Coach Talk: What Marvin Lewis needs to be asked about the Bengals

Typically we take the questions that are asked of Marvin Lewis in his weekly press conference, look at his responses, and try to provide some sort of commentary based on how he responded. But this week, we are going about this a bit differently. Why? Because there is a lot of questions that could have been asked of a coach whose team is stumbling from a 12-4 season to a 3-7-1 record, and none of it was asked.

What was asked?

• Do you remember when Connor Barwin came out of the University of Cincinnati? What do you think of him?
• Has Vontaze Burfict’s play gotten better of late?
• One relevant question about the non-existent defense on the opponent’s opening drives.
• A question about Hue Jackson and some talk about rookie coaches and the type of communication that coaches from other teams keep with each other during the season.

That’s all nice. Really, it is. But for a team that has lost three consecutive “must win” games, there are more important questions that need to be asked.

For example, more relevant questions this week might have been:

• You have lost three straight games, what are you doing to address this?
• This team is essentially out of the playoff race, are you finally going to give your younger players a chance to see the field?
• After years of subpar play, Russell Bodine was finally benched. Tell us about that.
• After years of being a subpar kicker, Mike Nugent has been even worse this season. Why is he still the Bengals’ kicker?
• If A.J. Green is healthy by the end of the season, will you throw him out there in meaningless games?

These are some of the questions that I feel would have been more relevant than asking about Marvin Lewis’ social interactions with former assistant Hue Jackson, and how well Lewis recalls the draft prospects of one specific player who was drafted seven years ago, just because that player happened to play for UC.

What questions would you like to hear Lewis answer?