After a putrid performance from rookie quarterback Ryan Finley during a loss to Oakland, Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor had to answer some tough questions about the possibility of going back to Andy Dalton.
Later in the week, Taylor has further elaborated on the situation.
Asked by Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com if Finley is the guy for the rest of the year, Taylor didn’t hold back: “Yeah, candidly we want to see a bigger sample size on what he can do. I don’t think two games are fair to any young quarterback.”
Speaking with the media, Taylor noted the situation around the quarterback still hasn’t been entirely great:
“…I know everyone wants to nitpick his last performance, but I continue to see growth from him, and everyone around him needs to step up and do a better job as well. A lot of things get pointed at the quarterback. We, kind of, said the same things about Andy (QB Andy Dalton) as the season was going. Everyone else has to do their job as well. They need to catch the balls that are thrown to them, get open, and protect up front. It makes life easier on the quarterback. I’m excited to see what he can do this week against Pittsburgh.”
Finley has indeed shown strides but it was hard to look past his performance in Oakland, where he lost a fumble, threw a pick on the final drive and probably should have had another interception go back for a touchdown. He completed just 13 of 31 attempts.
But it’s fair to say he’s facing the same hurdles Dalton did in terms of his supporting surroundings, not to mention he’s a rookie just now getting first-team reps.
Only a handful of games remain, so perhaps the biggest mystery now is whether Taylor changes his tune if the team keeps inching closer to 0-16.
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