Jake Browning + Zac Taylor React to Bengals' Bittersweet Win Over Browns
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00:00 I mean, it's better than ending with a loss, but I don't know.
00:03 I think the second the game was over,
00:05 it's just you're glad you won and didn't play bad,
00:08 but there's like, man, we were so close to the playoffs.
00:11 And, yeah, I mean, it's just so --
00:15 it's like a weird, bittersweet feeling where you won,
00:20 and it was, you know, good to go out strong with a --
00:23 you know, every team's going to be different every year,
00:24 and that's just part of the business side of it.
00:26 But, man, we were so close to the playoffs,
00:29 and it just sucks that we are going home.
00:33 So it's kind of a mixed feelings.
00:36 What was the prep like as y'all got ready for this week,
00:38 and why did y'all want to come out
00:39 and kind of make sure you got finished on a good note?
00:42 Yeah, I mean, I think for me and in my situation,
00:45 you know, starts don't grow on trees.
00:47 So every single one is important.
00:50 And I think our locker room, you know,
00:54 it starts with the type of guys you bring in the locker room,
00:56 and then, you know, the culture that Zach has established.
01:00 You know, I don't even think there was really a thought
01:02 that we were going to come out and not play hard
01:06 for a couple reasons.
01:07 I think, one, football is pretty physical,
01:09 and the second you come out not prepared,
01:10 that's where injuries happen.
01:12 And I think, two, at least for me personally,
01:15 it wasn't made -- we didn't really say anything about it,
01:18 but I think one of the cooler stats in --
01:21 you know, there's all these stats that pop up on TV,
01:24 and one of the cooler ones that I always saw --
01:27 I mean, I hate the Steelers just as much as everybody else,
01:29 but the fact that Mike Tomlin has had
01:31 that many winning seasons, you know,
01:33 hopefully however many years from now,
01:36 you know, Zach has that same thing,
01:39 and there'll be a little bit of that, like, all right,
01:40 and I guess it's 2024 now.
01:42 You know, good thing we got that win.
01:44 And so the streak's at three.
01:47 It's not even close to Mike Tomlin, but it's still alive.
01:50 And I think that's a pretty cool stat for a coach
01:53 to have, and, you know, Zach gave me my opportunity
01:58 and has treated me really, really well
02:02 and is the reason I'm still allowed
02:04 to put on pads on a Sunday.
02:07 And so I kind of wanted that for him.
02:09 I think it's a cool stat to have as a coach.
02:11 Is there any conversation amongst the players
02:12 about that stat, Ben, I think, or just something you thought about?
02:14 No. Just something I thought about.
02:18 I mean, there's a lot of reasons to go play hard.
02:19 You're in the NFL, and just because you're not in the playoffs,
02:22 you know, I think you always kind of remember it on
02:25 how do you play, prepare, and what was your intensity like
02:30 when you're backs --
02:33 I guess not backs against the wall,
02:34 but just in games that don't matter.
02:37 So I wanted to go out strong.
02:39 As you said, starts don't grow on trees.
02:41 How do you think you did over the summer?
02:44 I mean, the goal was to make it into the playoffs,
02:46 so that part, not well.
02:51 I think as we get further away from the season,
02:54 I'll remember the good, hopefully,
02:56 but I think I'm kind of wired to remember some losses
02:59 that I could have played better.
03:04 But I think I've established that I'm capable
03:07 of being a starter in the NFL.
03:10 It's obviously a weird situation where I feel like,
03:14 hey, I'm one of the top 32 quarterbacks in the world,
03:16 and I just so happen to be on a roster with a guy
03:18 that's proven that he's a top-five quarterback
03:20 in the world.
03:21 And so, you know, what that looks like going forward,
03:25 I have no idea, nor do I have any control,
03:28 so I'm not going to think about it a ton.
03:30 But I think when I go watch all my film
03:36 to try and figure out what I'm going to work on this offseason,
03:38 I'll be proud of what I put on tape.
03:41 But the goal was to go to the playoffs, and we didn't,
03:44 so that's pretty motivating going into the offseason, too.
03:47 Besides the obvious of, like you said,
03:49 making the playoffs, when you look back
03:51 at that first starting opportunity in the NFL,
03:53 is there anything over these last few weeks
03:54 you could have done differently?
03:57 I mean, find a way to win one of the last two games.
04:00 I mean, all three of the losses,
04:01 just find a way to get one of those.
04:03 And I don't think there was really, like,
04:08 any overarching theme to them.
04:12 It's just, you know, you got to find a way
04:13 to go win at Arrowhead.
04:14 You got to go find a way to win at the Steelers
04:16 or at home against the Steelers.
04:18 So, really, just figure out how to play better
04:20 against the Steelers would be kind of the main takeaway.
04:22 But, yeah, I don't have any, like, overarching theme.
04:26 I think that I don't want to have opinions
04:28 until I watch all my film together,
04:31 and I think you start to get a feel for, like,
04:33 what the things you need to improve on are.
04:37 Jake, why was it important for you to reach out to Tyler Boyd
04:41 in the middle of his press gathering
04:42 to kind of show him some love?
04:45 Yeah, I think TB's --
04:47 I mean, he's been my locker mate throughout this whole year,
04:50 and I think Jamar and T get a lot of pub, and rightfully so.
04:55 I mean, they're unbelievable players.
04:57 But I think TB, at least in my experience
05:00 over the last couple of years here in watching this place --
05:02 you know, I wasn't here when it was bad,
05:04 but watching it kind of climb to the next level,
05:06 I think TB is an unsung hero,
05:09 or, like, a guy that pulls a lot of weight in the locker room,
05:13 because, you know, those two guys came here,
05:16 and he was kind of the guy, and those two guys came,
05:18 and, you know, it's a zero-sum game.
05:21 You can't throw the ball to three people every play.
05:23 And so, you know, there's a lot of touches
05:25 that went other people's ways.
05:27 But he kind of set the tone, like,
05:28 this is not going to be a prima donna room,
05:31 and that it's just really about winning
05:33 and going as hard as you can.
05:35 And, you know, I'll always have a lot of respect for TB,
05:42 and just how he carried himself.
05:44 I think he's -- you know, I throw three picks
05:48 against Pittsburgh, his hometown,
05:51 and in front of his whole family, basically,
05:54 come into the locker room, he's like,
05:55 "Hey, man, shake that off."
05:57 Everybody has one of those games.
05:59 And so, you know, I'll always remember that.
06:01 It was kind of like I said earlier,
06:03 you remember what people were like
06:04 when something bad just happened.
06:05 And so I'll always think very highly of Tyler.
06:08 How much of those kind of people
06:09 were important to creating winning culture
06:11 just for the locker room in general?
06:13 I mean, I think -- I can only speak to my experience,
06:15 but, I mean, our starting quarterback,
06:18 our franchise quarterback goes down,
06:20 he breaks his, I guess, wrist.
06:22 I don't remember exactly what it is, but he gets hurt.
06:26 First play, I come out, and we call it naked.
06:29 It's not like we were, "Hey, let's roll out to your left
06:33 and be aggressive."
06:34 And so that kind of set the tone.
06:36 Then you fast-forward a couple days, and Joe's out.
06:40 He sits up here, and that's to tell everybody,
06:41 like, "Hey, I'm out."
06:42 He's obviously -- there's a lot of emotions involved with that.
06:45 But he immediately said, "Hey, Jake's going to play great."
06:48 And, you know, I got a lot of confidence in him.
06:51 And, you know, that was just echoed by him,
06:54 Zach, teammates.
06:56 And so, you know, it's an objectively difficult position
07:00 to just step into, but it becomes much easier
07:04 when you've got the franchise guy saying,
07:05 "Hey, I think you're going to tear it up and great job,"
07:08 and sending me texts after games and being very supportive.
07:11 And, you know, it's feeling like
07:13 there was a lot of confidence in me,
07:16 whether people were faking that or not.
07:20 You know, it was appreciated and I think was a big reason
07:23 why we were able to string some wins together.
07:26 Obviously, it was not enough.
07:27 But, you know, I think it's been a special year for me,
07:32 and I'll always kind of remember
07:33 just different interactions this year,
07:37 maybe more so than, you know, years going forward
07:39 or years in the past,
07:40 just because it's kind of my first time getting some action.
07:44 Did Joe say anything to you after today's game?
07:48 I'll keep those conversations private.
07:50 But, yeah, Joe's been great,
07:52 just probably the least surprising thing
07:55 of this whole year.
07:56 Teams are on the lead.
07:57 They're starting quarterback gets hurt in the wheels
07:59 all for their season.
08:00 Like, almost from a coach perspective here,
08:02 what led to, you know, some stability down the stretch,
08:06 even though you guys didn't come off short?
08:09 I mean, yeah, all the things I just said were big,
08:12 but I think, you know, a big part of that, too,
08:14 is I had been preparing for that for a long time.
08:18 And, you know, I had a lot of support after the Ravens game,
08:23 after the Steelers game.
08:24 But, you know, there were flashes there
08:26 that earned that support, too.
08:29 And then we kind of got hot there
08:31 for a while for three games.
08:33 And, you know, there's a lot that goes into it,
08:35 and I'll give credit to, you know,
08:37 the culture and stuff like that,
08:38 but there's a big part of it, too.
08:40 I was prepared, and I was playing well.
08:42 And so, you know, you kind of --
08:44 maybe if there were some people I didn't think
08:46 it was going to go well, you know,
08:47 they didn't have a choice but to kind of believe after that.
08:51 Jake, you had a brand-new opportunity to say
08:54 to people that are in your position,
08:57 whether it be the practice squad
08:59 and wondering what their futures are going to be,
09:01 what advice would you give to those that were in that position
09:04 that you were ahead of the season
09:05 and taking the opportunity like you did yesterday?
09:08 Yeah, I think for guys on practice squad,
09:11 I think there's three buckets you can fall into,
09:13 and you don't want to fall into any of them.
09:15 You don't want to be the guy that gets cut a few times
09:18 and loses your confidence.
09:20 I think the second you do that, you know, you're screwed.
09:25 But those guys work really hard
09:26 because they're trying to, you know, build themselves up.
09:29 I think the second one is the guys that, you know,
09:32 I think they're getting screwed.
09:33 And, you know, there probably is some,
09:36 usually a half-truth there,
09:38 but those guys never lose their confidence,
09:40 but they probably don't work as hard as they need to.
09:42 And then there's the guys that I'm just happy to be here.
09:44 And, you know, you want to have that in the right situations,
09:47 like on Sunday when you're in a hoodie
09:49 or Wednesday when, you know, Joe's going through whatever.
09:53 Like, you still got to remember you're in the NFL,
09:54 but you also don't want to be the guy that, you know,
09:57 isn't working hard enough to have your --
10:00 when your opportunity does come, if it comes.
10:02 I mean, there's plenty of people that it does not ever come.
10:06 You want to be prepared.
10:07 And so I think navigating those three buckets
10:10 you can kind of fall into, take the good with the bad
10:13 of each one of those buckets,
10:16 avoiding the bad and taking the good
10:19 is kind of the way to navigate it.
10:20 That was finishing it the right way in your mind?
10:23 It was. You know, we challenged these guys
10:25 to start the game the right way.
10:27 And I think going a halftime up 24-0,
10:30 proud of the way our defense through three quarters,
10:32 you know, held them to zero.
10:34 Proud of the offense for finishing
10:35 the last scoring drive with a 99-yard touchdown drive.
10:38 I thought our special teams units played well all game,
10:41 you know, and did a really good job in the coverage
10:43 and the kicking aspects of things.
10:44 And so, again, just proud of the way
10:47 because this can be a tricky game,
10:49 you know, that last game of the season.
10:50 And I thought our guys handled it professionally
10:52 in the right way as we expected to.
10:54 And so really proud of the way that they finished there.
10:58 I'll say this also, really proud of the fans
11:00 for finishing it the right way, too.
11:01 You know, I thought the turnout today was really awesome
11:04 and the support that we've gotten from them.
11:07 And, you know, it's a game where there's not playoffs
11:09 on the line and it's cold.
11:10 And there's every excuse not to be here.
11:12 And so really it was appreciated by myself and our team.
11:15 Just to see the support.
11:16 I looked up in that upper deck and there's people up there.
11:19 And I don't know if that would be me,
11:20 but they showed up and they supported us,
11:22 and I appreciate that.
11:23 And we look forward to rewarding them
11:25 with championship-level football next year.
11:27 Talk to me about some milestones
11:28 kind of happening over here.
11:29 You've killed over 1,000, Mark McScarbord.
11:32 Yeah, you're happy for those guys
11:33 because the work that they've put in to get there.
11:35 And, you know, to get there, I think, for a lot of guys,
11:39 it's special because they put in the work.
11:41 And it's -- our team is so team-based
11:44 that everybody wants the team to do well and win.
11:47 But when you get opportunities for guys
11:48 to hit some of those personal milestones that are important
11:51 and will be forever documented,
11:52 you know, in the history of this team,
11:54 I think that's cool for the guys that were able to do that.
11:59 What was your message to the team?
12:01 You'll see them tomorrow, but you kind of --
12:02 Yeah, just proud of the way that they finished today.
12:03 That's all we could control was how we came out,
12:05 playing with really good energy.
12:08 You know, and I thought in a lot of ways
12:10 that that's what they did.
12:11 You know, we wanted to win the turnover battle.
12:13 We wanted to win the penalty battle.
12:15 You know, and so, again, I think we went into this game
12:17 first in the league in fewest penalties
12:19 and third in turnover margin.
12:21 And one of the things was, hey,
12:22 if we continue to play disciplined ball
12:24 and finish high in those two categories like we always do,
12:27 then you're going to win this game.
12:29 And I thought they did a good job responding to that.
12:31 Obviously, you came in and said you wanted to win the game.
12:33 It was a priority.
12:34 And some of those guys hit milestones,
12:36 but some of the young guys,
12:37 there was this little module two touchdown.
12:38 Yeah.
12:40 Yeah, it was good for the game to take shape the way it did.
12:44 And obviously, they arrested a bunch of their guys.
12:46 And so for us to get some opportunities
12:48 for a lot of guys that haven't gotten a lot of reps
12:50 to, you know, A, be rewarded for their efforts this season,
12:54 B, for launching Pat into the future.
12:57 So I thought there was a lot of guys
12:58 that got a lot of opportunities and made the most of it.
13:02 Does it mean anything not going winless in A
13:04 or something going to the Super Bowl?
13:05 Well, I mean, our goals are to win the division,
13:07 win the Super Bowl.
13:08 And you've got to fare well in your division
13:11 to give yourself the best opportunity to do that.
13:12 And so that's something we're always aware of.
13:15 We got to do a great job of that moving forward.
13:17 And it's a tough division.
13:19 That's well-documented.
13:20 But, you know, going one and five is in no way,
13:23 shape or form acceptable for us.
13:24 And all we could do is control today
13:26 and found a way to get a win.
13:28 How surreal is it to have a winning record?
13:29 Any of you with a winning record at the last?
13:33 It's just -- It's a good division, you know.
13:35 And we didn't do enough to give ourself our best chance.
13:38 That's really all we got.
13:42 How would you assess the win for Jake?
13:44 Were they able to kind of finish the year
13:45 and take over for Joe?
13:46 I was really proud of Jake, you know.
13:47 And, again, you don't get a lot of reps
13:50 over the course of the season.
13:51 Then you're thrown in the fire.
13:52 And, you know, we were playing really meaningful football
13:54 and found really good stretches of team-winning football
13:58 that kept us in the chase
13:59 and thought he performed very well,
14:01 gave us a lot of confidence, you know, in the future,
14:04 you know, for a backup quarterback job.
14:06 And that's one of those things.
14:07 You just never know what you can really get
14:09 until they get the opportunity to do it.
14:10 And the preseason is, you know,
14:11 we try to make it as best we can.
14:14 But you're not playing against starting-level players
14:16 and you're not playing with our starting players.
14:17 And so I thought Jake got a great opportunity.
14:19 He made the most of it.
14:20 Really proud of the way the guys rallied around him
14:22 and thought that he handled his opportunities really well.
14:26 It looked like after that 99-yard drive,
14:27 you guys kind of shared a laugh with him coming off.
14:30 What was that about?
14:32 Yeah, it was -- Yeah, we were --
14:34 The headset, I was biting on him a little bit in the headset.
14:36 And so we hugged it out.
14:38 But it was good. Good communication.
14:40 Was he upset with the --
14:41 No, we're all good. We're all good.
14:43 I'm not going to get into it.
14:45 I know that contract stuff is probably, you know,
14:47 far removed from everything you're doing right now.
14:49 But, you know, going into this game,
14:50 do you get a sense that this could be
14:52 one of the last times you play with some of the key guys?
14:54 I don't put a lot of thought on that.
14:56 You know, those conversations haven't even
14:57 begun to take place.
14:59 You know, they do their job upstairs,
15:00 and then I get up to speed as the spring goes.
15:02 So I'm not going to worry about that right now.
15:04 That being said, you still kind of --
15:06 How much do you relish kind of the moment
15:07 of being able to play one last game with this year's group?
15:09 How much is that kind of part of your thought process?
15:12 Yeah, every group, every year, it's that team, you know,
15:15 and just the way the rosters go.
15:17 It's -- Things take shape as the offseason goes,
15:20 and it's never the same.
15:21 And I do appreciate this group, you know,
15:22 for fighting to the bitter end.
15:24 And their character cannot be questioned,
15:26 you know, what they went through and what they gave us this year.
15:28 And I'm so proud of those guys for continuing to stay together.
15:32 You never saw anyone pointing fingers.
15:34 You know, even if we lost two games in a row,
15:36 you never saw people start turning on each other
15:38 and pointing fingers.
15:39 And I think that's the mark of a locker room
15:41 that's got a great chance going forward.
15:42 And so, again, just proud of our staff and players
15:45 for maintaining that throughout the season.
15:49 Zach, you've been pretty even-keeled the whole year,
15:51 win or lose. You've been the same.
15:53 You obviously think that's important.
15:55 Why as a head coach is it so important?
15:57 I just try to be true to myself.
15:59 I don't know that it's important for a head coach, necessarily.
16:01 It's my personality. It's my dad's personality.
16:04 It's my brother's personality, you know?
16:05 And so I think that's one thing that, you know,
16:08 my dad has instilled in us, is just be true to yourself.
16:10 And people respond to that better than if you're trying
16:13 to fake your way through it.
16:14 And so that's just the only way I know how to do it.
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