CINCINNATI BENGALS
HEAD COACH ZAC TAYLOR
On how he thinks the defense played on the opening drive:
"It was a great experience for them to have to sustain a long drive and find a way out of it, which is what they did. It's what they tend to do. So, I think it was good for them to feel again like conditions against the starting offense and have their back against the wall a little bit and find a way to make a play."
On CB Mike Hilton taking away points:
"I didn't have a great vantage point from where I was standing. But again, for them, I think they had an 18, 19 play drive for our guys to find a way to make a stand. I think they had 40-something plays in the first half - three points. So I thought our defense found a way to stand up on a matter and take points off the board."
On whether the defensive starters asked to play or if that was the plan already:
"Yeah, that was all lingering in the background. We had those conversations this week. I think this ended up being a good test. They shifted in motion about every single play and they changed personnel groups, so I thought it was a good opportunity for our guys to have to communicate and stress our communication a little bit."
On how he feels OL Jonah Williams looked at right tackle:
"I will have to check the tape on that one."
On how he feels the quarterbacks played:
"I thought it was good. We got points on our last drive of each half, which is critical to gain some momentum there. Trevor [Siemian] did a good job in a tight situation, putting us in field goal range. He had to make an audible during the drive and he did a great job managing that. He stepped up in the pocket. Then at the end of the game, Jake [Browning] obviously had the big drive that took us down to score a touchdown. He had made some plays with his legs and had to scramble. I thought he saw the field really well. I thought there were some positives to build off of for both of those guys."
On whether he's decided on who the starting QB in the last preseason game will be:
"It's hard for me to say right now post-game."
On what he saw in DE Joseph Ossai tonight:
"I felt like we got pressure back there. You know obviously, their guys created some plays as well but I felt like we had different guys that were affecting them and making them move up a spot and getting pressure back there. I saw that quite a bit."
On why QB Joe Burrow did not travel and whether he had an update on his progression:
"We didn't bring any injured guys other than Chidobe [Awuzie] just because Chidobe gets a chance to get some work but he's so close to coming off his injury. But other than that, we just left all the injured guys behind."
On how the defense played:
"Yeah, I saw guys continue to make plays. I saw Owen Carney make a huge sack in the fourth quarter to knock them out of field goal range and now, as you see the score, it ended up being a big deal since they had to punt. So again, it's a great opportunity for guys like that to rise up and make a play to help us to win or tie. I saw several guys be able to affect the game that way and that was good to see."
On how he feels WR Charlie Jones performed:
"He did some good stuff and we saw a ton of man coverage. So for those receivers, there's a lot of good things that Troy [Walters] will get a chance to correct on the tape. He showed him some good examples of how they can continue to help us in other ways, so those guys made some plays when they came to him. Then there's some things that they can continue to build on that I think is why we're doing the preseason and why they get so many reps. It's really good opportunities for those guys."
On how he feels WR Andrei Iosivas played:
"Yeah, he got an opportunity there and we gave him a series off there - I think second or third series of the game to get an opportunity there. So that'll give us something to evaluate."
On what he saw in RB Chase Brown:
"The last drive is hard for me to process right now. I'll have to watch the film. When you're trying to call it no huddle on the bowl - I'm not really doing a great job of evaluating the guys there."
On how he feels LB Markus Bailey played:
"It's good to get your hands on the balls and now, just take it away. Markus has good vision, and he tends to be in the right place at the right time. So that was good to see."
