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With one shoe already falling in Cincinnati, the backup shoe is trying to stop the avalanche of criticism.

Bengals quarterback AJ McCarron rode to the defense of starter Andy Dalton, and said there’s no sense in the constant chatter about a change at the position.

The Bengals have already fired their offensive coordinator after two games and no touchdowns, and talk about Dalton’s uncertain future is only increasing.

“I wish people would in this city would back him and go with it,” McCarron said, via Paul Dehner of the Cincinnati Enquirer. “Listen, I think I’m a great quarterback and I think he’s an unbelievable quarterback. I love him to death. But he’s our quarterback. Stop making it into something else. It’s not into something else. Ride with him. Trust the team. Trust the process. And trust what we are trying to do. And be a fan of who is playing. We are all part of a team.”

Of course, McCarron isn’t going to openly lobby for the job, but Dalton’s shown nothing beyond inertia to justify his keeping it so far this season. He’s been starting there since 2011, and while he’s had some rough spots, nothing like this current start to make people forget the five playoff appearances in six seasons. For his part, coach Marvin Lewis has said Dalton’s the starter, period. He’s done the same thing in the past with other quarterbacks, and isn’t one to feed panics.

And because McCarron looks up to Dalton, the defense was earnest.

“He’s our quarterback,” McCarron said. “I wish people would – it sucks to see for me personally with my relationship with him people booing him. It’s like, do you think he wants to have tipped balls that turn into interceptions? Has he worked his whole life for that? His whole week for that? No. He’s a normal human. . . .

“Me and him have a great relationship and I think we’ve both handled it really well. We know what nonsense is. He’s our quarterback and I’ll leave it at that. I trust him every time he steps out there and I think we are going to win every time he is under center.”

If it doesn’t start soon, McCarron’s going to have to answer a lot more questions, and no amount of a Terrell Owens “that’s my quarterback” act is going to quiet the voices.