Opening statement:
"We got beat pretty soundly in every phase and that is obvious, but like I told our team, that is the first quarter of the season. That is not how we want to play or how we are going to continue to play. We understand we have some work to do. Nobody is going to drop their head or get mad. The only people that can fix this are the people in that room. We have work to do. We understand it. Give credit to Cincinnati. They played well and we did not. We have to continue to get better. We need to get better faster. That was probably… The disappointing part is that was as bad as we have played all year, caught us at a bad time and we couldn't come out of it. Not going to get discouraged by it. I am disappointed in our performance, but we have to get back and go back to work as fast as we can. We have to put this one behind us, learn from it and move on. That is what you have to do."
On if the Browns are regressing:
"I can see you saying that about today. Like I just said, we got beat soundly in every phase, but we are going to work. I am not going to let this tram go backwards. We did today. There is no question about that. We have some work to do. I think to a man in there, we will go back to work. We will put our heads down and get better."
On if he is shocked being 0-4:
"I don't like to be 0-4. Nobody does. I am not going to say I am shocked. Anything can happen in this league. Sometimes these things happen. We are 0-4. We earned the record. We have a game here at home next week against a good opponent, the New York Jets, and we have to get ready for it."
On the Browns defense not playing well today:
"Like I said, we didn't play well anywhere. I can't explain it until I watch the tape. I want to watch the tape because sometimes we think it is the whole group and it is not – it is a play here, and it is a play there. That is pro football. That is the way it works. Things sometimes get heading downhill the other way, and we couldn't get a stop. That is just not who we have been thus far. I understand everything that will be said and everything that will be written, but nobody is blinking in that room. We are going to continue to work. We are going to continue to get better and continue to find a way to get our football team where it needs to be."
On if replacing QB DeShone Kizer with QB Kevin Hogan late in the fourth quarter was due to the score:
"Yes, it was. DeShone Kizer is the quarterback. I told him that, and I took him out because I didn't want to take a chance. I believe what this guy is going to be so I didn't want to take a chance of leaving him in there and all of the sudden getting him injured. It is good to see Kevin go in there and do some things, but that was nothing about DeShone's performance or anything like that."
On signs the process is working since last year, given today's performance:
"I am not going to comment on that. What I am going to comment on is just today was not a good day for our football team. We need to get better. I just think we have to go in this room and there are some fundamental things that we have to do better across the board. It starts obviously with me, down through our coaches and the rest of our players, and that is what we have to do better."
On saying QBs only have so many hits in them and Kizer is getting close to that:
"No, that is why I took him out. I didn't want him to get hit anymore. I don't think he is close. I don't think his spirit is broken or anything. He wanted to stay in there, trust me. I just knew it was the right thing to do at that time. I have been through these enough to know we have to make sure we protect our quarterback that way. I took him out, and I think he will be fine."
On a national report alleging there is tension between Browns coaching staff and front office:
"I know nothing about any of that stuff. People can say what they are going to say. Let's be honest, that has been the [reported] flavor of this organization for years. That doesn't exist in our building at all. I know those things are going to come. You guys are going to ask those questions. I know nothing about that at all."
On considering not playing WR Kenny Britt as much due to drops, specifically the one that led to an interception:
"No. Obviously, we had two guys get hurt today so we had to put him back out there. It is unfortunate. I think Kenny is trying hard. I do. Obviously, it is not happening for him in some situations. It is tough because we need those plays when we have an opportunity to make them. We will go back and watch it, see where we are, see if we can continue to have a good week of practice and see if we can get better."
On the Browns struggles finishing the first half defensively:
"Don't think we are not trying to figure it out. We are trying to learn how to start better on offense. We are trying to get rid of the penalties that start the game. All of those things. We look at all of this closely, and we are trying to solve it. We have to solve it. We get it as coaches and as players, and we just have to get it done. We haven't gotten it done yet."
On if the Browns wanted DB Jabrill Peppers matching up against Bengals WR A.J. Green in the red zone early in the second quarter:
"I think (Bengals QB) Andy (Dalton) did a good job of checking the protection, saw it and recognized it. Obviously, we were in a zero blitz, and he got matched up on him. That is going to happen sometimes."
On what needs to change in the red zone defensively:
"Have to get better when we are down there. That is not what (defensive coordinator) Gregg (Williams) has been defensively. There are some things that we need to do better. He knows that and we know that as a defensive football team. We have to get better at slowing them down. It is no different than us [on offense]. When we get down there, we can't turn the ball over. We have to get the ball in the end zone. It is all across our football team today. This is the first time this has crept up in this manner with the whole group. We have to solve it, get better and keep working at it."
On not having DL Myles Garrett, DL Danny Shelton and LB Jamie Collins Sr.:
"I'm not going to make excuses. We didn't play well. We didn't play well anywhere. We didn't coach well. We didn't play well. We didn't do anything well. Cincinnati had a lot to do with that. We did not play as well as I think our football team can play."
On an injury update:
"I think we are OK. We have a couple guys. (LB) Dominique Alexander has a knee, and we will see where that is. Obviously, he is going to have an MRI and find out exactly where that is. Outside of that, I don't think there was anything else that we had to deal with."
On the pain caused by seeing Browns fans leaving early:
"It pains me. It does. I see it all. I saw everything here today because we all want to give them what they deserve. We didn't today. I understand our fans leaving. I probably would have, too. We weren't playing good enough. I respect that. Hopefully, they will be back next week. We have a big game against New York. I know our guys. We are going to go back to work on Monday, and they are going to get ready to play a big time game here at home. We need to give our fans and our football team what they deserve, which is an opportunity to win. That is what we are trying to do."
