Bengals players (12.8.19)
BENGALS PLAYERS
S Jessie Bates III:
On how disappointed it was to have his 2nd interception wiped out:
“I’m not going to talk about the call, but anytime you get a big play taken away as a team it sucks.”
On the loss:
“Anytime you win the turnover battle and the lose game, it sucks. I think we played well enough to win, but it wasn’t consistently enough to win today. It sucks obviously, but we have another opportunity next week to gain some momentum as a team.”
On if he ever questioned why aren’t they winning during the game:
“Even when we were down one going into halftime, it felt like we were winning. I don’t know what it was, maybe that’s a good time. We were having good vibes around here. I felt confident that we could win the game from starting from the beginning.”
On if this was a solid performance from the defense:
“Yeah. Obviously there are a lot of good things that we did and a lot of things that can get better. I think in the 3rd quarter they rushed the ball pretty well, but we’ll have to go into film tomorrow and make the connections.”
On the effects of Bengals’ HB Joe Mixon’s successful game despite the loss:
“We don’t really think about it individually on who had a good game. All that matters is if it’s a W or an L at the end of the game. Unfortunately, we lost the game. I’m excited for (RB) Joe (Mixon), he works hard and he deserves all the success he is having so I am not surprised at all.”
WR Tyler Boyd:
On the loss:
“At the end of the day, they made more plays. That’s what really held us back. If we execute more plays, we got it.”
On how frustrating it is be in a close game with a lot of reviews that could go either way:
“I felt we had the game won since the moment we stepped on the field. I felt like they couldn’t stop us the whole first half. The second half slowed down but we were still able to move the chains and the ball. I thought we didn’t make those plays when we needed to, in the big times. We have to come back next week ready to beat the Patriots.”
On the moving down the field well but not being able to get into the end zone:
“That’s the part that hurts. I think we are last place in the red zone, so it hurts. We really pride ourselves on improving in that area. Getting down there twice hurts because you have to score. You can’t beat teams by settling for three points. That’s the main area we have to improve in.”
On the team’s attitude with only three games left in the season:
“For me, I am going to continue to go out there and fight. I have never been a quitter and never will be. Despite what our record says. I’m going to go out there, continue to be the guy I am, push everyone around me to fight for each other and just play football. That’s what we are out here to do. We are professionals. Just because we lose, doesn’t mean you can’t continue to be you and play your game. We have to continue to work.”
DE Carlos Dunlap:
On the loss:
“We are good, but we lost the game.”
On winning the turnover battle for the first time all season:
“Statistics say 85% of the teams that win the turnover battle, win the game. We lost, so that’s the 2019 Bengals season.”
On how he describes 2019 Bengals Season:
“We have lost 12 games.”
On whether or not penalties played into the game today’s loss:
“Yeah, penalties will cost you the game. We had a couple in critical situations taken away. A lot of big plays at big times during the game.”
On the defense’s performance:
“I think we lost the game and we are 1-12.”
OT Bobby Hart:
On the Bengals’ performance:
“Each week we have been meeting together and just figuring out how to get things going. It has been paying off. We have continue to keep (Bengals RB) Joe (Mixon) running and keep (Bengals QB) Andy (Dalton) clean, and just grind out as many wins as we can.”
On the improvement of the Bengals’ run game:
“We have been really making a collective effort to make sure we get the run game going. We know what type of talent Joe is. It does not make sense to have him and not use him. Whatever the issue may be, at the end of the day, we have one goal and that is to keep him running and let him use his ability. That is what we were trying to do.”
On the head-butt being uncharacteristic of Joe Mixon:
“He is getting after it, and I love it. He has high intensity. He wants to score every play. He wants to let people know that they cannot tackle him. I love it.”
RB Joe Mixon:
On the Bengals’ run game today:
“The offensive line did a great job blocking up front. (Bengals Head Coach) Zac (Taylor) was dialing up some calls. Everybody was all locked in. They did a great job today. Hats off to them.”
On having the most yards all season and not getting the win:
“At the end of the day, I do not care how many yards I rush for. I want to win. That is my attitude on it. There was a lot of stuff we could not control. We just have to get better and get ready for next week. We have three weeks to put it all on tape.”
On if the Browns’ defense did anything differently in the red zone:
“No, they did not do anything different. They did everything that we expected. We just have to capitalize. We got down there a few times and nothing to [show] for it. We did not do that today. Luckily, we play them in a few weeks and we have to put it together. We have to be ready.”
On if he wishes the Bengals would have dialed his number more in the red zone:
“At the end of the day, I cannot control their play calling. I just try to do whatever I can and put the team in the best position to win. We just have to get better at executing.”
WR John Ross III:
On if the hold call was a clean block:
“I had him in his chest. The reason why it maybe looked like I was holding was he tried to get away at the last second and (Bengals RB) Joe (Mixon) ran by him already.”
On if he thought it was a hold:
“No, I did not think it was a hold at all.”
On committing uncharacteristic penalties:
“We will clean it up. We can control what we can control.”
On the level of frustration with the red zone inefficiency:
“It is obviously frustrating, but it is just something we have to keep chomping at the bit and get better at.”
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