Q. So what's the procedure for studying the guy that you have two quarters and change of regular season tape?
TERYL AUSTIN: Well, I think the one thing you do is you study his plays. You study in terms of what he was able to do with the offense, and it didn't look much different.
And so you just assume it'll be tailoring it to him, what he likes. But I don't think it's going to be a big reduction in what they do.
Q. It's not going to be protect the quarterback offense, it's going to be Bengals offense.
TERYL AUSTIN: Yeah, but more tailored to what he likes instead of maybe to what Joe likes. I think that's how we have to approach it.
Q. How have you seen Jaylen respond to the challenge of Cooper, and without the challenge of Chase, Higgins, or (indiscernible.)
TERYL AUSTIN: Well, I think if you want to be a corner in this league that matches up with guys you got to be ready for that every week. That's what he has to do.
So it'll be no different than the other weeks. He'll get himself ready, prepare, and we're hoping he goes out and has a good week.
I don't think it's any different because you're going to play great receivers every week. This week is another one, and he is a great one.
Q. How do you fix the penalties? Is it press technique? Is it kind of feet marrying? Is a little bit of everything?
TERYL AUSTIN: It's just work. I think a lot of things that I think some young corners coming from college always struggle with is the amount of contact that's allowed in college is different than is allowed here.
So that's what we'll continue to work on. He's been working on it every day. He'll continue to work at it. He'll get better at it because he needs to get better at it. He wants to get better at it.
So those are the two big criteria you got to have.
Q. Any chance Chase being in this division factored into you guys drafting a corner?
TERYL AUSTIN: I think you need good corners in this league the way the league is moving. I think the more good corners you have the better off you are.
So I don't know if it was just Chase. I just think it was a fact that you need corners in this league to be able to compete with all the offenses and the things they liked to.
Q. When you have guys like Trent in there and they respond the way they do, what does that say about Trent and what did you see from him on the Browns tape that gave you confidence?
TERYL AUSTIN: It says a lot about the young guy's preparation and being ready for his moment. Some guys, they're not ready for their moment and it comes and they go in there and they lay an egg. He was ready for his moment. I thought he performed well. He did a lot of really good things.
And now the big thing is can he continue to build on that and continue to accelerate his development and prepare.
Q. 38, a lot of the same things.
TERYL AUSTIN: Michael has played a lot of football. He has played a lot more football than Trent, and so we expected a solid NFL type game out of Mike, and that's what we got.
Q. Just when did he get here, October 30th?
TERYL AUSTIN: Yeah, somewhere. It was a few weeks ago. You know, we like to bring them in, throw them in hot. (Laughter.)
He's been here. He's sharp. He's a really sharp guy. There was a lot of things -- you know, a lot of times in this league there is a lot of similarities, and so really the things that hold guys back are getting into the terminology that's familiar to them, and he's done a great job.
Like I said, he's a really bright guy and so he'll continue to get better the more reps he gets.
Q. What did Martinez and Jack add to the room with the injuries and veteran presence?
TERYL AUSTIN: There you go, veteran presence. That's exactly what they add. We know those guys. They're high-volume tacklers. If we have -- knock on wood -- another catastrophic injury, we'll have a veteran guy that we know can go in there and play and give us some depth.
Q. Elandon played every snap. He's been around a long time. He knows what he is doing, playing for you guys (indiscernible.)
TERYL AUSTIN: That might have been the first time.
Q. First time. But you needed him to and racked up the tackles.
TERYL AUSTIN: Yeah, he did an outstanding job. I tell you, the one area that was really outstanding for him was the amount of times he was matched up in the flat and the amount of flat tackles that he made.
A lot times he was one-on-one, and if the guy catches the ball and runs from there, it's going to be a pretty sizable gain. So was excited about E having an opportunity to do that. We kind of leaned on him because he had been here the longest, knows our stuff even though he hadn't played a lot of dime defense for us. He did it and did it well.
Q. Yeah, the simple scouting report from the outside was he's a run guy.
TERYL AUSTIN: Uh-huh.
Q. Like you said, seemed like he...
TERYL AUSTIN: And he did. He did well. I think part of that is the way the guy prepares. I think it really, you know, is a good thing for any young player in our building to see that how prepare has an impact on how you play and when you get your opportunity how you play.
And so this is a veteran guy who knows how to prepare, and all of a sudden he gets thrust into a different role and he handled it beautifully.
Q. Percentage-wise, was (indiscernible) on Cooper about as much as Hopkins?
TERYL AUSTIN: I would say yes, probably.
Q. And do you expect that Sunday?
TERYL AUSTIN: I don't know. I don't know how we're going to do that. We'll figure it out. Ain't going to tell you. Why would I tell you?
Q. I asked.
TERYL AUSTIN: I know, you did ask, but I don't...
Q. They're thinking that ain't a possibility.
TERYL AUSTIN: They're probably thinking about that, but until we get it Sunday we'll let them figure it out on Sunday, how is that?
Q. Okay.
TERYL AUSTIN: But I think he wants those type of the match ups I think in terms for a young guy, in terms of wanting those things.
But like anything, we have to see what's best for the group and how that affects the whole group, and so as we move in closer to game week, we'll figure it out. I'm sure they'll find out soon enough on Sunday.
Q. Do you have anybody else that's stepped up? Talked about Roberts; two new guys.
TERYL AUSTIN: I think...
Q. What did we miss?
TERYL AUSTIN: I'm not going to say a person. What I'm going to say is I thought our front really rose to the challenge last week in terms of stopping the run. We've been challenging those guys to do that, and they have.
Last week we were I thought really stout against the run. The week before we were stout, all except one play, and we got to get those one plays off our tape, as we know.
But I think watching our big guys step up up front as the season moves on has been really encouraging.
Q. When they're getting the ball out in 2.1 seconds, it's really hard for your pass rushers guys to get home that fast.
TERYL AUSTIN: Uh-huh.
Q. How does that change the role of your big guys and what they need to do in the pass rush game versus a guy that gets it out in 2.7 seconds?
TERYL AUSTIN: I think you just do the things that if you know the ball is getting out, you rush with a purpose and then get your hands out.
Because sometimes that ball, you're not going to have an opportunity to get there unless you beat your guy clean and still may not get there.
We talk to them about getting hands up, batting passes. A lot of times you'll see tipped passes from the D-line, and those end up being good players for us.
There is different ways to affect the quarterback. You might not lay him on his back as much as you want, but if you bat a couple passes and get him to hold it sometimes because he's worried about the passes being batted, then you have an opportunity to rush.
Q. Do you think that's a formula some teams will use against you guys to try and neutralize your pass rush? Seems like a few teams have at least tried that formula. You guys seem to respond pretty well.
TERYL AUSTIN: We do. I think our guys are well coached and they understand every pass is not banquet, as Michael would say. You're not going to eat and get a sack on every one, so what's the best plan of action for us on this particular play?
I think our guys are really sharp about that. They know when they have an opportunity to rush and get home, and they know when that ball is going to be out quickly to get their hands up and affect the play a different way.
Q. Does a guy like Joey, when he faces a Ph.D. route runner as I would call him in Cooper, a guy that has a deep bag of releases, kind of a little different guy than Hopkins, how does that affect a guy like that that's still working on his footwork and doing different techniques that can be exposed to stuff like the outside release that Cooper uses?
TERYL AUSTIN: I think you study receivers, and I wouldn't say that -- Amari Cooper is a very good route runner, but so is Hopkins. You got guys that are two really good route runners and you're going to run across that every week.
He works on his deal and works on his technique, you know, and he studies the other guy and that goes into play. It doesn't affect how he prepares and works in going about getting his hands and feet and all those things to work together.
His process is his process, and the guy he plays against, he just takes what his process was and works it against that guy.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports