Cincinnati Bengals safety Jessie Bates isn’t afraid to speak his mind.

One of those topics he decided to let loose on after the loss to the Los Angeles Chargers is a common problem — the Bengals’ consistent pre-snap penalties.

Bates spoke with reporters about it after the loss:

“It’s very frustrating. It’s as simple as staying onside. It’s what we learned since the first time we played football. It’s disappointing that we keep having the same thing come up. It costs us points as well. When guys are scoring a touchdown, kicking a field goal that’s a huge part of the game and it shows up.”

Maybe a little harsh, but Bates certainly isn’t wrong. Pre-snap penalties, especially along the offensive line, have been a serious problem all year.

And while that offensive line has had to rotate in names consistently due to injury and try to develop chemistry, never mind the quarterback change, Bates isn’t off base for saying it is a simple thing to clean up.

While the Bengals were better overall about penalties in Los Angeles, the line still had several costly issues. Until those get cleaned up, the Bengals may often have to be overly aggressive as a means to compensate.