The Bengals head coach says the three stars are dedicated to winning.
The Cincinnati Bengals are off to a bad start, having lost to the New England Patriots and Washington Commanders in ugly fashion already.
No doubt, the team had a rough offseason in which Ja’Marr Chase had a hold-in, Tee Higgins didn’t report to camp before eventually signing the tag, and Trey Hendrickson reportedly threatened to retire if he wasn’t traded.
But Zac Taylor isn’t going to blame his star players.
Here’s what he told Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer:
“I can’t point to that as the reason we’ve lost any of those games. And I couldn’t be happier with how those three guys are handling themselves right now… Honestly, you wouldn’t even know that they had those situations going on because they’ve just kind of gone all in with the team.”
Coach Taylor is on his players’ side, meaning, he thinks they have a legitimate case. But he also wants to win and feels they are on the same page. Here’s what he told Breer:
“We’ve got guys that deserve to be paid and want to be paid. But we also got guys that want to win a Super Bowl. I can’t speak for them, but I do know that they know, ‘Hey, if I show up and I work, we got a chance to do some special things.’ That’s kind of the attitude I see from those guys.”
Up next is the a huge game against the Baltimore Ravens at home. Chase is coming off an electrifying 63-yard touchdown against the Carolina Panthers where Higgins acted as lead blocker. And Hendrickson has been unstoppable but is recovering from a stinger. Will those three make enough plays to offset Baltimore’s run game?
We previewed the matchup wtih Zim Whodey. You can watch below:
You can also listen on iTunes or using the player below:
