CINCINNATI -- The Cincinnati Bengals' defense is on notice, and they know it.
Bengals defensive coordinator Paul Guenther said Tuesday's practice was one of the best of the year. While part of that might be attributed to a refreshed team coming off a bye, the larger part is likely due to the changes Guenther has vowed to make after a 3-4-1 start.
Players who aren't performing, even core veteran players, either figure to lose significant playing time or will ride the bench for a while as the Bengals try to correct what's gone wrong.
"We just have to get back to doing [things] the way we do it, the way I'm used to seeing it all the time. It's not just going to show up on Sundays," he said Tuesday. "We've got to do it throughout the week. We've got to be in good tackling position, we've got to be staying on top of coverage, being good communicators in the coverage and stopping the run and rushing the passer. Those are the things that if we can do it -- and I think we can do it -- with whatever guys we have out there, for the next eight weeks I'm going to give them everything I've got."
Guenther has grown tired of the missed tackles, penalties and general lack of production that was evident when the Bengals gave up 546 yards in a tie with the Redskins before the bye. While replacing some of the underperforming players isn't guaranteed to fix things, he said things can't go on as they have.
Frustrated with the performance, Guenther went back and watched every defensive snap of the season and noted issues that needed to be corrected. Then he made notes on each individual player and their issues as well. Players were shown film of those issues during position meetings, with some having to meet with Guenther individually.
"I watched every individual player and I wrote some notes and I met with those guys about some things they need to clean up and hopefully we can get it done," Guenther said.
Message received.
"Changes are going to come," safety George Iloka said Tuesday. "I just see it as we're not playing as well as a defense as we need to right now. They always say the definition of a crazy man is someone who does the same thing on and on and expects to get different results. So, of course, they have to switch things up, whether it's personnel, play calling, plays, packages, whatever it may be. They're going to try to tweak it to get different results as they should because we haven't as a collective whole gotten it done."
One of those changes is re-signing defensive end Wallace Gilberry, whom the Bengals parted ways with in the offseason. Gilberry, who was briefly with the Lions this season, will play against the Giants on Monday night in certain packages.
The other changes, which haven't been announced yet, are swapping personnel, which could mean more snaps for younger defenders like cornerbacks Josh Shaw and Darqueze Dennard, defensive end Will Clarke and rookie linebacker Nick Vigil.
"We have a lot of guys that have been here a long time, that have been fixtures in our system for a long time," Guenther said during the bye. "But, like I told them, it's a production business, so even though you've been kind of a guy that's been here and I think there's going to be a younger player that I think can do it better at this point, whether it be for 15 more snaps, I've got to look at that because some of the guys that have been here, that have been fixtures here, for some reason or another, whether it's age or whatever it is, they are not playing at a high level and I've got to figure out where I can inject some other guys that can do it better, or at least try to."