After Joe Flacco took a snapshot of his signed No. 1 Ja’Marr Chase jersey and texted it to his kids Monday morning, he went big picture to talk about Zac Taylor.
Taylor, the latest head coach in Flacco's 18-year journey through the NFL, had just received a statement of support from Bengals president Mike Brown. Flacco, who has old schooled it for John Harbaugh and Vic Fangio and been to new school with Kevin Stefanski and Shane Steichen, got it.
"Continuity, but he's also really good at what he does," Flacco said. "Zac's got a lot of respect in this locker room. I think he does a great job cultivating a good culture and gaining a lot of respect from the guys. When you have that, you're always super close. It's just a matter of putting little pieces together and going from there."
Also receiving Brown's endorsement the morning after the season was director of player personnel Duke Tobin as he began an offseason staring at the 10th pick in April's draft. Defensive end Joseph Ossai, selected in the 2021 draft during the year the Bengals went to the Super Bowl, understood that, too, and extended his own support for defensive coordinator Al Golden.
"Beautiful," said Ossai when reporters gave him the word of Brown's support for Taylor and Tobin. "They've done it before. They know what it takes to get there. Multiple times. The confidence stems from that.
"Personally, the way Zac takes care of us as players. The way he runs the locker room. The way Al is just focused in everything he does … When I say I wanted to be back, that's what I'm talking about."
But since this is a Monday after a season where the travel bags came out instead of the playoff game plans, just exactly who Taylor and Tobin would be doing it with in 2026 is left to be unpacked.
Ossai, a free agent, wants to come back. Flacco, another free agent, is looking for the next start somewhere but Taylor made it welcoming enough to be Joe Burrow’s backup that a return is among his options.
Right guard Dalton Risner, another free agent, has let everyone know why he wants to be back. On Monday, he cited everyone from players to coaches.
"A huge part of it is Zac. He's the type of guy I want to play for," Risner said. "Scott Peters. Mike McCarthy. Dan Pitcher. Amarius Mims. Orlando Brown Jr. Ted Karras. Joe Burrow. Come on dude. No brainer. Good people, good fans, good city."
The guys who know they're coming back also welcomed the news. Taylor's offense continues to rack up top NFL numbers while his defense is riding the vibe of the last eight weeks after the bye, when it allowed fewer than 18 points per game.
"This was an organization that at full strength and ready to roll, they were competing for championships and back-to-back AFC championships. One Super Bowl appearance," said tight end Mike Gesicki as he looked to his ninth NFL season. "I think the proof is in the pudding. 2025 isn't what we envisioned. I think 2026 is going to be exciting."
He points to Taylor's offense that despite going through three starting quarterbacks this season, it ended up leading the AFC in touchdown passes. From Flacco's first start on Oct. 12 through Sunday's finale, the Bengals had the second-most touchdown passes in the NFL, the third most passing yards and the sixth most total yards. And from Oct. 16, running back Chase Brown matched Buffalo's James Cook with eight games of a combined 100 yards.
"Love him. Unbelievable head coach," Gesicki said. "I think he does a great job in terms of relating to players and what he does offensively with the schemes and the playcalling, it doesn't get better than what he does."
Cornerback DJ Turner II, who emerged as their best defensive player, thinks that side of the ball had time to find its legs after the bye.
"Love Coach Zac," Turner said. "After the bye week, we flipped the switch. A whole bunch of young players playing. A new DC. A new team just started gelling together. I love Coach Al. Everything about him. Calls. How he used me. The relationship we have. Everything."
Dax Hill, their most versatile defender and their first draft pick after they went to the Super Bowl, believes they've got enough juice to get back.
"We've got that caliber of team to do that. We've got the right guys in place. We just came up short," said Hill, who teamed with Turner in that last stretch to form an estimable tandem on the outside. "The first couple of weeks of the season, we were getting our feet wet. We got the wrinkles out after the bye. It wasn't good timing, but let's run it back."
Another first-rounder, defensive end Myles Murphy, had his fingerprints all over the defensive resurgence with four of his career-high 5.5 sacks in the last eight games. Ossai is not surprised that along with Hill and Turner, Murphy is a major building block in 2026.
"Myles became an all-caps dude this year," Ossai said. "I always said he had the intangibles. He just needed an opportunity and get the confidence to know he can do it. And you could see it every week when he got more confident the way he played. The swagger about him is different."
Murphy, heading into his fourth year after nearly doubling his snap-count high with 682, sees that swag developing around him. He remembers as a rookie the defense coming off two straight AFC North titles.
"One thing I noticed about that defense is they had clear leadership," Murphy said. "And I think that's what's beginning to happen now. Young guys that need to step up are actually stepping up. DJ. Dax. (Safety Jordan) Battle. There are plenty of guys I could name."
As Flacco got ready to exit, he carried a mini- memorabilia shop under his arm (don't forget the Tee Higgins No. 5), but he had plenty of reasons to come back.
"Our staff here, they probably realize they're in a very unique situation where they have a handful of guys who have been together for a decent amount of time and they work very well together," Flacco said. "You have to give them a lot of credit for that."
