When the Bengals switched Dax Hill from safety to cornerback during the offseason, cornerbacks coach Charles Burks jubilantly treated it like getting handed a first-round draft pick.
It turned out to be more than the right move, a move they believe is going to outlast the season-ending ACL injury their most versatile defensive back suffered early in Sunday's game against the Ravens.
"He has a bright future. In a year, we'll be standing here talking about Dax as one of the premier defensive players in the NFL," Burks said Monday. "I feel so bad for him because he worked so hard, and it was a seamless transition. Not many people with that ability could even think about doing that. He was our best corner after five games."
Hill showed his coveted flexibility Sunday when he lined up in three different spots in the regular defense, the nickel and the dime. His departure scrambled the assignments during Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson's 348-yard effort through the air.
"When Dax went down, I also had to think about who was covering who and the matchups and things like that," said defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo, who also said the injury wasn't an excuse.
The Bengals feel they have emerging young players who can fill those various spots, starting with fifth-rounder Josh Newton and seventh-rounder Daijahn Anthony.
Anthony has played in the dime in other situations this year, and Newton showed in training camp and the preseason games he has the ability to play in the slot in the nickel as well as outside.
Plus, Burks says they're close to cornerback D.J. Ivey’s return. Last year's seventh-rounder, Ivey suffered an ACL injury last Dec. 16 in the Minnesota game where he played well in spot duty.
"The arrow was pointing up and he was getting momentum. We need him," Burks said. "It shows you how valuable Dax is. We need multiple players to replace him, but we've also got talent."
From his head coach, to his coordinator, to the man who is going to replace Hill, it was a tough Monday.
"It's not done," said DJ Turner of his old Michigan teammate's position switch. "I don't know anyone who's done it in the NFL. It's not done. And he did it well."
Head coach Zac Taylor believes he's got a long-term answer at cornerback.
"Really optimistic with him. You know, just saw a really high ceiling there with Dax," Taylor said. "He was willing to reach it with the work he could put in and all the things he can do. Just terrible for him, but I know he's made of the right stuff and he'll rebound the right way."
Anarumo: "He was doing a good job outside, inside. You saw him on that one tackle in that two-by-two wide set. (Ravens running back Derrick) Henry came off the edge and Dax was there to make a really sure tackle. It's just a shame. He's really feeling good about his position. It's unfortunate. He'll come back good as new next year."
SEAMLESS JOE
Just how good has Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow been this season? Take a look at the NFL stats.
Burrow is trying to become the first Bengal to win an NFL passing title since Boomer Esiason's MVP season of 1988. His 113.6 passer rating leads all qualifiers. He also leads the NFL with 12 touchdown passes. He's second in completion percentage at 72.3, behind only Washington rookie Jayden Daniels' 77.1, and second in QB rating with 73.7 behind Josh Allen's 77.2.
HOME COOKING
Dr. Lou Anarumo, the Staten Island, N.Y. native and holder of a Wagner College doctorate who grew up going to Giants games with his dad, returns this Sunday night (8:20-Cincinnati's Channel 5) when his defense faces a Giants' running attack that took down first-place Seattle on the road this past Sunday.
"I've got to be honest. I don't care if it was on the moon this weekend," Anarumo said Monday. "I want to make sure we do what we're supposed to do. Just settle down, have a good game, just win the game. Just win the game. That's what's important."
After his unit allowed 41 points last Sunday in an overtime loss where the Ravens scored on five of their last six possessions, Anarumo knows exactly what he wants to do in his hometown.
"We have to make sure we stay within ourselves to a degree. And there's always going to be wrinkles in what we do, but you can't just because the players have to be feel comfortable what they're doing," Anarumo said. "I want to make sure that they understand that, hey, you know, here's the core of what we do. We're always going to have a wrinkle here or there for each game plan. I just don't ever want to just totally abandon it, because then they'll think we're reaching. There has to be a base. There has to be a foundation. They know it works. We've just got to do better."
WRINKLES GALORE
Talk about wrinkles. Anarumo says he blitzed the Ravens 41 times on 78 snaps, a 53% rate he says is the most he's called in his 94 games running the Bengals defense.
It wasn't so much a response to the Bengals' low win-rate numbers on the pass rush, but the opponent.
"It was stop the run, pressure the quarterback on unusual situations," Anarumo said. "On third down, I'm going to call those. We had a number of them on first and second down, when the quarterback is under center. We never do that.
"We had a number of different show zero (blitz) bluff and get out to just to try to keep them off balance a little bit. Obviously, the numbers were really good for him. But we've got to do better there in those rush-and-coverages marrying up."
HILL TO FIGHT ON
Some of the Bengals' key pressure people up front haven't been healthy, but it's starting to get there. Three technique B.J. Hill (hamstring) returned for the first time in three weeks, and he was absolutely immense playing 56% of the snaps during a game the temperatures soared to the mid-80s.
"You mean it was 55 out there. Nice and chilly," he said with a smile.
Pro Football Focus graded Hill the Bengals' best defensive player overall and the second-best pass rusher with four pressures that included a hit on Jackson to go with a batted ball.
Hill, one of the many defensive vets counseling calm, remains upbeat.
"The way we come to work each and every day," he says of his confidence. "Even though we were 1-3 last week, the way we prepared last week, the way we battled last week told me enough about the guys we have in the room. We just have hiccups here and there that screw us up and throws us off a little bit. That's what it comes down to.
"I have confidence in this team. We just have to pick up what we're doing on defense … (The offense) has been doing their thing this year. We know we have to carry our own weight. That's our goal. We have to do our job so we can win games."
The pass rush also got a lift from edge Myles Murphy. He was coming off his first week of practice since an Aug. 20 knee injury and PFF had him for four hurries on 23 rushes.
"I thought his effort was outstanding. There's some little things just from a pure practice (standpoint), he just hasn't practiced since training camp," said Anarumo, who cited his spacing on a blitz that allowed Jackson to get out of pocket and throw a touchdown pass. "But I thought his effort was outstanding. I thought he did a lot of good things that we could build off of."
Not only is Hill having a homecoming with the Giants team that drafted him in 2018, but the hope is Sheldon Rankins (hamstring), who played for the Jets for two seasons, has one, too, and can give the pass rush even more of a lift. Rankins hasn't played since Sept 15, but Taylor says he's trending up.
SLANTS AND SCREENS:
On Monday, Taylor stood by three straight runs to set up Evan McPherson’s 53-yard field goal attempt in overtime.
"The decision for me is we are in comfortable enough field-goal range for Evan and I don't want to do anything to disrupt that," said Taylor, who knows better than most how well Burrow is sifting it.
"There are some things he can't control that can come up in those situations as well. We were in four-minute last week. We got a penalty that knocked us back 10 yards. I know we can make that kick. We're going to try to get as many yards as we can moving forward in the run game." …
Taylor also had no problem with wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins saying they wanted the ball in that situation. Indeed, Taylor admired how Chase said he could have run a better route on the slant Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey intercepted with three minutes left in regulation.
"It's fine. It's after the game. It's emotional. And those guys made every single play that came to them," Taylor said. "They want the opportunity to finish the game off. That doesn't bother me for one second. I know what those guys are made of. Those guys want to win. They're upset we didn't win."
The Bengals lost massive guard Jaxson Kirkland to a bicep injury Sunday and then reports had them signing a guy even bigger. The 6-7, 323-pound Kirkland took four snaps from scrimmage Sunday as the Bengals went with seven offensive linemen at times.
The reports say the Bengals lured the 6-7, 338-pound Andrew Steuber from the Falcons practice squad. A seventh-round pick of the Patriots in 2022 out of Michigan, he has yet to play in an NFL game …
