Why was Jeremy Hill benched for the first quarter of the Cincinnati Bengals' game Sunday at San Francisco?
"Coaches' decision," the Bengals running back said while clearing his Levi's Stadium locker.
He left it at that.
Asked Monday afternoon what led to the decision to keep Hill on the sideline in favor of Giovani Bernard for the first 15 minutes and some change of the game, offensive coordinator Hue Jackson was similarly guarded. Echoing head coach Marvin Lewis' words from the day before, Jackson intimated the benching was a private team matter.
"That's between the head coach and the coordinator and Jeremy," Jackson said. "So it's all good. That's it. End of discussion."
Was it a one-time decision?
"End of discussion," Jackson added. "It's nothing to talk about. Next question."
Hill's benching remains an important topic of conversation for fantasy owners at least. The story pointed out that Hill had been the Bengals' effective starter at running back for every game this season prior to Sunday's. That was a position he had officially held since Week 15 last year, when he was tabbed the starter even after having played that role earlier in the year when Bernard went down with injuries. It's something to watch heading into Week 16.
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