Jake Browning on Bengals' Loss to Steelers
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00:00 Obviously not the end result you wanted.
00:01 What did you think of your performance?
00:04 Some ups, some downs.
00:07 Definitely not my best game.
00:09 Just try to keep fighting.
00:11 I think starting with the first drive,
00:14 kind of getting settled in,
00:15 felt like there were times where I was settled in.
00:17 Felt like there were other times
00:18 where I needed to play better.
00:20 But, you know, I think it was not up to my standard
00:26 of how I would have liked to play.
00:28 What was your interception?
00:30 Yeah, I knew we had points.
00:31 And so, called basically just a curl concept,
00:37 slot curl concept.
00:38 And just trying to get --
00:40 felt like it was cover three, ended up being two invert.
00:43 I was just trying to get the ball to Jamar quickly,
00:45 not go backwards.
00:47 Get an easy field goal, and the guy just kept buzzing
00:49 out there and made a bad read.
00:52 How much did your lack of running game
00:54 compromise what you wanted to do on offense
00:56 when you were third and long, maybe third
00:58 and not so manageable because of that?
01:00 Yeah, I mean, I think any time as a defense,
01:04 you can make a team one-dimensional,
01:06 it's definitely in the defense's favor.
01:10 But, you know, that's not really my job
01:14 to assess the run game.
01:16 You know, I got my run game checks.
01:18 Felt like most of those, I think I was 100% on those.
01:20 So that's kind of my role in the run game.
01:24 So I think, you know, long answer,
01:29 but, yes, that does make it difficult.
01:31 But it's not really my area of focus.
01:34 Need to focus on being better in the pass game.
01:36 What kind of work on the touchdown play?
01:37 What kind of moves did you have to make
01:39 to kind of cover up?
01:40 Just a naked off of the counter,
01:43 and then dumped it off to Drew,
01:45 and did a good job finishing in the end zone.
01:48 What's it been like to see Drew kind of have the year
01:49 he's had after kind of his first few years here in the league?
01:53 Yeah, I think Drew's carving out a nice role for us.
01:55 Does a lot for us on third down.
01:56 Does a lot on the run game,
01:58 and is catching more and more passes,
02:00 which I think rounds out his entire game.
02:02 I think everybody knew he's a really good run game tight end
02:07 and really smart.
02:09 And so adding that to his game
02:10 definitely makes him more versatile.
02:11 You talked all week about being aggressive.
02:13 How do you feel like you manage the line
02:14 between pushing the ball and making the play and making --
02:18 I think that's always kind of hard to know
02:20 until you watch the tape.
02:23 And it's hard to give a generalized answer.
02:25 I think there were some where it was good to be aggressive,
02:29 and I think there were some where, you know,
02:32 could have just checked it down and maybe not taken some sacks.
02:37 But I think part of me getting back into the groove
02:42 of playing and stuff like that is kind of figuring out,
02:44 like, okay, where is that line for me,
02:46 and where is that line in this offense
02:49 and what is that line I need to play on
02:52 in order to give us the best chance to win the game.
02:55 Did you feel you were able to start
02:56 establishing a chemistry with Jamar today?
02:59 Big play, striking downfield.
03:01 I think you had the middle one yarder down the right side.
03:04 Yeah. Yeah, I think any time Jamar's one on one,
03:07 I'm going to go give him a chance.
03:09 And I think, you know, that's what you want
03:12 from your primary receiver.
03:14 And I thought he did well and made some plays.
03:17 And I think any time he's one on one,
03:20 I'm going to give him a shot.
03:21 On the TV, right after you threw the pick,
03:24 your reaction was you knew exactly what happened.
03:28 Yeah. Yeah, I think I just made the decision
03:31 too early in the play.
03:35 Like, let the play play out and let 17 decide
03:39 if he's going to cover the curl or cover the guy in the flat.
03:42 And I kind of made the decision without really reading it out
03:45 to, like, hey, let's just get the ball.
03:47 They're very soft on Jamar.
03:49 Let's just get the ball to him, get forward, get three.
03:52 This is going to be a game that comes down to,
03:55 you know, it's not going to be a shootout.
03:58 And so, you know, that was kind of my thought process.
04:01 And in hindsight, I guess play out the play and read it out.
04:07 Don't just see something pre-snap
04:09 and kind of make a decision.
04:11 That comes from -- I mean, I mean, what --
04:12 in the last stab, it's what, the low pull pointing at the hoop.
04:15 I mean, that's part of the --
04:17 Yeah, I mean, I think that's a little bit of a cop-out
04:20 for me to sit here and say that, you know,
04:22 any interception was because I haven't played in a while.
04:24 Like, it's a cop-out.
04:26 I think I can read out that play and make the right decision.
04:29 Is it too early to get a sense of what is the biggest thing
04:33 you'll build upon going forward from today?
04:35 Yeah, probably a little too early.
04:42 I would say there's just some things like maybe
04:44 that don't show up on tape, like kind of learning,
04:49 all right, here's what it looks like to start a game
04:50 and I think figure out where that --
04:54 like I said, where that line is, playing aggressive,
04:57 but then also knowing that this isn't going to be a 42-45 game.
05:01 So taking some of those sacks
05:04 when you're trying to make the play
05:06 end up hurting you in some field position stuff.
05:08 And I think just the overall experience I will build from
05:15 and being able to see myself on tape
05:17 and critique it pretty hard will be good for me, too.
05:21 Two things.
05:22 First, were you dealing with any kind of hand issues?
05:24 I just started cramping.
05:25 Okay. And then how much do you think
05:27 the early down efficiency over the course of the year,
05:29 not just today, but how much does that kind of maybe relate
05:32 to why the offense hasn't been maybe what you all need it
05:35 to be here in the second along?
05:37 Yeah, I think any time you get behind the sticks,
05:40 especially in this division with all the really good defenses
05:42 and really good pass rushers, it's going to be difficult.
05:45 And, you know, as far as an assessment
05:48 on the overall first down efficiency,
05:52 I'd be lying if I had any real assessment on that.
05:55 But in general, yeah, that's going to really make it
05:58 difficult against -- you look at our division
06:01 and you look at the last two games
06:02 and we played against two of the best defenses
06:05 and two of the first cracks at live action in the NFL for me.
06:08 And so you need to stay ahead of the sticks.
06:12 We need to be more efficient.
06:13 And, you know, I think everybody plays a role in that,
06:16 but I'm just going to focus on my role,
06:18 which is getting the ball out quicker
06:21 and finding that line that I've kind of gone back to.
06:25 I know it's good for -- it may only seem like for you,
06:27 but for a quarterback, what's like the --
06:29 from your vantage point, what's the difference
06:31 when you're like in a second at 65
06:33 versus like a second at nine or eight?
06:35 What is that -- from an offensive standpoint,
06:37 how is that different?
06:41 I think second and --
06:45 the main goal is to stay out of third and long.
06:47 And third and long is very difficult,
06:49 and especially against a defense like that.
06:52 And so I think when you're behind the sticks on second down,
06:55 there's a lot of pressure to get an efficient play
06:58 on that second down.
06:59 And so you kind of -- play calls kind of go down,
07:02 and some defense will even --
07:04 defenses will even start calling their third down calls
07:06 on second down because they know,
07:07 hey, they're going to throw here.
07:09 And so, you know, I think that makes it difficult.
07:13 And staying ahead of the sticks,
07:15 like the one drive where we go down and score,
07:18 stayed ahead of the sticks, stayed out of third down,
07:20 had some good play action,
07:22 you know, called a couple screens that were good.
07:25 And, you know, I think that's ideally
07:27 how you would like an offensive drive to go.
07:30 And you kind of saw how efficient we were there,
07:32 and that capability to be that efficient.
07:36 But we just got to find that efficiency consistently.
07:41 Jake, you waited so long for this moment.
07:44 Now it's here. Can you appreciate that?
07:46 Or does the loss come over it?
07:48 Or is there a balance in there?
07:50 Yeah, I think, you know, over the next 24 hours maybe,
07:54 or at some point, it will not feel like just piss that we lost.
08:00 Or maybe it'll take a year or two.
08:01 But, yeah, I think we just lost a close game
08:06 where you feel like you didn't play your best,
08:07 and we didn't play well enough on offense.
08:09 We only gave up 16 points on defense, and we lost.
08:12 And so, yeah, I think that's kind of
08:15 my primary thought in my head.
08:18 You had said that you weren't wanting to feel the pressure
08:22 of having to take over a team
08:24 that's trying to achieve goals of the postseason.
08:29 Do you still feel that way after a loss like today?
08:32 Or do you feel the weight of that a little bit more?
08:37 I think just focusing on what I can build on from this game,
08:42 you know, all the overarching themes of a season,
08:45 stuff like that, I think those kind of storylines are big
08:49 for your guys' job, but for my job, it's just day-to-day
08:52 and trying to consistently get better.
08:55 And if I do consistently get better,
08:56 then good things will happen.
08:58 I think just really having a narrow focus on that.
09:01 You know, there's 100 different narratives
09:02 you could run with in your head.
09:04 And, you know, I think for me to play my best,
09:07 I got to avoid all those.
09:08 And that's kind of my plan of attack,
09:11 is just avoid whatever narratives are going on
09:13 and just go home, watch the film,
09:15 come into meetings on Monday, and just say,
09:17 "Okay, where do we go from here,
09:19 and what do I need to do better in order to help us win?"