Taylor led Cincinnati to back-to-back AFC North titles in 2021 and 2022, guiding the team to a Super Bowl and second-straight AFC Championship game, respectively, but hasn’t been able to get back to the postseason since then.
“Maybe it sounds silly, but every week for us, I can tell you what we’re doing every minute of every single day leading up to Sunday to get ourselves right, and that’s what we focus on,” Taylor said when asked if there’s added pressure this week with the chance for elimination. “We want to win more than anything, so we don’t look at it in that light. It’s just, ‘What can we do to win this game,’ and that’s the same approach that we have every week.”
Taylor said this season is no more challenging than others because teams always face adversity of some kind, even in the best of seasons. He still feels energy in the building and an eagerness to win.
The outside pressure, however, is building. Cincinnati overhauled its defensive staff after missing the playoffs last year, and results have been even worse — though Joe Burrow’s absence for nine games due to turf toe surgery also played a factor in that. Now, Taylor’s job could be on the line, but he said he never feels more pressure externally than what he places on himself with his own expectations.
“I enjoy pressure,” Taylor said. “I enjoy adversity. It’s nothing that scares us or makes us nervous. It’s part of why you are in this profession is doing challenging things and doing things you don’t think everybody can do, and so we work really hard even when it’s tough, even when it looks bleak, to find a silver lining and keep working through it and find a way to win. And those are some of your greatest moments when you face a lot of challenges and you come through it, and so we embrace that. It’s not something we let get us down.
“It’s frustrating when you don’t win, it’s frustrating when you’re in close games. The amount of work we put in and the expectation we have for ourselves, that’s really hard when it doesn’t go your way, but it doesn’t change the fact you’re going to wake up Monday morning and the Ravens are coming to town. So, we’ve got to find a way to win.”
Quarterback Joe Burrow had a much different tone Wednesday in a somewhat awkward press conference. He took a long pause in questions, less than two minutes in and after he gave short responses, as an opportunity to try to end it. He said thanks, stood up from the podium and walked out the door before a communications staff member retrieved him, as other media were just then entering the room to join.
Halfway through what turned into a 15-minute press conference, Burrow was asked about why he seemed more frustrated than usual.
“There’s just a lot of things going on right now,” Burrow said, clarifying when asked further that it was related to both football and personal matters.
Burrow has been even more contemplative since returning from his injury, and his tone about football seems to have changed. He spoke Sunday in his postgame press conference about needing to go out and “put a show on” for fans.
That didn’t sit well with a portion of the fan base wanting to hear more anger about losing. Instead, he was talking about the entertainment value he can bring to the field regardless of the result. Burrow insists his competitive fire was not impacted by his latest injury, though.
“It certainly doesn’t change my desire to win,” Burrow said. “If I want to keep doing this, I have to have fun doing it. I’ve been through a lot, and if it’s not fun, what am I doing it for? So, that’s the mindset I’m trying to bring.”
Burrow acknowledged he’s reflected on a lot of things he’s done and been through in his career, which includes two season-ending surgeries (2020 knee, 2023 wrist) and a multitude of other ailments that impacted him. The sixth-year quarterback has been through more than most, and it’s “certainly not easy on the brain or body,” he said.
That’s where Taylor’s messaging to the team comes in as an important influence to make sure the team stays checked in and focused despite the record. The tone and approach changes week to week, and he believes there have been telltale signs that players are still responsive to what he and his staff are saying.
That was evident in the first 51 minutes of good football at Buffalo and in a thrilling Thanksgiving night win at Baltimore.
“We got to win,” Taylor said. “That’s as simple as that. I don’t know what the odds are (of making the playoffs). I know they’re not zero. And so, what I told our guys, the odds aren’t zero, so we’re gonna keep fighting, keep scratching and keep clawing, keep approaching every week the way we’ve been doing it, and we just gotta win.”
Burrow said that’s what he will do every week, regardless. It’s also a lot more fun to win.
“All we can do is focus week to week and try to win games,” Burrow said. “I don’t think anyone’s really thinking about the playoffs right now. That’s within reach but on our fingertips, so we’ve just got to keep doing what we’re doing and try to get better.”
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