Marvin Lewis
(Before questions were asked) "I think that to me the difference of the football game was that we just didn't get anything done today on third down. Offensively we weren't converting third downs, defensively we had a difficult time stopping them on third down. They kept drives alive, and they were able to keep driving the football down the field when we weren't able to get anything going driving the football on third downs, because we weren't able to convert any. That basically, to me, was a lot of the difference in the football game. We had inopportune penalties at times, but we did not execute or accomplish on third downs."
(On if AJ Green's ejection was the most surprising thing that he would expect) "Well, he was set off by something, and we'll keep that at what it was. You know…"
(On what you say to one of the team leaders (Green) when they "lose their composure like that") "Well, he, he, he…I'm going to just not comment anymore. Something was, you know, was wrong."
(On is Green's ejection was a result of something that was said) "I'm going to let it go."
(On how he thought the team responded after the ejection, because it seemed like "they were kind of intent on going back and forth with the Jaguars.) "No, I don't think we did that. I Thought we came out and played fine. We were fine. There were some things early in the game where our guys felt like they (the Jaguars' players) were pushing a little after the thing. We talked to the officials, and I think they settled it down. But that was going on early in the game, and then it escalated."
(On how he was able to keep it [the tension] from getting worse, as "it looked like there were going to be fights all over the field") "Well, again, we just have to stay on the sidelines which our guys did a good job of, and, you know, it's unfortunate it happens. So, it's over, and it happened, and its done. It's behind us."
(On if he's afraid that AJ Green will face a suspension) "I'm not going to comment on anything."
(On how much he thinks AJ Green's ejection changed the offensive outlook in the second half) "Well it changes things. There's things that…obviously it changes your plan, and you know, that's big. We lose one of our best players."
(On if there's a defeating feeling about today, since "you had the chance to get to 4-4, and now you're 3-5) "Well, we lost the football game, and that's part of it. Every time you come out here, unfortunately, there's a chance you might not win. But we just go back, and we have to play better. Like I said, we didn't play very good on third down, and it ended up being the difference in the football game, couldn't get anything going, and that was the difference."
(On if there are any trends with the team that he sees right now that concern him) "Well, we just have to be more consistent all the time. We haven't, you know, gotten on a run, won two or three games in a row. Let's do that."
(On what he saw wrong from the offensive line today) "I can't tell you."
(On how frustrating it's been to see the team continue to get backed up in the running game) "Well, we got backed up a couple of times, particularly there in that fourth quarter, third quarter, whatever it was, and that hurt us. But, we got backed up because we had some penalties. We had a miscommunication, and we can't have that."
(On if he's noticing a frustration with some of the players because of how the offense has been) "Again, that's not anybody's job to be worried about being frustrated. I don't calculate that."
(On if the team knew about a reputation that Jalen Ramsey had coming in about getting "under people's skin") "Again, the incident happened. It's over. I don't need to talk anymore about it."
Andy Dalton
(On what some of the biggest challenges the team faced as they went along, not getting the momentum they needed) "Yeah, I think that we weren't getting positive plays in early down situations. So, if you keep putting yourself in third and long it makes it tough. We weren't able to convert."
(On how challenging it was as a team to "get yourself back together" following the AJ Green ejection) "I mean we wanted to come out at halftime and put a drive together, and get points. We got a couple of first downs, at least one first down. We weren't able to keep moving the ball, and at the end of the day we ended up playing their game. They kept drives alive. They were in a lot of third and short situations, they kept converting. I mean, you look at the play totals, and they had way more than we did."
(On if AJ Green's actions were surprising to him, "knowing his personality") "Absolutely. I don't know how everything happened, I don't know how everything unfolded. A lot goes on that the quarterback doesn't deal with. So, yeah…the situation was what it was."
(On what happened regarding the fight involving AJ Green in his perspective) "I didn't even know what happened. I handed the ball off before halftime, and I was just kind of standing back there, and the next thing you know, I saw everybody running around. I didn't necessarily see what happened."
(On if he thought Jalen Ramsey said something that set AJ Green off) "Again, I don't know the situation. I don't want to say something that didn't happen, so, I don't know."
(On what happened on the deep pass to AJ Green down the sidelines in the second quarter) "I missed him. I led him too wide, and AJ did a good job, he won, and I missed him. That's what it comes down to."
(On how much the dynamic of the game changed in the second half when the team is down so much against a team like the Jaguars) "Yeah, what was it, 13-7 at halftime? And so you're still in the game. In the fourth quarter we're still in the game, it's two scores. But we couldn't put anything together."
(On where the team goes from here, and where they start in trying to turn things around. "Is it an execution thing, is it an attitude thing?) "All of the above. Obviously we're not executing at the level that we want to. We need to play better, and it starts with the mentality of knowing that you're going to play better, and telling yourself, and trusting the guy next to you. That's all we can say right now, is we've got to put our head down and work. We've got the Titans this week, and so we've got to get a win then."
(On if he believes that the team needs to play with more passion) "I think that you need to play with confidence. If you're not playing with confidence, and you don't trust yourself, the nobody's going to trust you. You've got to prove to everybody that you're playing with confidence, and playing hard out there. So if everybody takes a look in the mirror, and sees what they're doing, and they feel like they have to do more, then we have to do that."
Chris Smth
(On coming back to Jacksonville) "It felt good and unfortunately we didn't get the win. There was a lot of energy and we started off pretty good but we didn't finish today. It was nice to see my buddies and talk to them after the game."
(On causing the T.J. Yeldon fumble) "Actually I knew that play was coming and I just read my keys.
I didn't even know the ball came out. I just read my keys and made the play and then I saw T.J. lost the ball."
(On rebounding from the loss) "We can't get down about it. Today was a tough, physical game. Both teams were physical and we can't get mad about it. There's a lot of football to play and the AFC is wide open. You can't worry about this game and we are going to get ready for Tennessee and go back to the drawing board. We need to put this one behind us."
(On overall defensive performance) "No matter what's going on we have to make one play at a time. We will go back to the drawing board. We needed to turn those field goals into three and outs."
A.J. Green
(On unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and disqualification before halftime) "As a player, as a man, and a father, that's a reflection of me. I should have walked off in that whole situation. I definitely learned from this experience. It's never going to happen again. I regret my actions. Whatever the punishment, I accept it. I put myself in that situation."
(On dealing with talking throughout the game) "I understand we play football. When it starts getting out of hand and disrespectful, for me, as a man, I have to control my emotions better. I have to handle my stuff better and I can't put myself in a situation like that to hurt my team and not be able to play."
(On recalling the play that resulted in the unsportsmanlike penalties just before halftime) "We were just running the clock out and I turned my back and he (Jalen Ramsey) shoved me. That's not football. I'm not going to tolerate disrespect like that. I know we can't fight on the field. He got under my skin and I can't let that happen. I've been the ultimate pro this long and I can't let little things like that get to me. I shouldn't have reacted that way and I apologized to my teammates. That's not who I am. It just got the best of me today."
(On defending yourself) "It's football. Things get a little rough out there. When you start to take cheap shots when I'm not looking, that's when I have to defend myself. I'm not going to back down from anybody. I have a son and I'm not going to teach him to back down from anybody. It's a respect thing. I respect all my opponents that I go against, but when it gets to a level when I'm not looking that puts myself in danger, I will have to defend myself. He was talking the whole time, and I was just blocking it out. I can handle that."
George Iloka
(On Jaguars offense being able to put together long drives) "That's on us. We have to do better on third down. We have to clean that up and get guys off the field."
(On defensive overall performance) "Today we just didn't execute. That was very uncharacteristic of us as a defense. Going forward, we just have to know the layout of this situation. We have to play our best ball on defense to give ourselves a chance. We have the guys to do it, and we have to take ownership and say 'let's go.' We should go out there every week and decide we have to win this game. That wasn't us out there."
(On defense struggling to get off the field on third downs) "It wasn't good enough. On third down, it was a little bit of this and a little bit of that. That's why they were able to convert. It's going to kill you in this league no matter who you play."
(On improvement of Jaguars since last season) "They're better. Time will tell. They were better today and did a good job. That's about the only compliment I'm going to give them."
Brandon LaFell
(On the Bengals' difficulty sustaining drives on offense) "It's tough any day when you can't run the ball and can't control the line of scrimmage. We lose one of the best players and leaders on offense. It was kind of tough on us today. We have to find a way to sustain drives and stop stepping on our own toes on first down and keeping us in these third and longs."
(On Jaguars defense) "They're pretty good up front and some guys in the back that can make some plays too. So we knew it would be a dog fight, and we didn't fight – not hard enough to win this game."
(On Jaguars up front) "Those guys controlled the line of scrimmage and kept us in third and long. We played into their hands. We let those pass rushers rush and let those guys sit on routes. We knew how it was going to be today and just didn't make enough plays."
(On bouncing back against Tennessee) "You have to come to play every week. That's just the way it is. It's early in the season and we still have a chance to do what we want to do in this league. Tennessee will want to defend their turf and we have to go in there and find a way to win."
Andre Smith
(On the offensive performance) "We didn't do well and certain situations we did OK and certain situation we didn't. We have to look at the film and seek the mistakes we made and correct them."
(On the first game of road trip) "We just have to look ahead, this game is over with. We need to look at the mistakes and correct those mistakes and execute better."
(On Jacksonville's defense) "They are good, really good and they have some really good defensive players and they fly around."
(On going into Tennessee) "We need to execute the way we know we can and make sure we have a good week of preparation to give ourselves a chance to win."
Adam Jones
(On the loss) "It was nowhere near our best performance and that's all I could say. Those guys came out and played better today."
(On bouncing back after the loss) "All we could do is keep working now and keep your head down. When things aren't going right, you need to keep your mouth shut and keep working. I'm just keep working and doing what I could do to help the team."
(On defensive performance) "I don't think we played good as a defense. It wasn't one of our best days."
(On the overall team effort) "I think we didn't execute as good as we could have. I'm not taking no shots at nobody but we could do a lot of stuff to get better, go from sideline to sideline, that's all I could say, just got to keep working hard. I'm lost for words and I know we aren't going to win every game. But at a certain point, it's a reality check with guys in the locker room. Do you really want to win, that's my question to some of these guys is 'how much do you want to win?' I'm not saying everybody is going to make every play."
Joe Mixon
(On the loss) "Sometimes you have to come out and execute. It was a dogfight today and Jacksonville came out on top."
(On trying to run the ball) "Most definitely we were trying to do that and things change and circumstances. We have to come back tomorrow and focus on getting ready for Tennessee next week."
(On Jacksonville's defense) "They were pretty good and it was a dogfight. We like games like that, at least I do. For the most part, we didn't execute and it was an emotional game, and at the same time you have to keep your composure and keep playing football."
(On the first of three road games) "We have to execute offensively and we can't keep our defense out there. We have to find some identity and we will figure it out one way or the other. For the most part we just need to work hard and keep getting better."
Jacksonville Jaguars
Doug Marrone
(Opening statement) "I'm just happy that obviously we won the game and we were able to finish this quarter 3-1, which puts us at the halfway point 5-3 and knowing that we've got a lot of work ahead of us and getting ready to start this third quarter."
(On when he made the decision regarding Leonard Fournette's status) "It's internal. I'm going to stick with the statement. It's between the player and myself and we handle it internally."
(On if he's concerned moving forward with Fournette's professionalism) "No."
(On if was surprised at Jalen Ramsey's reaction during the game) "I don't know. I'd have to watch the tape again, but I thought he took a pretty good run to start at him, you know, that's kind of a flash. I don't want to comment on something I didn't see the full, whole thing. I just saw the beginning, and I saw a flash. Those things unfortunately occur. It's not something that we like to do or be a part of or want to be a part of, but obviously, you know, it happened. Like I said, I didn't see much because I was on the opposite sideline. They said there was a punch thrown and both players were ejected. That's what I was told by the officials."
(On if disciplining a player is a tough decision) "Sure, sure. The empathy of it being a human being. There's a part of me that's an assistant coach. There's a part of me that is a coordinator, part of me that's a person and part of me that's unfortunately, or fortunately, at times you've got to make tough decisions. That's what a head coach does."
(On if he expects Fournette to play next week) "I do."
(On Jaydon Mickens punt return and how's been able to get up to speed on the punt game so quickly since being promoted to the active roster) "We work on it quite a bit. Trying to get a little back there. Is Marqise better? Getting a little banged up a bit? We went through a couple of guys, and thought Mickens had done a nice job during the week, really worked hard at it. We thought he was very reliable from a standpoint of catching punts, whether it was a lefty punter or a righty punter. That always comes into play. The one thing when you put someone back there, you've got to feel confident about them catching. Then I thought to myself maybe if someone hits a line drive or something like that, he's quick enough and fast enough to get up there and get us 10, so at least he can get us an extra first down. That was my original thought. I probably limited it in my mind a little bit because he wound up taking one to the house today. It was a good job by the guys up front."
(On if it's a breakthrough to get the first home win of the season) "Yeah. For me, I was just trying to focus on our performance on the field and really playing well. Special teams, they haven't played well. All three phases. I thought we did a good job on the run game. I thought we did a good job on third down today. I thought we did a nice job defending it. I thought [Jalen] Myrick came into the game, I think that they would try to go after him at times, if you go back and look at the film. I thought he really hung in there well. Obviously he didn't get anything completed on him, so there's another young kid stepping up. I thought A.C. [Aaron Colvin] did a great job shooting out to the corner. He's been playing extremely well. I know I got a question earlier in the week about A.C. He's been doing well. It's just an overall good performance of guy stepping up."
(On having two players able to step in and replace Fournette) "Yeah, I think, obviously Corey Grant is in there, too. We feel fortunate. We really do. I remember I got a question about T.J. [Yeldon]. 'Are you down on T.J.?' We're not down on T.J. Yeldon, we just have a hard time trying to figure out how to get him up for game day. I had the conversation with T.J. He played extremely well last week. I thought he did a nice job, obviously he put the ball on the ground one time today. There's little things that go on during the game. He breaks the run late. He has the ability to stiff-arm and try to break it for a touchdown, but there's going to be a ball security issue that comes in. I think at the end of the day he makes a great decision to double the trouble, cover up the ball, get the yardage and go down. Those are the little things that the players do to help the team."
(On if he altered the game plan at all knowing Fournette wouldn't be playing) "No. Looking at some of the things from a cover standpoint, you know what I'm saying, that we felt good about. Things that we felt comfortable with, running, doing those things, hitting those guys on the crosses, running around, going deep, things of that nature. [Keelan] Cole makes a great catch, really does. We've been working our butts off on third down. We've been putting a lot of work on it because it's been an Achilles heel early on and it's just good when you put extra work in something and you can come out and be able to get some results in it. I think that's always a good sign."
(On the offensive line personnel having to move around) "I'll tell you now, that was tough now, especially having coached that position, played that position and it happened so late in the week. So here it goes, so late in the week and all of a sudden it's like the last minute. I had a long talk with Brandon [Linder] he was like, 'Hey, I got to get my sets.' It's a whole different world now from center to guard, and I was like, 'Well, get your ass in gear and go watch that film.' Knowing Brandon, that's what he does. He never wants to obviously let himself down or his teammates, but you've got to a lot of work in whereas Shat [Tyler Shatley], Shat's been playing center during the week. I'm going to put more positive spin on Brandon, which was tougher for him to go in there and play guard than it was for Shat. Shat's done a good job for us. He's played well at center these last few games."
(On whether Brandon Linder practiced at right guard on Friday) "On Friday he did. We put him in a little bit because we still didn't know if A.J. [Cann] would be ready to go. So with A.J., I have a relationship with him, like I do a lot of players, and when I talked to A.J. in the middle of practice he was upset. I knew for A.J. to come out and say, 'I don't know, Coach, I'm going to try, but I don't know.' I said we better make sure that Brandon is ready."
(On if he's happy with the way his team held their composure in the second half) "Obviously, during the week I thought we were going to be tested on it, during the week, and I told those guys that's something we can obviously improve upon and do a better job of that."
(On if the team played with more of an edge after Jalen Ramsey was ejected) "That's your opinion. I thought they were flying around pretty good in the first half, I really did. I thought they were coming out there. I thought they were pretty juiced. They had a really good week of practice and prepared themselves to go, so I didn't see that. I really can't comment on something I didn't really believe happened."
(On Blake Bortles' decision-making in the game) "I thought he was outstanding today. There's one play, the free safety comes, he goes to his right and he throws an unbelievable ball for a first down. That's not a good play, that's a great play. I thought he was accurate. I thought he did an outstanding job, he really did. He played within his means, in other words. During the week obviously they said that he can't beat them. Hey listen, don't get crazy, just go out and play the game. You owe it to all your teammates. Your teammates got to pick it up. We've all got to play this game together as a team. I thought he did a good job of that. I was a little bit concerned, just like if someone says something about me. You know what I'm saying? I would want to go out there and try to prove myself or maybe force somethings, and I just thought he played well."
(On winning at home) "It's always good. To be able to perform well in front of the fans I think is important, for me, because I know. You're out in the community, you understand, you want to put a good product on the field at home, be able to play well in front of your home crowd. I think, you know, if we can keep winning, I say it all the time, if we can keep earning the fans to come back. And the fans that were here today did an outstanding job. I always say this, if you don't think you are part of it, you should be on the field on third down, when the fans are going or when you push a running back or get the extra yards and the crowd starts going. It really does create a lot of energy for our players. We're working on performing well at home and earning the home field advantage."
(On how you work on a quarterback's accuracy) "I mean, you just go out there and you keep throwing. It's the same thing with pitchers. You go out there, you got the plate, you got the catcher behind the plate and you're throwing. Same with the quarterback. You put the guy on a route coming back, put a guy on the move coming out of a cone. You just keep working on it. You work on your footwork, things of that nature. It's not crazy. You just keep working on it."
(On if he had goal for getting Marcell Dareus out there) "I knew we had a lot of stuff in, so we had a lot of things in for the run. Like I said before, we worked quite a bit on what are some of the things we were going to change during the Bye Week, so we had a lot of different things we were doing up front from a standpoint of movement and things of that nature. I don't have the exact snap count, but it's the same thing. He made a couple of plays out there today, and I just think it's one of those things that as we go and he gets comfortable he just keeps continuing to play. I was happy with the overall defense today and the overall run game. Obviously there were some runs that went pretty big, but we had a couple of tackles for loss, which I thought was big to make it second and long."
Blake Bortles
(On having success on third down) "We have made a big emphasis on it lately. We have been below average. We have been okay. It's just four to six (yards), we have been terrible at. So that's kind of bumped the whole average down. We want to make sure our third-down conversion is over 40 percent so we want every game to try and be at that number or higher. I thought that our guys did a good job this week protecting the front and getting open and we were able to do that."
(On if he feels he is playing some of his best football) "Yeah, I feel good. We are a running team first, there is no secret about that. I think everybody knows it but that doesn't mean we don't have the ability to throw the ball. We run the ball because that is what we are the most effective at. That's how we can control the game and control the clock. Keep the other offense off the field so that's what we do and we are good at it. When there's times that we need to throw the ball, we are good at that too. We have guys outside that can win. We have guys out front that can block extremely well and we can make place down the field in the passing game as well."
(On how impressed he was with the offensive line) "It was incredible. You know A.J. Cann goes down Friday or whatever and Tyler Shatley goes to center which he has been playing but Brandon goes to guard, Cam comes back against Geno Atkins, who is one of the best in the league. Again, Brandon bounces over to guard and plays extremely well. I think it is a credit to those guys and how well-rounded they are and the ability to move around and play different positions."
(On his pass to Keelan Cole) "I was like: "oh damn it." Then he made that play and I was like "whew." That was unbelievable. You know he did a good job. He got off press coverage and I think it was Pacman (Adam Jones) over there that got up in him a little bit but he did a good job winning. Made an unbelievable catch. Part of us converting on third downs, this guy making good plays like that."
(On how that catch ranks on the best he's seen) "That is by far one of the best catches I have ever seen and been a part of. To turn around like that and snag it one handed and kind of keep us on the field in a big situation, I thought it was an unbelievable job by Keelan."
(On if he planned on throwing as much as he did) "It wasn't necessarily pass heavy this week. Two weeks ago against Indy, we had run the ball a lot in big personnel packages so we wanted to show that we could throw out of it too so it was an emphasis against Indy a couple weeks ago. But this week we were back to being balanced and doing what we thought we did well. It just so happened that more pass plays or deeper pass plays were called this week and we were able to convert on them. Anytime you can convert on those plays and pick up big chunks, that gives (Offensive Coordinator) Nathaniel Hackett the confidence to keep calling it and continue to do that stuff."
(On Vontaze Burfict's comments earlier this week) "Somebody showed me it and you know that's fine. I think Cincinnati has a bit of a reputation for the type of guys they are and I think you saw a little bit of that today. I thought we did a good job as a team. I thought Jalen (Ramsey) getting thrown out was BS and I thought we did a good job guys kind of keeping their head because they've had that reputation doing stuff like that. I thought we did a good job playing as hard as we possibly can between the whistles and beating the crap out of them."
(On conversation he had with Doug Marrone at the end of the game) "I wanted to score and he wanted to take a knee. Looking back at it now, totally agree it's a smart play. But at the time and the moment, playing against those guys, I wanted to score again."
(On missed pass to Marcedes Lewis) "I looked over there and the play is meant for you to run up the sidelines but when you get that open it's like let's just play football. I got outside the pocket and had to make a guy miss and took my eyes off of him. He had turned around obviously just wide open and I tried to stay on the run, I actually should have just thrown it right at him. It would have been an easy touchdown."
(On when he found out Leonard Fournette was not playing today and how confident he is in the running game) "We found out about Leonard late. He had gotten reps all week long and obviously, we found out about that a little late. You know we have seen obviously two weeks ago against Indy what Chris (Ivory), TJ (Yeldon) and Corey (Grant) can do. We are comfortable with them and confident with them. In that room, we have a really good group of backs and they do a good job. The guys up front are able to create holes so missing Marcedes on that one and then being able to bounce back and Chris picks up a big run. I think it just shows how balanced of a team we can be. Our guys can kind of pick each other up after a missed opportunity like that."
(On the wide receivers this season) "Yeah, I think so. We have talked about it kind of here and there. Anytime Allen Robinson or a guy of that caliber goes down it's going to be a challenge to pick up that slack and make up for that loss of production. I think those guys have done an unbelievable job, not only them, but our running backs are doing a really good job out of the backfield. I feel comfortable and confident every week in our game plan going into it. You know if this turns into a shootout, we have to throw it and put up points, we have the ability to do that."
(On what it means to win two straight and win at home) "I think it is huge. It is kind of a double whammy. We have talked about it for a long time, more so the let's win at home thing because that needs to be an advantage. It needs to be a positive for us to play here in Jacksonville in front of our fans. I don't think there was a rhyme or reason why we hadn't won, I think we just didn't play good. We had played better this season so far away than at home and I think we were able to flip the script on that today."
(On if this was the best game he has played all season) "I don't know. I have no idea what the numbers are or anything like that but I felt really comfortable. The past couple weeks I have felt really comfortable. Obviously, the numbers vary and things like that. I felt good all year long. I feel good going into each week. I feel comfortable, you know as an offense, guys feel good and ready to go. There is obviously different things that happen on Sunday and you just have to figure it out and make corrections on and overcome. I think that overall it was really good offensive showing and I think it was a good team win."
Chris Ivory
(On how the team responds when one player goes down) "I mean they already know, they see me practice every day. They've seen previous film, they've seen film of this year. They already knew what I could do. I guess it's just about doing it on a consistent basis, and I think I've done that. It doesn't go unless the o-line goes, so it starts with them so after that we've just got to make something happen."
(On the offensive line's performance despite injuries) "Well, (Brandon) Linder's done it before. I don't think it was hard for him to adjust to that position, but I know he'd rather have been at his comfort zone which is at center. I think he did an excellent job today, he practiced all week at guard and did a tremendous job. Those guys have developed great cohesiveness so as long as those guys are on the same page and running the things they're comfortable with, I think we'll be okay."
(On when he found out about getting the start) "That's a question I won't answer."
(On how he thrives in his role) "I've been doing it throughout my career. The only time I probably didn't have as many touches was probably my second year. A lot of things get overlooked with me, which is fine. I've been dealing with this since I first got in the league, so it's nothing new for me. I've been doing these things, it's just being more noticed when you pick up big chunks of yards on passes. All in all, I'm going to continue doing what I've been doing. There's a reason why I've been in the league for eight years, and I'm looking to get more, so all I've got to do is stay focused and continue to grow."
Aaron Colvin
(On losing Jalen Ramsey to an ejection) "I feel like me and AJ (Bouye) are elite corners in the league too. But at the end of the day, we know what Jalen means to this team and how important it is to fill his role so that is what we tried to do."
(On getting the emotions in check after the ejection) "That is a good offense. Don't be fooled. Andy Dalton and (Brandon) LaFell and some of their skill positions can really play. We knew we had to re-focus. We knew we had to get back on our jobs. At the end of the day, if they don't score, we win."
(On what he saw during the fight) "I think Jalen was in his head the whole game. I don't personally know A.J. (Green) but that doesn't seem very characteristic of what he does. You saw what happened. I don't think Jalen should have been ejected, but at the end of the day, we will get them back the next game."
Yannick Ngakoue
(On if the defense regrouped after halftime) "We knew the defense was going to have to go back out start off the half so we knew we had to bring the momentum and we just brought the energy."
(On if the way the first half ended had anything to do with how the second half started) "I definitely could say it was kind of chippy so we just used that energy to go back outside and play fundamental football."
(On if he felt it was important to get back-to-back wins today) "We felt that way but at the end of the day we knew we had to come out here and prove ourselves and we've changed something that hasn't been done in a long time so it's a great feeling."
(On how he felt he played today as a whole) "I just tried to go out there and do my job for all my brothers."
Marcedes Lewis
On the team's mentality heading into the game) "We work way too hard, we put way too much work in to go out there and not play like we're capable of. I think, for me personally, that's one of my biggest fears is not going out there playing the best that I can play. I don't have fear of nothing else, the guy in front of me, whatever. It's more about me and not being able to play to our best of our abilities and I think I speak for everybody when I say that."
(On how important it is to win a very physical game) "Yeah, it's super important. This game is about a group of men going out there and taking what they want, so sometimes it's going to get chippy. So we were able to win this game and that was really all our focus was."
(On if this season is starting to feel special) "It's good, man. I don't want to get too far ahead, but we have a good thing going right now. We've just got to keep it and bottle it and continue to work and do what we do."
Arby Jones
(On dictating everything they wanted today) "Yeah, definitely. Like they saw, the third time is a charm. We finally got back out here (at home) and got it right. We finally didn't shoot ourselves in the foot. We played the ball we have been playing on the road and brought it back home. Now the consistency part is putting two together. Now the challenge is to see if we can put three together so we start here and keep on going."
(On the defense dominating without Jalen Ramsey) "It sucked to lose Jalen, but they also lost AJ (Green). After that happened, it looked like they didn't have much else to do. We still have great corners. AC (Aaron Colvin) came in for Jalen and he is part of that great group back there and locked it down. We have (Jalen) Myrick come in at nickel and he did his thing. The d-line and the linebackers kept rolling and kept the run out of the game. We rallied on the screens and did our job."
(On AJ Green's response) "I have never seen AJ like that. I don't know what was said or what happened. I know him and Jalen are really good competitors. Jalen got to the better of him mentally and he just snapped. I have never seen AJ like that before."
Calais Campbell
(On dictating everything they wanted today) "Yeah, definitely. Like they saw, the third time is a charm. We finally got back out here (at home) and got it right. We finally didn't shoot ourselves in the foot. We played the ball we have been playing on the road and brought it back home. Now the consistency part is putting two together. Now the challenge is to see if we can put three together so we start here and keep on going."
(On the defense dominating without Jalen Ramsey) "It sucked to lose Jalen, but they also lost AJ (Green). After that happened, it looked like they didn't have much else to do. We still have great corners. AC (Aaron Colvin) came in for Jalen and he is part of that great group back there and locked it down. We have (Jalen) Myrick come in at nickel and he did his thing. The d-line and the linebackers kept rolling and kept the run out of the game. We rallied on the screens and did our job."
(On AJ Green's response) "I have never seen AJ like that. I don't know what was said or what happened. I know him and Jalen are really good competitors. Jalen got to the better of him mentally and he just snapped. I have never seen AJ like that before."
Jaydon Mickens
(On his thoughts after having a big game) "It feels great. This team is a family and a very tight knit family and we know what we want to do. As soon as I got here, it was explained to me that you're on the practice squad, but you have to come out every day and ultimately I got called up and I've been working hard personally with this team and it all came out in the game.
(On his explanation on getting North/South on the punt return score) "Well first it was something I knew growing up and also the person that banged it in my head: special teams coordinator from the Oakland Raiders (Brad Seely) and not only that, (Jaguars Special Teams Coordinator) Joe DeCamillis and (Wide Receivers) Coach Keenan McCardell. Coach Seely is the one that let me know when I was battling it out. They caught the ball cleaner and I was the odd man out but now we're here.
(On how his patience finally paid off) "Well you wait but me, myself, personally, and I don't mean to boast, but from high school, I've done things like this and at the University of Washington, the stats prove that I've done things of this nature. I was undrafted because of my size, but when it comes down to it, when you get an opportunity, you've got to take advantage and my teammates helped me on that punt return and God is good."
(On when he learned that his punt return helped to donate money to a charity) "Wow! Wow! I appreciate it even more, that's awesome."
Myles Jack
(On his thoughts on today's game) "We knew for the most part that they couldn't beat us. We could only beat ourselves and we felt like we were overwhelming for their offense."
(On how the Bengals players reacted to an emotional game) "There were a lot of profanities going on the field and they weren't happy with what was going on so they've just got to deal with that. We got the win today and that's all that matters."
(On how it feels to finally win the second quarter of the 2017 season) "We finally got a quarter and we're 3-1. I don't know how long it's been since Jacksonville has done that, but November is crucial, but again we're going to take it one week at a time and see what we can do to go 1-0 the next week and 1-0 the next week after that."
(On his thoughts on the scuffle) "It's football. It was fun for me and that shows it meant something to everybody. You know you see things happening and guys fighting and that's just football, but it was chippy out there for sure."
Keelan Cole
(On if he has made a great catch like he did before in the first half) "I have, but you can never really expect anything like that. I had one in practice. It wasn't one-handed but it was a quick reaction. But there is nothing you can really explain about it, just reaction time."
(On getting the job done without two of their top players) "It's a team. It's a team sport and we are all ready for every opportunity. It is what it is. If someone goes down, someone has to step up and start making plays and that is what we are all ready for."
(On if getting consecutive wins was a relief or if they knew it was coming) "We just worked for it. We came ready for practice this week. We came hard at each other. We didn't leave anything behind at practice because we all know all the work we put in at practice led to that W."
(On the feeling this team can be dominant) "We just take it one game at a time. We never think that far. We all have the same goal. We all want to go far, but that is everyone's goal in the rest of the league. We take it a game at a time. We take it day-by-day, practice-to-practice."
Marqise Lee
(On how well they ran the ball without RB Leonard Fournette) "That's just praise to the O-line. They came out and handled their business regardless of who was back there as far as running the ball. They are just out there blocking. It's a great deal to our team. Leonard is big factor of this team, but for us to come out here and get the job done without him is a big deal too. We know we can get the job with or without him. Of course, I want with him. I can't wait until he gets back next week."
(On what he saw on the play that lead to the fight) "Oh man. There was a lot going on that play. I was on the sidelines, so I didn't know what was really going on. That's football. You have a lot of emotions flaring within the team going back and forth. You have grown men trying to hit other men. You are going to have a lot of emotions. I know they didn't really mean nothing of it. As far as their team and our team, it's the gist of the game. At the end of the day, everybody is good. We know just about everybody on that side."
(On Bengals WR A.J. Green's chokehold taking it to another level) "Yeah. Emotions. It depends on what it takes to get you to start going. I don't know what was said, but I guess something was said pretty bad where it got to that. I am pretty sure they will squash it. It is something that happens in the game that players tend to squash. There is nothing to be stressed about."
(On finally getting a win at home) "That's the biggest thing. We talked about it, but weren't stressed about it. We weren't trying to do too much or overemphasizing about winning [at home]. Mainly, just come out here and play. We knew when we came out here to play and handled things that needed to be handled that things were going to be okay. It turned out well. All three phases did well including Jaydon [Mickens] who took a punt return to the crib. It was big and we really needed it."
Brandon Linder
(On the offensive line's performance) "That's what we live for. There were nine minutes left on the clock and you drive it and end the game on that. That's what you want so that's exactly what you work for."
(On the past offensive struggles) "We're hitting on all cylinders and everyone is on the same page with the communication and we're taking just one play at a time and whatever happened in the past we just kept going."
(On when he realized that today he would be playing guard) "Yeah that was late in the week and we had to figure it out. I slid out and me and J.P. (Jeremy Parnell) got back at it like old times and Cam (Robinson) and Pat (Omameh) and Josh (Wells) is coming in so whatever we can do to help the team and now we're hitting on all cylinders."
(On his thoughts on how Blake Bortles played today) "That gets us fired up when he's out there showing emotions and playing like that. That's what we want and we want to give him time to do that."
Referee Brad Allen
Question: Why was Jalen Ramsey ejected from the game as a result of the altercation with A.J. Green?
Allen: "No. 20 of Jacksonville [Ramsey] was ejected for a flagrant personal foul, which started the altercation which resulted in a punch from No. 18 of Cincinnati [Green]. They were both disqualified."
Question: Was Ramsey shoving Green to the ground result in an automatic ejection for Ramsey?
Allen: "I don't want to use the term 'automatic' because it would have been a [penalty] on its own but we also had a fight. We ended up with a fight by Cincinnati but we had the instigator in Jacksonville. Therefore, they were both disqualified."
Question: Ramsey and Green were seen yapping throughout the first half. Did any members of your crew warn them?
Allen: "Yes, absolutely."
Question: At what point did a member of your crew say something to Green and Ramsey in the first half?
Allen: "Well, first of all, I can't tell you what we have on our game cards because they're back in the [officials' locker] room. But throughout the game, we had warnings to both sidelines and to individual players, at which time we recorded. I can't tell you the specifics of what time."
Question: The fact they had been warned, did that make the decision to eject them easier?
Allen: "Absolutely. Absolutely."
Question: During the Green-Ramsey fight, a lot of other players from both teams were involved … [why weren't they penalized or ejected]?
Allen (started answering before question was completed): "We try to get the instigators of a situation like that. That's who we believe we got."
Question: To recap, 18 threw a punch, which was the reason for his ejection?
Allen: "That was No. 18 of Cincinnati. He was fighting."
Question: And Ramsey didn't need to throw a punch to get ejected?
Allen: "That's correct. You don't have to throw a punch in order to be disqualified."
