Bengals not concerned with Driskel’s struggles vs. Raiders

Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Bill Lazor doesn’t read too deeply into the struggles quarterback Jeff Driskel experienced Sunday in his first win since replacing injured Andy Dalton.

Driskel was well off target on a number of his throws as he completed just 14 of 33 passes for 130 yards and one touchdown with one interception (51.3 quarterback rating) in his third NFL start, but Lazor said it isn’t enough of a pattern yet to create cause for concern.

The Bengals (6-8) overcame Driskel's struggles thanks to a dominant running game and the defense's best performance this season, as Cincinnati beat the Oakland Raiders 30-16 in the home finale at Paul Brown Stadium.

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“When I look at all of Jeff’s plays through preseason and the other games he played in I think he’s been very accurate and he did miss some in this game,” Lazor said Monday. “So we’ll talk about it when we see it. … Sometimes you really just miss them, but if you miss enough the same way then we have to address it with him. A guy like Jeff, and really at this level with a quarterback, he should be able to work with you to say, ‘Yeah, this is what I felt or that’s what I felt. This particular one I thought I had to go over the top.’ We’ll work it out with him. I’m not too concerned because when you look at the whole body of stuff he’s done on game film I think he’s been pretty accurate.”

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Driskel’s first big mistake came in the first quarter when he took a shot down field after a turnover and ended up badly underthrowing John Ross on a pass that Oakland intercepted.

The next drive, Driskel was back on track, connecting with Tyler Boyd on three key plays, including a fourth-and-two, a 21-yard pass to reach the red zone and a 7-yard touchdown for the first score of the day and a lead the Bengals wouldn’t lose.

However, inconsistency marred his performance the rest of the day as he began overthrowing his receivers, including one to the end zone that was well out of Cody Core’s reach in the fourth quarter.

“Really on the deep balls, I’d rather him miss them over the top when they’re throwing it to John Ross, right, than short,” Lazor said. “I mean, when you’ve got a speed guy that’s how you throw it. You make him run. There are some other guys where maybe you’d put the ball up where they can do jump for it. So there’s a mix on some of those and sometimes if it’s — I think the one to Cody Core was probably wasn’t far off his fingertips. So how far back do you have to dial that? Just a little bit and that’s another touchdown. We’ll look at them one at a time and then if we think it’s a trend we’ll talk with him.”

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Boyd said the players still believe in Driskel, and all that matters is he did enough to get the win.

“Jeff is a great player,” Boyd said. “We should have won games before this game with him. I trust him, all the guys trust him. He is a legit player in this league. He proves every day that he deserves this opportunity and we will continue to have his back.”

It didn’t help Driskel that Boyd — his most reliable receiver — missed the entire second half because of a knee injury.

Ross is supposed to be his next biggest target but caught just one pass for six yards after being targeted five times. Marvin Lewis said Monday that Ross still has plenty of potential and will continue to improve with time and experience.

“I just think every opportunity John grows a bit,” Lewis said. “I think every snap, every field zone, every opportunity in the game, based on time in the game and situation in the game, he has a chance to grow and every time there is an opportunity to evaluate him on tape and each and every play, there is an opportunity to grow for John. He is still a very, very young guy and very impressionable and coachable that way, and I think he just has to keep absorbing it and then keep making the revisions within what he’s doing. He’s had an opportunity to be here with a couple great mentors that played as young players in Tyler and A.J. (Green) and an opportunity to learn from them throughout and how to go about it. Everybody wants him to do the right thing all the time and continue to prosper like he has.”


SUNDAY’S GAME

Bengals at Browns, 1 p.m., WHIO-TV Ch. 7, Ch. 12, 700, 1530, 95.3, 101.1, 102.7, 104.7

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