Tobin on Pacman, Burfict: They did more to cause us to win than lose

With Cincinnati Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis ducking the podium at the NFL Scouting Combine this year, director of player personnel Duke Tobin made his public speaking debut this morning at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Tobin addressed the team's philosophy on player evaluation, drafting and free agency in addition to speaking about a perceived lack of leadership and composure in wake of the late-game meltdown that led to the wild-card loss to Pittsburgh.

“I don’t think we lack team leadership or composure,” Tobin said. “I don’t think you get to 12-4 by lacking that. The folks that were involved at the end of the playoff game have spoken their piece on that. I think they’re working to rectify that. I think they wish that they would have reacted maybe a little differently. But our guys weren’t the only ones involved in that.

“The two guys that we had involved in that (Adam Jones and Vontaze Burfict), I would say over the course of the season, and that game, did far more to cause us to win than they did to cause us to lose,” Tobin continued. “They’re valuable guys to us. I don’t worry about a leadership or a composure issue. I think we’ve got a veteran team that can handle it and bounce back.”

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