Bengals President Mike Brown described Sunday's season-opening loss as “painful” but declined to talk about possible player personnel or coaching changes.

        “I don't get into the discussion of coaches' tenure with the team,” Brown said. “Once you answer any question on that issue, it's non-ending. I will just tell you I have nothing to say about it.”

        The Browns, a 6 1/2-point underdog, outplayed and outmuscled the Bengals in the 24-7 victory before the largest crowd in Cincinnati for a sporting event, 64,006.

        After last season, when the Bengals were 4-12, Brown brought Bruce Coslet back for another year, saying Coslet was the coach who could bring the team the quickest success in the $453 million taxpayer-funded stadium. The Bengals faced greater expectations than recent years.

        The loss was the Bengals' third consecutive opening-day loss and dropped Coslet's career record in Cincinnati to 21-37.

        The Bengals are 7-26 since the start of the 1998 season. The game against the Browns was pointed to as a new beginning.

        “We laid an egg. Everyone here is disappointed in how it went,” Brown said. “I don't feel, though, this is the end of the story. Guys who played poorly (Sunday) have shown they can do much better. I'm going to want to see them do better, but I think they can. And I'm not going to overreact to one failure, one loss.”

        The Bengals play their next two games on the road against tough AFC Central Division rivals Jacksonville, where they are a 13-point underdog, and Baltimore.

        Brown, as general manager, did not talk to the players.

        “It's not my role,” Brown said of having contact with players. “They felt badly. They disappointed people they didn't want to let down. They disappointed themselves, and maybe that bothered them more than anything.“

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Brown won't discuss Coslet Simmons probably lost for the season Barndt trying to stay positive

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