Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis is best known for his smirking news conferences where he dismisses the team's problems as just needing a bit more focus. Well, in a sitdown with the Columbus Dispatch, Lewis is a bit more candid about what the team's problems are (Lewis' comments are the 'A's.
A: Every year is a new year and provides new chal-lenges. They all become the history of the last one. You've got to use it and move forward and move on. It's time for us to blow the whole thing up and start from scratch. We need to empty these shelves, empty these offices and start from scratch.
Q: Really?
A: Yeah, because we haven't been good enough. We're not going to sit here and be complacent with it, and guys have to understand that. It hasn't been good enough.
Q: When you say blow it up...
A: We've got to start from scratch. We have to blow it up and empty everything. Just like new people walking in this door and go from there. That's the only way we're going to shake away from the cobwebs. We've established a certain plateau or work ethic and we've got to move beyond that.
Please read the article. While it gets pretty frank up front, Lewis doesn't get into too many specifics. He is asked about Chad Johnson, Rudi Johnson and several guys in their contract year ... yet won't discuss them much more than him not knowing the makeup of next year's team.
One thing that did come to the forefront was an apparant jealousy of salaries in the lockerroom:
It's been (that way) all the time. We've struggled with guys who are too much worried about what they make or what the next guy makes. That's hard to overcome, and we've had to deal with it for two years now. Until they get it figured out that that's not the way winning teams operate...
When you sign a contract, you sign a contract. You sign to play. You have two choices -- either to play or not to play. When you get in the way of other people as you are constantly talking about that and not moving on professionally, (it's harmful).
When you sign a contract, the next deal signed after yours makes yours somewhat outdated. That's the way it is.
It seems as if Cincinnati is in for quite an offseason.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-29-2007 @ 11:05AM
john said...
This is a one year late Marvin Lewis fire sale....old products like Johnson and Johnson...out with the felonies and in with professionals...bye Chris Henry.....and bye to alot of them!!
note: the felony prone Bengals that do get cut might actually have a hard time finding a new home....Teams DO NOT WANT TRASH!!!...its too bad because there is tons of talent there. Who wants ocho-cinco on their ship acting like a jackass all the time...He is a fantastic wr, but a total distraction!!
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12-29-2007 @ 12:22PM
Regnisj said...
Well it's nice to see that it's just not at my office that people are totally and unreasonably obsessed with other people's salaries and perks. Get over it!! Do your job and shut up. It gets annoying to all around you when you have to listen to the whiners complaining about how they aren't paid enough or get more perks. I guess it's the same no matter what you do for a living. It's all relative.
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12-29-2007 @ 12:45PM
sancann said...
Teams will take a chance on Ocho Cinco anyday of the week. The same words you are now saying, were said about T.O., Randy Moss, Tank Johnson and many others. All ended up on teams much better than the team they left. Oh should we say they brought their contributions and made the team better. As long as the talent is there, teams will take a chance. One has to realize, money drives the NFL; not a fainting opinion. Until people stop buying tickets to games and turn off their television, problem children will always have a home.
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12-29-2007 @ 12:50PM
Charlie said...
Marvin - you simply don't know how to discipline, you allow the NFL to take care of that chore, YOU MUST GO!
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12-29-2007 @ 2:58PM
John R said...
Better late than never. The Bengals are a team with massive character problems and need to be rebuilt.
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12-29-2007 @ 3:55PM
KB said...
Cinncinati needs to move on and let the trash sit at the curb. They say one teams trash is anothers treasure. But when your at the bottom who would want you.
I suggest Chad do a good job Sunday this may be his next team.
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12-29-2007 @ 4:06PM
Dan Goodman said...
Heads up Chargers....do most anything to get C. Palmer...bring him home to So. Cal....give them Rivers and your first rounder, and more if necessary...with Palmer you can compete with ANYONE!....let them re build with Rivers and draft picks, and you go right to the top! Charger fans can dream, too!
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12-29-2007 @ 6:15PM
jim said...
Coach lewis isnt stupid, T.J., Chad and Henry will be back but better draft picks and better free agent choices, Palmer will have another year to get his leg together (OFF year for him) and much more discipline.
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12-29-2007 @ 6:18PM
Dave Jenkins said...
I would gladly trade Mike Tomlin for Marvin Lewis, The Steelers would have a better coach.Period
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12-29-2007 @ 7:11PM
EskinSux said...
Hell.......just let the offseaon take care of itself..Half of em will end up on a police blotter anyway.
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12-29-2007 @ 7:39PM
LD said...
Winning fixes everything. Injuries and suspensions have really hurt this team. Smarter draft picks on the defensive side of the ball must be a high priority. Chad, C Henry, And Rudy will all be back because they are all play-makers.
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12-29-2007 @ 9:55PM
Bill Walters said...
Scumbag lewis should be he first to go!!!!!!!!!!
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12-30-2007 @ 3:52AM
Robert said...
I just read thru the above posts and laughed my azz off, who was the moron that thought that the Chargers could get Palmer. Do not people not realize that Palmer, Johnson, and TJ are locked up in long term contracts. Besides Chris Henry will be the first to go, hell being suspended 8 games hurts your team more than running your mouth or some stupid dance in the endzone. First of all the Oline has had more patches on it than grandmas quilts this season. The offense has suffered because theres no running game, look at RB, then a decent TE, but most of all send da-n near 95% of the def to Denver. This year considered the worst under Lewis was better than any other year in almost twenty years. This year we had a belief that they could win, ten years ago you didnt even want to turn the game on.
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12-30-2007 @ 3:56AM
Robert said...
one last thing, da-n the draft, we dont need more rookies, get some veterans via free agency
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12-30-2007 @ 4:38PM
Phil Jenkins said...
Do not look for any changes until the Browns are gone if ever..........Many coaches and many quarterbacks have failed in the Bengals organization because the Browns are not interested in winning if it costs anything...............
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12-30-2007 @ 8:26PM
Steve said...
Punk Marvin should be part of the blowup. Anyway, Rudi: Gone. Justin Smith: Gone. Dexter Jackson: Gone. Madieu: Gone. Thornton: Gone. OldFatWillie: Gone. Boy, sure glad they kept the old guy and let Steinbach go. Whew.
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