AP

He might not have a new contract yet, or a playoff win, but you can’t say that Andy Dalton lacks confidence.

As he reported for voluntary workouts with the rest of his Bengals teammates, Dalton insisted he was ready to prove his critics wrong.

“Well, I’m very confident in what I’ve done,” Dalton said, via Paul Dehner Jr. of the Cincinnati Enquirer. “The people who are the critics, they look at all of the negatives. They don’t look at all of the stuff that I’ve accomplished. They don’t look at that I’m one of three quarterbacks in the history of the NFL to do certain things. They don’t look at that kind of stuff. They want to find ways to tear me down but I’m not worried about that. They can say whatever they want.

“All that matters is what everyone believes in this organization and what I believe in myself. That’s how I go about my business.”

The Bengals, particularly coach Marvin Lewis, share that confidence. Well, owner Mike Brown sort of does, depending on the numbers.

There are obviously efforts to do something entering the final year of Dalton’s deal, but he seemed willing to bet on himself like Joe Flacco did, if need be.

“There’s obviously some risk when that goes on, but I am confident in everything that I have been able to do and what I am going to do this year,” he said. “If it comes to that then it comes to that but I think both sides want to get it done. So, hopefully it happens.”

Of course, if the Bengals continue to play it out that way, and Dalton can’t produce a Flacco-level happy ending, they might not want to invest heavily in him at all. But after three one-and-dones and a 56.2 rating, apparently only the “critics” see that as unlikely.