Ted Karras on Bengals' Loss to Browns, O-Line Room, Coaching Staff and More

Cincinnati Bengals On SI

Transcript

00:00If you had to draw up what the offseason looks like in terms of what you want the franchise to

00:05do to try and help support you guys and help you get back into the postseason next year,

00:10what would you say that looks like? Well, I would say that this season is the season of

00:15the would-be Kings. We come up a play short in about seven games and that's reality in the NFL,

00:24six and 11. So it's the would-be year. Very grateful for all my teammates and coaches

00:32and didn't win the Battle of Ohio today. How much belief? You just mentioned your coaches. How

00:41much belief do you have in this coaching staff and what gives you that belief? I love this coaching

00:45staff. I love this program. This organization does a great job. We have not won enough games

00:50these last three years. That falls on everybody and I'm excited to run it back in 26.

00:59Do you think that's worthwhile doing at this point, Ted, because you're aware, you're a veteran,

01:05that football, all sports, are games of change. Things are going to change. Do you think there

01:11needs to be change, though, in this organization? The way you approach these?

01:15I mean, like I said earlier, I mean, we're one play away Jays. I mean, it is what it is. This is the

01:24NFL. So you have to finish the game and we've, gosh, I've never been a part of so many drives to

01:31win and then it doesn't. I mean, that's just how the ball rolls. So no, I'm not going to sit here and

01:36say anything needs to be changed. We need to win ball games. Ted, you touched on it twice there about

01:42the Willow kind of Kings or however you said it. Zach said that it was fitting the way this game

01:48came down and the way you guys lost at the end of the season. How do you change that stigma going

01:52forward if you don't change other things? Well, we can't let them score twice on defense. I mean,

01:57that's our defense was playing unbelievable today, shutting them down and they had 20 yards in the

02:01first half and we're up. So that's ridiculous. Yeah, we got to finish out games. We got to be more

02:09productive. I thought we had, I mean, stats look great, score doesn't. So that's, it is what it

02:14is. And now I'm going to sit here and pontificate on what I think needs to be changed. I think we

02:19need to, everyone needs to self-assess and come back ready to go in April. Speaking of self-assessment,

02:26Joe Burrow has said multiple times this year that this is the best offensive line he's played with.

02:29Why were you guys able to be more successful this season? I think we drilled correctly.

02:33Um, we got a hat in the hat in the run game, guys bought in, personal relationships, everyone.

02:39I've never had so much buy-in and personal relationships and friendships and going hard,

02:44um, and not relaxing until now. Now you can relax at 4.30 on a Sunday afternoon. We're not on until

02:51eight months really. So I'm really proud of this offensive line. Uh, I think we have some really

02:56great young guys. I think Dalton Reisner is an absolute perfect fit for the Cincinnati Bengals

03:03offense. And I hope to see him back next year. How important would that be if he re-signs?

03:08It's huge, man. I think he's a great player. He's a great man. Um, he's another veteran presence

03:12in a O-line room and in an offense that can feel at times exasperated for a guard. Um, it's very

03:20challenging. If you watch the film, we're, our guards are one-on-one a lot and he's a one-on-one

03:24specialist. So I'm really proud of his season and excited to see what happens because he, he played,

03:30he played his balls off this year. Are you surprised that he's bounced around now that

03:34you've played a season with him and that he's bounced around like he has around this league,

03:37given how talented you just said he is? Very surprised. I think we've had kind of a similar

03:42career path where we've had a lot of one-year deals. I mean, he's had to be on the street a

03:46little bit longer sometimes. And, um, after meeting him, yeah, I have, I, I don't know when this is,

03:52it's this league, so it's a business, but, um, I would say not only did he meet expectations,

03:59he exceeded everything I thought, uh, who he was as a man, as a player. So, um, he's a huge part

04:05of this O-line room. So I hope to see him back.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended