The Bengals fired defensive coordinator Teryl Austin on Monday after a four-game stretch that saw the team go 1-3 while allowing 2,117 yards and 158 points.
Head coach Marvin Lewis will call the defensive plays the rest of the way and said that he felt the team needed to shake things up for players with the Bengals still very much alive in the playoff race at 5-4. Based on what defensive end Carlos Dunlap said on Monday, it seems like that was the effect of the move.
Dunlap called Austin’s firing a “shocker” and that it made it clear that the team needs to improve right away.
“If you weren’t paying attention, you are now,” Dunlap said, via the team’s website. “Not that we aren’t paying attention, but it wakes you up. There’s a sense of urgency we want to be a great defense. We’ve been a great defense for a long time now, and they want to get back to that now because we still have an opportunity to control what we can control. We’re still right in the mix of everything and if we fix it now, we can do what we want to do, not that that was the sole issue because he’s not out there playing football. We have things we need to fix as well, but that’s the move they made.”
The Bengals aren’t sure which quarterback they’ll be facing in Baltimore this weekend, but the goal will be the same whether it is Joe Flacco, Lamar Jackson or Robert Griffin III taking snaps. They need to make stops and give the team a sign that there’s a way out of the current tailspin.