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Bengals Booth Podcast: Time Flies · Bengals Booth Podcast

0:03
Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody on danboard and thanks for downloading The
0:06
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth Podcast. Nah gotta watch the time because it's
0:10
Speaker 1: flying right. By addition, as the Bengals look to finish
0:14
Speaker 1: the year with a winning record, as they end the
0:16
Speaker 1: season against the Cleveland Browns. Coming up, I'll talk to
0:20
Speaker 1: DJ Reader about his injury and his status going forward.
0:24
Speaker 1: I'll look back at the season with the greatest Bengal
0:27
Speaker 1: of them all, Anthony Munio's And in this week's No
0:30
Speaker 1: The Faux Conversation, we'll get the skinny on the Browns
0:33
Speaker 1: with longtime Cleveland reporter Tony Grossi. The Bengals Booth Podcast
0:38
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Speaker 1: official healthcare provider of the Bengals. Now here's a quick
0:58
Speaker 1: reminder that you can have the latest edition of this
1:01
Speaker 1: podcast delivered write to your phone, tablet, or computer by
1:04
Speaker 1: subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's the greatest thing
1:09
Speaker 1: since the Bengals locker room. As another season winds down,
1:14
Speaker 1: I want to take a moment to thank Bengals players
1:17
Speaker 1: and coaches for their cooperation throughout the year. They've joined
1:21
Speaker 1: us at Cincinnati area bars and restaurants for our radio shows,
1:26
Speaker 1: sat down with me for extended fun facts and podcast interviews,
1:30
Speaker 1: and answered questions in the locker room after games regardless
1:34
Speaker 1: of the outcome. As Dave Lapham likes to say, the
1:37
Speaker 1: Bengals have assembled a locker room with a jerk factor
1:41
Speaker 1: of zero. Now let's get to my first guest. When
1:46
Speaker 1: DJ Reader suffered a torn right quad tendon in Game
1:50
Speaker 1: fourteen against the Vikings, it was eerily similar to the
1:53
Speaker 1: injury he suffered to his left leg in twenty twenty.
1:57
Speaker 1: DJ obviously made a full recovery then and vows to
2:00
Speaker 1: do it again, but with the uncertainty about where he's
2:04
Speaker 1: going to be playing next year, I talked to him
2:08
Speaker 1: about that this week. Dj, you seem to be in
2:12
Speaker 1: very good spirits. Is that the case?
2:15
Speaker 2: Yeah?
2:15
Speaker 3: Pretty good? I mean as good as it's gonna get.
2:18
Speaker 4: I think I generally have pretty pretty good attitude about
2:21
Speaker 4: these type of things, So you know, it's.
2:23
Speaker 3: Going good and moving around around the guys, so he's
2:26
Speaker 3: always a good time.
2:27
Speaker 1: How does this compare to the previous time he suffered
2:29
Speaker 1: a similar.
2:30
Speaker 4: Introg We're in the middle of COVID last time, so
2:32
Speaker 4: it's like, you know, you get used to the isolation.
2:34
Speaker 3: And you down it's kind of a little bit more
2:36
Speaker 3: depressive this time. You know, the world's a little bit
2:38
Speaker 3: more open.
2:39
Speaker 4: Families around, so it's lie easier to make adjustments, get
2:42
Speaker 4: things done. And I kind of like the fact that
2:44
Speaker 4: I got to stay here this time. This is the
2:46
Speaker 4: place I'm comfortable with coming in, working with the staffs,
2:49
Speaker 4: those people, you know what I'm saying. So it's always
2:51
Speaker 4: awesome to have like people that you're comfortable with now,
2:53
Speaker 4: Like at first year, we're un comfortable with everybody, so
2:54
Speaker 4: you know, I have to go back to send the
2:56
Speaker 4: dude the center, third.
2:57
Speaker 3: And Blazer Buckley. It's just a lot of moving around.
3:00
Speaker 4: Make me feel great at the beginning, So this time,
3:02
Speaker 4: you know, it's been it's been awesome.
3:05
Speaker 1: The fact that you came back and were as good
3:07
Speaker 1: or better than ever, does that give you a lot
3:09
Speaker 1: of confidence that you are going to be the same
3:11
Speaker 1: player next year.
3:12
Speaker 3: I'll be better. It'll be better than I was.
3:15
Speaker 4: That's that's a year the progression that I take mestally anyway,
3:20
Speaker 4: I don't I don't have any doubt that I prepare
3:23
Speaker 4: and you know, be that from a mental and physical standpoint,
3:27
Speaker 4: just Lord will and just how fast that process goes,
3:29
Speaker 4: I don't know. And I'm gonna push it every day
3:32
Speaker 4: and do my best to get better every day and
3:34
Speaker 4: taking a step to do the right things put myself
3:37
Speaker 4: in advantage. But I still think I'll be a better
3:39
Speaker 4: player next year.
3:40
Speaker 1: For visiting with DJ Reader, I don't know how much
3:42
Speaker 1: stock you put in PFF rankings, but you are the
3:45
Speaker 1: bengals highest graded defensive player this year, even a little
3:48
Speaker 1: bit ahead of Trey Hendricksonho's obviously had a great season.
3:52
Speaker 1: Did you feel like you were playing as well as
3:54
Speaker 1: you've played.
3:55
Speaker 4: I feel like I was playing some goodball, you know, Yeah,
3:59
Speaker 4: those games where you feel obviously feel better than others.
4:02
Speaker 4: I felt like I was doing a really good job,
4:04
Speaker 4: and though I didn't not really the numbers I wanted
4:06
Speaker 4: pass rust while I feel like I.
4:07
Speaker 3: Got a lot of pressures and won a lot of
4:10
Speaker 3: one on.
4:10
Speaker 4: One reps especially, so I was pretty excited about just
4:14
Speaker 4: what I had done. You know, the numbers they'll come
4:16
Speaker 4: and whatever they are, and I just felt like I
4:18
Speaker 4: put a good resume on it. It kind of suck
4:21
Speaker 4: that we weren't just get on team on defense and
4:23
Speaker 4: certain things, and I really take pride in those things.
4:25
Speaker 4: But I also know that, you know, there's other people
4:27
Speaker 4: out there, and those people have to grow and with
4:30
Speaker 4: growth will come more team.
4:31
Speaker 3: Success than those type of undy spots. So but you know,
4:35
Speaker 3: I can do better.
4:36
Speaker 4: I can't play things better and do a whole lot
4:38
Speaker 4: of stuff better, So there's so much room for growth
4:40
Speaker 4: and improvement in my game. And from a team aspect,
4:43
Speaker 4: I think that these young guys are only going to
4:46
Speaker 4: get better just.
4:46
Speaker 3: Another year in the system.
4:48
Speaker 4: We played a lot of year one or two year
4:50
Speaker 4: players out there, especially in the back end. Those fits
4:53
Speaker 4: will only get better. So I was excited. I felt like, yeah,
4:56
Speaker 4: so I felt like I was playing goodball and it
4:58
Speaker 4: was good to you know, have the room with did
5:00
Speaker 4: and just play around the way we deal with the group.
5:02
Speaker 3: That I had felt over very fiery and a lot
5:04
Speaker 3: of moments.
5:05
Speaker 1: For a layman like me, the struggles in the run
5:08
Speaker 1: defense are hard to understand because most of the Front
5:11
Speaker 1: seven was back. It seemed like this was a group
5:13
Speaker 1: that was among the NFL's best last year and yet
5:16
Speaker 1: this year, from the very beginning, it was a struggle.
5:18
Speaker 3: Yeah, but there's also other parts to fit and run
5:22
Speaker 3: like it.
5:23
Speaker 4: Teams who run the ball well aren't just gonna let
5:25
Speaker 4: you play it with your five seven are You're gonna
5:27
Speaker 4: make every player.
5:28
Speaker 3: And your team tackle and every player on the team and.
5:30
Speaker 4: Just see the fits. You know what I'm saying, and
5:33
Speaker 4: you lose what you did. This veteran play just understanding
5:37
Speaker 4: of the game and just for our defense acts fits
5:40
Speaker 4: so little dad, So you gotta figure it out. You're
5:42
Speaker 4: thinking a little bit more. And it is what it is.
5:44
Speaker 4: There's nobody's fault. It's just the growth and growing pains
5:46
Speaker 4: of will come with the game. And you couldn't say
5:48
Speaker 4: what you want about having it beyond specific guys.
5:51
Speaker 3: We just got to better. We gotta do better up front.
5:54
Speaker 4: Front seven has to do better to make it a
5:56
Speaker 4: little bit cleaner for these guys in the lifeing.
5:58
Speaker 3: But you know, you also just gotta know that's gonna happened.
6:01
Speaker 4: People are going to have two struggles when it comes
6:03
Speaker 4: to those type of things. And it also it all
6:05
Speaker 4: works hand in hand. You can't hard to stop it
6:08
Speaker 4: and just be dominant over all the time. If it's
6:10
Speaker 4: not what m I felt like at the end of
6:11
Speaker 4: the season. You know those games probably when I got hurt,
6:14
Speaker 4: I felt like we got a couple of games in
6:16
Speaker 4: a row. We have really figured out those fits and
6:18
Speaker 4: like understood what it takes on.
6:20
Speaker 3: You know, that's what happens.
6:21
Speaker 4: You have those right spots and then over time you
6:23
Speaker 4: make enough of those players you're like, all right, that's
6:26
Speaker 4: what it is.
6:27
Speaker 1: The timing of your injury was brutal, late in a
6:30
Speaker 1: contract here. I know that really bummed out your teammates
6:33
Speaker 1: and your coaches. How tough was that for you emotionally?
6:36
Speaker 4: Oh, you know, it's tough, especially at the beginning of
6:40
Speaker 4: the emotional Then you got to kind of like process
6:43
Speaker 4: it as it is what it is. You never know
6:45
Speaker 4: what happened, how it shakes out, So it's.
6:48
Speaker 3: Not really something that's in my control. Now. You know,
6:50
Speaker 3: ta put some good film out there.
6:52
Speaker 4: Play football, and you always want to be able to
6:55
Speaker 4: finish the season healthy and be able to have all
6:57
Speaker 4: those cards in your hand, but like some still pretty
7:00
Speaker 4: good cards and feel really good about where I'm at,
7:03
Speaker 4: my chance.
7:03
Speaker 3: To recover and be better. Like I said, so.
7:07
Speaker 4: You know now to be on me and them and
7:09
Speaker 4: to figure it out and or you know, whatever it is, and.
7:15
Speaker 3: You know it sucks you miss out on some personal
7:17
Speaker 3: things that you may want.
7:18
Speaker 4: But you know, other than that, it was just as Minnis,
7:20
Speaker 4: I feel like, you know, I come back, I know
7:22
Speaker 4: what I'm supposed to do out.
7:24
Speaker 3: I'll figure all the other part out. You'll be thirty
7:26
Speaker 3: in July.
7:27
Speaker 1: It doesn't seem like there's any doubt in your mind
7:30
Speaker 1: that you aren't going to be playing in the NFL
7:31
Speaker 1: next year and beyond.
7:32
Speaker 3: Yeah, no, it's not.
7:33
Speaker 4: I watching guys play at like thirty four to thirty
7:37
Speaker 4: five playing goodball. Shoot, the quarterbacks seem like they're getting
7:40
Speaker 4: younger though, order they get these guys out there, especially
7:42
Speaker 4: like Stafford. You look at that guy. I'm crazy, but
7:45
Speaker 4: you know, you know you got I played a lot
7:47
Speaker 4: of good balls. Still feel young, Like you said, I'll
7:49
Speaker 4: just just be turning thirty in July, so I still
7:53
Speaker 4: got some good time ahead of me.
7:56
Speaker 3: You know. I'm just so excited to play.
7:57
Speaker 4: I feel like I started out some of my best
7:59
Speaker 4: years to leg but you know, only Thomas heard that.
8:02
Speaker 1: It was a really strange year. Everybody expected the Bengals
8:06
Speaker 1: to be one of the top two or three teams
8:07
Speaker 1: in the NFL. Joe gets hurt on the second day
8:10
Speaker 1: of training camp, and it just seemed like it was
8:12
Speaker 1: a scramble to try to get where you wanted to
8:15
Speaker 1: be from the very beginning.
8:16
Speaker 4: Yeah, and that's just the way the ball rover sometimes,
8:19
Speaker 4: you know, I think that's just it. And you come
8:23
Speaker 4: in with certain expectations and you need adversity, and you
8:26
Speaker 4: never know what that adversity is going to be. It's
8:29
Speaker 4: just got overcoming and I'm telling you know we are
8:30
Speaker 4: already overcoming. Then some things you just can't overcome exactly.
8:33
Speaker 4: But you know, stuff all like, we give ourself a
8:35
Speaker 4: chance play some goodball. Jake came in there and tore
8:37
Speaker 4: it up. Dies when your gung guys came in there
8:40
Speaker 4: a bigger thing. So you can't look at it as
8:43
Speaker 4: a wash. You just look at it as you know,
8:45
Speaker 4: we had the opportunity to grow. Season is still good.
8:48
Speaker 3: There's only a.
8:48
Speaker 4: Certain my team may pops on the body. You always
8:50
Speaker 4: want to be nacking, but that's just the way it
8:53
Speaker 4: could crumble.
8:54
Speaker 1: Sometimes, Man, you have been an awesome Bengal, one of
8:58
Speaker 1: the best free agents the franchise as has ever signed.
9:00
Speaker 1: And from a selfish perspective, I hope there's another Cincinnati
9:04
Speaker 1: contract to come.
9:05
Speaker 3: Best of luck and rehabit. I appreciate the time, man,
9:07
Speaker 3: me too, I appreciate it.
9:08
Speaker 1: Bro. I'm not alone and hoping that DJ will return
9:12
Speaker 1: to the Bengals. Here's defensive coordinator lou Anarumo.
9:15
Speaker 5: I'd love to have DJ back, you know, love everything
9:18
Speaker 5: about him. He's such a big influence in the locker room.
9:22
Speaker 5: He's such a big influence on our defense and has
9:24
Speaker 5: done so many great things for the city, the community,
9:27
Speaker 5: and our team. You know, would really like to get
9:31
Speaker 5: him back if we can.
9:32
Speaker 1: I mentioned DJ's high grades from Pro Football Focus. His
9:35
Speaker 1: overall grade is eighty two point two and for sake
9:39
Speaker 1: of comparison, all Pro Chris Jones of the Chiefs is
9:43
Speaker 1: at eighty two point eight. The Bengals Booth Podcast is
9:47
Speaker 1: brought to you by pay Corps, proud to be the
9:49
Speaker 1: Bengals official HR software provider by Alta Fiber future Proof
9:54
Speaker 1: fiber Internet designed to elevate your home, business and community
9:58
Speaker 1: to a new level by Kettering Health the best care
10:02
Speaker 1: for the best fans. Kettering Health is the official healthcare
10:06
Speaker 1: provider of the Bengals. Sam Hubbard is wrapping up season
10:10
Speaker 1: number six in Cincinnati, and he has seen it all.
10:13
Speaker 1: He's been on a team that started zero to eleven,
10:16
Speaker 1: and he's been on a team that was less than
10:18
Speaker 1: two minutes away from winning a Super Bowl. Sam says
10:22
Speaker 1: that finishing this season with a winning record is a
10:25
Speaker 1: significant goal on Sunday, even if it's not what they
10:29
Speaker 1: were shooting for to begin the season.
10:33
Speaker 6: Yeah, obviously we expected to be here playing for seeding,
10:35
Speaker 6: playing for the playoffs, but that's not how it worked out,
10:39
Speaker 6: and it's unfortunate. You know, we put in the work,
10:41
Speaker 6: we fought hard for a long season, and we came
10:45
Speaker 6: up short. But we still got one more game left
10:48
Speaker 6: to finish with the winning season, and that's important to us,
10:51
Speaker 6: it's important to the fans.
10:52
Speaker 3: So we're gonna go out there and fight hard.
10:54
Speaker 1: How about trying to get an AFC North win.
10:56
Speaker 6: Yeah, we want that too. That's huge for us, especially
10:59
Speaker 6: against arrival like the Browns. So you know, it's a
11:03
Speaker 6: great opportunity to finish season on the high note. I
11:05
Speaker 6: know we finished in twenty nineteen with the home win
11:07
Speaker 6: against the Browns and we went two and fourteen that year.
11:11
Speaker 6: But that was really good momentum going in the off season.
11:14
Speaker 3: A strange year.
11:15
Speaker 1: Expectations were so high and from the very beginning it
11:19
Speaker 1: just didn't seem like things are going to fall you away.
11:22
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was.
11:23
Speaker 6: It was a difference, was stranger, like you said, from
11:26
Speaker 6: Joe going down early in training camp, all types of
11:30
Speaker 6: stuff happening. You know, you just name all the things
11:32
Speaker 6: that happen. It seems like it's just crazy. But that's
11:36
Speaker 6: the life in the NFL. That's every year is going
11:39
Speaker 6: to go, not how you draw it up, how you
11:41
Speaker 6: expect it, and that's what we signed up for.
11:45
Speaker 1: Guys always leave at the end of the year, whether
11:47
Speaker 1: it's free agency, whatever. Is there a feeling of this
11:51
Speaker 1: might be the last time this group of guys gets
11:53
Speaker 1: to play together.
11:54
Speaker 6: I think everyone knows now that it's there's no playoffs,
11:57
Speaker 6: this last week together, so we're gonna enjoy each other to.
12:00
Speaker 3: The locker room.
12:00
Speaker 6: We have the time we have because no matter what
12:02
Speaker 6: things are gonna change next year, every year it's a
12:04
Speaker 6: totally different team.
12:06
Speaker 3: That's just how it goes.
12:07
Speaker 6: So I think guys understand that are gonna, you know,
12:10
Speaker 6: take this time to enjoy each other and work hard together.
12:15
Speaker 1: I think there was a five game stretch where Joe
12:17
Speaker 1: was fully healthy beat some of the best teams in
12:19
Speaker 1: the NFL. Do you leave the season feeling okay when
12:24
Speaker 1: he's back, this is still one of the NFL's best teams.
12:28
Speaker 3: Yeah, no doubt.
12:29
Speaker 6: Like like you said, that stretch, we were playing some really,
12:31
Speaker 6: really good football in the middle of the year, and
12:34
Speaker 6: you know, it's all about playing the best football at
12:36
Speaker 6: the right time of the year. This year, we played
12:37
Speaker 6: it in the middle of the season when we need
12:39
Speaker 6: to be playing it at the end of the year.
12:40
Speaker 6: And yeah, we have all the all the confidence in
12:44
Speaker 6: the world and the guys we have in this locker
12:45
Speaker 6: room when we're all together, So getting him back is
12:49
Speaker 6: obviously key, and he's well on his way. So I
12:53
Speaker 6: know this year is not.
12:54
Speaker 3: What we all drew up.
12:56
Speaker 6: And for me, this offseason, I'm gonna be thinking I
13:00
Speaker 6: was trying to get back to where we were the
13:01
Speaker 6: last two years and finishing the job. So I think
13:03
Speaker 6: a lot of guys have them mine set too.
13:06
Speaker 1: To put the twenty twenty three season in perspective. I
13:09
Speaker 1: caught up with the greatest Bengal of all time this week,
13:12
Speaker 1: Hall of Famer Anthony Munos. What do you think they're
13:16
Speaker 1: playing for against Cleveland on Sunday.
13:19
Speaker 7: Well, let's put it this way, interstate rivalry, pride, and
13:25
Speaker 7: just to have a positive filling in your mouth when
13:28
Speaker 7: you head into the offseason to get ready. You know,
13:30
Speaker 7: it's that last game is always the one that's going
13:33
Speaker 7: to give you a sour taste or say, hey, we
13:36
Speaker 7: finished on a good note, let's build on it.
13:38
Speaker 1: There have been positives this year, and one of the
13:40
Speaker 1: biggest is that they know definitively that they have a
13:43
Speaker 1: good backup quarterback. And Jake Browning, what did he show
13:47
Speaker 1: you in the last month and a half.
13:49
Speaker 7: He wasn't rattled, you know, And I like that with
13:52
Speaker 7: the young guy when you come in and you know
13:54
Speaker 7: you're filling in some big shoes and you just aren't rattled.
13:58
Speaker 7: And he showed me his smarts and being able to
14:02
Speaker 7: just play within the system. And that was a good
14:05
Speaker 7: thing about it. You know, you talk about a backup,
14:07
Speaker 7: and that's always nice to have, especially when you have
14:10
Speaker 7: someone the caliber of Joe. You never know what's going
14:13
Speaker 7: to happen, and you get Jake coming in and he
14:16
Speaker 7: does pretty well.
14:17
Speaker 2: So I was happy to see that.
14:19
Speaker 1: So many things have to go right for a team
14:22
Speaker 1: to win a Super Bowl, and for this season for
14:24
Speaker 1: the Bengals, the adversity started on day two of training
14:28
Speaker 1: camp when Joe Burrow strained his calf. How difficult is
14:31
Speaker 1: that for professional football player when you're riding that roller
14:34
Speaker 1: coaster all season long.
14:37
Speaker 7: I think it makes it even more difficult when it's
14:39
Speaker 7: the most important player on your team.
14:42
Speaker 2: You know, Joe Burrow is a man. I'll tell you
14:44
Speaker 2: what you know.
14:45
Speaker 7: And I'm sure when that happened, you know, I talked
14:49
Speaker 7: about it earlier.
14:50
Speaker 2: When that happened, it.
14:51
Speaker 7: Was kind of like, oh, even though you knew it's
14:54
Speaker 7: going to be back, you just hate to see that
14:56
Speaker 7: at the beginning of the season with such high expectations.
15:00
Speaker 7: And first of all, you know, for me, in my
15:02
Speaker 7: humble opinion, you know things are going to get started
15:04
Speaker 7: slowly anyway, because of just the nature of the Beast
15:07
Speaker 7: not playing any preseason. You have to work your way
15:10
Speaker 7: into it. Now you have, you know, Joe not there,
15:13
Speaker 7: that's going to add to it. So you know, it
15:16
Speaker 7: was sad to see it and then all of a
15:17
Speaker 7: sudden you see him coming on and things are getting better,
15:21
Speaker 7: and then you see the thing with the risks. So
15:23
Speaker 7: you know, it's one of those things you talk about
15:26
Speaker 7: the last game of the season. Let's let's wipe that out,
15:28
Speaker 7: let's rehab, and let's get back healthy and get rolling
15:31
Speaker 7: for twenty twenty four.
15:33
Speaker 1: As we take stock of this season and look ahead
15:35
Speaker 1: to twenty twenty four, what are some areas that you
15:37
Speaker 1: would like to prioritize for this team to reach its
15:40
Speaker 1: potential going forward.
15:42
Speaker 7: Well, first of all, if we can just talk about
15:44
Speaker 7: back up again. You know, you talk about Jake Brown,
15:46
Speaker 7: and let's talk about Chase Brown. I mean the kid,
15:50
Speaker 7: and I you know, I tell people you can see
15:52
Speaker 7: somewhat of a guys can do in the preseason, but
15:55
Speaker 7: the way he played, I thought that was great, not
15:58
Speaker 7: only for the team, but I thought it was excellent
16:00
Speaker 7: for Joe Mixon.
16:01
Speaker 2: You know, having someone nipping at his heels. They're doing
16:03
Speaker 2: pretty well.
16:04
Speaker 7: So, you know, again, you talk about Jake being a backup,
16:07
Speaker 7: and I was impressed with Chase Brown. Where you know,
16:10
Speaker 7: we look look for in the you know, in the offseason,
16:14
Speaker 7: as far as the team. You know, I think maybe
16:18
Speaker 7: again it's an area that was overhauled. I think we
16:22
Speaker 7: still need to continue to work on that offensive line.
16:25
Speaker 7: I think to really and for me, it's more consistency.
16:29
Speaker 7: I think we have individuals that are capable of doing it,
16:32
Speaker 7: but I think it's it's consistency, you know, and someone
16:36
Speaker 7: that gets a little frustrated at times with kind of
16:40
Speaker 7: the state of what's going on. I'm thinking, you got
16:42
Speaker 7: a three hundred and forty pounds left tackle, you got
16:45
Speaker 7: a big old man at left guard. There's got to
16:48
Speaker 7: be a way just to get under center and just
16:51
Speaker 7: come off the football at times. But I understand that
16:54
Speaker 7: the pass is big now in the NFL, and I
16:56
Speaker 7: understand the pass is big with our Cincinnati Bengals, But
17:01
Speaker 7: you still look at teams that you know, win championships,
17:04
Speaker 7: win football games. They're not in a two point stance
17:07
Speaker 7: all the time, and they're they're getting after it. You know,
17:11
Speaker 7: if it's putting two guys behind the quarterback and getting
17:14
Speaker 7: ten guys pushing your quarterback on third and one or
17:17
Speaker 7: fourth to one, you know that the Eagles that brought
17:19
Speaker 7: the surface do that. But I'd have to say that's
17:22
Speaker 7: probably one of the areas that I would love to
17:24
Speaker 7: see more consistency and come along with is yeah, let's
17:29
Speaker 7: keep throwing the football, but when it's time to run
17:31
Speaker 7: the football, let's be physical and make the defense pay
17:35
Speaker 7: for it.
17:35
Speaker 1: Let me follow up on that big left tackle Orlando
17:38
Speaker 1: Brown Junior, because you two had a memorable zoom chat
17:41
Speaker 1: prior to the season, and I know he considers it
17:43
Speaker 1: an honor to play your former position. What did you
17:47
Speaker 1: think of Orlando in his first year in a Bengals uniform.
17:51
Speaker 2: I enjoyed watching them, you know.
17:52
Speaker 7: If there's and I always looking, I love to give
17:54
Speaker 7: all the positives, so I love watching. If there's just
17:57
Speaker 7: one area where I would say, you know, again as
17:59
Speaker 7: an offensive line, is just pad level a little lower
18:02
Speaker 7: for big You know, he's a big man, and I
18:04
Speaker 7: understand when you're six ' eight it's tougher to get
18:07
Speaker 7: low compared to a guy that's sixty three six four
18:10
Speaker 7: sixty five.
18:11
Speaker 2: But if there's.
18:11
Speaker 7: Anything that I would say, is just pad level a
18:14
Speaker 7: little lower. But I enjoyed watching them, you know, I
18:18
Speaker 7: thought the enthusiasm he played with was contagious. I love
18:22
Speaker 7: what we have up front is just again, I can't
18:24
Speaker 7: say it enough. The word that stuck is stuck in
18:27
Speaker 7: my mind right now is consistency. Not overhauled the whole thing,
18:30
Speaker 7: but just getting a little more consistent.
18:33
Speaker 1: So, Anthony, the season ends against the Cleveland Browns. The
18:36
Speaker 1: Bengals are zero to five against the AFC North. They're
18:39
Speaker 1: eight and three against everybody else. They didn't have a
18:43
Speaker 1: healthy Joe Burrow for four quarters in any of those
18:46
Speaker 1: AFC North games. Is it that simple or were there
18:50
Speaker 1: other things about the games against Cleveland, Baltimore and Pittsburgh
18:53
Speaker 1: that stood out to you?
18:55
Speaker 2: I mean, that's part of it.
18:56
Speaker 7: But again, I'm going to get back to the physicality
18:59
Speaker 7: of football games. I really believe when we played those games,
19:03
Speaker 7: it appeared that those teams are a little more physical
19:05
Speaker 7: than we were. They might have not necessarily, wasn't a fact,
19:11
Speaker 7: but it appeared watching that they might wanted it a
19:14
Speaker 7: little more.
19:16
Speaker 2: And I think it's apparent.
19:18
Speaker 7: And this is one of the parts of the games
19:19
Speaker 7: that I do not like, and being a former offensive
19:22
Speaker 7: football player, it appears that happens more on defense.
19:25
Speaker 2: I'm not profiling or I'm.
19:26
Speaker 7: Not generalized, but there's a little shove now and then
19:29
Speaker 7: after plays, and it comes more from the defense. I
19:32
Speaker 7: think there was a little more of that, and I
19:34
Speaker 7: think you have to put a stop to that, not
19:36
Speaker 7: to get a penalty, because as we know, the second
19:38
Speaker 7: guy's always caught, but you can't allow a team to
19:41
Speaker 7: do that. To me, it appears that those three divisional
19:43
Speaker 7: teams have a tendency to do that and we got
19:47
Speaker 7: to be on the other end of that. And I
19:48
Speaker 7: think maybe there was just maybe a little more quickness
19:52
Speaker 7: to the ball, maybe a little more physical but that's,
19:54
Speaker 7: you know, that's a fine line, and that's to me,
19:57
Speaker 7: that is something that can be resurrect I mean rectified.
20:00
Speaker 7: It's not something like, oh my goodness, we can't. We
20:02
Speaker 7: can't compete with these guys. We can't and I know
20:04
Speaker 7: we can't.
20:05
Speaker 1: So beginning next week, everybody's attention is going to turn
20:08
Speaker 1: to the draft and free agency. Is there something at
20:12
Speaker 1: the top of the wish list the dynamic tight end,
20:15
Speaker 1: somebody on the offensive or defensive line. Is there a
20:19
Speaker 1: position group or something along those lines that you would
20:22
Speaker 1: love to see them address?
20:24
Speaker 7: You know what, I think it's something that uh and
20:26
Speaker 7: I know we have some pretty good tight end, but
20:28
Speaker 7: I want a dominant guy that that you have to
20:32
Speaker 7: be able to say, Okay, we're concerned about this stud
20:35
Speaker 7: tight end. He's a factor in this game. And I
20:38
Speaker 7: think when you look at teams that have that impactful
20:41
Speaker 7: tight end, it gives the other guys an opportunity, you know,
20:45
Speaker 7: to go one on one or to pick your poison
20:48
Speaker 7: who you're going to double team. So I think if
20:50
Speaker 7: there's that tight end that we can say, man, this
20:52
Speaker 7: is a guy that we can bring in and you
20:56
Speaker 7: know he's going to be a pretty good blocker, but
20:58
Speaker 7: he occupies the big area, that middle of the football field.
21:03
Speaker 7: I think that's one area that maybe I would say,
21:06
Speaker 7: I think i'd look there.
21:07
Speaker 1: You've got your Hall of Fame sweatshirt on. Bengals fans
21:10
Speaker 1: are thrilled this past offseason when Ken Riley joined you
21:14
Speaker 1: in Canton. Now, Willy Anderson is a semi finalist for
21:18
Speaker 1: the third year in a row. What do you think
21:19
Speaker 1: of Big Willy's chances of becoming a Hall of Famer.
21:22
Speaker 7: I think it's an excellent chance, especially with the percentages
21:25
Speaker 7: when you've become a finalist, and I know he's been
21:28
Speaker 7: a finalist, so I'm just I'm playing for more Bengal strifes.
21:32
Speaker 7: Willie Anderson, Kenny Anderson, you know, because I want to
21:35
Speaker 7: buy more.
21:35
Speaker 3: You know.
21:36
Speaker 7: One of the first things I did, I got my
21:37
Speaker 7: Kenny Riley hat. I got my Kenny Riley shirt. I
21:40
Speaker 7: want to get my seventy one jersey. I want to
21:42
Speaker 7: get my fourteen Well I already have my fourteen jersey,
21:44
Speaker 7: just put.
21:45
Speaker 2: It back on. But I think he's got an excellent
21:47
Speaker 2: chance of going in.
21:48
Speaker 7: I look at the list, the career he had, and
21:51
Speaker 7: again the percentages of those that have been finalists.
21:55
Speaker 2: Of going in. I think he has an excellent chance.
21:57
Speaker 7: So maybe we have another bust or two it up
22:00
Speaker 7: to Canton and August this summer.
22:02
Speaker 1: That would obviously be awesome. Last thing for Anthony Munoz.
22:05
Speaker 1: Last year, Joe Burrow famously said the Super Bowl window
22:10
Speaker 1: is my entire career, and now he's signed with the
22:13
Speaker 1: Bengals through twenty twenty nine at least hopefully many years
22:16
Speaker 1: beyond that. In your mind, do they go right back
22:19
Speaker 1: to being one of the top Super Bowl contenders next
22:22
Speaker 1: year when Joe's healthy?
22:23
Speaker 2: I think so. I think.
22:25
Speaker 7: You know, again, I've not looked closely on the free
22:27
Speaker 7: agents or who they are going to might lose, but
22:30
Speaker 7: what they have on the roster. I really believe they're
22:33
Speaker 7: very talented and I think that they still are one
22:36
Speaker 7: of the contenders. I think he comes back healthy, they
22:39
Speaker 7: get rolling, things go well in the offseason. I can't
22:43
Speaker 7: believe that they wouldn't be with who they have on
22:46
Speaker 7: their roster. So, in my humble opinion, not only because
22:49
Speaker 7: I'm a former Cincinnati Bengals football player, because I watch
22:53
Speaker 7: the teams, I think they are one of the top
22:56
Speaker 7: top teams in the league.
22:58
Speaker 1: Always great to pick your brain. Happy New Year, thanks
23:01
Speaker 1: for joining us.
23:02
Speaker 7: Hey, Dan, always a pleasure to be with you. Happy
23:04
Speaker 7: New Year, and August will come quickly.
23:07
Speaker 1: Finally, it's time for this week's Know the Faux segment.
23:10
Speaker 1: The Cleveland Browns opened the season with a twenty four
23:13
Speaker 1: to three win over the Bengals on a rainy day
23:15
Speaker 1: in Cleveland that saw Cincinnati finish with one hundred and
23:18
Speaker 1: forty two yards of offense and a total of six
23:22
Speaker 1: first downs. I said after that game that the Browns
23:26
Speaker 1: defense was so good that if Cleveland got decent quarterback play,
23:31
Speaker 1: the Browns would be a contender in the AFC. Well,
23:34
Speaker 1: I was right, but little did I realize that thirty
23:37
Speaker 1: eight year old Joe Flacco would turn out to be
23:41
Speaker 1: the quarterback. The Bengals won't see Flacco on Sunday. Kevin
23:45
Speaker 1: Stefanski is resting as many starters as possible since Cleveland
23:49
Speaker 1: is locked in as the number five playoff seed in
23:51
Speaker 1: the AFC. For more on the eleven to five Browns,
23:55
Speaker 1: longtime Cleveland reporter Tony Grossi joined Dave laphaman me on
24:00
Speaker 1: the Bengals Game Plan Show. Here's my question for you.
24:04
Speaker 1: How long have you covered the Browns and is this
24:07
Speaker 1: the most remarkable season you have witnessed in that time?
24:13
Speaker 8: Yeah, I have covered him, I think before Dave Lapham
24:16
Speaker 8: was even drafted that long. Interviewed him at the combine. Yes, yes, yes, Yeah,
24:26
Speaker 8: it's been a blast because it's it's been uh you know,
24:33
Speaker 8: kind of the drama has been on the field this
24:36
Speaker 8: year as opposed to off the field, and and they've
24:39
Speaker 8: gotten better with every piece of adversity. And now that
24:42
Speaker 8: Joe Flackup's story is just unbelievable. What's going on. So yeah,
24:48
Speaker 8: it's been it's been a blast. And finally Browns are
24:51
Speaker 8: in and the Bengals are the team that is playing
24:54
Speaker 8: out the strength.
24:56
Speaker 9: Tony, This this is nuts to me that the Browns
24:59
Speaker 9: have thirty five giveaways, dead last in the NFL. Yeah,
25:03
Speaker 9: twenty more giveaways in the Bengals. The Bengals have fifteen giveaways,
25:06
Speaker 9: tied for third fewest. The Browns have had six return
25:10
Speaker 9: touchdowns against them, most in the NFL. Four pick sixes,
25:15
Speaker 9: tied to most.
25:15
Speaker 3: In the NFL.
25:16
Speaker 9: How the hell did they have eleven wins. You'd think
25:18
Speaker 9: they'd be five and eleven instead of eleven and five.
25:23
Speaker 8: I know, I mean, this is one for the This
25:27
Speaker 8: season is defying all analytics that keep harping about, you know, turnovers,
25:34
Speaker 8: and they keep on turning it over and they keep
25:36
Speaker 8: on winning. Right, and Placo in five games has thrown
25:40
Speaker 8: those two pick sixes. He hasn't had an interception free
25:44
Speaker 8: games yet, and yet he looks like he's, you know,
25:49
Speaker 8: in the prime of his career. He's gunning the ball
25:51
Speaker 8: down the field. I don't know how to explain any
25:54
Speaker 8: of it. I mean, their defense is excellent. It's kind
25:58
Speaker 8: of played out of a any slump and it's playing
26:01
Speaker 8: it's humming pretty well. They're well coached, and they've gotten
26:08
Speaker 8: I think they hidden reason. It's a small reason, but
26:12
Speaker 8: their special teams are so much better. They don't lose
26:15
Speaker 8: games on special teams. I mean, they're a complete team
26:19
Speaker 8: for the first time in a long time.
26:21
Speaker 1: So Kevin Stefanski has made it abundantly clear he's going
26:24
Speaker 1: to try to rest as many key players as he can,
26:26
Speaker 1: understandably going into the postseason. Here's my question, though, why
26:30
Speaker 1: Jeff Driscoll and not PJ. Walker.
26:35
Speaker 8: I think he might have been nailed down Coach of
26:37
Speaker 8: the Year by winning a game with a fifth That's
26:42
Speaker 8: only been done as far as we can tell, in
26:45
Speaker 8: the strike season of nineteen eighty seven. But New England
26:48
Speaker 8: won with five quarterbacks, one with Doug Flutey who crossed
26:53
Speaker 8: the ticket line to get a cheap win. Another one
26:55
Speaker 8: was one of their strike replacement players. I think what
27:01
Speaker 8: it is is it's an opportunity for them to see
27:05
Speaker 8: if he's better than PJ. Walker. They're a little uncomfortable
27:08
Speaker 8: with PJ. Walker as the backup. He was a turnover machine.
27:13
Speaker 8: He did win two games miraculously. I think Van Pelt
27:18
Speaker 8: has some exposure that Driscoll, and he's the first quarterback
27:23
Speaker 8: to start for both teams in the Battle of Ohio.
27:26
Speaker 8: Knew that. I'm sure that's crazy I was, I was
27:31
Speaker 8: shocked by his announcement today. It was we knew, you know,
27:36
Speaker 8: he's going to rest a lot of guys, but Driscoll
27:38
Speaker 8: just joined them last week and they needed a third
27:41
Speaker 8: quarterback because their rookie During Thompson Robinson is on injured reserve,
27:46
Speaker 8: uh with with an injury. So I guess it's a
27:50
Speaker 8: it's a cheap way of seeing you know what he
27:53
Speaker 8: can drink is he's not going to get much practice
27:55
Speaker 8: time once they go into playoff mode.
27:57
Speaker 9: Right, Okay, so the injury report comes out, seventeen players
28:01
Speaker 9: are on it. Eight offense, seven defense, and both your kickers,
28:04
Speaker 9: your place kicker and here punter. Foreshadowing you know what's
28:08
Speaker 9: going to be coming. How many people do you think
28:10
Speaker 9: they're going to elevate from the practice squad? Do you
28:12
Speaker 9: think that anybody will get a couple of series before
28:17
Speaker 9: they're yanked or what do you think is going to happen?
28:21
Speaker 8: Well, first of all, the punter will be back, Beharcas
28:24
Speaker 8: he had a quad injury, missed the Jets game, but
28:27
Speaker 8: they cut the practice squad punter, So I talked to Corey.
28:31
Speaker 2: He'll be back.
28:31
Speaker 3: Okay.
28:32
Speaker 8: The kicker is still not ready so they one elevation
28:36
Speaker 8: will go to the to the practice squad. Kicker Riley Patterson,
28:40
Speaker 8: he's going to have to kick. I think now Skofanski
28:48
Speaker 8: would not specify who's playing and who's not, other than
28:51
Speaker 8: we know Flacco's not playing. But I think he's going
28:54
Speaker 8: to clear the decks to the most of the familiar names. Yeah,
28:58
Speaker 8: it's not like pre season. We have ninety players and
29:01
Speaker 8: you could you could start all your second at third string, right,
29:04
Speaker 8: you can't do that. But I think anybody who's on
29:08
Speaker 8: that list with an injury, even though they didn't practice,
29:13
Speaker 8: they'll be okay for the playoffs. So we're going to
29:16
Speaker 8: see a lot of backups in this game. But there
29:19
Speaker 8: are certain position groups where you know, running back Karimont
29:24
Speaker 8: might not play. But but you only got two of
29:26
Speaker 8: the guys there. You know, of Jerome Ford they're leading rusher,
29:30
Speaker 8: and Pierre Strong who's got a lot of playtime. So
29:32
Speaker 8: there will be some position groups will they'll be familiar names.
29:37
Speaker 1: Tony Grossi is our guest. Both of these franchises, Tony
29:40
Speaker 1: have quarterbacks who have among the biggest contracts in the NFL.
29:46
Speaker 1: When does the Deshaun Watson deal make it difficult for
29:50
Speaker 1: the Browns from a cap perspective.
29:54
Speaker 8: Every year, because what's unique about his deal being totally guaranteed,
30:00
Speaker 8: there are no shortcuts like Mahomes, you know. I think
30:05
Speaker 8: Burrow has certain years where you can where you can
30:09
Speaker 8: allocate resources differently. That's not the case with this one.
30:14
Speaker 8: They've redid them this year, which means they push money forward.
30:18
Speaker 8: So he's got a sixty eight million dollar cap hit
30:21
Speaker 8: next year. I don't know if they could support that
30:24
Speaker 8: whole thing. They're going to have to push that forward
30:27
Speaker 8: at some point in the five year deal, and he's
30:30
Speaker 8: been with them two years. They're gonna have to suck
30:32
Speaker 8: it up and take his full cap charge. Whether it's
30:35
Speaker 8: next year or the year after, I don't know, but
30:38
Speaker 8: you can't keep moving it in. They'll be paying on
30:40
Speaker 8: him till, you know, to the cows come home if
30:43
Speaker 8: they do that. So it's going to take effect. There's
30:46
Speaker 8: a couple of players that is going to be tricky,
30:49
Speaker 8: whether they can bring them back or not. As a
30:51
Speaker 8: result of.
30:52
Speaker 9: It, Tony Jim Schwartz has just done an unbelievable job.
30:57
Speaker 9: I mean, the defenses is just suffocating him. I mean
31:00
Speaker 9: they are playing at such a high level.
31:02
Speaker 2: Yeah, is he Is.
31:04
Speaker 9: There any buzz about him in the loop for a
31:07
Speaker 9: head coaching opportunity? They say there's going to be potentially
31:09
Speaker 9: you know, half a dozen, seven or eight.
31:13
Speaker 8: Well, the day they hired him, I said he'd have
31:16
Speaker 8: the most impact of any new face in the building.
31:18
Speaker 8: And he made me look good because he has. He
31:22
Speaker 8: has done that. He transformed their culture on defense. I
31:28
Speaker 8: don't know, you know, he's in our age group a
31:31
Speaker 8: little bit there. Yees over fifty and the trend still
31:36
Speaker 8: looks like it's going to be offensive coaches. Who knows
31:40
Speaker 8: if he gets you know, if they get a long
31:43
Speaker 8: ride into the playoffs, he might get a look. There
31:48
Speaker 8: was a recent older defensive coach fired recently. I'm trying
31:53
Speaker 8: to recall his name, so, I mean, it's not out
31:56
Speaker 8: of the realm that he would, but I'm not getting
31:59
Speaker 8: that vibe right now. But if they you know, one
32:03
Speaker 8: or two years in the Age championship picture, and he's
32:07
Speaker 8: gonna get a look, I would think.
32:09
Speaker 9: And final question, and thanks for your time. As always,
32:11
Speaker 9: you're always gracious and we appreciate that. Kevin Stefanski, is
32:16
Speaker 9: he Coach of the Year, and is Jim Schwartz assistant Coach.
32:19
Speaker 3: Of the Year.
32:22
Speaker 8: Well, the second question, you know, the secret to this
32:25
Speaker 8: team is Bill Callahan. There's no doubt about it. I mean,
32:29
Speaker 8: on their third left tackled or the third right tackle,
32:33
Speaker 8: there's second left tackle. They've had to play with another center.
32:37
Speaker 8: They the only one who hasn't miss the game that
32:39
Speaker 8: is the right guard, Wyatt Teller, And they haven't missed
32:42
Speaker 8: the beat. So I don't want to be remiss in
32:47
Speaker 8: not mentioning him now coach of the Year. Uh, it's
32:51
Speaker 8: got to be between him and Dan Campbell. Now Dan Campbell,
32:55
Speaker 8: I mean they he's listed the Titanic out of Lake Michigan.
32:58
Speaker 2: I went in that.
32:59
Speaker 8: Division for the first time in thirty years. I don't
33:02
Speaker 8: want you know that's not a small accomplishment. They should
33:06
Speaker 8: have an AFC and an NFC Coach of the Year.
33:08
Speaker 8: But I'll tell you if I were voting, I would
33:10
Speaker 8: vote for Stefante because I lived through this thing. He
33:12
Speaker 8: won games with p J Walker, DeShawn Watson, Dori and
33:16
Speaker 8: Thompson Robinson in the rookie one might have been the
33:21
Speaker 8: biggest game when they played Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh, because you
33:24
Speaker 8: know what those division games mean and they needed that game,
33:27
Speaker 8: and they just just outlasted Pittsburgh, you know. And Thenny
33:32
Speaker 8: Benn Placo is just one four in a row. I
33:37
Speaker 8: tell you, if he went with Riscal, how can you
33:40
Speaker 8: deny it?
33:41
Speaker 3: It's crazy.
33:43
Speaker 1: There's an excellent point about Bill Callahan though, and I
33:45
Speaker 1: do think Bill needs to spend more time with his
33:48
Speaker 1: son and his grandkids.
33:54
Speaker 7: You know.
33:56
Speaker 8: Yeah, he's been awesome. I mean that line has been
33:58
Speaker 8: a secret to everything, you know, and even mentioned they
34:00
Speaker 8: haven't had Nick Chubb since week two, so and yet
34:06
Speaker 8: they reached what everyone you know, even the most optimistic prognosticators,
34:12
Speaker 8: maybe since I think they could get to eleven wins,
34:15
Speaker 8: I didn't, but that considering what they've gone through, it's
34:20
Speaker 8: remarkable and it's made them stronger. It's one of those
34:22
Speaker 8: things that you couldn't predict.
34:24
Speaker 1: All right, thanks to Tony Grossi and that's going to
34:26
Speaker 1: do it for this episode of the Bengals Booth Podcast,
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Speaker 1: more Bengals fans find us. I'm Dan Horde and thanks
35:01
Speaker 1: for listening to the Bengals Booth podcast