MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK

So far the Bengals have not had the strong start to the 2022 season that they had hoped for and that many predicted for last year's Super Bowl runners-up.

Despite the offseason adjustments Cincinnati made to try to address previous issues, namely the troublesome offensive line, the Bengals have struggled in their first two games, dropping contests to both the Steelers and the Cowboys. Quarterback Joe Burrow has gotten off to a bad start, too, committing five turnovers in the opener and taking a league-high 13 sacks over the first two games.

But despite the rising chorus of worries about what this slow start means for Cincinnati's chances of returning to the playoffs, much less making another championship run, Burrow said Wednesday that he's not worried yet about the state of the team, and there's plenty of time left for the Bengals to work out their issues.

"Let's just take a deep breath and relax. We are going to be fine," Burrow said, per The Athletic. "Obviously we have to play well and get a win, you can't go down 0-3. But nobody is panicking."

Cincinnati's next test will come this Sunday when it travels to play the New York Jets, and Burrow said he's taking game preparation seriously, going as far to Instagram and Twitter from his own phone in order to remove all distractions and get truly locked in for the next few games.

But Burrow said the biggest emphasis for the team as a whole going into this week has been simply not beating itself.

Cincinnati had multiple opportunities in its first game against Pittsburgh to close out a win, as turnovers, a blocked extra-point kick and the missed field goal in overtime gave the Steelers extra chances that they capitalized on. And turnovers again played a part in the loss to the Cowboys. Burrow said if the team can eliminate these small mistakes and play hard from the get-go, the Bengals could look a lot stronger in Week 3.


"Quit beating ourselves. Start faster and we will get more chances," Burrow said. "We are getting this thing right. Nobody is panicking."

This isn't the first time the Bengals have had to overcome hurdles in the regular season to find postseason success. Burrow pointed out that many thought last season that Cincinnati was in trouble, only for the Bengals to overcome or otherwise manage their issues and make it to the Super Bowl. So from where he's standing, Burrow thinks the talk is just talk, and Cincinnati will find a way to get things done, sooner rather than later.

"We were in here talking about the same exact stuff, several times last year," Burrow said, per WCPO. "Everyone saw how it worked out."

NFL.com

 

The Bears are passing the ball less than any other NFL team this season, and Justin Fields has thrown just 28 passes in two games. But Fields says he doesn’t take that as an indication that the coaches don’t have faith in him.

Asked if throwing only 11 passes on Sunday indicated the Bears’ coaches didn’t have faith in him, Fields said that’s not the case.


“No. No. I don’t think so,” Fields said. “Not at all.”

Fields said it’s up to offensive coordinator Luke Getsy to determine how many passes Fields will throw, and he believes in Getsy.

“I have a say into what pass plays I like, what concepts I like, but in terms of when we’re going to call a play, how many passes, how many runs we’re going to call, that’s Luke’s job,” Fields said. “Everybody in the building knows that Luke knows what he’s doing. We put full trust in him knowing that he’s going to put us in the best position to win.”

The Bears were trailing for most of Sunday’s loss to the Packers, and usually teams throw when they’re behind. The Bears didn’t put the game on Fields when they needed a comeback, but Fields insists that he’s only upset that the Bears lost, and not that he didn’t throw more.

“My job isn’t to call pass plays,” Fields said. “My job is to get the play and run the play to the best of my ability.”

PFT

 

Mike Tomlin shoots down possibility of a quarterback change



The Pittsburgh offense isn’t producing enough points. But that isn’t enough to produce a quarterback change. Yet.

After Thursday night’s 29-17 loss to the Browns, coach Mike Tomlin was unequivocal in his ongoing support of current starter Mitch Trubisky. When asked about the possibility of shifting from Trubisky to rookie first-rounder Kenny Pickett, Tomlin said, “The answer to that question is definitively no.”


It’s the best chance to give Pickett extra time to prepare for the job until the full-blown Week Nine bye. By then, it may be too late. After the Week Four game at home against the Jets, the Steelers face a mini-murderer’s row of superior foes: at Bills, Bucs, at Dolphins, at Eagles.

The Steelers, currently 1-2, could end up being 2-6 through eight weeks. That could make it very difficult to win enough of the final nine games to capture the division or to slip into one of the three wild-card slots in the AFC.

It also would increase the pressure on Tomlin to avoid his first ever losing season. He’d need to go 7-2 down the stretch.

In the interim, he’ll have to manage internal and external pressure to play Trubisky. The fans want the Pitt product. In the building, Trubisky had been losing support even before the Week Three loss.

And while Trubisky did a better job of getting the ball down the field in the passing game, the results weren’t there. Trubisky completed 20 of 32 passes for 207 yards. Not bad, but not good enough to get the win.

Pickett is clearly the future. Many think the future is now. The man in charge of the team thinks otherwise, and that’s really all that matters.

PFT

 

I posted this before the start of the season:

 

Wow... Great call! Almost spooky how you had the insight back then... Im impressed beyond words, lol.

Good morning, by the way.

 

And a good morning to you, guitar Will!

 

I don’t understand why Tomlin feels that he can’t play the rookie. Is he trying to prove his point that he’s in charge of the team. He’s a good coach, but he’s not always doing what’s best for the team. Fire Tomlin and make Flores the coach. Pickett has a really good accurate passing ability. Trubisky isn’t accurate enough, this team needs as much as they can get from every position on the field. And a more accurate QB will give them maybe just enough to turn these tight games into wins.

 

You cant be serious.

 

No, but he’s starting to piss me off with his Trubisky support

 

So, I think I've made it clear that I know what Trubisky's limitations are, and some posters here might be a little too optimistic about what he can do. But I also don't think that he was responsible for the loss, last night. Sure, an offense that only scores 14 points is probably going to lose, but I don't put that all on Trubisky. As someone who probably watched more of the game than me, and keeps a keen eye on QB's the way you do, how do you feel he's impacted the team / offense?

 

I think Trubisky’s ceiling is Pickett’s floor.

 

With the question being 'impact', I think it would be simply phrased as - minimal.

He hasn't done anything to elevate the offense, but he hasn't done anything to hurt them, other than to not get them to exceed when needed, so....

Little column A, little column B, might be the answer.

More specifically - Mitch is still Mitch. His ball placement runs hot and cold.

The Steelers have issues on the offensive line, and the defense still lets teams build up momentum against them on the ground.

Canada wants to cut the field in half and create one on one opportunities, or open receivers with space for the catch and run, and Mitch can operate that with a level of efficiency. But you still have to be able to convert in situations with odds that don't favor you, and Trubisky struggles to diagnose quick enough to find those open throwing lanes or windows are just a bit more open. Without that quick clock, his spotty ball placement shows up more.

To be fair, the Steelers have done a decent job of working around Mitch to a degree, and with more time with his receivers he may get in rhythm more often. But he still looks like the same guy that Chicago held the door open for when he left.

On the other side of the field - Jacoby is a reminder that if you have talent and never stop working, there are times when the league continues to give you opportunities to build your resume. I liked Brissett more than most going into that draft (along with Dak and Kevin Hogan) and think this situation is a really good fit for him. He has a solid ground game to lean on, and a receiving group to help build yards. I think the Browns coaching staff is solid enough to keep him rolling.

Unfortunately for Jacoby, the Browns schedule is going to find a way to start grinding them down, IMO.

 

The point I’m trying to make is that Pickett won’t have the limitations that Mitch has and the offense will move better with him at the helm.

 

Agreed with every word. Except that I liked Dak more than Jacoby. But I still root for Jacoby every damn game. Good kid.

I appreciate it - wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something in my more limited viewing.

 

I had Dak rated higher than Jacoby.

• Dak Prescott Mississippi State 884
• Jacoby Brissett North Carolina State 875
• Kevin Hogan Stanford 832

I don't put hard lines on what I view as equivalent round scores because each class is unique but, in 2016, Dak got what would have been a mid to high second round grade, Jacoby received a high third and Hogan received a mid fifth.

Here's the entire 2016 class I scored:

1. Jared Goff California 925
2. Carson Wentz North Dakota State 903
3. Dak Prescott Mississippi State 884
4. Jacoby Brissett North Carolina State 875
5. Kevin Hogan Stanford 832
6. Connor Cook Michigan State 827
7. Paxton Lynch Memphis 816
8. Christian Hackenberg Penn State 729
9. Jake Rudock Michigan 726
10. Jeff Driskel Louisiana Tech 702
11. Cardale Jones Ohio State 618
12. Nate Sudfeld Indiana 596
13. Brandon Allen Arkansas 571
14. Cody Kessler USC 542
15. Brandon Doughty Western Kentucky 530

 

That's my bad, Tim. My initial reading was that you liked Brissett more than those two guys, when actually what you said was that those three guys you liked more than most did. Upon a second read, it's pretty obvious. My bad. Blame it on the tired dad brain.

 

I saw the name "Hackenburg" and thought, "What the fuck ever happened to that guy?". I remember people telling me he was supposed to be good.

"Hackenberg spent two seasons with the Jets before being released, becoming only the third quarterback selected in the first or second round of the common-draft era (since 1967) not to play a game in his first two seasons.He was also a member of the Oakland Raiders, Philadelphia Eagles, and Cincinnati Bengals, although he never actually played in an NFL game."

 

No problem.

It was more of a ‘correct the record’ statement on my end.

@LAOJoe was another guy that agreed on Hack being wack.

 

All the way back from his Junior year(although he looked ugly as a Sophomore). He had a nice Freshman year at PSU with good measurables but got significantly worse each year. I've shat on him more than any other QB. Even more so than Manziel and I had the most spot on scouting report on that idiot.

 

Justin Herbert remains unsure if he can play, may get painkilling shot in ribs



Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert appears to be a true game-time decision for today’s game against the Jaguars.

Herbert is expected to go through pre-game warmups to determine if he can play through his rib injury, and he may need a painkilling shot to play, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.


Herbert became the Chargers’ starting quarterback in Week Two of 2020 when Tyrod Taylor, who had been the Chargers’ starter, suffered a punctured lung caused by a painkilling shot in his ribs just before the game. That has to be a concern for Herbert. (The doctor who punctured Taylor’s lung with a needle still works for the Chargers and is now being sued by Taylor.)

The betting line rapidly shifted from the Chargers favored by 7 points to the Chargers favored by 3 points on Friday, suggesting that bettors heard something that made them think Herbert won’t play. Officially, Herbert is questionable.

PFT