Taylor not worried about losing Bengals’ locker room

Taylor is turning the focus now on the next game, Dec. 9, on Monday Night Football, at Dallas.

“I stand in front of the team and I’m not looking at guys that have checked out, guys that it doesn’t mean something to, and you know, sometimes when you have losing seasons, you do get that sense from people,” Taylor said. “And it’s hard to sit here and say I’m encouraged by something when we’ve lost three games in a row, but again, when I look at these guys, I know they take a lot of pride in what we’re doing, and you’re going to get their best effort going forward.”

Taylor called it “a great opportunity” to see how players handle adversity, observe who is “built for this” and evaluate which ones he wants to continue working with in the future.

The Bengals are still motivated by the little hope they still have to make the playoffs, but it’s clear from the first 12 games that big changes will be needed next year, particularly on defense. Now is the time those decisions will be made, and Taylor said there are weekly discussions about adjustments that can be made in the short term to help improve the current situation.

Cincinnati has given up 34 points or more in three straight games.

“Just finding solutions and again here on December 2, whatever it is, there’s no magic formula that’s going to fix everything and change everything, so we got to get guys playing detailed, playing fast, be in a great position to make the tackles, get guys on the field to create stops,” Taylor said when asked what conversations are like with defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo.

The Bengals already made some changes to the lineup Sunday, replacing Vonn Bell at safety with Jordan Battle and inserting Josh Newton for injured cornerback D.J. Turner. On offense, left guard Cordell Volson was benched in favor of Cody Ford, but Taylor said that had more to do with Ford’s recent performances at left tackle when he was filling in for Orlando Brown Jr.

Even with the changes on defense, the Bengals still gave up 37 points on that side of the ball, so evaluations continue. However, Taylor said he liked Ford starting at left guard.

“That was an opportunity that Cody has earned,” Taylor said. “... He’s played well stepping in at left tackle, well enough to get an opportunity to be one of the five linemen that walk on the field. ... It was probably more about Cody than anything else.”

It’s possible Volson will get his job back this week, though, if Brown Jr. isn’t available and Ford is needed back at left tackle. Brown returned from a three-game absence Sunday but was struggling in the fourth quarter and clearly limited by the lower leg injury that had sidelined him previously.

Taylor said he will need to be monitored this week.

“He was struggling at the end,” Taylor said. “We’ll let some time pass. The bonus day this week (with a Monday game) should help us with a couple of guys. He was fighting through it. He’s a guy that he wants to play, he’s been trying to play. Trying to protect him from himself as best we can. You could see there at the end of the game he was really struggling with it, so I appreciate his effort. We’ll just see where he’s at as the week goes.”

Logan Wilson remains sore with the knee injury that sidelined him Sunday, and there could be concern for his status moving forward as the Bengals signed linebacker Shaka Heyward from the practice squad to the active roster Monday. They waived wide receiver Trenton Irwin to make room for that move.

Taylor said he spoke with quarterback Joe Burrow after the game Sunday about the gash he suffered on his right leg when he was cleated the first play, but Burrow didn’t mention anything about the injury Monday.

“We’ll see where he’s at on Wednesday and Thursday,” Taylor said.

MONDAY’S GAME

Bengals at Cowboys, 8:15 p.m., ESPN, 700, 1530, 102.7, 104.7