Bengals notes: Coaches react to Hill's fumbles

Perhaps Hue Jackson saw, or heard, the quote.

"I'm just going to go back to the drawing board and keep working," Cincinnati Bengals running back Jeremy Hill said following his truncated appearance Sunday against San Diego, the result of two fumbles. "It's all I can do."

For Jackson, the drawing board has to include a solution – not just a diagnosis – to the running back's fumbling problem. He now has seven fumbles for his career, four of which have been lost.

"You hear all these sayings players are using – 'going back to the drawing board' – so maybe he's going back to the drawing board," the Bengals offensive coordinator said Monday afternoon in his office within Paul Brown Stadium. "I just think it's work, I just think it's attention to detail. I just think it's focus. I think you do it all the time. It's something sometimes people can get away from. You forget what got you to where you are. A reminder is good. It was a reminder (Sunday) how important it is to take care of the ball."

On Sunday, Jackson made the call to keep Hill on the sideline following his second first-half fumble, and Giovani Bernard finished the day with 23 touches for 139 yards of total offense.

"What we had to do was win the game," Jackson said. "Again, our offensive players know the key to us winning football games is not turning the ball over. You turn the ball over you are now breaking Cardinal Bengal Rule No. 1. We have to do something about that."

But neither Jackson nor head coach Marvin Lewis feels that, at least mentally, the miscues will linger.

"If they're a weak personality, but I don't think Jeremy is a weak personality," Lewis said flatly.

Last season, Hill fumbled five times (and lost two) in 249 touches. He fumbled in back-to-back games on two different occasions. The first two came in Weeks 10 and 11, and the final three coming in Weeks 15 and 16.

He had gone three-plus games and 60 touches without a fumble.

"Yeah, I'll put him back in," Jackson said. "I'll put him back in. It's a new game. That's over with. That's over and done with. We're 2-0, so we're moving on. We're moving on to the next game."

Green gives up

On second-and-goal from the Chargers' 4-yard line with just under nine minutes to go in the game, Andy Dalton fired a quick pass to his left, with A.J. Green beginning his break back toward his quarterback for a wide receiver's screen.

Only Chargers linebacker Melvin Ingram slightly deflected the ball, and cornerback Jason Verrett nearly intercepted it – and arguably should have – after it hit his hands. But on that play, Green pulled up and didn't make a play for the ball in any fashion.

"It's as simple as that: There's the ball," Jackson said. "See ball, get ball. It's just what we do. I think the mindset of how we go about things is starting to change, and it has to continue to change as we ratchet this thing up as we keep going."

Verrett's drop was fortunate for the Bengals, as Dalton hit Tyler Eifert for the eventual game-winning touchdown two plays later.

Jackson said he spoke with Green about the play, though.

"Yes I have," Jackson said. "I don't miss anything. We need to continue to grow. We're not there yet. We're still a work in progress. But it's fun to have a lot of work to do and be 2-0. To have a lot of work to do and have some of the success we have had. Because what you're selling, guys buy. It makes sense. So we'll just keep chugging away at it and continue to get better.

Lewis sees room for improvement

Despite forcing two offensive turnovers, limiting the Chargers to four third-down conversions and coming up with four sacks, Lewis said the film of the defense's performance Sunday highlighted some holes that need to be mended.

"We played a football game (Sunday) where I thought starting with the defense, we really could play a lot better," Lewis said. "We need to play a lot better. We have some things to get after and fix. I look forward to having that week of getting it done."

He felt there was a slip in tackling after a solid performance in that area in Week 1, especially on the Chargers' running backs once they advanced past the line of scrimmage. Lewis also didn't like the fact the Chargers managed to score a late touchdown on a missed communication in the secondary that made it a one-score game.

"(Sunday's) over," Lewis said. "We won. We didn't play very well, as well as we needed to or as well as we could have. We're going to quick patting our backs and move forward."