Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor wants to clear up a misconception about Tennessee Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill.
There aren’t many NFL players that Taylor has coached longer than Tannehill. Taylor was an assistant at Texas A&M during Tannehill’s college career, and then Taylor coached him for four years with the Miami Dolphins in the NFL.
Along the way, Taylor heard the wrong impression of how Tannehill’s college career went at Texas A&M. The misconception was that the Aggies recruited Tannehill as a wide receiver and later moved him to quarterback.
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The truth is that Tannehill started off as a quarterback. Since he didn’t win the starting job as a freshman, the Texas A&M coaching staff temporarily moved him to wide receiver a few days before the first game of the season.
“He never went to receiver meetings, he was always in the quarterback meetings,” Taylor said. “He was always a quarterback who just happened to have 140 catches as a receiver. There are a lot of routes we run here today that I often think back to the routes he ran as great examples of doing it.”
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Tannehill was an honorable mention All-Big 12 wide receiver at the start of his career. When he got his turn as a quarterback, Tannehill led Texas A&M to seven straight wins, including victories over Texas, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Baylor.
Taylor remembers how Tannehill was a pre-med student, so Tannehill had to miss Wednesday practice every week to attend advanced classes. That translated to the field, where Taylor said Tannehill understood the entire offense and what the coaches wanted out of the season.
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The Dolphins drafted Tannehill with the No. 8 pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, and Taylor got another opportunity to coach him. As Tannehill led the Dolphins to two .500 seasons in his first three years, Taylor was promoted from assistant quarterbacks coach to quarterbacks coach to interim offensive coordinator.
“I enjoyed my time with him, and he helped me out so much,” Tannehill told reporters this week. “I spent a lot of time with him, I love him as a man and he’s a heck of a football coach. I’m really happy about his success.”
Tannehill lost his starting spot in Miami after a coaching change, but he found a second career with the Titans. Taylor called Tannehill one of the best “keeper” quarterbacks in the league. The Titans frequently run play action passes, and Tannehill excels throwing on the run outside the pocket.
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In Miami, Taylor said there were seasons where Tannehill completed 28 of his 29 passing attempts on rollouts. Tannehill has been an even better fit in Tennessee. The Titans lead the NFL in rushing attempts, which has had a direct impact on creating opportunities for Tannehill outside the pocket.
“He's a tremendous quarterback,” Taylor said. “It's no surprise he's helped that team get in the position they've been in these last couple of years. He really executes that offense at a high level and he can make a defense pay if you let him. They've got the right quarterback on board there."
INJURY UPDATES: Since defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi went on the injured reserve list on Monday, the Bengals have had to manage an uncertain situation at defensive tackle.
Bengals defensive tackle Josh Tupou has been limited in practice this week with a knee injury, and practice squad defensive tackle Mike Daniels has been out with a groin injury.
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The Bengals signed defensive tackle Zach Kerr and added Doug Costin to the practice squad.
ROSTER MOVES: Since the Bengals needed to create a spot on the 53-man roster for Kerr, the Bengals released offensive guard Xavier Su’a-Filo on Wednesday. He was on the second year of a three-year deal and entered the year as the Bengals starting right guard, but a knee injury derailed Su’a-Filo’s season.
Then on Thursday, Su’a-Filo signed back with the Bengals onto the practice squad. Su'a-Filo participated in Thursday's practice and will be available as a depth piece if needed.
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