On a day that has marked the passing into retirement for generations of Americans, Cincinnati Bengals coach Dick LeBeau described the hard work in front of him.

        LeBeau vowed again on Monday, his 65th birthday, to make the changes necessary to turn his Bengals into a winning team.

        His day started with a morning meeting with club president Mike Brown.

        “I'm not going to criticize the players or coaches,” Brown said when reached at his home Monday night.

        At 1 p.m., LeBeau held his regular news conference.

        Standing grim-faced behind a podium, LeBeau said the turnaround from Sunday's 34-6 blowout loss to the San Diego Chargers starts “with the guy's who's talking right now.

        “My job is to coach the football team, and if the football team plays poorly, then I evaluate myself first. You have to start looking in the mirror first.

        “It's a difficult thing to come in here today and talk about it. I'd rather just go to work and get on with getting it fixed.”

        LeBeau, who is 10-20 as Bengals coach, wouldn't reveal the personnel changes he planned to make.

        “We want to make some changes,” he said. “We don't want to send the message in any way (to players) that that's the way we want to look.”

        The Bengals played poorly on offense and defense, and LeBeau, as a career defensive assistant and coordinator, was especially hard on the defense. Against a San Diego team that had a 6-26 record the past two years and featured

        quarterback Drew Brees in his first NFL start, the Bengals were rolled for 401 yards of total offense — 231 of them on the ground.

        The home-opening loss was the worst performance of any LeBeau team.

        Besides lineup changes, while stopping short of saying his players weren't in good physical condition, LeBeau said he would make his team run more during practice.

        “I'm not saying we're not in shape, it's just a little extra conditioning wouldn't hurt,” Bengals center Rich Braham said.

        “That's what they're telling us.”

        The Bengals have been running one “gasser” — a 200-yard sprint across the field — after practice. “Not any more,” Braham said.

        More running could be part of an overall tightening of control on players. When LeBeau was promoted to replace Bruce Coslet, who resigned three games into the 2000 season, he immediately removed a stereo from the locker room. Could the PlayStation football and arcade games in the players' lounge be next?

        LeBeau isn't saying.

        He received praise for the get-tough attitude he brought to the team in 2000 after Coslet lost control.

        LeBeau's style as head coach has evolved into one that appeals to the mature professional, but there have been rumblings in the locker room that some players — especially younger ones — have abused the situation. There are other players who say the team collectively thinks it is much better than it actually is.

        Will LeBeau become more of a taskmaster? He won't say.

        “I would draw distinction between the word disappointment and discouraged,” LeBeau said. “We aren't discouraged. All the things that I've said about the belief I have in this team aren't going to change over one really, really poor performance.

        “At the same time, I don't want to stick my head in the sand and pretend that what happened yesterday didn't happen.”

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