Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said he didn’t appreciate comments made by running back Chase Brown in the wake of the team’s last-minute 47-42 loss to the Chicago Bears on Sunday.
London, Ont.’s Brown vented his frustrations after the Bengals’ offence came back from 41-27 with under five minutes to play to take a lead in the game’s final minute only for the defence to surrender a touchdown with :17 left as the Bears closed out the win.
“They played really well at the start of the season, they were carrying us on their back,” a visibly frustrated Brown said of the Bengals’ defensive corps. “So now that we’re stepping up, we just got to play complementary football. We put the ball in the end zone and go up a point at the end, finish the f---ing game. Like, just end it. That’s what we need to do. Just end the f---ing game. Get us the ball back. Let us f---ing go to 22-victory [formation], and let’s end the game. That’s how I feel.”
Asked on Monday if he was okay with Brown venting, Taylor was blunt.
“Not if you’re not doing everything you can on your own and I’ve pointed that out with Chase,” Taylor responded. “There was two big plays [Brown didn’t make] we could have done better that would have led to points...I trust that’s a one-time thing and we’ll learn from that. That’s not how we want to react. And one of our best players, one of our highest-character players said that and I don’t expect that to happen again.”
Brown finished his afternoon with 102 all-purpose yards.
The Bengals (3-6) head into the bye week before returning to action on Nov. 16 against the AFC North-leading Pittsburgh Steelers (5-3).
