There are some instances where I saw some guys do some good things, and we just have to move on. There was some time where we had some errors, and it wasn't just on linemen. There were some free runners there that everyone needs to do their job. There were times where we had tight ends in protection, backs in protection, we have to make sure we are all dialed in. There are some times where there is going to be a free hitter that we have to be aware of as well. Again, it takes all of us, it takes me as the play caller for certain to make sure that we are put in better positions where we can manage that, take the pressure off. I am certainly accountable for that, there is no doubt about it."
(on the Bengals' struggles on third down)
"We didn't do a great job on first, second down putting us in manageable third downs. When you get in a longer yardage, even third-and-7-plus against these guys, they are going to tee off on you. They probably have the highest blitz percentage of any team in the league on third-and-long. We knew that going in, [and] we wanted to do our best to stay out of it. We didn't do a good enough job there for a myriad of reasons. You do that, you are going to have a difficult time converting."
(on if he thinks Joe Burrow took a step back today)
"No. No, I do not. That's a tough, aggressive defense, and I have seen them do that a lot to a lot of quarterbacks in this league. There are certainly things that you can learn from. I expect that he will learn from that. But again, it is just one of those performances early in the season that you are going to have. You are going to have to learn from it, and I am very confident that he will do that."
(on if the Ravens' blitzing scheme sets a blueprint for how future teams will attack the Bengals)
"A lot of teams have pressured us. Baltimore probably has more zero blitzes than anyone in the league up to this point. They zero blitzed Kansas City on the second or third play of the game. They are going to do it to anybody and everybody. If they smell blood in the water when they get a lead, which they do often times, it can make for a difficult day for you. The teams that have the blueprint to win [against the Ravens] get the lead early on them and do a good job holding the fort. Again, we did not put ourselves in a good position, but we feel very confident how we can handle the blitz and how we can attack it. Hats off to Baltimore, they had a great performance, great plan, and they took advantage of it."
QB Joe Burrow
(on the Ravens' defensive plan)
"He [Defensive Coordinator Wink Martindale] had a good plan. We just didn't execute our plan very well. I didn't play very well."
(on Ravens' third-down dominance against Bengals' offense)
"They were bringing a lot of different blitz looks. They brought some 'Cover Zero' that I personally didn't handle well. One positive on the day is our defense played really, really well. They played their tails off for us, and we've just got to give them a better showing on the offensive end."
(on keeping control of the football when getting hit from behind)
"That happened when I was getting ready to [throw], and I didn't see the guy coming, so I've just got to hold the ball with two hands, harder."
(on constant pressure from Ravens' defense)
"It wasn't tough mentally. Obviously, I was frustrated. We weren't playing very well, but we know how to handle pressure from a defense, and we've handled it the last three or four weeks. We just didn't handle it very well today."
(on his inability to get rid of the ball quicker)
"They do a good job of popping guys out into the middle to take away those middle throws and bringing guys you don't have accounted for and not bringing the guys you do have accounted for. They had a good plan, a good defense and a really good team."
S Jessie Bates III
(on the Bengals' gameplan to take Lamar Jackson out of the game)
"Like I said at the beginning of the week, I think that we had a really good gameplan going into it to stop that zone read and the quarterback stuff, but we didn't do well on third down, which we didn't really emphasizeon. [It's] emphasized every week, but we didn't do that well today. Early in the game,it was 3-0, and I think we had third-and-15, and they completed it, and I think they scored that drive as well. So, that's a huge, huge game-changer right there. But like I said, I think we did a good job defensively -- but when you're playing against really good teams like this, the room for error is just really small. I don't care how our offense isn't playing up to our standard, but I don't care how bad that is. We just have to keep it close; we've got to keep it close within how many points our offense is scoring."
(on Baltimore TE Mark Andrews hurting them early, and the Bengals quieting him later)
"It's just as simple as not letting him get the ball. We know where Lamarwants to go; either'15'[Marquise Brown] or'89'[MarkAndrews]. It showed up today as well. That's all he was really throwing to, was'15'or'89.'We didn't make the plays where it was at that point in time."
(on how frustrating that was for the Bengals)
"It was very frustrating. Guys are in position to make plays; you've just got to make them. We challenge each other. We have a good culture that we're building here that we're about to hold each other accountable. We talk to each other. When[Mark]Andrews goes and catches the ball [on] Vonn Bell, I tell him,'Lock his [butt] up.' We're just going to build on this; it's just a lot of good things that aren't showing up. We've just got to be more consistent."
(on trying to make Jackson throw outside the numbers)
"That's what we knew coming into the game. [Andrews] gets the ball in the middle of the field, and that's where all their completions come from. So, we're packing the middle of the field for sure. [Jackson] threw it outside the numbers, but unfortunately,we got off to a slow start."
(on CB Darius Phillips trying to spy Jackson)
"Darius showed up. He's a gamer, one of my best friends on the team.I'm not surprised at all that he showed up well."
WR Tyler Boyd
(on struggling to convert on third down)
"Absolutely. We were just shooting ourselves in our own foot. We were turning the ball over. We were playing behind the chains – a couple false starts [and] a couple penalties. That's something we have to stay poised with, especially playing against a good defense like the Ravens. I feel like we came out there with a great, gameplan, because the first drive … We had a big play in the first play of the game. In our second drive, we came out with another big play. Then, we started going quiet again. But I don't know. We just have to find ways to always create a rhythm each and every drive."
(on losing WR A.J. Green to injury)
"It hurt a lot, because he's our leader. He's our role model, and he's a guy that will spark a play for this team to continue to excel. But I don't really know his situation. I hope that he heals quickly, and we get him next week."
(on if this was a step in the wrong direction)
"No, I feel like we needed this, because [the Ravens] have one of the best defenses in the league. I felt, us going against them so early should let us know how much harder we should go, how much we should prepare, and never settle for less – never take anything for granted. Just continue to go out there and try to beat anybody. So, it's a learning lesson for us on offense, so now we know what to expect with anybody that we face in the near future and what they can throw at us. So, we should be good."
LB Logan Wilson
(on what it was like chasing around Jackson)
"There are some plays, like you said, I was spying him. It's kind of surreal, to be honest, to be in that position that you're about to tackle Lamar Jackson, because you see him on Sundays all the time, especially the last couple of years, where he's really stepped up his game. So, he's a force to be reckoned with. Obviously, he's very agile. I think he's a little bummed up with his knee. He's definitely very shifty, and he can get away from pretty much anyone. It was definitely a tough job."
(on what was Phillips' role)
"It was just based on what we called. Sometimes, depending on what package we're in. When he was in, he was playing some nickel. We had some blitzes dialed up for him to go make some plays. So, I think that's what he did."
(on how they were able to shut down Andrews after the first quarter)
"He's Lamar's go-to target. I think everyone knows that, especially in the red zone. So, we needed to adjust to that, knowing where he's going to be, Lamar is going to be looking for him. Like I said, I think we adjusted to that in the second half."
