“We’ll rely heavily on his feedback…”, Pettine said. “He does a great job in practice, whether he’s playing scout safety or special teams”.
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“IC has done a few good things for us”, Pettine said.
“Didn’t have to say much to them, they took it upon themselves, especially the leaders, to get what’s out there corrected”, Arians said. “You’ve got two guys who are tops at their position, but the saying in this league is ‘Next man up.’ We can’t harp about it. We’ve got a super short week and the guys who are replacing them have big shoes to fill”.
The Bengals posted a season-low 78 yards on a season-low 23 attempts Sunday in Pittsburgh, even though Jeremy Hill rushed for 12 yards on his first carry and 15 on his second, his two longest runs of the year. “No matter how many turnovers or takeaways you have, if you give up the big plays, you’re going to lose that football game”.
Neither McCown nor Pettine has been willing to share the X-ray results.
McCown added the injury is expected to linger, conceding “you need probably a little longer than a few days or a few weeks to let this heal”. “You take a second to look at (success), that’s when you get passed up”.
Although he was in pain, McCown continued to play against the Cardinals.
“He was here past year, so he’s been through two weeks of preparation for this team, and on a short week as well”, McCown said. “With that being said, we haven’t done anything, we didn’t do anything, but the reality for us is that’s generally how the trade deadline goes”. Manziel lead the Browns to their first win of the season in week two over the Tennessee Titans 28-14 in FirstEnergy Stadium.
However, it will not be easier for them once they play at their home field on November 22 as they will be facing the Cincinnati Bengals who are now one of the teams undefeated this season. Quarterback Carson Palmer threw 20 touchdowns over the first eight games against just six interceptions.
Manziel started the following week at Carolina, but hurt his hamstring on a scramble and was placed on injured reserve.
“We feel very confident if Austin did have to get in the game just because of the way he prepares himself”, Pettine said. “I think it was a one-time thing”. That it wasn’t as frenetic, that his feet were calm. James had only 55 yards in that game, and well, the Bears were who we thought they were. Up until this point, we had been really good on third downs.
“I’m not wired that way”, he said. He is one of the best players I have ever coached.
We recently reviewed Fitzgerald’s exceptional career in a historical context when we examined his place statistically among modern Hall of Fame receivers, so no one here is a stranger to the greatness that is Fitz. The 2012 Heisman Trophy victor was also taunted by several Cincinnati’s players, who mimicked his “money” sign, a finger-rubbing gesture Manziel has since dropped. “We’re going to take that and we’re going to run”. “I think the sky’s the limit for both of them”.
Quarterback Josh McCown is fighting through a rib injury and cornerback Joe Haden, wide receiver Andrew Hawkins, wide receiver Brian Hartline and safety Donte Whitner are all in the concussion protocol.
After watching the film, McCown defended the decision.
“I’m really looking forward to it”, Campbell said on Tuesday. “So, yeah, I don’t feel like it affected me at all”.
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That will be the barometer again this week. Head coach Marvin Lewis has his team believing that they can win, and the win was the third fourth quarter comeback for Andy Dalton and the Bengals this season.
