Quotes from:

**Zac Taylor**

Head coach

On what has not been translating for the starting defense:

"Preseason. I feel really excited about where our defense is at. We go against them every day, it's tough. We'll continue to fix the things we can fix from the preseason game."

On the energy and effort from the defense tonight:

"We'll look at the tape and assess where it's at. We practice against them every single day. Love where our defense is at. There's a lot of things that give the offense a really hard time right now, so we'll just continue to build off of that."

On why QB Joe Burrow was in the game with backups:

"Yeah. And that was really something he had talked about with me. You know, getting [WR] Ja'Marr [Chase] and [WR] Tee [Higgins] out of there and working with some of the guys that you never know, at some point in the season, you gotta work with them. We've got different roles for all those guys, and I thought those guys stepped up well and supported him and were able to put together that touchdown drive on that third drive."

On if he wanted to try and get T Jalen Rivers in with the first team:

"That wasn't necessarily the plan. I mean, that's something we've talked about over time. You know, I think [G] Lucas [Patrick] is a little dinged up right now, so we'll assess where he is at. That's really what happened there."

On a report that the team is listening to trade offers for DE Trey Hendrickson:

"I got nothing to do with that."

On WR Mitchell Tinsley:

"Baller. Yeah, he just works hard. He's become a guy that everybody really respects in the locker room. I don't know that I've ever heard him speak. Maybe someone can get him tonight. He just goes out there and just works, and we respect that. And again, he created the opportunities for himself. He's done enough in practice to where we wanted to put him in positions to be at the point of attack when he was in the game there, and he rewarded himself with touchdowns and catches and extending drives, and he's someone that's reliable for the quarterbacks in August. So just proud of him. This is the last team he was with, if I'm not mistaken, so probably a neat situation for him to come back on this field and do what he just did."

On if he made Tinsley a game captain because he was coming back to play his former team:

"You know, him and [LB] Joe Giles-Harris are just two guys – there are a lot of guys that have had really good camps, but those are just two guys that have just quietly done what we've asked them to do and continue to work every single day to get better. And again, there could have been a bunch of guys we put out there, but just felt appropriate for today. One guy on offense and one guy on defense."

On QB Jake Browning's performance:

"I thought [QB] Jake [Browning] did a good job. Got a good rhythm. We had some back-to-back plays that we got to look at pre-snap. What happened, I'm not entirely sure. Stalled out that one drive, but I thought Jake did a really good job keeping the ball moving forward, finding completions – managing. There were some check situations he had to get into defensively that I thought he did a good job of. I was proud of the way Jake played. He got the ball on the minus two one time and got us all the way across. Probably felt like we should have gotten a little more there, but Jake did a good job moving us."

On if he was holding his breath on the Burrow scramble:

"No, it's one of those things for him. That's what preseason football is for. Do I love seeing that, no I don't. But at the same time, he's out there learning what he can and can't do. And we've seen him get out of that stuff before, and that's why he's playing in the preseason. For a chance to feel what it's like to feel in a game. And there's times where he's going to get out of that and get a big play, and there's going to be times where we're in a tough spot on the two-yard line. And so he gets a chance to feel that and learn from it, and so again, I think there's good three good series that we will continue to grow from."

On if he was always going to get three drives:

"In my head, it was always two to three. I don't know what I said publicly. I think if that second drive was a clean touchdown drive, maybe that would have prevented it, but we gave him a third one because of the way that second one ended."

On if G Cody Ford got injured in practice:

"Yeah, I wouldn't say serious injury. I didn't see any reason to play him tonight through that injury. I think if it was a game, he would have been available. He definitely would have played. So, it's better to just let him rehab through."

On where he thinks the first team offense is after scoring four touchdowns in five drives this preseason:

"There's always things we can clean up. And so, I don't think it's where we want to be yet for Cleveland. We'll assess this tape and see where we were good, in the protection and run game, and how detailed we were in the pass game. But I like where this offense and this team is at right now at this point in training camp, I really do. The defense has – we've had some days where it's been difficult days, the defense has definitely won the day. So, I like where guys are at from a health perspective, we're in a good spot, all things considered, where we're at in training camp. And so we just got to have one more great week, and then we kind of get that bonus week for Cleveland and be ready to go."

On if there is anything that jumps out to him about what he likes about the defense through the first two preseason games:

"Yeah, there's things we're going to continue to build on. We're not pushing the envelope with what we're asking them to do right now. Playing it as close to the vest as possible. Obviously, we shouldn't give up big runs like that. So those are things that we have to clean up. There have been about three of them so far in these two games. So those are things that we don't want and we can avoid. And whatever the call is, we should do a better job of that. At the same time, I know what I see everyday in practice and I'm excited about the direction of the defense."

On if RB Chase Brown getting the goal line rep and being able to punch it in is a bonus:

"Yeah, I mean, that's a mentality. I think we're on the one-yard line there, fourth-and-goal, so it's good for our guys to get somewhat of a surge there and push the ball in the end zone. And we're going to be in those situations at some point this year."

JOE BURROW

Quarterback

On what he liked overall offensively:

"Some good, some bad. Some plays I'd like back, obviously. Mistakes that we can't make in the regular season that we made tonight, but that's why it's the preseason."

On if he wanted the sack in the second series to be his last play of the night:

"The plan was around three [drives], so it was good to get another one."

On if he feels comfortable with his protection in the pocket

"I do, yeah, I do. We'll make work with whatever we got, but I think it's been pretty good. And we didn't go up against the ones last week, but today we did, and I felt pretty comfortable back there."

On their commitment to the run game this season:

"Yeah, I think we've been efficient so far. Game one I thought we were really good today. I'm not sure what we would've averaged, but it felt like we had 3,4,5,6 yards every time we tried to, so if we can do that, that'll be the recipe for success for us."

On Bengals HB Chase Brown's 4th & Goal touchdown run:

"Yeah, it was really a great run by him. They had two extra guys at the point of attack, and Chase just made a great physical, hungry run to get in the end zone. That's what we need this year."

On the third drive with a receiver lineup he's not used to:

"I don't think it's any secret that we've had to play games without [Bengals WR] Tee [Higgins] and [Bengals WR] Ja'Marr [Chase] in the past. That's football. Guys are gonna get dinged up, guys are gonna miss some games. I've missed games. That's life in the NFL, and so you need guys to step up, and I need reps with those guys at some point. At practice, we haven't really had that. We've been healthy. Tee and Ja'Marr have been out there, and [Bengals WR Andrei] "Drei" [Iosivas] has been out there. So getting reps with [Bengals WR Charlie] "Chuck" [Jones] and [Bengals WR] Mitch [Tinsley] and Drei out there in different situations, in different positions and running different routes, that's really valuable."

On if Bengals WR Mitchell Tinsley made the roster:

"Sure hope so."

On if this is the end of his preseason snaps and how he feels going into the regular season:

"Yeah, we'll see. We'll have those conversations this week. I know it's a short week, so I doubt it. But I always find those reps valuable, and I can get better from those, so whatever [Bengals HC] Zac [Taylor] decides on, I'm happy to go out there and play as well. Some good learning experiences in the couple drives that we've had, got some fumbles out of the way, so that was good. Yeah, those are just incredibly valuable reps that usually work out those kinks in the first couple weeks of the regular season, and we worked them out the last two weeks."

On if this is the most prepared he's felt heading into the regular season:

"Still got two weeks, so not yet because we still have two weeks of prep left. Ask me again and maybe I'll have an answer for you."

On if his confidence has wavered with Bengals DE Trey Hendrickson's situation:

"Yeah, I don't know. I think, historically, these deals with us have gotten done closer to Week 1. I signed on Thursday before the first game, and Ja'Marr's started to pick up that week before last year, too. And we were able to get Tee and Ja'Marr done early this year, so that was great. But I think historically the way we've done business is it tends to pick up here in the next two weeks, so we'll see."

On if getting sacked is something to get used to:

"Yeah, this is the time to make those mistakes and learn from them and the game doesn't count towards the record."