Demetrius Knight Jr. Comments on Bengals Defensive Players-Only Meeting

CINCINNATI — Bengals linebacker Demetrius Knight Jr. and the Bengals defense are searching for answers after masking as turnstiles all season for opposing offenses. The 39-38 collapse against New York prompted Cincinnati to hold a players-only meeting on defense.

Knight said they needed to go over the issues and hold each other accountable, but that will be the only time they try to fix things by "talking in chairs."

Cincinnati's on the outside looking at the AFC playoffs with a 3-5 record.

"No, there are no more meetings," Knight said to the media. "We're just gonna continue to keep doing what we're doing. Sitting in a chair isn't gonna help people tackle better. Sitting in a meeting room isn't gonna, you know, fix schemes. It's only about, again, mastering the basics, going back to believing in each other, believing in the guy to your left and to your right, and having the confidence in that as well."

Knight posted another Pro Football Focus grade below 60 on Sunday, which he's done in every game this season other than the Detroit loss. He has 11 missed tackles this season.

It's been a rough learning curve for the Bengals' rookie and the whole young defense, for that matter. Defensive coordinator Al Golden has not been able to find any answers as Cincinnati sits tied for last in the league in yards per play allowed at 6.2.

Golden commented on the meeting on Monday afternoon.

"That it's unacceptable," Golden said about the level of play leading to the meeting. "There's a higher standard there, and we let our brothers down on special teams and offense, and we can't do that. It's as simple as that. So I don't know what was talked about, nor should I. It does feel like the fact that that was called is a sense of urgency there, as there should be, because we cannot do that to the offense or special teams again."

Knight, Golden, and the rest of the Bengals defense will try to slow down Ben Johnson's Bears rushing attack this Sunday at Paycor Stadium.

Demetrius Knight Jr. says players had a defense only meeting Monday to discuss what went wrong Sunday. “If everyone was not accountable, we would not have had that defense-only meeting.” pic.twitter.com/IksCNydgNn
— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) October 27, 2025

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