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INDIANAPOLIS _ A month into his task of re-building, new Bengals defensive coordinator Al Golden took a break Wednesday from scanning the deepest crop of defensive linemen in recent years at the NFL scouting combine and briefed the press.

He's making it malleable and multiple to fit the diverse challenges of the AFC North that range from Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson to Steelers wide receiver George Pickens to Browns tight end David Njoku to Jackson's running mate and 1,900-yard rusher Derrick Henry.

"Make it simple enough that you can get in and out of it and then utilizing the strengths of each component," Golden said of his evolving pass-rush scheme. "Not being so stratified that this is the only way we do it. I think it's important that we're malleable, that we can flip. Lamar Jackson, you may need to spy him more. We have to have all those pieces in the offseason and work accordingly.

"I think there is a lot of work that the staff is doing right now to position us best for the AFC North and our first quarter of the season. That's our primary focus. To utilize our talents and put the guys in the right position to do that. There are no bad ideas, especially this time of year."

One of these flexible ideas is trying cornerback Dax Hill in the slot, his college position and one he played in the game he suffered a season-ending ACL injury last season.

"We'll see at the end of the day after we accumulate all the talent via the draft and free agency where are the best pieces," Golden said. "He's certainly a candidate to do that and I think he knows he can do that, too."

Hill won't be the only one Golden moves around so he can see what they do at different positions.

"It's important for us to go into the OTAs and minicamps with three or four deep," Golden said. "We've identified guys we think can be nickels and play in the slot. Dax is definitely one of them."

Another idea is hanging with the safety tandem of Jordan Battle and Geno Stone after they helped steady the secondary in the season-ending five-game winning streak.

"Now that Jordan's got another year under his belt and the veteran side of Geno, I'm excited about it. We'll see where we go whether we supplement that. There's a good starting point for us," Golden said.

Battle and Stone may be starting points, but there's no question that linebacker Logan Wilson is an end-point. Wilson was drafted in 2020 when Golden was the Bengals linebackers coach. During his two years with Golden, Wilson had six of 11 interceptions that lead all linebackers in the 2020s.

"He's one of the best people I've ever worked with. I tell stories about him all the time, just in terms of his competitiveness," Golden said. "He's got a knack for the ball. He's got great hands. It means something to him. I'm evaluating little things from last year and try to incorporate into what we're doing going forward and I see Logan in space making tackles and defending it the way we want it defended. It brings back a lot of good memories. I can't wait to work with him again."

But Wilson, as well as everyone on defense, is under Golden's famously busy microscope that never takes a day off despite arriving at Paycor Stadium last month straight from Notre Dame's berth in the national title game. He's watching last year's practices as well as games.

Golden asked his position coaches to evaluate all their players and come up with 25-30 plays.

"Any plays that can help us define what the strengths and weaknesses are. Our job is to nullify the weaknesses and exploit our strengths and get those guys to do what they do best," Golden said.

"I watched the whole season. The games first. If we felt there was a match there, then great, but if not, 'OK, what did you see? What can we do better?' 'Can this player improve?' It's comprehensive. It's not easy."

GOLDEN APPROACH

Golden may be watching a ton of 2024 tape. But he hinted he's going to give players his respect and a fresh start in 2025. Exhibit A is cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt, whose Beast of a rollercoaster season saw him go from Pro Bowl hopeful to twice benched to back to solid starter.

"It's really hard for me to go back and judge any time or place last year," Golden said. "It's more forward thinking and what's our plan moving forward and how do we want to use him. I'm really excited about him as a player and what he brings. There's a physicality there. There's a competitiveness and a toughness that I know we can utilize and I'm really looking forward to that opportunity.

"Some of those things are better in-house in terms of what we decided for his action plan coming back in April."

BIG BACK?

With the status of running back Zack Moss (neck) unclear, the Bengals are seeking a complement for lead back Chase Brown, and the sense is they're looking to go bigger.

Offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher emphasized Wednesday that the 5-10, 211-pound Brown played big last year as a three-down back after Moss went down for the last nine games. Both in touching the ball 283 times for 1,350 yards and protecting quarterback Joe Burrow.

But Pitcher also said big would be a nice complement.

"The easy answer is Chase isn't the biggest guy, so maybe if you have an opportunity to add a bigger back with a little more power repertoire to his game, that size helps you in protection," Pitcher said. "But I say that with the caveat Chase really stepped up in his protection as well last year. You can kind of look at it with a little bit of a blank slate and say let's find a way to add a really good football player. We know Chase has a well-rounded skill set. And depending on who we are able to add we can mold it and we can make it work. Credit Chase's development that we find ourselves in that position."

PITCHER AND BURROW

How would you like to be Pitcher and have an end-of-season review session with Burrow after he completed one of the greatest seasons an NFL quarterback ever had?

But he did because, as Pitcher knows, the greatest competitors want to be told how they can get better even if the numbers suggest not much.

"Where are some areas you can grow, Joe? How do we make sure that we've solved some of the problems that we felt like we had this year?" Pitcher recited. "That's just the standard conversation that takes place with everybody. With Joe, it gets a little more detailed and nuanced, but we always have good communication with him."

Sure, Pitcher sees flashes of tape when he thinks of Burrow and 2024. Just take the two Baltimore plays, feathering a 41-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase with nine seconds left in the half at Paycor and then hitting him again for a 67-yard catch-and-run touchdown as he fought through backwash in the pocket in the first two minutes of the second half in Baltimore.

But, in the end, it came down to a feeling more than a cutup. The feeling that lingers from the Dec. 28 Denver game at Paycor when he had to cobble together two game-winning drives instead of one and served as a microcosm of the season.

"There's not one play, but it's just a series of plays. And having the resilience to battle back," Pitcher said. "When you feel like you've won the game and it doesn't work out, and then you feel like you've won it again, and it doesn't work out. Just having the fortitude to keep pushing and ultimately getting it done at the end. Those are moments that stick out to me."

LEADING QUESTIONS, PART II

Like head coach Zac Taylor on Tuesday, Pitcher on Wednesday emphasized getting two-score leads as quickly as possible. On those first two drives of a game, he says they're trying to avoid "foul balls."

It's just another way to protect Burrow from taking unneeded body shots. The tighter and later the game gets, the more swashbuckling Burrow is going to get.

"We found ourselves in some shootouts. We found ourselves in spots where it felt like he probably felt like, 'I've got to go make this happen now or else it's probably not going to happen.' And so it does affect how you're able to play and potentially puts you in a spot where you have to be aggressive," Pitcher said. "It's not even balancing out the run-pass. It's maybe the types of passes you're able to call that maybe put him at lower risk of taking some hits because, yeah, we pass the ball a lot but we're pretty good controlling the ball, too."

YEAR OF YOSHI

When it comes to the emerging young players on the roster, Pitcher doesn't want you to forget third-year wide receiver Andre Iosivas after a season he had six red-zone touchdown catches and established himself as a viable slot receiver.

"I thought he made a lot of big plays this year. I thought he really filled that role well," Pitcher said. "His skill set afforded us the flexibility to really move Ja'Marr as much as we moved him. That's due to what Ja'Marr can do, first and foremost, but what Dre can do helped. I really like the trajectory of Dre's career. I expect him to continue that upward movement."

Pitcher rewound to his 32-yard catch against Browns All-Pro cornerback Denzel Ward down the right sideline in a December win when Iosivas beat Ward one-on-one with textbook technique on an over-the-shoulder-pitch-and-catch with Burrow.

"I thought that was really a key moment in his development," Pitcher said. "That was a proud moment for a lot of us who have seen Dre work as hard as he's worked, and a lot of us to have the respect that we have for that particular defender to see him make that play I thought was big."

NOT SO SECRET SERVICE

Speaking of protecting Burrow, new offensive line coach Scott Peters on Wednesday had a new take.

"It's personal. It's something that is a major point of emphasis. Because protecting him is the key to your success when you have a great quarterback like Joe," Peters said. "From our perspective, it's pass protection, not being passive. We want to be aggressive. We want to be combative. And if you're doing any security detail for someone important, you want to discourage."

SECOND CHANCES

Like Golden, it sounds like Peters is going to give veterans a chance to rebound with a new coach. Left guard Cordell Volson, who took every snap during his first three years in the league until the Bengals benched him in December, may get a fresh start. Peters, then the Browns assistant offensive line coach, liked what he saw when he coached Volson in the East-West all-star game before the Bengals took him in the fourth round. It also gives insight into Peters' rep as a hands expert and technician.

"I thought we should love to draft this guy because he had all the intangible things, too," Peters said. "He's a tough kid. Really loves the game. Just kind of helping him along in his career. Take his next step is the goal.

"He's physical. He's got length. I think just helping him find ways to utilize his tools better is one of the areas of (improvement). And you can do that through drilling and kind of emphasis on certain things where we think we can help him. But I think there were some things where hand placement was something that was difficult. Some of the set angles and just having the ability to capture cloth with his hands. It's something that we put a big premium on."

NOT MUM ON MIMS

Peters made sure he knew all about Amarius Mims, now his starting right tackle. When he was coaching the Patriots offensive line this time last year, he visited the University of Georgia to interview Mims and came out of Athens sold a year before he got him.

"We talked football and I thought he was great. He was really just a great kid, great person. Enjoyed the conversation," Peters said. "He was really into the questions in football, and he had good knowledge of his system. That was a concern, obviously, I'm sure for everybody because he didn't play a lot in college. But I was impressed. He was inquisitive and he was really, really thoughtful. He's a good kid and someone who wants to really get better."