Sideline passes sidelined O'D Coslet wants QB to 'fire and fall back' Thursday, November 19, 1998
BY GEOFF HOBSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Neil O'Donnell didn't get the ball down the field. When Jeff Blake did, it got picked off.
Which are big reasons why Paul Justin is the Bengals quarterback, at least for Sunday.
O'Donnell, who went through Bill Parcells' quarterback circus with the Jets last year, took the news with the aplomb of a nine-year veteran who has been to the Super Bowl. But he did say a quarterback, like a coach, gets the blame when it's not all his fault.
"You can say that definitely. You see how it all filters down," O'Donnell said. "You see how that's part of it and I'm involved. I'm a big part of that offense. If it's not going well, sure, I'm one big part of it.
"I'm frustrated by it all, but what are you going to do?" O'Donnell said.
But he put it in perspective, contrasting it to last weekend's car accident that killed a University of Kentucky football player and his friend.
"It's never as bad as you think it is," he said. "Look at those poor young kids in Kentucky and their families. You just stay strong and keep working."
Bengals coach Bruce Coslet wasn't about to chastise O'Donnell's methodical, careful style. After all, O'Donnell crafted a 93.6 passer's ratin,g and his clutch play in the final quarter of two games made possible Cincinnati's only two victories.
But methodical becomes conservative when the record is 2-8. O'Donnell's style has also yielded no touchdowns in the past two weeks and just eight passes of 20 yards or more in his last five games.
Coslet wants his entire offense to remember what it was like early in the season. So when asked what he'll tell Justin, Coslet invoked the creed of Bengals founder Paul Brown.
"Fire and fall back," Coslet said. "If the play's there, let it fly. You can't play scared, you can't play cautious."
Coslet has expressed frustration at the pitfalls of a new quarterback trying to learn the offense while on the job and has always praised O'Donnell for what he's done in such a brief time with the system. But in the last two weeks on the sideline, Coslet has appeared angry when O'Donnell hasn't hit a receiver downfield. On Monday, Coslet said men were open in Sunday's 24-3 loss to Minnesota, and General Manager Mike Brown agreed as he surveyed practice Wednesday. "The comment you hear is we have a lateral passing game," Brown said. "That we don't throw the ball down field enough. There may be something to that. We have guys open. We have an offense that works. I've seen it work. You have to go by the script."
Brown saw it work to near perfection in last season's final five games, with Boomer Esiason in command and without injured wide receiver Carl Pickens. Esiason, who had worked Coslet's offense for two teams in three stops during 10 years, had 13 plays of 20 yards or more in leading the Bengals to four wins.
O'Donnell, who opened the season with less than two months in the system, has 20 passes of 20-plus yards in 10 games. That includes six in the 25-20 victory over Pittsburgh. In the five games since, he's hit just eight 20-yarders and only one in the last two games. Wide receiver Darnay Scott missed two of those games, but played last Sunday when O'Donnell's longest pass was an 18-yard dump to fullback Brian Milne.
"I don't know. That hasn't been brought to my attention. You talk to him more than I do," said O'Donnell, asked if Coslet is getting flustered with the mistakes of the learning process. "I'm the same guy who's been playing since Opening Day. I feel like I can still run this offense."
Coslet agrees with O'Donnell. It's not just his play that has caused his passing rating to dip by 10 points in the last five games. "It's never just one thing or one guy," Coslet said. "Maybe it will help Neil to sit back and watch."
O'Donnell doubted it: "It's totally different when you're (behind center)."
But he could also understand Coslet seeking a spark.
"I guess that's what they're trying to do," O'Donnell said. "The past two weeks it's pretty obvious we haven't been doing much offensively. It's a variety of things that's making it happen."
Justin time for Bengals