Bengals Defense Holds Players-Only Meeting After Losing to Win-Less Jets

The Cincinnati Bengals defense — which ranks 30th in the NFL in points allowed per drive and was most responsible for last week’s 39-38 loss to the New York Jets — came together for a players-only meeting on Monday.

"We have leadership," rookie linebacker Demetrius Knight Jr. said. "The guys are leading us. Trey (Hendrickson). Logan (Wilson), (Oren Burks), Geno (Stone) and (Jordan Battle) and BJ (Hill), they’re leading us quite well. It can be easy to lose your head to put it shortly after a game like that. It’s all about coming together and having love for each other. We’ll hold you accountable, but we’re going to grow and get better together as well."

While players haven’t revealed the content of the meeting, the focus this week around the defensive side of the ball going into Sunday's game against the Chicago Bears has been centered around intangible qualities and around tackling.

Following Sunday’s loss, coach Zac Taylor said that he was looking for someone to step up and lead the defense. He said Monday’s meeting was a step in the right direction.

"You want guys to take ownership and take accountability for it," Taylor said. "Everybody’s got the right intent. Everyone’s got great energy. Everyone wants to play well on defense and help us win games. The offense has to do their job as well. Special teams have to step up and do their job as well. Sure, they (the defense) has gotten a lot of the attention this week, but at the same time, there’s things in all three phases we have to improve on."

The Bengals also lead the NFL in missed tackles. Before practices this week, the Bengals have done extra tackling drills that give the players a chance to work on technique. While they’re not actually tackling other players to