Raiders’ Gruden has ‘lot of respect’ for 09 Bengals
Jon Gruden has coached a lot of quarterbacks.
He has not coached a lot of games in which that group included the other team’s quarterback and head coach.
But that will be the case on Sunday when the Raiders host the winless Bengals. Zac Taylor, the firstyear Bengals head coach, played quarterback for Gruden for one spring 12 years ago with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And rookie Ryan Finley, recently named the starter as the Bengals benched veteran Andy Dalton, played for Gruden at this year’s Senior Bowl in January. “It’s strange,” Gruden said. Taylor, 36, who was the Rams’ quarterbacks coach for one season before Cincinnati hired him, played quarterback at Nebraska and joined the Buccaneers after going undrafted in 2007. The arrangement was shortlived: As Taylor recalled to Cincinnati media this week,
Gruden cut him before the start of training camp.
“I think they probably just brought me in because I could call the plays in the rookie minicamp,” Taylor told reporters, smiling.
Taylor recalled Gruden as being “smart and detailed.” After being hired by the Bengals in February, Taylor hired two Raiders assistant coaches from 2018 to his staff — Brian Callahan, now Cincinnati’s offensive coordinator, and running backs coach Jemal Singleton.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for the Bengals,” Gruden said Friday. “I’ve seen them play well, and I know they’re wellcoached because I know those guys.”
Over a week in Mobile, Ala., Gruden also got to know Finley, a rookie from North Carolina State who made his NFL debut in the Bengals’ 4913 loss to the Ravens last Sunday.
“We liked Finley,” Gruden said. “The guy is more athletic than we thought. He’s really accurate. He’s got some leadership, and he’s got prototype size, and he’s a quick learner.”
After an 08 start, the Bengals decided to replace Dalton, a threetime Pro Bowl selection, with Finley, a fourthround draft pick who drew a difficult first assignment in the AFC Northleading Ravens. Finley completed 16 of 30 passes for 167 yards with a touchdown and an interception in the loss.
On a conference call this week, Taylor said he thought Finley “played with some confidence” in his first start. Raiders defensive coordinator Paul Guenther said Finley
“I’ve well and seen I them know play they’re wellcoached because I know those guys.”
Jon Gruden, Raiders head coach
“made some good throws under duress.”
“He can move around the pocket some, he can check some stuff at the line of scrimmage,” said Guenther. “So it’s going to be a good challenge for us.”
Last season, the Raiders played the Bengals in Cincinnati without an injured Dalton and lost 3016 to a team quarterbacked by backup Jeff Driskel. Running back Joe Mixon rushed for 129 yards and two touchdowns as the Raiders’ offense sputtered against a Bengals defense that entered the game ranked last in several major categories.
This year’s Bengals are last in total defense and against the run. They placed veteran cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick on injured reserve this week and will play without top receiver A.J. Green on Sunday due to a seasonlong ankle injury.
“We can’t feel sorry for ourselves,” Taylor said on a conference call. “It’s a hard league. You’ve got to earn it, everything you get. We can’t let the first nine weeks affect our preparation going forward. We still believe that there’s a lot of wins in this team as the season gets going.”
Gruden this week invoked a pair of recent upsets — Evansville beating No. 1 Kentucky in men’s college basketball and the Falcons’ Week 10 win over the Saints — as examples of why his team should put little stock in being favored by doubledigit points Sunday.
A few Raiders, though, can relate to the Bengals’ perspective. In 2014, the Raiders started 010 en route to a 313 finish. Quarterback Derek Carr, a rookie that season, recalled it being “frustrating” — and that eventually winning made him “thankful for those other moments.”
“They are in the middle of installing their system,” Carr said. “So, who says it wouldn’t click this week, right?
“I don’t care how many games they have or haven’t won. They’ve got Pro Bowlers all over their football team and they are going to bring it.”