'He's trying to feed his family' — Zac Taylor dives into why one Bengals rookie's debut was so impressive to him

Cincinnati Bengals rookie linebacker Demetrius Knight Jr. had a productive debut performance last Sunday.

Knight finished with 10 total tackles and a pass defensed in his first-career game and start against the Cleveland Browns. On a day when most of the Bengals' defense was flying to the ball, only one of Knight's teammates, third-year safety Jordan Battle, registered more tackles.

To put it simply, Knight looked hungry out there. His head coach would say he's playing for the hunger of others.

Zac Taylor knows it's more than just football for Demetrius Knight

Knight was one of three Bengals rookies who made their first-ever starts this past week along left guard Dylan Fairchild and long snapper William Wagner. The pressure was on for him and his contemporaries to perform for the first time.

Zac Taylor knows that pressure has also been with him since his family formed during his college days. Knight is already 25 years old with a wife and kids. Taylor says you can see his "why" on the field clear as day.

"I just think he enjoys football," Taylor said of Knight Wednesday. "I mean, you're talking about a guy who's married, he's got kids, like he understands this is more than just a game. This is a way of life for him, and he's kind of had to have that on his shoulders every step of his career. And so you see a guy that approaches his job that way, like he's trying to feed his family. And that's the play style you see when he's out there."

That kind of energy can also be contagious.

"He's genuine. He loves doing it," Taylor continued. "I think the rest of team feeds off of that. I feed off of that. And so again, he's doing it for all the right reasons, and you're getting his best."

The adrenaline of a rookie debut may've worn off for Knight, but his energy will not subside anytime soon with what he's playing for. Not when feeding your family is on the line. He's got every reason in the world to keep stacking weeks like the one he just had.

Knight's second-career game against the Jacksonville Jaguars kicks off this Sunday at 1:00 p.m. ET on CBS.