The Bengals made a big change to their coaching staff this week by firing defensive coordinator Teryl Austin and giving head coach Marvin Lewis control of the defense for the final seven games of the season.
Lewis will call the plays for the first time against the team he worked for when he first gained attention as a head coaching candidate. Lewis was the defensive coordinator for the Ravens from 1996 to 2001, which makes for a nice detail as he returns to doing that job for the first time in nearly two decades.
When Lewis was running the defense in Baltimore, there was a lot of quarterback shuffling with the Ravens and his former team is dealing with uncertainty at the position this week. Joe Flacco didn’t practice on Wednesday because of a hip injury, which means Robert Griffin III or Lamar Jackson could wind up starting this weekend. After giving up 2,117 yards and 158 points the last four weeks, Lewis said he’s focused on his team and not who will play quarterback for Baltimore.
“Joe Flacco, as we know, is an outstanding quarterback,” Lewis said. “And Lamar is going to be a good, young player in the NFL. We spent a lot of time with Lamar, but right now it’s about us, and that’s important.”
The Bengals got a couple of defensive players back on the practice field Wednesday and it will likely be all hands on deck as Lewis tries to find a way to stop the bleeding with the Bengals still very much alive in the playoff race despite their recent defensive shortcomings.
