Tag: Jessie Bates

Jessie Bates says if Bengals defense doesn’t improve ‘some people won’t be here’

Cincinnati Bengals defenders aren’t happy about the team’s Week 2 performance.

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Cincinnati Bengals safety Jessie Bates isn’t thrilled with how his unit performed during the team’s Week 2 loss to the Cleveland Browns.

In fact, he opened up Thursday about how the post-game chat with the team went and hinted the approach the locker room is taking if things don’t change.

“The talk that we had after that game wasn’t pretty. If we don’t figure it out, some people won’t be here,” Bates said, according to ESPN’s Ben Baby.

And it’s hard to blame Bates for being so candid. His defense coughed up 35 points, highlighted by 215 rushing yards and three scores on a 6.1 average for Browns rushers.

The Bengals could easily make some excuses. It went down on a short week thanks to a Thursday game. Nick Chubb is one of the NFL’s best. Geno Atkins and Mike Daniels were missing from the heart of the defensive line.

But accountability has been a big theme for the Bengals this offseason as the overhauled roster got an influx of leaders. Bates isn’t one of those new guys, but he is a leader expected to set the tone.

The task doesn’t get much easier for Bates and his defense in Week 3 on the road against the Philadelphia Eagles. We’ll see if the unit can improve, but Joe Burrow has already stressed a sense of urgency for his team as they seek out their first win of the season.

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Jessie Bates the rising star? Shawn Williams thinks so

Cincinnati Bengals safety Shawn Williams is a big believer in Jessie Bates.

When it comes to on-the-rise Cincinnati Bengals players, it’s a little easy to overlook safety Jessie Bates.

Bates sits sandwiched between the end of a dead era and a complete roster overhaul and last year — like most on the Cincinnati defense — he struggled to adapt.

But veteran safety Shawn Williams isn’t one of those guys who has overlooked Bates, as he told  Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com:

“…It’s like Jessie. He should be considered one of the elite, but it’s not that way when you’re not on a winning team and not playing in prime-time games.

He’s got a lot of upside. He’s just starting to scratch the surface because he’s so young. He’s doing everything on raw talent. Once he actually learns as he grows he should be really good.”

Williams, heart and soul of the secondary for a long time now, would know best.

And the proof has been all over the film. Bates was one of those guys who struggled in a new scheme a year ago but seemed to improve as the season progressed. Prior to that, even as a rookie, he showed signs of being that ballhawking safety the Bengals drafted him to be.

These comments come on the heels of Bates hiring a new agent as he gets ready to push for a second contract. He’s clearly on the right trajectory and the combination of his improving and the unit around him doing the same could mean he has a massive 2020.

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Bengals’ Jessie Bates hires a new agent

Bengals safety Jessie Bates has new representation.

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Cincinnati Bengals safety Jessie Bates has elected to hire new representation.

According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Bates will go with David Mulugheta of Athletes First. No shocker here — as ESPN’s Adam Schefter pointed out last month, Athletes First repped the most first and second-round selections of any agency during the draft at eight and 11, respectively. That list includes wideout Tee Higgins, Cincinnati’s pick at the top of Round 2.

And calling Bates a rising star is fair enough. The 2018 second-round pick has drummed up 211 total tackles, six interceptions and 16 passes defensed since entering the league and as a rookie posted a career-high grade of 79.9 at PFF.

Bates’ current rookie deal expires after the 2021 season but he’ll be in the extension discussion this time next offseason.

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