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Offensive tackle wants team to ditch the 'Hollywood' attitude developed this season.
While Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis preached "staying the course," right offensive tackle Willie Anderson implored his teammates to climb down off their high horse and fight to the finish of the 2007 season. In a mini state-of-the-team address on Monday in the wake of the Bengals' seventh loss in 10 games, Big Willie said it's time to break out the shovel that symbolized the 2003-04 Bengals and trash the Hollywood bling. "As an offense, we've got to get back in the attack mode of being a scrappy bunch of dog-tough guys — even the skill guys," Anderson said. "I think we've kind of lost that. "In '03 and '04, we were a bunch of guys that were just scrapping. We weren't trying to be glamorous because we couldn't afford to. "We've got to get back to that mode. The talent is still there, but we're a little too 'Hollywood' right now."
Lewis used to keep a shovel in the locker room and hold it up like a trophy after victories. It served as a reminder of his broken-record theme — "Do Your Job." Nowadays, the shovel is nowhere to be found. It disappeared — along with the players' poise at crucial moments in games. Where is the shovel? "That's the question," Anderson said. "That would be a good headline. The shovel is more of a mindset. We need to get back to that dirty bunch of scrapping guys like '03 when we were the Kardiac Kids instead of the Hollywood bunch — everybody included. "We've got to get back to that '03 mindset where we used to bring that shovel in here. We got away from digging ditches to using machines to do it. We've got to get back to the old school where you dig a hole with a shovel. It's grimy, hard work, but the job still gets done." Great teams, like the New England Patriots, execute flawlessly. The Bengals are the exact opposite because they litter the field with mistakes. "The issue now is technical football," Anderson said. "It's just the execution of what we're doing and the mindset that we go about doing it. Guys are practicing hard and working hard. We're in pads. We're not getting days off. "But it's a mindset. You're not better than the other team unless you win. It only matters if you're better than the other team on Sundays. That's all that counts. The good teams do their technique. We've all chipped in on taking ourselves out of that mode." Quick hitters • Wide receivers Glenn Holt (concussion) and T.J. Houshmandzadeh (back), and linebacker Landon Johnson (back) will be re-evaluated on Wednesday and be limited in practice this week. Dayton Daily News http://www.daytondailynews.com/s/content/oh/story/sports/pro/bengals/2007/11/19/ddn112007bengals.html |
