Bengals' Cam Taylor-Britt ready to regain competitive fire

CINCINNATI -- Cam Taylor-Britt knows good cornerback play when he sees it.

At times during his first three years with the Cincinnati Bengals, he has looked like a potential Pro Bowler. Then there was last season.

A shaky start morphed into him eventually getting benched until an injury prompted him to jump back into the lineup. Even though he rebounded with a solid finish to the year, it still served as a reminder of what not to do.

"Great corners can't have a roller-coaster season," Taylor-Britt said in May as the team started offseason workouts. "You have to stay the same way the whole season."

Whether the Bengals can improve a defense that cost them a playoff berth last season has dominated Cincinnati's offseason discourse. Outside of defensive end Trey Hendrickson, Taylor-Britt is arguably the most important player in that conversation. As the previous year showed, fixing the unit could be as simple as Taylor-Britt and the secondary being more consistent in 2025.

There was plenty of blame to go around for the lack of steady play last season. Aging players, underwhelming performances from veterans such as Taylor-Britt and safety Geno Stone and a defensive scheme that was too complex all contributed to a struggling defense.

Cincinnati finished the season ranked 26th in the league in points per drive. Lou Anarumo, the team's defensive coordinator for six years, who was instrumental during the team's run to the Super Bowl in 2021, was fired after the Bengals went 9-8 and missed the playoffs.

Taylor-Britt's season embodied the entire secondary. Through the first 12 games of the season, the third-year player out of Troy allowed a completion percentage 9.3% higher than expectation and surrendered 24 expected points added when targeted, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. It was a stark downturn compared to the numbers he posted in those categories in 2023.

As much as other factors played a role, Taylor-Britt didn't play with the same edge he once had, one that had him critiquing opponents during mid-week media sessions earlier in the season.

"I don't think I played with confidence," Taylor-Britt said. "Yes, I can go out there and stay hyped and everything, but I hate for somebody to catch a ball, and I think it happened too many times. Happened too many times, and that's what kind of knocked that [confidence] down."

During last season's defensive rut, a couple players noted that Anarumo's scheme was tilted toward zone looks that could assist Taylor-Britt and DJ Turner, who moved to outside cornerback following the season-ending ACL injury to Dax Hill in Week 5.

But the complexity was difficult for a secondary that didn't have the same pieces that made Anarumo's defense so successful in previous years.

"It got a little bit confusing with a few guys, and I feel like that's why sometimes we weren't on the same page," Stone said on Tuesday.

After a 4-8 start, things were simplified. That switch helped lead to the Bengals winning their final five games. However, by that point, the season's epitaph had been written. Anarumo was fired by Cincinnati before he was hired by the Indianapolis Colts to be their defensive coordinator.

The confidence in the current group under new coordinator Al Golden's direction has been evident by the absence of major offseason moves. The Bengals did not add any secondary players who will be projected starters in 2025.

Outside of Stone's contract being restructured with a slight pay cut, Cincinnati is opting to go with the same defensive backs as last season. And Stone can empathize with Taylor-Britt in wanting to turn around a season that wasn't his best.

"Between me and him, I say we have a lot of picks in our career," Stone said. "I feel like he has to do the same thing as me -- get that confidence back, go out there and ball."

If that happens, Cincinnati could have the defensive improvement it needs and its defenders are desperate to attain.

"I need it all," Taylor-Britt said. "No fear of failure. That's how I have to play.

"I was talking to some people and they were like, 'Where's that fire that Cam played with?' And I think that's what I need to play with, man. That fire under me."