MINNEAPOLIS _ One of those locker rooms Sunday where you can only hear the zipping of travel bags and the resolve of pros. No music. Just a drumbeat of disappointment and determination.

"You could say today was disappointing, but I'm not disappointed in this team," said center and captain Ted Karras after the loss to the Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium stopped the second-longest regular-season winning streak in Bengals history at seven.

Head coach Zac Taylor has relied on the locker room chemistry he has cultivated in the greatest and toughest times during his seven years, and this is no different. Except the kids who have watched the departed Sam Hubbards and Vonn Bells have now graduated early.

Before captains like Karras and left tackle Orlando Brown Jr., vowed to the media to get it fixed in time for Monday night's rematch of AFC playoff contenders at Mile High, second-year cornerback Josh Newton waited for Taylor to finish his post-game message before giving one of his own.

With Cam Taylor-Britt (hamstring) sidelined, Newton made his second start of the season and eighth of his career, nearly doubling his season snap count by leading the defense with 54 of the 60.

The man they naturally call, "Fig," took another play with a few words.

"Our guy Fig is a big voice," said defensive tackle Kris Jenkins Jr., his 2024 draft classmate who led the way with 1.5 sacks. "And he really said what we were thinking. We've got vets all around us keeping us level-headed throughout the game in all phases, all positions. It's a great thing to have. It's not a great feeling to go out the way we did, but that's a great thing to have."

On Sunday, Taylor said they weren't going to "run away," from solving the run-game issues. Karras, who has started all 54 games for the Bengals since the 2022 AFC North title season, predicted "a truth-telling Monday."

But he got to the point Sunday.

"We have a lot of work to do if we want to get to where we want to get," Karras said. "We sit at 2-1, got killed in Minnesota. We have to flush it and have a healthy dose of honesty. The most disappointing thing is (the offensive line) all took a turn against a very good front. To let the game get away from us, I feel like was an O-Line responsibility."

There were flashes of what's going to keep this thing together. Newton and his band limited Hall-of-Fame wide receiver Justin Jefferson to one explosive to go with 75 yards, 20 fewer than his all-time leading per game average.

Jenkins led a surge up front that had the Bengals in it late in the first half. When he sacked Vikings quarterback Carson Wentz on third-and-12 with 3:38 left in the first half, the Bengals had allowed just 89 yards.

What had the attention of Taylor and his O-Line were running back Chase Brown’s three yards on 10 carries. They had spent the week prepping the run game in order to ease quarterback Jake Browning into his first start of the season in one of the league's loudest venues against Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores' notoriously fast and multiple scheme that leads the NFL in blitzes.

For the season, Brown has 93 yards on 47 carries.

"It's not pretty right now. We're not going to run from that," Taylor said. "We've got to really identify where we're going to be in the run game, what we're going to hang our hat on, who we're going to run behind.

"I mean, there's a lot of that going on that we've got to really sort out and identify problems and be able to correct them, on the run and during the course of the week."

Orlando Brown Jr., a captain and spokesman, took the blame from the get-go. On the Bengals' first snap, he couldn't get to Vikings linebacker Jonathan Greenard knifing inside him before dropping Chase Brown for a yard loss.

"It starts with me being better in those situations. I have to execute better," Orlando Brown said. "I had two TFLs out there, especially on the first play of the game. To me, it starts with that. Just comes down to execution."

Which is what leaders say. Taylor made sure to say he's starting with the entire offense.

"This is a collective effort. I didn't see the line have one turnover today," Taylor said. "I saw a bunch of other guys have five. I didn't see one of those from the linemen. So very clearly, this is on the entire team."

Brown Jr., a third-year Bengal, has seen this team persevere through plenty. He recalled Browning's 4-3 run at the end of 2023 in place of Joe Burrow. There was last season's playoff push that claimed the last five must wins. He sees another window on the Monday Night stage in Denver in a replay of last year's Paycor Stadium Instant Classic that the Bengals took in overtime.

"We've got everything we need in here. We've got a ton of faith in every man in here to do their job," Brown said. "We just have to execute. That's an 11-man job on offense.

"We've got so much football left down the road. To me, this is very much a learning and growing moment."

Two years ago, when Browning replaced Burrow, he led the Bengals to 348 yards per game. After basically half that on Sunday, Browning is going big picture.

He's a proven high-percentage passer. He came in at 69.8%, the best of anyone with at least 100 attempts. And he was 70. 3% Sunday on 19 of 27, but they're looking to jack up the yards per attempt that sat at 5.2 Sunday.

"I'm not going to sit here and talk about the run game when I don't feel like I played very well," Browning said. "I played my part in us not being able to sustain drives, finish drives throughout the game. And so that's my focus. I'll be sure to really know my run calls and make sure we're running the right plays into the right looks, getting it called right. But I got my own stuff that I'm pretty focused on trying to get better at."

Which is what leaders say, no matter the age. Defensive coordinator Al Golden has been praising Newton all spring and summer for his leadership, which is one of the reasons they drafted him in the 2024 fifth round.

Even before the draft, one of his speeches at Texas Christian went viral. He's been bandied about as a future captain. Sunday seemed to be just natural to him.

Don't listen to the outside noise as they cope with life without Burrow. File it and go back to the office.

"I feel this is a turning point right now, not just later down the line, but like right now," Newton said. "Everything we're going through right now is going to be magnified. We have to be on our stuff even more.

"We have to stay mentally strong. We have to stay loyal with each other. Pick each other up …We can't play like this again. It's one game, it's over. Put it behind us and go back to work."

Newton turned 25 a week ago Sunday. This Sunday, he put on a few more years.

"You have to be a light at some point," said Newton, getting ready to zip up his bag.