Zac Taylor wasn't happy when he first saw the Cincinnati Bengals' schedule and noticed an early bye week.
However, the eighth-year coach is happier to have it coming up now after a tough three-game stretch that included Sunday's 31-24 victory at Miami where the temperature at the opening kickoff was 90 degrees with the trademark South Florida high humidity.
“You kind of like it more toward Thanksgiving. But I do think just where our team is right now and the way that these last three games have gone down to the wire and guys playing through some stuff right now, it is a good time to get our legs back underneath us,” Taylor said. “The heat really does drain you to where I’m sure it affects you the next week. So I’m happy our guys will be able to recover and get their legs back under us and start getting ready for some colder weather, which we’re very familiar with and as the season gets going.”
The bye week will be especially beneficial for wide receivers Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins along with safety Bryan Cook. All three played against the Dolphins but were not at 100 percent.
Chase, who came out of concussion protocol midway through last week, had six receptions for 77 yards, including a highlight-reel 45-yard touchdown late in the third quarter to extend the Bengals' lead to 28-10.
Higgins, who suffered a groin injury during the fourth quarter on Oct. 4 against Jacksonville, added two catches for 22 yards. Cook, who has been hampered by ankle issues, was still effective with five tackles.
The Bengals go into the bye with a 3-2 record and one game behind the Ravens in the AFC North. The teams have their first meeting of the season in Baltimore on Oct. 25.
“I think we recognize some things that we’re doing really well. And then there’s a couple things that are really easy to clean up,” Taylor said. “So the good news is it’s not a concern that, oh man, this is unfixable. We got a real problem here on this part of a scheme or a player. It’s just a couple things that we got to get cleaned up going into the next divisional game.”
Dohnte Meyers as the main kick returner. The offseason signing from the Canadian Football League returned the opening kickoff 81 yards and gave Burrow a short field to convert into a touchdown. His return average of 27.2 yards is ninth in the AFC.
Run defense. The Bengals are beginning to look like the unit that allowed a league-high 147.1 yards on the ground last season. After giving up only 74.5 yards in the first two games, Cincinnati has allowed 155.3 yards the past three weeks. Miami had 217 yards, including seven carries of at least 12 yards, and averaged 6.4 yards per attempt.
Safety Jordan Battle had the first two-interception game of his four-year career along with a quarterback pressure. Both picks came while the Bengals were in zone coverage.
RB Chase Brown is averaging only 2.2 yards per carry the past two games. He had 13 carries for 39 yards against the Dolphins and committed a fumble in the red zone after catching a 3-yard pass midway through the second quarter as the Bengals were driving for another score.
Linebacker Swayze Bozeman broke his right forearm and was placed on injured reserve. Tight end Tanner Hudson has a pectoral issue that Taylor said they are gathering more information on before making a determination. Colbie Young (knee) and safety Kyle Dugger (quad) remain week to week.
18: Touchdown throws of at least 40 yards by Joe Burrow to Chase, the third most by any quarterback-receiver duo over the past 40 seasons. Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison lead the way with 21 and Steve Young and Jerry Rice combined for 20.
22: Consecutive field goals by Evan McPherson, a franchise record.
The Bengals get an early bye week before visiting the Baltimore Ravens on Oct. 25. It will be the first Sunday afternoon game the Bengals have had in Baltimore since 2021.
See AP’s full NFL coverage here
Cincinnati Bengals safety Jordan Battle (27) intercepts a pass during the first half of an NFL football game against the Miami Dolphins in Miami Gardens, Fla., Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor speaks during a news conference following an NFL football game against the Miami Dolphins in Miami Gardens, Fla., Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja'marr Chase (1) catches a pass for a touchdown as Miami Dolphins cornerback Jason Marshall Jr. (4) defends during the second half of an NFL football game in Miami Gardens, Fla., Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Emergency help for Christa Pike was delayed by confusion among first responders and Tennessee prison officials following her failed execution last month, according to 911 dispatch recordings.
The recordings, obtained Monday by The Associated Press through a public records request, show that precious minutes elapsed as officials and responders tried to figure out whether a request for emergency help in the execution chamber was legitimate.
The initial 911 call came in at 8:40 p.m. on Sept. 30, just over an hour after the attempted lethal injection got underway. But the caller was unable to provide a code that would help verify the legitimacy of the request.
“Per supervisors here at the DEC (Department of Emergency Communications) we have been informed it is a false call,” a dispatcher says at 9:03 p.m. “There is no medical assistance needed at Riverbend Prison.”
It wasn’t until about half an hour after the initial call — close to 9:11 p.m. — that prison officials affirmed it was real and began letting responders through the gates.
Neither the Tennessee Department of Correction nor Pike’s legal team immediately responded to requests for comment.
Pike, 50, was hospitalized after surviving two doses of pentobarbital as the state tried to execute her for the 1995 stabbing death of classmate Colleen Slemmer. She was 18 when she tortured and killed Slemmer with her boyfriend, becoming one of the youngest women to be sentenced to death.
State protocol calls for a second dose of pentobarbital if the first doesn’t result in death, but it doesn’t spell out what to do if an inmate survives the second injection.
The first 911 call, released only as a written transcript, reported that Pike was unconscious and not breathing normally.
After being taken to a hospital, Pike was on a ventilator for several days. At one point, her attorneys did not expect her to survive. She regained consciousness last Tuesday and began talking limitedly and walking with assistance, they said. Pike was discharged from the hospital and returned to the women’s prison where she was housed for 30 years, her lawyers said Saturday.
The initial call came from a person whose name and title were redacted. The caller told a dispatcher that they were at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution where they had tried to execute someone, but she was still alive.
As emergency responders worked to verify the call, they were in touch with representatives of the prison’s Central Control, who said they “would have been the ones to call in" and they "did not make that call,” according to a recording time-stamped at 9:07 p.m.
Around the same time, a first responder could be heard over the radio saying, “Somebody is outside the gate at the prison telling us that it’s real and demanding us to go in. They say they are some sort of state official. I need somebody to get out to the gate and talk to those people.”
Central Control confirmed the call was legitimate a few minutes later, clearing the way for responders to enter through the gates at about 9:11 p.m. An AP reporter witnessed an ambulance and fire trucks pull up to the building inside the prison campus at 9:14 p.m.
At 9:34 p.m., as medics were transporting Pike to a hospital, one asked dispatch to make sure the prison knew where they were taking her.
"Just ’cause there’s been so much other confusion, I want to make sure they are aware of this,” the responder said.
The Nashville Department of Emergency Communications released with some redactions the batch of audio recordings from dispatchers. Police said the audio from the first 911 call was exempt from public disclosure under state law.
Two subsequent emergency calls were made, including one at 9:08 p.m. by one of Pike’s attorneys, Kelly Gleason.
“My client, Christa Gail Pike, is undergoing a state execution. She has completed the stages of the protocol and last we knew from the attorney who is present, she is still alive and breathing and needs immediate life-saving care,” Gleason said on the call.
The Tennessee Department of Correction has not said what went wrong in the attempted execution. Gov. Bill Lee paused further execution attempts pending a review. It’s unclear whether the state will try executing Pike again.
Medical experts have raised a few possibilities that could explain how Pike was able to survive, including potential drug quality issues and the placement of IV lines causing the drug to pool in her tissue.
Before the execution attempt, Pike’s attorneys told courts and prison officials that she had a blood disorder that could cause clotting at injection sites.
Johnson reported from Seattle and Schoenbaum from Salt Lake City.
Media witnesses recount the moments before the execution of Christa Pike was halted Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
This photo provided by the Tennessee Department of Correction shows Christa Pike on Jan. 12, 2023. (TDOC via AP)
Emergency vehicles leave Riverbend Maximum Security Institution after the execution of Christa Pike was halted Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Emergency vehicles arrive at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution after the execution of Christa Pike was halted Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
