Wednesday, September 13, 2000
Jones off bench, but on hot seat
Bengals left tackle takes heat for QB sacks
By Tom Groeschen
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Go ahead, blame Rod Jones. Blame the offensive line. Blame Akili Smith, Bruce Coslet and Mike Brown.
Surely, somebody gets the blame for those seven sacks in Sunday's embarrassing 24-7 loss to Cleveland.
Blame the running backs, who failed to stop some blitzes. Blame Smith, who sometimes held the ball too long.
But it was Jones, the left tackle, who took the most postgame heat. He allowed two sacks before being benched just before halftime.
“He didn't play well,” Coslet said. “He didn't block his guy, that was the huge problem.”
Was it technique? Was it ... just what? But Coslet would take no more questions about Jones.
“He didn't block him,” Coslet said. “I mean, what can you say?”
Will Jones be benched?
“No,” Coslet said, “but he'd better pick it up. I told him that.”
Jones was not available to comment. The players had the day off Tuesday, and Jones was not at his locker during Monday's lunchtime interview period.
John Jackson, who replaced Jones at left tackle Sunday, also allowed two sacks.
“He's the starter and I'm the backup, and that's the bottom line,” Jackson said. “I know my role here is to help him out.”
Jackson is a 13th-year veteran. Jones is entering his fifth NFL season, and is supposed to be the future. Or so the Bengals hoped, when they gave him a new three-year, $9 million contract entering 2000.
If there is any glamour on the offensive line, left tackle is it. That position is chiefly responsible for protecting the quarterback's blind side, most quarterbacks being right-handed. It is the position Anthony Munoz played in his Hall of Fame Bengals career from 1980-92.
It is a position the Bengals have been trying to fill,
really, since Munoz retired.
Don't give up on Jones, the Bengals said.
“His pride is hurting him right now, but he'll bounce back,” right tackle Willie Anderson said. “There's a reason he's over there at left tackle. It's because he's a good player.”
Anderson recalled that the Bengals, before giving Jones a new contract, wanted to see how he fared in the final two games of 1999 vs. standout rushers Michael McCrary (Baltimore) and Tony Brackens (Jacksonville). When Jones held his own, the Bengals rewarded him.
But Sunday, a free-agent Browns signee named Keith McKenzie made Jones look bad. McKenzie had two of his three sacks on Jones.
But again, Anderson pointed out, there were seven sacks total. And plenty of blame to go around.
“Seven sacks, that won't happen again,” Anderson said.
Not to mention a weak rushing game. Pro Bowl running back Corey Dillon rushed for only 41 yards on 3.4 yards per carry, below the NFL average of about 3.8. The biggest rushing yardage came on Daniel Pope's fake punt (22 yards) and Smith's scrambles (two for 26 yards).
“Two of our goals were to rush for 150 yards a game and not give up any sacks,” Anderson said. “We do that, we have a good chance to win. We obviously didn't do that.”
Jackson, a former Steeler and Charger who twice was a Pro Bowl alternate, has added the role of counselor.
“I told Rod I've had many days like he had,” Jackson said. “You play the game long enough, you'll have those days. The main thing for him is to get back to basics, just use the proper technique and go from there.”
Coslet, in a sometimes tense news conference on Monday, defended Jones.
“I don't wanna point toward Rod Jones. He's just one guy,” Coslet said. “Look at the whole 45 (players) and the 12 coaches and the head coach and blame everybody. Everybody's to blame. That's wrong of you to pick out one guy like that.”
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Jones off bench, but on hot seat