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Bengals notebook: Zac Taylor calls it 'surreal' to coach against Philip Rivers

Zac Taylor was redshirting his first year at Wake Forest when he first witnessed Philip Rivers play quarterback. Rivers, then a QB at North Carolina State, led the Wolfpack to beat the Demon Deacons in that 2002 college season. Almost two decades later, coach Taylor is preparing a game plan to defeat the 17-year NFL veteran quarterback.

The 37-year-old Taylor called it surreal to coach against the 38-year-old quarterback this weekend. Taylor described Rivers as the first legit NFL prospect at quarterback he experienced in person as a true freshman.

“Yeah, that's probably the one guy. Just because I was a true freshman at Wake and you're playing really the first big-time quarterback you've ever seen in person,” Taylor said.