MADRID _ Bengals head coach Zac Taylor began and ended his first Madrid news conference Thursday with "Encante Madrid," but other than "I love Madrid," it was Taylor loving business as usual here at the practice home of the reigning World Cup champions, with the Bengals keeping their eye on Sunday's game (9:30 a.m.-Cincinnati's Channel 5, NFL Network) against the Falcons at storied Bernabéu Stadium.

So even though Thursday's practice was at the Spanish national team's international practice facility known as La Ciudad del Futbol, or The Football City, Taylor's goal is running it just like it was on the Kettering Health Practice Fields adjacent to Paycor Stadium. That means it's the heaviest and longest practice of the week, with much of it devoted to third down.

Taylor reiterated his biggest concern about the Bengals' first international trip in seven years is keeping his schedule intact. And the next biggest thing is food.

"Keeping the schedule as close to our routine as possible," said Taylor, whose club arrived by bus via a 20-minute police escort from their downtown Madrid hotel. "There's the bus rides you've got to factor into. They're used to walkthroughs at 11:45 every single day. Practice starts this time, meeting starts this time. We want to keep it as seamless as possible so they feel like they're in the rhythm.

"Normally, we would have had a walkthrough and then have lunch and then come to practice. So this one is making sure they have food before we got on these buses, and after the long walkthrough and practice, food immediately after."

That's the thinking Taylor used to decide to start the trip Tuesday night rather than Thursday night.

"We're doing everything we can to get ready for the game and keep our normal schedule to where they're hearing the same things that they usually hear in the same rhythm weekly," Taylor said. "I'm sure over the next day and a half we'll get our feet underneath us. We have two real practices. But I think like anybody, your body's adjusting right now … The reason we got here so early was so that we feel that."

Slants and Screens

Bengals cornerback DJ Turner II (heel) moved smoothly as the Bengals took the pitch Thursday. Turner, who missed the last quarter and overtime of last Sunday's win over the Titans, looks good to go against his hometown team …

Taylor was quizzed by the local media about his knowledge of Spanish sports, and he came out of it OK.

"Spain won the World Cup, right? I was here yesterday looking for it," Taylor said. "It's not here. Traveling around Spain. I learned that. It's on a little tour of Spain, but I did my best to find it.

"I know it's a big soccer country. That's their number one sport. I'm not quite sure how much they know about our game yet. Hopefully, they'll learn a lot over the course of this week." …

He has also been reading up on Bernabéu, the famous stadium built in 1947. He knew it was the first or second-largest soccer stadium in Europe (second, the media told him; the one in Barcelona is first), and that it's hosted some memories.

"I know the tradition of soccer here is unbelievable. People follow it; they're very passionate," Taylor said. "So I think to be able to be in a stadium where there's so much history with the team is cool for our guys to have that chance. It might be the only chance we get to see a stadium like that with the soccer tradition. So we'll embrace and enjoy it. I like walking around these grounds, where the national team practices. It's fun to get to enjoy some of the things like that." …

All politics is local, and Taylor gave the political answer when asked what his favorite soccer team is in Madrid. Real Madrid or Club Atlético?

"That's always been kind of a tie for me," Taylor said. "I like both of the teams you were just talking about." …

Asked what identifies the Bengals, Taylor went full Who-Dey.

"Our colors stand out. I think our logo is iconic for me. I like seeing that all over the world. So I encourage the Spanish fans to buy as much Bengals gear as they can and wear it proudly and say Who Dey," Taylor said. "That's our saying. Who Dey. So you can utilize that all over Spain, all over Madrid, and we'll respond back with 'Who Dey!' Let's get everybody to say it. Every time they see anybody wearing orange or black, that'd be great." …

Taylor was also asked to give a quick American football primer.

"I think what most fans that maybe haven't watched the game, the scoring may be challenging at times to figure out. But you've got a lot of opportunity to cheer," Taylor said. "You've got a lot of opportunity to cheer when your offensive team scores or makes a big play. You've got a lot of opportunity to cheer when the defense gets a sack or a big third down stop, and then we roll our specialists out there.

"And there's some great punts that are worth cheering for, and there's some long field goals nowadays in the NFL. So I think if you're a fan, you just get an opportunity to yell quite a bit. My remembrance of playing in London is there's a lot of cheering on the opening kickoff, a lot of kickoffs draw cheers, but you don't score normally on kickoffs. So there doesn't need to be as much cheering as I've seen on kickoffs. But they can cheer if they want." …