Bengals coach: Going back to Dalton “in the best interest”

[Who Dey]

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They gave Ryan Finley three games to see if there was any reason not to draft Joe Burrow. He offered no such evidence.

Now the Bengals appear to want to try to win a game, any game.

Via Tyler Dragon of the Cincinnati Enquirer, Bengals coach Zac Taylor said going back to veteran starter Andy Dalton was simply “in the best interest of the football team.”

“We just want to win, and that veteran presence he has will certainly be helpful through all the things we’ve experienced on offense, and he’s got great experience,” Taylor said. “We’ve obviously had our challenges on offense, regardless of who’s playing quarterback.”

The Bengals didn’t win in any of Dalton’s eight starts this year, but quarterback wasn’t in the top 10 or so of their problems. Their offensive line has been a mess all year (since first-rounder Jonah Williams‘ offseason season-ending injury), and they’ve been without their best player (wide receiver A.J. Green) since he injured his ankle the first day of training camp.

It’s hard to imagine the thought process that led Taylor to offer up Dalton as a sacrifice to that angry god, but the rookie head coach said he had discussed things with the 32-year-old quarterback.

“Andy and I have had many, many conversations since all that happened,” Taylor said. “Before and after. We’ve been on the same page. Andy’s handled it as well as you could hope any veteran would. He wants to play, he feels he can help the team win.”

Whether he will or not remains to be seen, but Finley clearly wasn’t ready or able to turn things around.