Clifford, a fifth-round pick of, naturally, the Packers in 2023, has appeared in two games with no starts. White, who won his first NFL start against the Bengals when he was a rookie in 2021 with the Jets, has a 2-5 starting record in the league. Rypien is 2-2.
Taylor painted a picture of all hands on deck with Pitcher and quarterbacks coach Brad Kragthorpe as they grapple with Browning's 70.5 passer rating, 28.4 points below what he put up in his first seven NFL starts at the end of 2023. And, 38 points below what Burrow put up last year.
"Trying to do everything we can to help speed up the process for them," Taylor said of the backups. "Whether that's been me meeting with them, Pitch talking to them, Brad meeting with them, some (quality control coaches) meeting with them, because we're in game plan mode.
"We have to spend our time getting our team ready to go, but at the same time getting a quarterback a lot of information. It's not just, 'Hey, you're blocking this guy or you're running this route.' You need to know what everybody's running, what all the protections are, what the run plays are, what the checks are, what cadences we utilize."
Just Another Game
After the Bengals this past offseason gave historic deals to wide receivers Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, as well as nearly doubling All-Pro sacker Trey Hendrickson's salary, their next big money move was for Packers nose tackle T.J. Slaton Jr., by some analytics the best run stopper in the league last year.
"Just another game. There's no bad blood," Slaton said Monday of his four years in Green Bay. "Eventful. Got to leave the country a few times. Nice people, good environment."
Trading Neighbors
Bengals backup safety P.J. Jules faced off Sunday against his close friend and saw Lions safety Kerby Joseph become the sixth player since 2000 with 20 interceptions in their first four seasons.
"It was like a dream," said Jules, who grew up with Joseph in Orlando, Fla., and traded jerseys with him after the game.
Joseph went to Illinois and got picked in the third round in 2022 by the Lions, hasn't looked back, and is two picks away from tying Pro Football Hall of Famer Ed Reed on that four-year list. Jules came out of Southern Illinois last season undrafted and ended up on the practice squad before playing his fourth NFL game on Sunday.
But that hasn't stopped Joseph and Jules from staying close via text and talking on the phone. Before the Bengals played last Monday night, Joseph called him and warned, "I see something," and predicted he'd get a pick.
"He just knows where the ball is going. Great instincts," Jules said Monday. "It was crazy out there. We're still trash-talking. If he was near our sideline, he was yelling, 'P.J.!!! Watch this.'"
And when Jules lined up on special teams near the Lions bench, he could hear Joseph giving him the business.
"It was so fun out there," Jules said. "That's my guy."