QUARTERBACK MATT RYAN
On his impressions of the game
“Tough day. We certainly didn’t play the way we wanted to. We knew coming in here that they were a good football team with a very good defense, and we felt like when we had the opportunities to make a play, we needed to make them. We didn’t do that today. It was a tough loss, but in this league it’s about bouncing back. It comes quickly for us this week — we play Thursday. We’ll take a quick look at this game and try to make some corrections and move on.”
On the halftime talk
“We were right in the game at the half. We came out and turned the football over three times in the second half. You’re not going to win, when you do that. I’ve got to be better than that, and hopefully we can improve that for next week.”
CORNERBACK ROBERT ALFORD
On the Bengals losing wide receiver A.J. Green.
“We prepared for all of their receivers. A.J., he is a good player, but we treated them all the same.”
COACH MIKE SMITH
His opening statement
“I think this is very obvious that this is not the type of performance that you have to have to win a football game. I thought we got beat in every phase of the game. My hats off to Cincinnati. They did an outstanding job of game-planning. They beat us in offense, defense, special teams and coaching.
“We have to get back to work as quickly as possible. We have a short week. We have a division game at home against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. We are not going to get an opportunity to make the corrections that we need to address like we would normally do on a seven day week. We have to get going and moving forward on our next game.
DEFENSIVE TACKLE PAUL SOLIAI
On stopping the run
“We just have to keep working. It was a tough one today, but we are just going to have to go out there and keep working. We have to still be physical upfront.”
DEFENSIVE TACKLE JONATHAN BABINEAUX
On the run defense
“It just comes to the point where you’ve got to beat the man in front of you. Just because you knock them back, you have to be able to stuff and shed and get to the ball. As a defensive player, we are all taught to finish on the ball. That’s that we have to get better at.”
OFFENSIVE TACKLE LAMAR HOLMES
On his personal foul penalty
“I went in to protect the quarterback. At the end of the day, that’s my brother. I’m going to protect him by any means necessary.
On if the play by Carlos Dunlap was dirty
“Of course, I feel like it was a (dirty play). We might have mixed reviews on it. At the end of the day, it’s what the ref decided it was. I can’t argue that. I picked up the penalty. At the end of the day I was wrong.”
On the pass protection
“It’s still a work in progress. The NFL is a very humbling league. We gave up one sack last week and two sacks this week. By our standards, we have to protect Matt and give Matt more time. Do whatever it really takes for us to win as a team and as a whole.”
TIGHT END LEVINE TOILOLO
On the first interception that hit his hands
“I feel like I should have made that catch. I know that it hit my hands. It was a bad bounce. I have to focus more. Especially on a bad play like that, a bad turnover right there in the middle of the field. That can’t happen. Matt trusts us to put it in those tight windows. When he does we have to make those plays.”
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