As team president and CEO Mike Brown, head coach Marvin Lewis and coordinators Hue Jackson, Paul Guenther and Darrin Simmons ran the media gauntlet inside the East Club Lounge at Paul Brown Stadium, the recurring question was “What does this team need to do to take the next step and get a win in the playoffs?”
Lewis was blunt and dismissive with his answer:
“I can’t answer that question for you right now,” he said. “The postseason doesn’t matter right now. It’s the season that matters. That’s the thing the football team can’t do, they can’t get ahead of themselves. What they haven’t done doesn’t matter. It’s what we have to do.”
Brown, who rarely speaks to the media other than the day of the luncheon, echoed those sentiments.
“We have to win one in the playoffs,” he said. “We are fully aware that didn’t happen. It sticks in our craw.
“First we have to get the opportunity again,” he continued. “That is a long, hard road. We have a tough schedule, we respect our opponents, we take nothing for granted. But in our hearts, in my heart, too, I think we stack up OK and we are anxious to prove we are going to be a successful team again.”
While there have been numerous failings in the past three postseason losses, one consistent variable has been the poor play of quarterback Andy Dalton, who is 70 of 123 for 718 yards with one touchdown and six interceptions in his three playoff starts.
Brown insisted he likes Dalton as a person and player and believes he is capable of leading the team deeper into January, which is why the team is working on re-signing the quarterback to an extension as he enters the final year of his rookie contract.
“These negotiating things take their course,” Brown said. “This one has been going on for some while. We have had numerous discussions, and I think it will — like most of these matters — find an ending soon enough.”
If that ending doesn’t come before the season begins Sept. 7 in Baltimore, there is a good chance the discussions will be tabled as both sides wait to see if Dalton takes the next step, a back step or a side step with yet another first-round loss.
“One of the options is he plays this year (under the current contract). One of the options is that we franchise him for the following year,” Brown said. “You can count on one thing: he’s going to be the quarterback here for the immediate future.”
Something else you can count on is Lewis not commenting on Dalton’s contract status until it is resolved.
“We’re not going to talk about it anymore,” Lewis said. “That’s the same thing he’s going to tell you when he gets to tell you. We’ve talked enough about it. It’ll get settled, and when it gets settled it will be done. We don’t need to continue to ask the questions.”
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