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After ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported this morning that Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis would step away from the team following the conclusion of the 2017 season, Lewis denied the report following an embarrassing 34-7 Bengals loss to the Vikings on Sunday.
Marvin Lewis asked if ESPN report that he's leaving is accurate: "(Laughs) No." #Bengals
— Joe Danneman (@FOX19Joe) December 17, 2017
#Bengals HC Marvin Lewis - says ESPN report is inaccurate & he has not made a decision on his future.
— Jim Owczarski (@JimOwczarski) December 17, 2017
Marvin Lewis told team to not be concerned about the report before the game and didn't think it had an impact on the game.
— Paul Dehner Jr. (@pauldehnerjr) December 17, 2017
Lewis laughed off the rumor and said he hasn’t made a decision about his future following the 2017 season in his post-game press conference.
It seems as though the Bengals have given up on Lewis, though he claims he doesn’t think the report of him parting ways with the team, which surfaced about two and a half hours before kickoff on Sunday, impacted the team’s results. That’s pretty sad considering how badly the Bengals played and how embarrassing their losing effort was against Mike Zimmer’s squad.
Hard to buy the notion that this wouldn't affect your players at all. They're not robots. https://t.co/OGCRfqOMUW
— Katherine Terrell (@Kat_Terrell) December 17, 2017
Lewis is on the final year of his contract and if the Bengals want him back, they’ll need to re-sign him to a new deal. That wouldn’t be a wise move for the team following back-to-back losing seasons and zero playoff wins in Lewis’ 15 years in Cincinnati.
It’s important to remember all Lewis has done for the Bengals’ franchise, but, that doesn’t mean his tenure as head coach should be extended.
We’ll keep you updated as more news becomes available on Lewis’ future with the Bengals and who will be the team’s coach in 2018.