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Chick Ludwig covers the Cincinnati Bengals. He also writes about his other passions: college football, basketball and golf.Home > Blogs > Chick Ludwig At Large > Archives > 2008 > December > 29 > Entry
Marvin Lewis’ season-ending news conference reveals very little news or insight on team’s future
THERE’S ONLY ONE THING
EVERYONE CAN AGREE ON:
IT WAS A VERY TRYING YEAR
===Marvin Lewis was at his very best, deflecting questions about the future of his coaching staff and refusing to give even a morsel of substance. He should’ve apologized to fans, who are dumping their season tickets left and right.===
OPENING COMMENTS
As for the game yesterday, I thought we displayed great energy and good effort. We knew it would be important to get off to a good start, and we did. I thought the coaches planning our play selection offensively early really got us going. Anytime you get in that situation on the other side of a fast start, it’s really hard to come back. We didn’t get points on those first drives, but we got movement. That got them on their heels and got them to thinking about a few more things.
I thought defensively, winning on third down early in the game was really important. Even when we gave up the nine-yard gain, then we stopped them on third-and-one. Throughout the early part of the game we gave up one run, but other than that we were pretty good. It was good to stay away from the penalties in the kicking game. Leon (Hall) misjudged a punt, and ran a long way on one return for no gain. But he did a good job back there, and that gives just another capable guy at returning punts. I thought Ryan (Fitzpatrick) did a good job for us yesterday. And lastly, I think our fans did a great job yesterday. It always plays a part in the game when you have home field advantage. When the ‘08 season schedule came out, and we saw that we were finishing the season at home, we know that would be huge.
As far as injuries from the game yesterday, Darryl Blackstock came away with a groin injury and Rashad Jeanty sustained a pec injury. Both of those guys would be down some time if we were playing, but they will heal on their own. The guys that may need some offseason surgery are Keith Rivers, who will have an ankle cleaned out from an injury from college, and David Jones, who may have a knee scoped. He played with a knee that gave him some trouble this year. The guys who have had surgery seem to be doing well; Johnathan Joseph and Marvin White. Andrew Whitworth seems to be doing well without surgery. Stacy Andrews will have surgery on his knee here in the near future. Robert Geathers and Frostee Rucker both seem to be on the mend. That is where we are as a football team as we head into the offseason.
Q: Any news on Carson Palmer?
A: As we continue to tell you, Carson is doing fine. He’ll continue to rehab and do the things he’s been doing, throw and rehab, and continue to move forward.
Q: What do you think about the coaching staff, and do you see any changes in the offseason?
A: I think every year we get to this point, and you guys ask the same question. So we have the blanket statement that we’ll see what happens when it happens. I don’t know any of that right now (changes). We just finished playing yesterday. I’m sure guys have aspirations to do different things, and we’ll see what those hold.”
Q: Where does Chris Henry stand with you right now?
A: Chris, I believe, is under contract for next season.
Q: What have you seen from him in terms of behavior and maturity, and what does he need to do in the off-season?
A: I think Chris did a good job of doing what’s asked of him, of being where he needs to be when he needs to be there. His play has gotten better over the last few weeks. I think it gets taken for granted sometimes that a guy can be away and miss as much time as he did and still be a productive player. It really took a lot of time for him to get going and to do things that were productive.
Q: There seems to be room for roster turnover this winter; how much change do you anticipate?
A: I think we’ll have some turnover in players. We need to get better in some positions, no doubt. We need to get better in positions, whether it be through the draft of acquisition of some guys. We have some guys who obviously are free agents, both in the restricted category and unrestricted. We’ll have to see how it plays out, how those things shake out.
Q: You have said you believe in building a team through the draft, but there are some intriguing names of potential free agents…
A: There really never gets to be such a good list at the end of the day. In most cases, teams sign back their players. And players are generally going to be more productive with the football team they’re with, because they know the intricacies of things. They know their ups and downs. Players are generally more productive on their current teams. That’s why most players that are wanted generally fit back into their teams a little better than they do when they go elsewhere.
Q: Chad (Ocho Cinco) doesn’t need surgery on that shoulder?
A: Well, we’ll see. I think that still remains to be seen.
Q: Chad and T.J. (Houshmandzadeh) had trying seasons…
A: Well, it has been, and hopefully they learned a good lesson about what they used to be and what they kind of molded themselves into. Hopefully they’ll go back and understand that what they used to be made them more productive, and they kept their edge a little better. I can’t have said it enough times that they weren’t quite ready to go when we got started, and that makes a big difference. It’s difficult to train on your own at the pace everyone else is keeping with the team.
Q: Who could you name as someone who made you comfortable when you were in a slump?
A: I can’t afford a slump. So I don’t know that I get in any slumps in any way. But I think we had some guys come in and be productive. Like David Jones, who’s fought through a sore knee for most of the football season, and has come in and out and played really productively for us. This was a story of a guy who got an opportunity and wasn’t going to relinquish the opportunity if he could stay out there, and I think that’s a good example of that.
Q: The offensive line seemed to be a strength at the beginning of the season. What do you think of them now?
A: Well, it wasn’t a strength at the beginning of the year, because we didn’t start out and knock anybody off the ball as we began the season in Baltimore. It was a perceived strength, but it wasn’t a real strength. And we need to be better.
Q: Didn’t it seem like the offensive line group improved by season’s end?
A: Well, I think we found at the end of the season that guys who want to play are going to be better than guys who aren’t quite sure whether they want to play. If you have 11 guys out there wanting to play and wanting to get it done correctly, you have a chance to be more productive. I think that’s important and a good lesson. It’s getting the right 11 guys on that particular play and at that particular moment in the game going in the right direction at that time, and then you have a chance to play better in every area in all three phases of the football.
Q: A couple of defensive players were talking about finishing 12th on overall defense. Do you have any reflection on the defense overall?
A: Well that’s great. It’s good with a bunch of different faces and people. They just kept improving on things. I thought each and every week, Mike (Zimmer) put an outstanding plan together, and the players have done a great job of going out and executing it the best they could. We’ve still got some blemishes there with some plays we’d like to take back, some explosive plays if we could eliminate those. But you don’t get a chance to do that. As we got down the stretch here at the end of the football season, I think we probably had just one in our last seven games, and that makes a big difference.
Q: Andre Caldwell showed that he could line up and play the game, but not so much with Jerome Simpson…
A: Well, it’s difficult. You can’t practice seven wide receivers in part of the game plan. It’s probably not fair to Andre to say you didn’t get any chances to practice with the offense because we’ve got a new quarterback, and you want the guys taking the chances in the slots where they’re going to be. And so even though I got Jerome suited up this week prior to this game, until Friday afternoon or Saturday really, we were unsure whether Jerome would have an opportunity to suit up because we were going to go in a different direction with a different play had T.J. been ready to go. So you don’t know going in how the crystal ball is going to shake out.
Q: Are you happy with what you see out of both of those guys (Caldwell and Simpson)?
A: I’m very happy with what I’ve seen out of both of the young receivers. And I think Mario (Urrutia), who was on our practice squad all season, has shown a lot of improvement. Just the time, the detail and the work each day in practice, and getting coached up each day has helped him.
Q: Talk about the determination on the goal-line stand (against Kansas City) …
A: It ended up being a big part of the game, because had they scored right away there, there’s more time on the clock. That would have allowed them the decision on whether not to kick it deep or try the onside. If you try an onside kick, your probability of getting that is so slim, and when we recovered, basically the ballgame is over. The goal-line stand, not allowing them to score right away, was big. Had they scored with four minutes to go, they could have kicked the ball deep. But when you’re down to 2:27 like it was, they had no opportunity to kick it deep. They had to onside kick, down by two possessions as they were. I think the guys could taste that second straight shutout. Any time you shut anybody out in the NFL is huge. Those plays, nobody really understood the magnitude of them at that point.
Q: Mike Zimmer, said he really respected this group of players on defense because they always worked, and you said you liked this team. Do you have respect for the defense as Zimmer does?
A: I think that way with our whole football team. They worked the entire year. Obviously, that’s a defensive group without any known stars or Pro Bowl players at this point, but they continued to work and fight together all the time, and it’s big. You’re putting up decent numbers with a team that was one of the least in gaining first downs and scoring points and field position. All those things make a big difference on the other side of the ball defensively as well.
Q: The guys didn’t quit on you as other teams did around the league, even though you were playing with what looked like a preseason team at some points. How do you think you did keeping this football team together?
A: I don’t know about me. I think our veteran guys, the John Thorntons, the Bobbie Williams’, guys like that, even a new guy like Chris Crocker, they came in and did a fabulous job of keeping guys going and playing. All those guys had young guys and new guys playing beside them all the time. Domata (Peko) now has some skins on the wall. They did a great job of driving this group, Dhani (Jones), to be better and better every week and to never spit the bit. They did a great job of that. I think Darrin (Simmons, special teams coach), did a great job, and Shayne Graham really extended himself to the special teams group. They took pleasure into getting better each and every week and really enjoyed that and thrived on that.
Permalink | Comments (17) | Post your comment | Categories: Bengals
Comments
By photoman
December 29, 2008 4:29 PM | Link to this
ML is fast becomming a MB jr, in his speaking. I believe if MB himself were to speak to the media daily he would be as evasive as ML is today. In 1995 the “seer” Derrick Fenner wanted out of Bengaldom ASAP because he said Cincinnati was at the beginning of a 15 year rebuilding program. Well it appears to be true, if this cycle will end around the year 2010.By photoman
December 29, 2008 5:46 PM | Link to this
If there is any ray of light, it is that Cincinnati is not Cleveland or Detroit.By James in Cleveland
December 29, 2008 11:49 PM | Link to this
Have to disagree with the statement about Bengals fans being better off than Detroit or Cleveland fans. At least those fans can look forward to the organization attempting to make changes after awful seasons. Unfortunately for us Bengal fans, it appears we can again look forward to an offseason of no major changes to the front office, no impactful free agent signings and a draft which will make you wonder if a monkey threw darts at a list. I am glad Marvin wasn’t fired, he’d be hired by another team in a heartbeat Where would you find a replacement coach who wants to take over a team with an owner with no desire to make front office changes after an 18 year stretch of (mostly) losing football, a non-existent scouting department and three offensive coaches apparently on lifetime contracts? I hope I’m wrong but 18 years has told me I’m not.By psychostats
December 30, 2008 1:45 AM | Link to this
Every time you think Marvin Lewis is starting to speak more openly, he falls back into this evasive shell. I still wonder if other head coaches get PR guidance from their organizations. He’s probably lucky if Mike Brown gives him a dog-eared copy of “Words for Every Occasion”.By bill
December 30, 2008 7:16 AM | Link to this
Marvin Lewis is an awful coach and needs to be fired! This team will go nowhere with him as coach!By Robert Young
December 30, 2008 7:57 AM | Link to this
Chick what is your guess the number of dropped tickets will be? I’ll guess between 12 and 15 thousand. Hello home blackouts.By Old Kiser Coach
December 30, 2008 8:25 AM | Link to this
When are the Bengals going to get an offensive line coach? T.J., Benson should stay. Good-by Chad,Andrews,Jones. This would be a start along with a G.M.By KAREN GALLUCCI
December 30, 2008 9:27 AM | Link to this
Iamso embaressed to be a fan!ilive in cleveland now and that is the only good thing about being a fan.Please do some thing to get better.I CANNOT STAND THE EMBARESMENT ANY LONGER!By tom
December 30, 2008 12:38 PM | Link to this
We’ll lose players we should keep,ie. Houshmandzadeh and Benson. MB will keep Marvin through 2010. Bratkowski will probably stay. Same old, same old come Sept.09.By JOHN
December 30, 2008 4:02 PM | Link to this
It is not ML or MB’s job to tell us what they are going to do. Team strategy is not a season only thing and the less other teams know about what we are going to do the better. I would agree that they have done a marginal job but they do not owe us any explanation.By Mike
December 30, 2008 4:59 PM | Link to this
Yes they do owe us an explanation. They rely on fans money don’t they?By psychostats
December 30, 2008 5:03 PM | Link to this
John, the Bengals play in a publicly financed stadium. The fans pay their salaries. Those not-so-lovable losers, Mike Brown and Marvin Lewis, are raking in the millions. You bet your sweet bippy they owe us a little information. And it’s not like their tight lipped ways have helped them win in the past. Nobody is saying they have to tell us everything; we just want to know what the plan is.By photoman
December 30, 2008 6:00 PM | Link to this
JOHN said “…and the less other teams know about what we are going to do the better”. We must keep MB’s plan for success a secret. We don’t want anyone else to be as confused as MB seems to be. MB and family should want to keep us interested in this team so they can continue to collect our money.By boxter
December 30, 2008 7:18 PM | Link to this
All you stupid Bengal fans keep buying those tickets and spending money and MB will never change. I wouldn’t either. The 4 wins mean nothing to MB, but the $32,000,000 profit does.By E lower
December 31, 2008 8:45 AM | Link to this
Thanks for covering the Bengals. Thanks for connecting. As I left the game I fell and broke my kneecap. Do I get on injure reserve list? Happy New Year. EBy ShockMonkey
December 31, 2008 8:51 AM | Link to this
One winning season in 18 LONG years. There will be no “significant” changes. Yes, we need a GM but it’ll never happen. ML has two years remaining on his contract so he’s not going anywhere. I’m so sick of him pointing fingers everywhere but at himself. Just once, I’d like to hear him say: I need to coach better! They’ll blame the lack of offense on Palmer being hurt. Personally, I’d like to see Zampese OC with Zimmer headcoach!By bweav44
December 31, 2008 9:57 AM | Link to this
Shock, I like your idea of Zampese as OC. He’s got a great report with Palmer and he’s going to get a shot from another team if it’s not here. I want Zim to stay at DC for awhile. We’d just need another DC if he moved up and there’s already been too much turnover on that side of the ball. This is a critical off-season from a personnel standpoint. This team needs a GM, period. Rick Spielman was the guy I really liked but he’s in Minnesota. Probably moot anyway. Mike, I think this and every other team relies most heavily on the shared television revenue and corporate sponsorship and less on individual fans. Especially this team, which treats the fans with disdain. Hopefully there are blackouts. It’s the only thing that’s going to force real change IMO. Also, I have the Ticket and did not watch any of the Bengals last five games. It was great, I watched non-stop football that actually mattered. I highly recommend it over living and dying with this regime’s on-field product.