Head Coach Hue Jackson:
On if TE David Njoku's inconsistency is due to his youth:
"Oh yeah, all of our young players it shows up. We just have to do it better. These guys are playing big time pro football for the first time and being in a different environment every week, they are in a different challenge every week. Defenses change. It is just different. There are not a lot of young guys who can come in and play at a high level as a rookie week in and week out. We get that. We understand that. We are asking guys to do more to contribute more because that is kind of where we are as a football team. We have to get through those growing pains, and guys have to play consistently every time they go out there."
On what areas Njoku needs to focus on for his development:
"We have game planned a lot of things for him. Sometimes they just do not happen. That is not his fault. Sometimes that is the defense and the looks we get. I think the thing he can control is the blocking at the point of attack. That is something that he has to control and do that job the best he can and making sure he understands assignment wise everything he needs to do and then let the catches come. Let that part kind of come to him, but do everything you are responsible for that you can control. Then let everything else kind of come to you."
On what made Bengals QB Andy Dalton successful in 2015 at the peak of his career:
"I saw a quarterback who had taken control of an offense. I just created an environment for him to be the unquestioned leader of the offensive football team and the team. Obviously, that was through (Bengals Head Coach) Marvin Lewis, who is the head coach, but Andy took that role on and did everything he could to be somewhat of the Pied Piper for the team. I thought he did an excellent job."
On how Dalton has handled criticisms of losing in the playoffs each year:
"He has a toughness about him that people know. He was surviving that prior to then, Having ben in the playoffs every year and did not win, I think people were kind of down on that, but he came back and put together a great year. 2014 was not as good. 2015, he was playing really good before he got hurt. I know Andy extremely well. He is a God-fearing man, and he has a strength that gets him through a lot of different things."
On if Dalton can win in the playoffs:
"I think he can. I do not think there is not any question about that. He is good enough to win a playoff game. No question about that."
On Bengals LB Vontaze Burfict and the Bengals defense:
"They are playing well. Vontaze is Vontaze. He is as good as a middle linebacker there is in pro football. He knows how to play. He likes to play. He plays the game a different way than most, but he is very instinctual. He has unbelievable instincts of where the ball is going because I think he studies the game. He understands the game more so than people think. He plays all three of those linebacker spots for them so he is very bright. He has done a good job. Their defense overall has been playing well all year. When you watch them, (Bengals defensive coordinator) Coach (Paul) Gunther has done a really good job. I do not think they started off as well as they wanted to but lately they have been the catalyst for the football team to win some games so they have done a good job."
On the improvement of the Browns defense from the first Bengals game:
"I think we are making more plays. I think we are consistently stopping the run. I think we have still done that. There has been a play that has broken out here or there, but I think for the most part kept the points done a little bit, not as much as we wanted to be but as a unit because we have lost some players and had some injuries, I still think our defense consistently week in and week out have been out there on the field competing and giving us a chance to be in football games."
On Browns players definitively stating last year the team would win a game and if that mindset remains in place this year in a similar situation:
"Oh, it is in there. Talking about it is not going to do that though. I think our players know that. We can talk all we want. That is not what it is about. We are in Year 2 of this. Like I have said before, it is unfortunate we have to talk about this but we are. I don't think it is fair to that locker room. I don't think it is fair to anybody involved. We wish we were not talking about it, but I do know the fight that is in that room and the talk that we have. We are going to find a way to win a game. We want to win more than one game."
On if players are as mad about losing as him:
"Oh, they are. They are probably more pissed off than me. I do not think them talking about those things is going to change anything. I think they understand and recognize the only people that are going to change it are the coaching staff and those players playing between the white lines when we play. Nothing else is going to change it."
On not wanting young players to get used to losing:
"No question. I am with you. I do not want our young players and I do not want anyone to get used to losing. I am not used to losing. I have never seen anything like this in my life. It is not OK. I will be the first to tell you that. It is not OK. It is just where we are. As I said before, I am pissed off about it. I stand by that. I think our players are, too. We are trying every week to do something about it. We just have to find a way to finish off a game and win. Then we will get that off our back and continue onto the next one."
On if it would mean more to him to get a win in Cincinnati, given he coached there:
"Absolutely. I will win at the grocery store right if I could right now. I do not care. I just want to win something. We could go all day on this subject. Let's just go on to something else."
On LB Joe Schobert's season in his new role:
"I think Joe has done a really good job. He has played middle linebacker for us. He has done a really good job of directing when he was the guy who was calling the signals. Kirko (LB Christian Kirksey) has kind of taken that role over. I think Joe has still done a really good job playing for us and being able to tie the back end together and keep everybody moving forward. I think he has had a really good year. He just has to continue to play well over these next six weeks."
On DL Myles Garrett and how he is impacted by DL Emmanuel Ogbah's injury:
"Go dominate the game. That is what he is here for. Losing Emmanuel is a tough blow. At the same time, I think Myles is talented enough to go do what he needs to do. Everybody knows that so everybody is going to shooting to make sure he does not. His charge has to be you have to go find a way. The guy is playing extremely hard. He has played well. Obviously, we want more sacks. He wants more sacks, but he needs to go make more splash plays, and I think he will."
On if QBs Kevin Hogan and Cody Kessler compete each week to be the backup QB this late in the season:
"No, I do not look at it like that. When (QB Kevin) Hogan got hurt, I made it (QB) Cody (Kessler). It is not by competition or anything like that. Obviously, Kevin has played in more games than Cody has. It is probably a feel more so of what the gameplan is and what we are trying to accomplish than anything. Those guys in my mind the way I see them are equal in what they are doing for our football team. It has been Cody over the last several weeks just like it was Kevin when we first started off. I think we are good. I think those guys have all handled it extremely well and know where they are."
On Bengals OL Cedric Ogbuehi and his relationship with Garrett and if he was there when Ogbuehi was drafted:
"Yes. They were teammates. Oh yeah, they were teammates. I am sure it will be a good battle. Cedric is very talented, athletic, big guy. He is trying to find his way in the National Football League, as well. Those guys will be rekindling an old relationship that I am sure they used to go at it at practice. He will be trying to block Myles, and sure Myles will be trying to go around him to get to the quarterback."
