ZAC TAYLOR
Head Coach
What did you think of that win?
“It’s good to get a win. I thought the defense, after that first drive, did a great job buckling up, making them punt, creating turnovers. Really did a good job allowing the offense to play aggressively and get some points on the board and play with a lead, and the offense did that. We kind of hit a lull there in the late third, early fourth quarter, but I’m just proud to see the way that we finished it there in the fourth. I know they had that last drive, but (we had) turnovers and (capitalized) with points. This was a win we needed going into a short week. So again, we’ll capitalize on this and keep building going forward.”
Is this one of the more complete performances they’ve had?
“No. Maybe this season, but my point being, there’s a lot more we can do better. Just some little things here and there that stunted some of the drives on offense where I think it could’ve been a bigger output day, had we just been on the same page with some communication things. So again, there’s always things to grow from. We’ve hit the midway point in the season now. So now we need to start playing our best moving forward.”
How important was it for that first drive after they came out and scored to go down and answer?
“Always big. It’s always big to match them and then allow our defense to take a deep breath and get the stops that they then got. So again, the first drive, they’ve done that I think several of the last (few) games — they’ve scored right out of the gate, Las Vegas has — so (we) weathered the storm and put ourselves in a great position on that third-and-10 with DJ Ivey. Got a DPI call. That’s just the way it goes sometimes, so then you just got to recover and try to find a way to get a stop. But I thought the rest of the first half, everybody played really well.”
What did you think of Joe Burrow’s performance?
“I thought he did a great job. There was a tremendous rhythm we had there on offense going to the midway point in the third quarter. Again, some things that were frustrating that stunted our drives there on the three or four. Jack Jones made the same play against the Chargers last year, so he’s an aggressive player and sometimes he catches you on stuff like that, and they capitalized on that. But I thought overall, he did an outstanding job.”
How important was it for the way he extended plays especially in the red zone?
“That’s the red zone, man. There’s scheme, you try to give yourself the best scheme. But about 50 percent of the time, you’re scoring on scrambled or extended opportunities, and so the great quarterbacks in this league understand that. The great offenses in the league play off of that, you know with the receivers. Our receivers, our running backs and tight ends, I think they all caught scrambled touchdowns today, did a great job being in-phase and Joe found them, and the line did a great job protecting him. That’s a tough group. Their defense, man. They show up to play every single week. I’ve got a lot of respect for them, and I’m proud of the way our guys handled that pressure.”
Trey Hendrickson has had a number of really good games in his career here with you. Where would you put today’s performance up there?
“Four sacks, seven quarterback hits. That’s tough to match. So again, those moments where we needed that big stop on defense, and a lot of guys came up big for us, but Trey came up the biggest. And we’re counting on him to make those plays, and he did that today. Proud of him.”
You had a receiver step up today in tight end Mike Gesicki. Talk about his performance today …
“Gesicki is a guy we’ve been able to lean on. And I know there was a lull there in the season where he didn’t get a lot of targets, but that’s just the way this offense goes sometimes. Joe (Burrow) does a great job dispersing it to wherever the concept is calling for and what the defense gives you, and Mike has done an excellent job capitalizing on his opportunities.”
Is that part of being a pro — that you don’t know when your number is going to get called, but when it’s called, you have to be ready?
“There’s no doubt. There are always conversations we’re having with guys. Everyone’s human. Everyone wants to be involved and help us win. And so, there’s always stretches where we’re not winning, and there’s a lot of guys on the team I want to make sure (they know), ‘Hey, you’re opportunity is going to come. And I know you want to help us win, and we’re going to find ways to do that.’ And I think a lot of guys did that today for us.”
Third time this year you’ve double-dipped with touchdowns before and after half time. You did it today. How important was that?
“It’s critical. For us, there are times we take the ball to start the game to try and set the tone on offense and get seven (points) and put them in a hole, and today was one of those days where we’re ready to defer and do what we just did at the half, and I think it gave us a lot of momentum. And it played out perfectly, scoring with 31 seconds left in the half and the defense holding them, and then the offense being able to bump that up to a two-score lead (after the half) … was a big part of the game.”
Jermaine Burton was a big part of the game plan coming into today. Can you explain why he was inactive?
“Jermaine was a big part of the plan. And as the week unfolded, there was a lot of positive things people were saying about him. It was all true. And then late in the week … we’ve just got to handle business the right way. And so, I can sit here and say it was a difficult decision to make him inactive, but it was absolutely the right decision with all the information we had. He’s a guy who’s going to have a really good career here, and we’re going to support him, and he wants to help us win and do things the right way, and today was just a necessary step we had to make. But we’re going to get him back in the fold and keep him moving along in becoming a pro. And there’s a lot of things to love about Jermaine. His best days are in front of him, so we’re going to make sure he achieves that.”
Was Jermaine Burton going to be a part of the game plan before he was made inactive?
“Jermaine was a big part of the plan, and as the week unfolded there were a lot of positive things people were saying about him. It was all true, and then late in the week we’ve just got to handle all of our business the right way. I can sit here and say it was a difficult decision to make him inactive, but it was absolutely the right decision with all the information we had. He’s a guy who’s going to have, I think, a really good career here, and we’re going to support him. He wants to help us win and do things the right way. Today was just a necessary step we had to make, but we’re going to get him back in the fold and keep him moving along and becoming a pro. There’s a lot of things to love about Jermaine, so his best days are in front of him and we’re going to make sure he achieves that.”
Is there any discussion of further discipline for Jermaine Burton?
“No. We’ll handle it the way that we handle it.”
What was Jermaine Burton’s reaction when he learned he would be inactive?
“Jermaine understands the situation.”
When you drafted Jermaine Burton, you stood at the podium and said the organization felt really good about the pick, knowing the character concerns that came with it. Do you still feel that way?
“I do. I still think that his best days are ahead of him. We’re going to help him get there. He wants it for himself, we want it for him as well. Sometimes, you have to do things that are like what we did to help him get to that next part. He understands that and we’re going to help him get there.”
Is it perplexing that when he’s in the game plan and his number is called, that he doesn’t make himself available?
“Again, we’re there to to support him and we’re going to make sure he gets there.”
Losing Erick All Jr. today, how critical was that?
“I hate to think about it. I don’t know all the information yet with Erick, because he was having such a tremendous rookie season. He’s just an all-around great football player. He’s got that mindset, and he means a lot to this offense. When he went out, it certainly affected a lot of things. In the middle of the drive, it affected a lot of things. That’s why we’ve got the best tight ends coach in the country in James Casey, and we’ve got the smartest tight end group in the country with the guys we have. They problem solved it in the drive, they problem solved it during multiple drives, halftime. We had a lot of 12- and 13-(personnel) in this plan, and those guys did an excellent job handling that. Sometimes you would see a little quirkiness on the field , (like one situation that) led to a delay of game. There’s some things that you try to iron out in the moment that wasn’t always perfect, but I have utmost trust in that group to overcome a loss like that and find us a way to get through the game, and then we’ll move on accordingly.”
Do you fear Erick All Jr.’s injury is severe?
“I worry about it. I don’t have all the information yet, but I’m concerned about it.”
Do you have any injury update on B.J. Hill?
“Not yet. I’ll wait until tomorrow to take that one.”
What did you think of Chase Brown today?
“Kept with it. He took a nice shot to the ribs at one point in the game and was able to come back out there and do a great job for us. He’s a tough guy. To get over 100 yards, that’s a credit to him, that’s a credit to linemen and the receivers and tight ends. Great job with the scheme there by Frank (Pollack). I’m just proud of the effort, (he) allowed us to lean on that. But when you can play with the lead, you’re able to keep hammering that and get some runs like we got. We haven’t given ourselves enough of those opportunities lately. This is a game where, when you finally get a two or three-score lead, you can lean on that and wear them down and get some bigger runs. We afforded ourselves those opportunities today.”
How did you feel about the offensive line today?
“I thought they did a great job. I thought guys really stepped up. Devin Cochran stepped up. We ran the Amarius (Mims) slip play, so he’s got to come out on the next play. Devin came in, was able to hold it down, (we) get a touchdown. Cody Ford stepped up at left tackle. Matt Lee goes in there in some of our big groupings. And then our force inside that’s always in there with Amarius has (been) really impressive. Maxx Crosby, I’ve got as much respect for him as I’ve got for any player in this league — just down in, down out, what he brings to that team. He was a huge concern of ours, and I thought our guys were all hands on deck, trying to do everything we could to make sure that we the could limit the effectiveness over there on that side.”
Did you have a problem with the late hit from Maxx Crosby on Joe Burrow?
“I could see that Burrow didn’t, the way they were talking afterwards, and so I think it was just a unique situation with the timing and the whistle and (Crosby playing) full speed. I wanted to (take issue), but I think I might’ve been close to overreacting when I saw how it played out.”
Did you have a different approach on short-yardage situations after last week against Philadelphia?
“We always try to create the best plan we have, and sometimes it’s not going to go your way. Those are always going to be huge decisions that are second guesses. So, we put the same time and energy in this week that we always do. I thought it was a good plan. Our guys did a great job executing it.”