05-25-2023, 03:08 PM
Excerpts From Paul Dehner The Athletic
Mike Thomas “There’s no comparison,” Thomas said. “We respect him (Zac) for that and we love it. We love the schedule and any chance we get we make sure he (Zac) knows and understands that.”
Ted Karras “I think Zac is one of the best schedulers ever,” Karras said. “Just an amazing schedule and great culture here.”
Dehner: The praise reflects a staff leaning into sports science research with an emphasis on what type of work must be done and what makes the most sense over the long haul of the season.
Taylor says he focuses on three priorities with his setup:
1. Refreshing systems, recall of what they do, adding tweaks.
2. Reestablishing team chemistry.
3. Bringing free agents, rookies up to speed to be ready by training camp.
“You can balance those three things with the schedule,” Taylor said. “What we focus on is the meeting time in the meeting room and on the field make sure the players understand all the techniques we are going to want.”
Still, the Bengals started 2-3 before streaking into the playoffs and those early losses cost a shot at home-field advantage versus the Chiefs. Taylor wasn’t buying an argument of correlation to the easy offseason.
“Week 1 last year we lost the turnover battle 5-0 and missed a walk-off PAT,” Taylor said. An emergency appendectomy taking away much of camp for Joe Burrow didn’t help matters, either. “To me, I just look at it logically. I don’t look at 0-2 or 2-3 and they started slow, I didn’t think that was the case. I felt there were clear reasons. There was no correlation to me with how we operated in the offseason.”
Hubbard agreed wholeheartedly. As a captain at the core of decision-making he doesn’t see this schedule as taking away anything. He views Taylor’s system as shifting to trusting players and away from chaperoning them.
“I personally don’t understand why some professional staffs babysit players like that,” Hubbard said, then acknowledging every staff and organization can have unknown dynamics at play. “That you need to be here every second. Full helmets. Full 11-on-11. I feel like that is college.”
“If I felt like guys were just going through the motions right now, then we would ramp it up,” Taylor said. “Guys are locked in. The Sam Hubbards and Trey Hendricksons, guys who have been in this league a long time, they are taking every on-air rep like it is the Super Bowl. We are still getting really good work out of this. It’s not like we are just checking a box saying we did it. We are in here getting good work in our individual work. I feel like our players are getting better.”
Hubbard leaned over his stool, huffing and puffing Tuesday, after putting himself through a rigorous post-practice workout. The Cincinnati Kid who survived a 98-yard chase in January puts it on himself to be prepared for those moments and that concept being shared matters in the way the Bengals want to operate.
“It is the relationship and trust we have developed between the coaching staff and leaders of the team,” Hubbard said. “They listen to what we have to say. We tell them what we need to stay healthy and peak at the right time. Rather than risk injuries and get unnecessary wear and tear on our bodies this time of year when it doesn’t really translate at all to the season, they listen to us and we, in turn, when it is time for us to go come training camp we give everything we’ve got because they have taken care of us and listen to us. It’s just a great working relationship.”
For now, it’s clearly not a trend. The Bengals are living in the NFL minority. Perhaps a few more scaled-back offseasons that end with practice weeks in January and February might change the attitude in this copycat league. Taylor doesn’t concern himself with any of that.
“I don’t know what the other 29 teams do,” he said, citing his experience with the Dolphins and Rams. “You are just on your own doing it the way that makes sense to you and hoping you get good work in. And we know we are getting good work in so it makes you sleep better at night.”
Mike Thomas “There’s no comparison,” Thomas said. “We respect him (Zac) for that and we love it. We love the schedule and any chance we get we make sure he (Zac) knows and understands that.”
Ted Karras “I think Zac is one of the best schedulers ever,” Karras said. “Just an amazing schedule and great culture here.”
Dehner: The praise reflects a staff leaning into sports science research with an emphasis on what type of work must be done and what makes the most sense over the long haul of the season.
Taylor says he focuses on three priorities with his setup:
1. Refreshing systems, recall of what they do, adding tweaks.
2. Reestablishing team chemistry.
3. Bringing free agents, rookies up to speed to be ready by training camp.
“You can balance those three things with the schedule,” Taylor said. “What we focus on is the meeting time in the meeting room and on the field make sure the players understand all the techniques we are going to want.”
Still, the Bengals started 2-3 before streaking into the playoffs and those early losses cost a shot at home-field advantage versus the Chiefs. Taylor wasn’t buying an argument of correlation to the easy offseason.
“Week 1 last year we lost the turnover battle 5-0 and missed a walk-off PAT,” Taylor said. An emergency appendectomy taking away much of camp for Joe Burrow didn’t help matters, either. “To me, I just look at it logically. I don’t look at 0-2 or 2-3 and they started slow, I didn’t think that was the case. I felt there were clear reasons. There was no correlation to me with how we operated in the offseason.”
Hubbard agreed wholeheartedly. As a captain at the core of decision-making he doesn’t see this schedule as taking away anything. He views Taylor’s system as shifting to trusting players and away from chaperoning them.
“I personally don’t understand why some professional staffs babysit players like that,” Hubbard said, then acknowledging every staff and organization can have unknown dynamics at play. “That you need to be here every second. Full helmets. Full 11-on-11. I feel like that is college.”
“If I felt like guys were just going through the motions right now, then we would ramp it up,” Taylor said. “Guys are locked in. The Sam Hubbards and Trey Hendricksons, guys who have been in this league a long time, they are taking every on-air rep like it is the Super Bowl. We are still getting really good work out of this. It’s not like we are just checking a box saying we did it. We are in here getting good work in our individual work. I feel like our players are getting better.”
Hubbard leaned over his stool, huffing and puffing Tuesday, after putting himself through a rigorous post-practice workout. The Cincinnati Kid who survived a 98-yard chase in January puts it on himself to be prepared for those moments and that concept being shared matters in the way the Bengals want to operate.
“It is the relationship and trust we have developed between the coaching staff and leaders of the team,” Hubbard said. “They listen to what we have to say. We tell them what we need to stay healthy and peak at the right time. Rather than risk injuries and get unnecessary wear and tear on our bodies this time of year when it doesn’t really translate at all to the season, they listen to us and we, in turn, when it is time for us to go come training camp we give everything we’ve got because they have taken care of us and listen to us. It’s just a great working relationship.”
For now, it’s clearly not a trend. The Bengals are living in the NFL minority. Perhaps a few more scaled-back offseasons that end with practice weeks in January and February might change the attitude in this copycat league. Taylor doesn’t concern himself with any of that.
“I don’t know what the other 29 teams do,” he said, citing his experience with the Dolphins and Rams. “You are just on your own doing it the way that makes sense to you and hoping you get good work in. And we know we are getting good work in so it makes you sleep better at night.”
Romo “ so impressed with Zac ...1 of the best in the NFL… they are just fundamentally sound. Taylor the best winning % in the Playoffs of current coaches. Joe Burrow” Zac is the best head coach in the NFL & that gives me a lot of confidence." Taylor led the Bengals to their first playoff win since 1990, ending the longest active drought in the four major North American sports, en and appeared in Super Bowl LVI, the first since 1988.
