Geoff Hobson

DENVER _ Orlando Brown Jr. talked about the leadership group meeting this week in an effort for a revival.

Ja'Marr Chase and Jake Browning talked about how the offense let down the defense.

Head coach Zac Taylor talked about how much he loves Chase loving to win even it means the rawest of emotions.

There was no question that the vets were saying all the right things after Monday night's 28-3 loss to the Broncos. But it was the kids who had done a lot of right things and showed they'll be at the heart of any comeback:

_Rookie linebacker Demetrius Knight Jr. stunned Denver quarterback Bo Nix on the Bengals 2 with a leaping tip-it-to himself interception on fourth down when it was still a very gettable game at 14-3 at the first half's two-minute warning.

Throw in Knight's team-high ten tackles, and this is what they were talking about the night they took him in the second round.

_Rookie right guard Jalen Rivers drew his first start under the most stressful of circumstances imaginable (in a deafening prime-time mecca against the NFL's best pass rush) and appeared to hold up on most of the snaps.

His specialty is pass pro, and while it wasn't all perfect, Rivers was part of a protection that held a rush that leads the league in hits to get to Browning just six times. A week after they drilled Justin Herbert 14 times the week before.

_In his fourth season, Dax Hill is no rookie. But Monday was only his 25th birthday and he was playing just his ninth game as a starting cornerback. And he looks more and more like the Bengals' best defender in the first quarter of the season. He's done his best work when they need it most.

Two weeks ago, it was that end zone pick when they were down, 7-0, against Jacksonville and Monday night it was his third-down tackle for no gain of running back R.J. Havery on the 2 on a jet sweep to set up Knight's pick. After Week Two, he led them in tackles and Monday he came in as their highest-graded Pro Football Focus cornerback at No. 42, ahead of esteemed guys Sauce Gardner and Darius Slay.

And there are others.

Second-year punter Ryan Rehkow had some bad punts (a 24-yard shank and a touchback) and some good ones (three inside the 20 to go with a 69-yarder), and after eight punts averaging slightly more than 50 yards, he'll no doubt keep his NFL gross punting lead.

And, when cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt struggled early allowing 30 yards in YAC to wide receiver Courtland Sutton on back-to-back third-and-shorts in the second quarter for 35 yards, they turned to their pair of second-year cornerbacks. They did it well enough that they kept D.J Turner on the field for all 81 plays and Josh Newton for 64.

Nobody in the Bengals locker room ran away from what happened Monday. The Broncos put up more than 500 yards while the Bengals had more penalties than first downs. Brown even said in front of his locker, "Wait a minute. Let me stand up for you guys."

"It's just disappointment. It's frustration. It's disappointment," Taylor said. "These guys have worked. We have the talent. We have the coaches. It's just about creating some momentum. It really hasn't been there in these two games for very different reasons.

"We've faced two of the tougher environments on the road against two really good teams. We didn't hold our own. We didn't do well enough. I think there's been pieces that we can continue to build on."

Knight, Rivers, Hill are just some of those pieces.

"We're not defeated yet. We're just going back to the drawing board, just as a lot of teams are doing across the league right now," Knight said. "Everybody is still finding their identity. We're still on the climb, still on that journey to get there, to put down the roots of what we want to be and who we're trying to be."

If Knight doesn't sound like a typical rookie, he's not. Not at 25, married, and father of two. That's a big reason they drafted him.

Same thing with Rivers. He's not married. But he's a young 23-year-old, and has always been a high achiever in football and academics. He had to be, raised by a trio of U.S. Navy personnel and a grandfather who was an Army drill instructor.

His first starting drive was a field goal. But they never got past midfield after that.

"We were executing things really good that drive. We just got to sustain that for the rest of the game," Rivers said. "Things happen. Just not adjusting after the penalties and things weren't going our way. We lost momentum and things just went left for us."

The lack of momentum on offense kept the defense on the field for 81 plays and nearly 38 minutes. Hill was on Sutton when Sutton slanted in front of him from 20 yards out with eight seconds left. Nix drilled it in there and Sutton stayed just wide of safety Jordan Battle in the middle of the field. Still, Hill had such tight coverage, Sutton had to yank it from Hill's arms.

"This is all about momentum," Hill said. "Whenever the penalties keep stacking up and the chains keep moving, [it's] missed opportunities for us on defense.

"That's just the nature of football. Sometimes that's just how it goes and sometimes you just have to bounce back from those things. Hopefully, you turn things around."

They need the kids like Hill, Knight, and Rivers to help the All-Pros like Chase.

"It's hard, knowing the type of offense we have, knowing the type of weapons we have in the backfield, outside, and at tight end. We know we're capable, we know the ins-and-outs of the offense," Chase said. "We know we're a downfield-threat team and everybody else knows it. But right now, we're facing a little adversity, and we've got to figure it out."

The kids look like they'll be all right.

And they'll need them when the leaders convene.