Head coach
On the return of Bengals QB Joe Burrow and WR Ja’Marr Chase:
"It was good to see. I thought that was a strong start from them. First drive, overcame a penalty, put us in a first and goal from the 20-yard line, to overcome it with the touchdown and to come back in the second drive with the touchdown versus zero, I thought was great to see."
On the defense and overall feelings about the game:
Well, obviously defense, we're trying not to show a lot of what's going on, so we're trying to keep it as little as possible and let guys win some one-on-ones. And today there were a lot of 50-50 plays that I thought Philly made, especially early in the game that gave them some extended drives there. But overall, just as a team, this was a team effort in the loss, 34 to 27, whatever it was, a seven-point game. We gave up seven points on field goals. We lined up offside on a field goal, they missed it, they got three points. We hit the center on a field goal, that turned into a touchdown. So that ended up being a four-point drive set, seven points right there, penalty on a long kickoff return that we had, gave up a long-punt return, threw an interception, and gave them the ball in scoring position.
And so those are all things that as a team, we can't tolerate. We've got to play better team football than that. I like the fight. These guys, they came back, and they gave us a chance at the end, that I appreciate. But there's a lot of things that we have to fix and correct as a team. That's not one unit, that's not one person, that's not one position. It is a whole team effort that we got to fix in order to win our next game."
On first impressions of Bengals DE Shemar Stewart tonight:
"It's real tough for me to give an answer on that one. I can't really single anybody out that way."
On the touchdown and how it compared to the one in Dallas:
"Same route, same play, same just other side of the field. That was about the only difference. Maybe even the same yard line. A little bit different coverage, but yeah same situation how that played out, he's great at finishing those plays."
On what makes Bengals TE Tanner Hudson a key contributor:
"I mean he understands the coverages and where to be and the body position. He can catch those back shoulder throws, and not just on verticals down the field but on the horizontal stuff as well. And so he made some nice plays for us there at the end."
On Bengals QB Joe Burrow feeling pressure on Bengals WR Ja'Marr Chase's TD:
"Well, I think first just the threat of being hit is a big reason why we want those guys out there, want Joe out there. Because he knows he's not going to get hit in practice. So, I think just for it to feel real in a game, whether he's getting hit or not, I think him having the knowledge that it's possible someone could lose a one-on-one. I get hit on the backside so that a free runner could come in. You can't simulate that rep in practice. So, I think it's good. That's a big part of why we're doing this, and so I think it'll be beneficial for us in the long run."
On what was seen by Bengals QB Jake Browning:
"Yeah. I just thought that in the second group, we got to do a better job getting in a rhythm and that was hard. Never got a good rhythm there to get on track. Felt like we were behind the sticks quite a bit. Just as a whole, the communication, really we just had too many guys free. Whether it be in the run game, whether it be in protection, simple stuff that we shouldn't have."
On the first-team offensive line in the first two series:
"[Joe] looked well protected. Obviously I have to go back and watch this series, but I felt really good about what they did. You can't help who you're playing against. Philly just won the Super Bowl. They've got great depth on their team. Look at the roster. They've got really good players on defense. It's not their starters out there, but I was still happy with how they went out there and did their jobs and were able to get 14 points on the board."
On Bengals RB Tahj Brooks showing tonight:
"There were some good things. I'm sure there were some things that we'll correct as well. That's one you've got to go back to check on the film."
On the running game:
"Yeah. Overall, we got to get more out of our run game over the course of the preseason games. Sometimes how these games go is satisfying. Every run was an efficient run there on those first two drives. We had the third-down run that got it for us. So I was pleased with how that looked."
On Bengals K Evan McPherson:
"It's great. you battle some go for it, fourth down stuff. You want to see Evan get some opportunities. You want to see the snappers get some opportunities. So, I was pleased obviously with how that performance was. I thought his kickoffs were really good. I mean those were right on the inch yard line, forcing a return. I don't know, not a kicking specialist, but it is hard to do much better than that. So I was pleased with that as well."