Zac Taylor was adamant when he said the Cincinnati Bengals would not make drastic changes during their Week 12 bye week. And while he was true to his word, the Bengals head coach did make one notable change, one he hopes can help turn his 4-7 team's season around.
When Bengals players returned from their bye week, they were welcomed back into the locker room by ping pong tables, a staple of Cincinnati's locker room for years until this past summer, when they were not part of the team's new locker room.
"Yeah, just creating energy in the locker room," Taylor said when asked about the decision to bring ping pong tables back to the locker room. "You know, it's December football now, and we need everyone to be at their best. Need everyone to have energy when they walk into the locker room. That creates some competitiveness."
Taylor is also hoping that the ping pong tables strengthen team camaraderie. It appears that the ping pong tables are already making an impact, as about a dozen players continued to use the ping pong tables on Monday after the team had been excused for the day.
"I just want guys to interact, and that's one way to do it," Taylor said. "It's one way to create some energy and get guys up and active."
While the ping pong tables may build camaraderie, they unfortunately can't fix a Bengals defense that struggled through the season's first 11 games. While its offense (led by quarterback Joe Burrow and wideout Ja'Marr Chase) has been among the NFL's best this season, Cincinnati's defense is currently 28th in the NFL in points allowed and 31st in red zone efficiency.
Despite their record and their defense's shortcomings, the Bengals did open as 2.5-point favorites for Sunday's home game against the 8-3 Steelers, who are looking to make amends for last Thursday night's upset loss in Cleveland.