[Zac](https://www.bengals.com/team/coaches-roster/zac-taylor) [Taylor](https://www.bengals.com/team/coaches-roster/zac-taylor)
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### **Head coach**
"All right. I thought it was a good game. I thought our guys played well. Just told them I thought we tackled well on defense and special teams. And, I thought on offense we pass-protected well — gave the quarterbacks a great chance to make good decisions and make plays for the passing game. Now on special teams, we really stepped up in all phases. I thought there were some good things. Evan (McPherson) ... got an opportunity to keep one of those missile kicks on the kickoff. I thought (Ryan) Rehkow had a great punt. We got Cam Grandy in there for a snap as the long snapper. So, I just thought we got a chance to work on some stuff and the guys really stepped up. It was good to see."
**Is Cashius Howell healthy?**
"Yes. He got a ton of reps over the last couple of weeks and he is healthy."
**What did you like about your receivers today?**
"They made plays. I thought they (had) some great one-on-one opportunities. Did a good job. I just (thought), all around, they did a good job. They made plays for us, and I thought the quarterbacks were really decisive, made really good decisions, (were) really good at the operation — getting out of the huddle, utilizing the play clock, utilizing the different teams that we had, getting to our second plays. They blitzed us some. I thought our quarterbacks handled it really well, giving to our checks and executing. Had some good third-and-long conversions, particularly on the first drive. I think overall they did really well."
**What do you like about the defense, Zac? Obviously, there's been a lot of focus on quality, depth, and going up against Caleb Williams ...**
"I thought it was really clean. I think in the first half we gave up two naked's, but they just got us with two explosive plays on the backside of the naked. Aside from that, I thought our guys played really clean. We got guys on the ground. We've got to watch the tape and see how we missed tackles, but I thought our guys did a great job leveraging the ball, and getting the ball to the ground. (We) did a good job taking away some downfield throws and making them check it down underneath. So, I just thought overall that they played very quick."
**It was a little moment maybe, but it seemed like the defense took advantage of that holding penalty and then didn't give up any ground ...**
"Yeah, that's how it goes sometimes. I think two times they had holding penalties on drives that set them back, and you get them in a long-yardage situation, and you hold on."
**After two games, what kind of impression has Dohnte Meyers made on you?**
"He's done a good job. (With) the opportunities that come to him, he has been doing a good job catching the ball, returning the ball, had some sweeps. I think he's just trying to make the most of these opportunities."
**How important was it to get Sean Clifford some extended time?**
"The way Josh (Johnson) played the first half — Josh, I thought, played excellent and finished with a nice touchdown drive at halftime. So, it's just a good opportunity to get him out. Probably would have played him in the third quarter, but just thought he played real clean.
"And so I got Sean (Clifford) in there, and that was great. Sean had great command. Sean gets, mind you, probably two reps in training camp, maybe. Less than 10, I would say. So, he then goes out there and plays a game real clean, and that just shows you the work behind the scenes that he's doing to make sure he gets himself ready, and the job Brad Kragthorpe does with him. And so I'm really impressed by Sean to be able to go out there and execute."
**With the snaps that you saw tonight and during training camp, how would you evaluate what you're seeing at backup tackle behind Amarius Mims and Orlando Brown Jr.?**
"I think that's still pretty open. I think that there are guys we're still looking at. I wouldn't say there have been any decisions that have been made."
**Connor Lew and Eric Gentry both played. Was this just for you to get their feet wet and get them game reps, or was there more to it?**
"No. (With) Connor (Lew), this is part of his progression. He came off the ACL. He's done all the practice things he needed to do. Check the box. We got him out in the game. Check the box. I think he got 16 plays in the first drive. He played the second drive as well. And then Eric (Gentry), it was just more about Eric — just letting him get into a game environment. I know he was excited for that. So, I don't know how many snaps he got out of the six, but it was good to get on that."
**The play-calling apparatus tonight — was it temporary or permanent? Did Dan Pitcher call plays tonight?**
"Yeah. Pitch did an excellent job. Before the game tonight, he did an excellent job. Great prep all week, preparing for this practice, (then) calling the game. I know he had a great feel for it. So, I thought he did an excellent job."
**Is he going to call the game next week as well?**
"I don't know yet. We'll figure it out."
**You see the splash plays from Colbie Young. How are you seeing him round out his game and do all those things?**
"Yeah, I think for Colbie (Young), there's seven years of experience he has to make up. We've got a really veteran receiving group that's just played a lot of ball for us. So, there's no fault of his own. There's just a lot of things he's going to catch up on, and he's working hard to do it. He's making plays that come to him. That's the job to learn for the receiver. He's willing to be physical. He has shown that in practice over and over again. And so now, it's just all the nuances that he's just got to catch up on with guys that have been doing it for four, five, six, seven years."
**Going back to backup tackle, what do you want to see from whoever earns that spot?**
"Consistency. Just trust that the backup tackle is going to go in and win the game, and we want to keep playing the way that we play. You've just got to be able to trust through the game. And so, I think there's probably a competition there."
**Landon Robinson had a sack and a half tonight. Where have you seen him grow since day one?**
"I've seen cleaner tackles in my life, but he did a good job coming clean, looping around, and kind of not wasting any space there, and closing down on the quarterback before you could really see him coming. So, again, just like I say, with any guys competing for some of these backup jobs — just the consistency. It doesn't always happen. His flash play — it's great to see his flash play. That was a big, big play, but we really want to see the consistency that if people in the game have to play five to 20 snaps, that you're going to do your job and allow those around you to do their jobs as well."
**The way you guys held up physically with the joint practice and with how the roster held up against an NFC North champion, you've got to be pleased with how it matched up ...**
"Yeah, a lot of respect for them. That's a great opportunity for us this week to practice with them. They're well prepared, really veteran play callers in all three phases. I mean, it's about as veteran as you get. Ben (Johnson) has called plays for a long time. Richard Hightower's been there for a long time. DA (Dennis Allen) has done it forever. So, that was just good for our coaching staff, for our players to go against that. It was a good test for us all week."
**What stood out the most to you about the joint practice and the way you guys finished, especially on Thursday?**
"I thought situationally, we got really good work. We got a chance to hit every field zone there was. So, you get a chance to rep your concepts against a defense and offense they don't face. They've got great scheme in both sides. That really stresses you. I thought the situational stuff — we did a three-and-a-half-minute drill at the end. We did twice, and so I just thought there's a lot of situations that arise there. We've done it to ourselves as well. We'll do it again. I just think there's a lot for us to continue to think about as those situations come up. So, I thought that was really valuable. I'm happy with how it ended, obviously, but I think it's just valuable to go against a different team and have to think through a lot of situations and how you'd manage it."
**We haven't had a chance to ask you since Joe Burrow spoke on Thursday. He was asked, "Is it now or never?" And his attitude is, that's absolutely how he's approaching the season. Your reaction, your thoughts when you heard Joe's comments?**
"I just take it one game at a time. We're just going to keep working. Try to be undefeated in the preseason and get better every single day we've got."
**How do you feel about Brian Parker II's growth?**
"Yeah, I think we've made him do a lot. We made him play center. We made him play guard. Obviously, he finished at tackle in college, so he's got a lot of versatility which is critical. I've been pleased that Brian has picked it up and never batted an eye at where we're putting him. We'll assess obviously how he played at the different spots tonight, but we've been pleased with the training camp he's had."
**Is playing at tackle in Brian Parker II's future?**
"It's in his background, so right now we're having him at guard primarily. He's proven that he can be an emergency center for us, which is good if you're in a game, but really pleased with his development."
**What do you need to see that you haven't maybe seen yet?**
"We just need to continue to practice, and I think just as many situations as we can put ourselves in, get our players comfortable with that. But we've gotten good work at this point. Now, we're going to do some three-day stretches. We're getting some good work this week, leading into Philly, and then three days leading into a bye, so we're really looking at nine practices there. Ten practices, really, to get to Tampa Bay. So, that's the way I think of it. We've got 10 real practices to get ourselves ready to go, and that's really where our focus department turns to."
**Obviously, for a rookie like Connor Lew, you'd want him to be able to take advantage of the full offseason. But does it make you feel that much better that now he's got at least two games of reps and the next 10 practices you're talking about, so that if anything were to happen to Ted Karras, you'd be able to feel comfortable putting a rookie in there to snap it to Joe Burrow?**
"I feel good about his progression. You don't always put these guys in a position to work with the guys that they'll probably be playing with, if God forbid, something ever happens. But I think Connor did a great job managing it and doing the best he can. He's done as well as we can hope with the least time he's got so far."