Zac Taylor

Head coach

Zac Taylor: Glad we won. Hard to win in this league. We've certainly been in those games before where we let them slip away and didn't get the win. Credit to Miami. They fought us tooth and nail till the very end. I thought Jeff Hafley is doing a great job with these guys, man. He's got them believing. They fought us like they fought a lot of other teams. They gave themselves a chance. There's a lot of frustrating things on our end. We had two personal fouls. We fumbled twice in the red zone. We caught a kickoff on the 4-yard line. We had a penalty on a field goal that led to a touchdown, gave them four points, and gave up over 200 yards rushing. Plenty to clean up. The bye hits us at a great time. I know these guys are worn out. We've had some down-to-the-wire games the last three weeks. I know how hot this one was today. The bye week comes at a great time for us to be 3-2. These guys will regroup. We know who we are. Today, there's a lot of things we have to clean up to be better when we go to Baltimore in two weeks.

I imagine your message at halftime, no doubt what the league was to finish this game. It sounds like you're a little disappointed in how they did.

Zac Taylor: Trust me, I'm not going to sit here - we got to win games in this league, and we've all sat in this room and seen some get away from us. We won the game and I'm excited about that. Then, our defense created a turnover there at the very end that gave us three extra points that made it a 7-point game that made it feel a little bit different. We did some good things. There are some positive things we did, but there's also some things that we don't turn the ball over in the red zone like that, the kickoff, the PAT, the field goal. Those are things that we're better than that, and we got to clean that up.

How encouraged were you with the way you ran the ball today and specifically how Samaje Perine ran it?

Zac Taylor: I thought we ran the ball well. Last week was last week. We put that one behind us. I thought we had a good week of practice. I thought our lineman really came off the ball during practice. I felt confidence coming to this game. I thought our guys finished the right way. All the guys that ran down those runs, so that part was good.

Was there something that Samaje (Perine) was bringing that helped give you guys some juice on the ground today?

Zac Taylor: I think he was finishing an extra two or three. Got a lot of confidence in Chase. Sometimes you got two great backs that you've got trust in. That's just the way it can go sometimes, and I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

What led to the two Jordan Battle interceptions?

Zac Taylor: Honestly, I don't know. I'll have to watch them. I can't remember if there's pressure involved or how they happened. I was happy when they happened. I'll have to watch them and get that.

Did you sense you guys were getting good pressure?

Zac Taylor: Yeah, I thought there were times that we were covering them well. He made some plays with his feet, so I know the rushing yards are going to come up on some big quarterback runs that he had as well, which we can't discount that. Anytime you play a guy, we're about to play a guy in two weeks, that can do the same thing. We understand. We got to do a better job there.

I believe after one of the fumbles Joe dove on the ground, it looked like he had a wrap around his left hand?

Zac Taylor: Yeah, I think he just jammed his thumb on his non-throwing hand. It's nothing; he just had a little bandage on it.

Do you think it's going to be a blueprint for the run game moving forward with what worked today?

Zac Taylor: We'll take it game-to-game on what it's going to look like for every game just to move the ball and score.

Beyond the success of running plays, was that intentional coming into the game or was that the way they were playing?

Zac Taylor: That's just the way the game was played out. They're trying to give you some underneath stuff and let you run the ball a little bit, when you're in the gun there. You got to take advantage of it and get some yards there. And take advantage of the shots when you get the favorable looks for them. Which we did with Ja'Marr on the one. Eventually, they got to come up if they're going to be in those shells, come up and make a play. I thought they did a great job. They're well coached on defense. I thought their guys tackled well and they gave us a run there. They made it hard.

Mafe had another very strong game. What has he brought to the team this year?

Zac Taylor: A relentless energy. I think you know what you're going to get with him on every play. He loves being out there and playing. He's physical in the run game and he does a great job affecting the passer. So I'm pleased with him.

What can you say about the toughness of Ja'Marr and Tee being questionable going into the game and obviously they push to play?

Zac Taylor: Hats off to them. They wanted to play, and Ja'Marr had to clear protocol on Saturday. His mindset all along was, "I'm playing." Now I hadn't seen him on the field enough to know. I appreciate him saying that, but I need to see him do it in practice, and he did. For those guys to go out there and make plays that they did for us is a big time. I don't ever question that. Those guys have been here seven years, six years, and they show up for us every chance they get. We have leaders and great players like that on your team. It sets the tone for everybody else when those guys are playing through injuries and doing everything they can to come down here and play in Miami before bye week. They could easily say, give me a week off, we'll get the bye week, and we'll come back for divisional game, but they didn't want to do that.

How many times today did you think to yourself, I'm glad we had those practices in August that we had?

Zac Taylor: Nothing really at this point in October gets you ready for this heat. Somebody told me it started off as the hottest game here in October history, which I can attest to. I've coached here for four years, and this was, I mean in pregame, I was worn out. Our players fought through that, and I told them, I made that statement to them because I know they're dead tired right now. I didn't want them to think that's just in their mind like, what's wrong with me? It was a hot day, and they battled through it and they found a way to win. I don't discount that at all.

How big has Tanner Hudson been helping you've dealt with injuries and different issues? And then that drive, he kind of wills you to a third down?

Zac Taylor: He's just Mr. Dependable, whether he's on the practice squad, whether he's on the roster; he's going to show up. He's been who we thought he was. Tanner shows up and makes plays, never complains. Erick goes down for a play, he's in. Mike goes down for a play, he's in. He knows them all, he can play them all. I just need the defense to decide who he is, so we know if we're going to get base or nickel when he's in there.

Amarius Mims went out for another couple of plays. Was that another shoe issue?

Zac Taylor: Yeah, I have no idea. He's out, shoe, he's back in. That's what I know. That's what I heard.

Joe Burrow

Quarterback

Was that the hottest game you've ever played in?

Joe Burrow: Maybe, it was certainly hot out there. But once we got into the flow, you don't really think about it too much. You know, warm-ups, a little huffing and puffing, but after that we're all good.

What did you like most about the balance you guys had on offense today?

Joe Burrow: Yeah, we ran it efficiently, but I think just not good enough all around, team-wide. I think if we want to be the team that we think we're going to be, you got to be better than that.

When you feel like that after a win, what's that like when you kind of get a little conflicted about how you won, as you kind of process, even though it's the first win in three games?

Joe Burrow: Certainly better than after a loss.

You guys head into the bye 3-2. Do you feel like you know who you are as an offense?

Joe Burrow: Yeah, I think we do. I think we do. Today was - we did some good things. We did some good things.

How do you feel like you played?

Joe Burrow: I think I played well. I think I played well.

Looked like in third down, red zone, you were effective. Why was that the case today for you?

Joe Burrow: Our receivers did a good job of finding space. We didn't get a ton of man coverage, but when we did, we made them pay. They made a good play there on the last third down. We had good field position most of the day, and I think for the most part we took advantage of it. But we had some dumb mistakes, and we got to get those fixed if we want to be a great team.

Seems like the guys that you did the damage with on third down - Samaje, Tanner, Gesicki -

everybody's worried about Ja'Marr and Tee, but it seemed like they're the complementary guys.

Joe Burrow: Yeah, Tanner made an unbelievable play on third down. He made a great play in the red zone. Dohnte won against man coverage on third down. Mike's gonna be Mike, obviously. I don't know how many touchdowns he has, but feels like every time he catches it, it's a touchdown. Samaje made a big time play down there as well. So a lot to get better at, but a lot of good as well.

Joe, can you take us through the Ja'Marr touchdown again, stepping up in the pocket?

Joe Burrow: Yeah, that's a protection I really like. It buys me time and space to push the ball down the field, and when you can push the ball down the field with the guys that we have and we can buy that kind of time, you see what No. 1 can do whenever the ball's in the air. Obviously, unbelievable play. We don't want to take it for granted, but we're used to it at this point, you know?

What about Ja'Marr and Tee playing through what they played through?

Joe Burrow: Yeah, that's football, man. That's football. When you have great players that want to be great and want to be there for the team, that's what it's all about.

Looked like you took a pretty hard hit when you were trying to fall on the ball after the Chase Brown fumble. How are you feeling at this point as we won't get to talk to you during the bye?

Joe Burrow: Yeah, I feel great. I feel great, that's football.

Did you hit your left thumb?

Joe Burrow: I'm all good.

It seemed like Samaje had an increased involvement today. Can you talk about the dynamic he brings to your offense?

Joe Burrow: Yeah, he's just Mr. Reliable and he has been my entire time here since he's been on our team. You can count on him to fall forward and get us an extra two. You can count on him to win against the linebacker in coverage. He's such a valuable piece for us and certainly doesn't get enough credit for it.

Why is he such a good fit for the types runs y'all called today? Why is he such a good fit for that?

Joe Burrow: Yeah, downhill, downhill. We count on him a lot in protection too on third down to go not just block linebackers, sometimes defensive linemen as well. And I feel really confident that if I get it to him in space on third down, he's going to go make it happen for us. He's just such a valuable piece for us.

You've gone five games in the season and now have the bye, how would you assess how you feel about this team?

Joe Burrow: Gotta be better. Gotta be better.

In what ways?

Joe Burrow: Everywhere.

Zac talked about closing out games. What specifically can you guys do to actually feel a little more comfortable?

Joe Burrow: Yeah, obviously you'd like to score a touchdown there when you get it at the 10-yard line to close it out. You know, we let them back in it and it really came down to an onside kick. You don't want to be in that spot. That's not a spot that you should give one up, but you never know what happens in that spot.

You obviously want this team to be better. How much confidence do you have after five games that you'll reach your goal to be better?

Joe Burrow: Yeah, we'll be better. We'll be better.

You talked about balance on Wednesday. I know it wasn't 50/50 today, but was this pretty close to an ideal balance?

Joe Burrow: Yeah, I haven't seen the stats or the play breakdowns, but it certainly felt like when we ran it, we were getting 4 or 5, 6 yards, putting us in third and manageable, and a lot of times converting on that second down. So on first glance, I think so.

What will it take to kind of clean up some of the errors and the things you need to be better at? What's it going to take to kind of get y'all where you want this to look like by the end of the year?

Joe Burrow: We got to be smarter. We got to be smarter. Two fumbles in the red zone. A couple of personal fouls that hurt us, hurt our field position, gave them points on the board. We got to be smarter.

The third down touchdown passes to Gesicki and Samaje, seems like you like the coverage match up there.

Joe Burrow: Yeah, the first touchdown was a great call. Rascati works really hard on those red zone plans and that was one drawn up for that coverage, so that was a great beater. The second one, Samaje just went and won on a choice route, and the way that they were playing, that was really the look that we wanted.

How hot was it?

Joe Burrow: I don't know. I'm sure you can check the weather report, man. (laughter)

Is that as hot as in camp?

Joe Burrow: Yeah, I mean, it was hot out there, but when your helmet's on, it's not too bad. And we had the shaders and the misters and everything. They take care of us out there.

What's a bye week gonna look like for you?

Joe Burrow: We'll see. I don't know. It's so early. I want to maintain my conditioning, my strength and conditioning, and certainly want to keep throwing. I'll try to find a plan. This is uncharted territory for me, having a bye this early, so we'll see.