INDIANAPOLIS – What happened in Cincinnati didn’t stay in Cincinnati.
It followed Bernhard Raimann on the Sunday evening bus ride up I-74.
And it stuck around for more than a few hours as the Indianapolis Colts second-year left tackle looked for reasons he had just endured his worst outing since early in his rookie season. The self-critique included wearing out the rewind button on the video machine.
“Of course it did,’’ Raimann said. “It obviously did. The ride back. That night. The day after.
“What you want to do is just crawl in a hole and keep watching (the video) over and over again.’’
There were reasons he frequently struggled against Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson, which contributed to the Colts’ 34-14 loss.
The video would reveal what went wrong and allow Raimann to refocus and reload for Saturday’s meeting with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The NFL waits for no one. Dwell too long on the previous game and you allow it to impact the next one.
Linger on Hendrickson’s dominant game – 2 sacks; a pressure that resulted in a Gardner Minshew II interception two pressures; a game-long presence that led to three penalties on Raimann, including a hold that was declined because of the interception – and you might not have the necessary focus with T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith coming to town.
“Every week is a challenge and that’s how you’ve got to approach it,’’ Raimann said. “It doesn’t get easy at any point in the season. Every player is elite and elite in his own way. He has his own physical gifts.
“It’s tough, but you also learn a lot about yourself because these people are going to expose you. Then it’s up to you to either crumble or stand up and prove you’re up to it.’’
The Colts selected Raimann in the third round of the 2022 draft, convinced the 6-6, 315-pounder would develop into their left tackle of the future. He endured a rough start to his rookie season but showed undeniable growth while starting 11 games.
Raimann’s arc continued on its upward swing this season until the difficult game at Cincinnati.
Offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter mentioned the obvious when asked about Raimann’s experience against the Bengals.
“Yeah, Hendrickson is a heck of a football player,’’ he said. “I think some of the situational stuff . . . getting into some of those second-and-long and third-and-long pass situations put Bernie in a tough spot.
“We just all didn’t have our best day (Sunday). Shoot, I didn’t have my best day. I think offensively, it’s not even worth singling out somebody . . . ‘Somebody didn’t have their best day’. The whole offense, we just weren’t quite clicking.’’
Deal with it, and move on.
“You try not to (dwell on a bad game) too long because at the end of the day, you’ve got to be there for your teammates the next week. There’s another game,’’ Raimann said. “You just have to remember it’s not about you. Your ego might be hurt and you might be in a bad spot mentally, but you’ve got to move on.
“You’ve got to learn from in.’’
Brents returning
The Colts will be without right tackle Braden Smith (knee) for a second straight game and sixth game overall and running back Jonathan Taylor, who’ll miss a third straight game after undergoing surgery on his right thumb.
But the defense will be bolstered by JuJu Brents’ return. The rookie cornerback out of Warren Central H.S. has missed the past six games with a quadriceps injury.
Brents returned to practice last week on a limited basis but didn’t make the necessary progress to play at Cincinnati.
“I was close,’’ he said, “but not close enough for me to feel confident enough to go out there and perform to my best. So put another good week under my belt and I feel like it’s a good time to get back out there with the team.
The team’s second-round pick missed the first two games while dealing with a hamstring injury, but then started four of the next five games before injuring his quad against Cleveland.
In five games, Brents has 24 tackles, one interception, one forced fumble and three passes defended.
“It’s big to get a guy like that back,’’ Shane Steichen said. “Again, long, rangy guy, good cover skills, physical with receivers, which we like obviously.
“He’s been grinding away to get back and excited to have him back.’’
You can follow Mike Chappell on Twitter at @mchappell51.