Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor garnered rave reviews in the head-coaching search and with anyone he’s come across since taking the gig for his demeanor and command of a room.
He’s showing it on the interview circuit.
Coming out of rookie minicamp, Taylor swatted at an AFC North question from SiriusXM NFL Radio with the following:
“It’s a tough division. You know a lot of those teams have really talented players, great coaching staffs. A lot of those teams are getting well-deserved publicity in the offseason and that’s great. But they still have to come play us and we feel like if we handle our business here, then we are going to be a tough team to play. We’re more concerned about ourselves right now and just getting ourselves right and we’ll be prepared in September for those teams to come play against us.
Taylor has to be a breath of fresh air for Bengals fans accustomed to former coaches and interviews in the month of May.
And the answer here falls right in line with Taylor’s slogan for 2019: “It’s About Us.”
Taylor hits the nail on the head in respect to the division. The Cleveland Browns look fun because Odell Beckham Jr. joins Baker Mayfield. Lamar Jackson is expected to take another step for the Baltimore Ravens. The Pittsburgh Steelers finally have an elite linebacker prospect with Devin Bush.
The Bengals haven’t been nearly as hyped. But the players have always seemed to embrace the underdog role — Taylor is too, with a splash of confidence alongside it.
