Bengals player’s ‘college offense’ barb backfires in latest loss

Cam Taylor-Britt said he had no regrets for referring to the Washington Commanders’ offensive scheme as a ‘college offense.’ Whether the Cincinnati Bengals cornerback had any similar misgivings as rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels floated a 55-yard pass over his head to Washington wideout Terry McLaurin in the second quarter of a 38-33 loss Monday is a different question.

‘I do not regret it,’ he told reporters after the game. ‘But I didn’t mean anything malicious by that comment. It was made bigger than what it was. Yes, I can eat my words. But definitely we did take an ‘L’ today, as a team.’

Daniels was 21-of-23 passing with 254 yards and two touchdowns, the second of which was a 27-yard rainbow to McLaurin in what Next Gen Stats deemed the most improbable touchdown of the young season. For the second straight game, the Commanders did not punt. Washington also rushed for 108 yards and gained 6.2 yards per play.

‘Not bad for a college offense,’ the team’s official X account posted after the game.

Last week, Taylor-Britt told reporters ‘they don’t make him do a lot’ in reference to Daniels, who was the second overall pick in the 2024 draft.

All things Bengals: Latest Cincinnati Bengals news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.

‘Nice college offense,’ Taylor-Britt said. ‘(Kliff) Kingsbury is their (offensive coordinator) … (Daniels) is only throwing short routes, some intermediate stuff.’

Kingsbury said last week he hadn’t seen Taylor-Britt’s comments.

‘ He’s entitled to his opinion,’ the former Texas Tech and Arizona Cardinals head coach said.

Taylor-Britt talking negatively about an upcoming Bengals opponent has been a theme to start the season. Before the Bengals lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 2, Taylor-Britt noted that rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy was fast but ‘that’s about it.’ (Against the Chiefs, Taylor-Britt backed up the smack talk with a one-handed interception of Patrick Mahomes.)

Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said ‘that’s not what we do’ when asked about Taylor-Britt’s comments in his postgame news conference. He did not disclose whether he spoke directly with the third-player who played collegiately at Nebraska.

‘We praise our own team. We praise the other team. We don’t need to take shots like that,’ Taylor said.