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Bengals Booth Podcast: School's Out · Bengals Booth Podcast

0:03
Speaker 1: I get everybody on Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
0:06
Speaker 1: the Bengals Booth Podcast. The schools out for summer. Addition,
0:14
Speaker 1: as the Bengals wrap up their mandatory mini camp earlier
0:17
Speaker 1: than expected, meeting the next time we'll see the players
0:19
Speaker 1: in uniform as a training camp in late July. Coming up,
0:23
Speaker 1: you'll hear from three people. Number one draft picked Jamar Chase,
0:26
Speaker 1: second year linebacker Logan Wilson, and by broadcast partner Dave Lapham.
0:32
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast is presented by bud Light. Seltzer
0:35
Speaker 1: refreshed the game and here's a quick reminder that you
0:38
Speaker 1: can have the latest edition of this podcast delivered right
0:41
Speaker 1: to your phone, tablet, or computer by subscribing on iTunes, Stitch,
0:45
Speaker 1: your Google Play, Spotify, or pod Bean. It's the greatest
0:49
Speaker 1: thing since old guys shooting hoops at the gym. I
0:55
Speaker 1: belong to a local fitness club. My physique provides ample
0:58
Speaker 1: evidence that my attention said said club isn't great. But
1:02
Speaker 1: one thing that inspires me to drag my butt in
1:04
Speaker 1: there as often as possible is seeing a handful of
1:07
Speaker 1: elderly guys who regularly shoot hoops. I'm guessing that some
1:12
Speaker 1: are in their eighties. There's not much running and jumping involved,
1:16
Speaker 1: which is how I played in my teens. But they're
1:19
Speaker 1: out there having fun and staying active. I should probably
1:23
Speaker 1: start working on my set shot. Now, let's get to football.
1:28
Speaker 1: When aj Green was still with the Bengals, he used
1:30
Speaker 1: to host a youth football camp in Cincinnati, and one
1:33
Speaker 1: of the teammates he brought with him at the start
1:36
Speaker 1: of that player's NFL career was Joe Mixon. Now Joe
1:40
Speaker 1: hosts his own football camp, and last weekend he brought
1:43
Speaker 1: a rookie out to meet the campers, number one draft
1:45
Speaker 1: pick Jamar Chase. I'm sure it was quite a thrill
1:49
Speaker 1: for the hundreds of youngsters that attended the camp last
1:51
Speaker 1: weekend at Sycamore High School, and I caught up with
1:54
Speaker 1: a rookie wide receiver out of LSU. Got a couple
1:58
Speaker 1: hundred kids here, leasually get a thrill out of meeting
2:01
Speaker 1: somebody like you. What does this do for you? It just,
2:05
Speaker 1: you know, it shows that you know, I have a
2:07
Speaker 1: humble heart. You know I want to get back to
2:08
Speaker 1: the community. You know, show that I'm willing, you know,
2:11
Speaker 1: show support. So you know, it's it's just good will.
2:14
Speaker 1: It's Joe Mixon's camp. Did Joe reach out and say, hey, ruck,
2:19
Speaker 1: can you help a brother out? Joe did kind of
2:22
Speaker 1: hit me up, you know, he told me, you know,
2:24
Speaker 1: to come out here and have a little fun with him.
2:25
Speaker 1: So I decided to come show and show some love.
2:28
Speaker 1: Did you ever meet a professional athlete when you were
2:31
Speaker 1: these kids age? I don't think I did. I don't
2:35
Speaker 1: think I did, but I wish I would have. I
2:37
Speaker 1: wish I would have. What would it have done for
2:39
Speaker 1: you at that age? I don't know. I'd probably just
2:42
Speaker 1: been excited and had asked a bunch of questions. I
2:45
Speaker 1: think that would have been my goal to what kind
2:47
Speaker 1: of message do you give kids when you have the
2:49
Speaker 1: opportunity to talk to them? UM? My message to the kids,
2:54
Speaker 1: you know, still be a kid as you're a kid now.
2:56
Speaker 1: You know your life will go by fast and you
2:59
Speaker 1: won't know UM, but you know, have fun and live
3:02
Speaker 1: the life that you're in right now at the moment.
3:04
Speaker 1: And I know you might not understand it, but you know,
3:06
Speaker 1: have all the fun that you can right now at
3:07
Speaker 1: the moment. Let's talk about Bengals Camp. So far, you've
3:10
Speaker 1: had three weeks of OTAs. What have been your impressions
3:13
Speaker 1: of your teammates and Joe Burrow in particular. Yeah, I
3:16
Speaker 1: think right now we're going to be We're doing a
3:18
Speaker 1: little good. We're getting everything back in motion. I feel
3:20
Speaker 1: like the offense getting a little better with the with
3:22
Speaker 1: the offensive signs and whatever else we've got going on.
3:27
Speaker 1: But for the most part, I can't wait till we
3:28
Speaker 1: get at it, you know, really see what competing is
3:31
Speaker 1: with the other guys and the defense, and we all
3:33
Speaker 1: see how that plays apart. Have you've been excited by
3:35
Speaker 1: the fact that Joe has been out there basically doing
3:38
Speaker 1: everything this soon since his injury. I'm excited that I'm
3:42
Speaker 1: on the field with Joe right now still, so of
3:44
Speaker 1: course I'm excited for him to be back. You know
3:46
Speaker 1: it just you know, it brings everybody else's energy to
3:49
Speaker 1: see Joe on the field, you know, practicing with us.
3:51
Speaker 1: Even though you two guys had two years together at LSU,
3:54
Speaker 1: we've seen you after practices getting an extra work with him.
3:58
Speaker 1: Why um, that show work is always going to come,
4:01
Speaker 1: you know, you never know when you might need it.
4:03
Speaker 1: So we gotta be p pefet in situation, especially in
4:05
Speaker 1: the NFL now so you know, that's just old old
4:08
Speaker 1: me and Joe getting out work together, make a show.
4:10
Speaker 1: We're on the same page. Looking around the NFL, there
4:13
Speaker 1: are several teams that have just maybe half of the roster,
4:16
Speaker 1: even less than that at their voluntary camps. The Bengals
4:19
Speaker 1: have had perfect attendance. What has that meant to you
4:22
Speaker 1: and the other guys on the team. It means a
4:24
Speaker 1: lot to me and the rest of the guys, you know,
4:26
Speaker 1: showing that you know, we want to work, we need
4:28
Speaker 1: to get better, so we all need to be here
4:30
Speaker 1: at one time. And I think that's the reason why
4:32
Speaker 1: we all in attendance. The Bengals receiving corps were atted
4:36
Speaker 1: you to, Tyler Boyd, T Higgins, etc. How good is
4:41
Speaker 1: this group? This group is amazing right now. Man, there's
4:45
Speaker 1: so much work we're putting in at the moment. We
4:47
Speaker 1: still have a long journey to go through. Um you know,
4:51
Speaker 1: but you know, I can't, I can't. I don't even
4:53
Speaker 1: know what to say. I'm just excited to see what
4:55
Speaker 1: we all can do on the field. At the same time,
4:58
Speaker 1: kids are out here today sweating on a hot Cincinnati day.
5:01
Speaker 1: Does this feel like you're back home in Louisiana. It
5:03
Speaker 1: does almost it almost feels back home. You know the signs.
5:06
Speaker 1: I'll feel bright, so as sunny as heck. The team
5:09
Speaker 1: has a mandatory camp coming up this week. You'll go
5:12
Speaker 1: through that. Then what happens for you between that and
5:15
Speaker 1: the start of real training camp in July. Yeah, just
5:19
Speaker 1: make sure I stand in consistent shape, you know, make
5:21
Speaker 1: sure I keep my hands clean and making sure I'm
5:25
Speaker 1: on top of my fundamentals that i need to make
5:26
Speaker 1: sure I'm on top of so that I'll play a
5:28
Speaker 1: part in the long run as a rookie. Are you
5:31
Speaker 1: just trying to blend in with the veterans right now
5:34
Speaker 1: and kind of you know, do your job, work hard,
5:36
Speaker 1: not say much or is that not your personality. I'm
5:41
Speaker 1: all a blend in type, but you know, I want
5:42
Speaker 1: to stand out while I'm blending in. You know that's
5:44
Speaker 1: always up going about things, and I want to, you know,
5:47
Speaker 1: stand out while I'm blending at the same time, appreciate
5:50
Speaker 1: your time. Thanks for being out here for these kids today.
5:52
Speaker 1: Thank you. You know what was nice about that interview
5:56
Speaker 1: It was done in person. Due to the pandemic. I
6:00
Speaker 1: still haven't met Joe Burrow T Higgins or the other
6:03
Speaker 1: members of last year's rookie class face to face. I've
6:06
Speaker 1: talked to them on the phone and on zoom calls,
6:09
Speaker 1: but thanks to vaccinations, it's going to be nice going
6:11
Speaker 1: forward to introduce myself again and get to know guys
6:15
Speaker 1: on a more individual basis. Now time to hear from
6:18
Speaker 1: one of those guys from last year's rookie class, third
6:21
Speaker 1: round draft pick Logan Wilson. Last year, Josh Bines took
6:25
Speaker 1: the most snaps on defense of any Bengals linebacker. He
6:29
Speaker 1: was on the field about seventy two percent of the time.
6:32
Speaker 1: Since the Bengals elected not to re sign Bines, who
6:35
Speaker 1: turns thirty two in August, Wilson figures to slide into
6:39
Speaker 1: that starting spot in the middle of the Bengals defense. Logan,
6:44
Speaker 1: the offseason after your rookie year was probably the first
6:47
Speaker 1: time in several years you've had a significant chunk of
6:49
Speaker 1: time off, no school, no getting ready for the combine.
6:54
Speaker 1: How was it and what did you do with your
6:56
Speaker 1: time off? I was very, very nice just to kind
6:59
Speaker 1: of have some time to relax um My fiance well,
7:05
Speaker 1: prior to the off season starting, she wasn't my fiance,
7:08
Speaker 1: but during the off season, we got engaged and we
7:11
Speaker 1: were back at the University of Wyoming. She was finishing
7:14
Speaker 1: up her student teaching, so we kind of spent most
7:16
Speaker 1: of our time down there, and then we got a
7:18
Speaker 1: house back in Casper, a hometown. So, um it was
7:23
Speaker 1: a really good off season and we used to had
7:26
Speaker 1: some time left, you know, after mini camps will head
7:30
Speaker 1: back out there. But it was it was good, to
7:32
Speaker 1: say the least. Congratulations on the engagement. I saw that
7:36
Speaker 1: you posted the footage on Instagram. You dropped down to
7:40
Speaker 1: me at the football stadium on a snowy, snow covered field.
7:44
Speaker 1: You got the video board operator involved. You did it upright. Yeah.
7:48
Speaker 1: I talked to some of the meeting guys that worked
7:51
Speaker 1: there that um I knew from my time there, and
7:54
Speaker 1: they helped me set up. They did all the graphic
7:57
Speaker 1: and everything. I just sent them the pictures and told
7:59
Speaker 1: them what the it on it, and um yeah, it
8:02
Speaker 1: was it was very very helpful that they did that
8:04
Speaker 1: for me. And then it was a It was funny
8:07
Speaker 1: because seriously thought that it wasn't gonna be a m
8:11
Speaker 1: She thought it was an interview for me, and then
8:13
Speaker 1: I just wanted her to come along just for some
8:16
Speaker 1: pictures purposes, and um, we tricked her. So well done,
8:20
Speaker 1: very well done. We're talking to Bengals linebacker Logan Wilson.
8:24
Speaker 1: So when I've talked to some players in the past
8:26
Speaker 1: after the rookie year, some guys have said I needed
8:29
Speaker 1: to get stronger after seeing NFL competition, or I needed
8:34
Speaker 1: to get leaner, whatever it might be. Did you feel
8:38
Speaker 1: anything along those lines? Truthfully, not really. Um. You know,
8:43
Speaker 1: I feel like the size I'm at and the weight
8:45
Speaker 1: i'm at I've been at for the last few years,
8:48
Speaker 1: and I feel pretty good. I think there's always room
8:51
Speaker 1: to get stronger, you know, Like I definitely got weaker
8:54
Speaker 1: towards the end of the season. I feel like that's
8:56
Speaker 1: kind of natural. Um, you know, when you're not lifting
9:00
Speaker 1: heavyweights all the time. So I definitely put some muscle
9:04
Speaker 1: back on this offseason, which was a point of mine.
9:07
Speaker 1: I went well since we were back in Wyoming Leary, Wyoming,
9:11
Speaker 1: back at the university. I just trained with my strength
9:13
Speaker 1: coach from my time there and just kind of did
9:17
Speaker 1: the work as I did in college. And I put
9:20
Speaker 1: some weight on and now I'm back down to where
9:22
Speaker 1: I was at. So you missed the last three games
9:24
Speaker 1: last year with an ankle injury. How bad was it
9:27
Speaker 1: and when were you fully recovered? Oh? Man, it was
9:31
Speaker 1: it was tough. It was just Um, I mean, there
9:35
Speaker 1: was a high ankle sprain and those things just take
9:37
Speaker 1: so long to heal because I just don't get as
9:39
Speaker 1: much blood flow so far away from the heart, and
9:42
Speaker 1: so it was it was tough. You know, I don't know.
9:46
Speaker 1: I've got rehab on it for probably three months after
9:49
Speaker 1: the season, Um, maybe four really, I mean it took
9:54
Speaker 1: forever to seriously heal. Um. I had some stuff in
9:57
Speaker 1: the back portion of my ankle that needed to work
10:01
Speaker 1: its way out, and just so sadly it's take just
10:04
Speaker 1: takes time sometimes, So it took it definitely took its
10:07
Speaker 1: time healing. But everything is fine now. Yes, yes, yeah,
10:12
Speaker 1: just took its time for basically until, like I want
10:15
Speaker 1: to say, until by April. We're talking to Logan Wilson.
10:19
Speaker 1: I imagine any player's first year in the NFL is
10:22
Speaker 1: pretty crazy. Was there anything that was even tougher than
10:26
Speaker 1: you thought it would be? Um? I think just playing
10:31
Speaker 1: against professional offensive lineman. I think, I mean they're just
10:35
Speaker 1: guys that big, that move that fast is freaky going
10:39
Speaker 1: against them. All the time, and it was definitely crazy
10:42
Speaker 1: year obviously with COVID, and I think it was really weird, truthfully,
10:46
Speaker 1: playing in front of no fans, just fake crowd noise,
10:49
Speaker 1: and um, I don't know, I've never done that in
10:52
Speaker 1: my entire life, ever played a football game in front
10:54
Speaker 1: of zero fans, even when I was playing major football
10:57
Speaker 1: back in Wyoming. We still I used to your parents
11:00
Speaker 1: and family and friends, and so it was definitely weird.
11:05
Speaker 1: On the flip side, was there anything easier than you
11:08
Speaker 1: thought it would be? You know, I don't even I
11:11
Speaker 1: don't know if if there was anything. I knew it
11:13
Speaker 1: was going to be a challenge regardless, you know, and
11:15
Speaker 1: I there's just so much that goes into it, and
11:20
Speaker 1: especially having no like in person anything until training camp,
11:26
Speaker 1: so we're just trying to learn the system I knew
11:28
Speaker 1: there was. I mean, it was definitely tough learned system
11:30
Speaker 1: just with Zoom, you know, not being able to actually
11:33
Speaker 1: go out there. And I think that for me that
11:35
Speaker 1: was hard because I I learned best like going out
11:39
Speaker 1: there and then making a mistake and understanding why I
11:42
Speaker 1: made that mistake and then trying not to make that
11:44
Speaker 1: same mistake again. If that makes sense, and so that
11:46
Speaker 1: was definitely tough. You sound pretty excited to go through
11:51
Speaker 1: an NFL season when things are back to normal, or
11:54
Speaker 1: at least close to it. Yeah, I mean it'll feel
11:58
Speaker 1: like some sense of normal. Say, I feel like last
11:59
Speaker 1: year it's just like I said, it's just it was
12:02
Speaker 1: just so weird, you know, going out there, or then
12:04
Speaker 1: there's like limited fans in certain stadiums and it's just
12:10
Speaker 1: not anything you would expect to hear, you know. But
12:13
Speaker 1: also so much happened with COVID. No one expected any
12:17
Speaker 1: of that stuff to happen. So those kind of the
12:19
Speaker 1: way of twenty twenty. So to say, um, but yeah,
12:22
Speaker 1: I'm definitely looking forward to having full capacity um in
12:26
Speaker 1: stadiums in the fall. We're visiting with Logan Wilson. In
12:30
Speaker 1: free agency. This offseason, the Bengal spent a lot of
12:33
Speaker 1: money on defense, Trey Hendrickson and Larry Ogan Joby upfront,
12:37
Speaker 1: Shuitabaya Wouge and Mike Hilton among the guys in the secondary.
12:41
Speaker 1: Then in the draft they drafted for defensive linemen, but
12:44
Speaker 1: they did not add linebackers in free agency or the draft.
12:48
Speaker 1: What did that say to you about how they feel
12:51
Speaker 1: about the position group. UM, I think they feel they
12:54
Speaker 1: feel very strong about us. UM. We brought back obviously
12:57
Speaker 1: brought back Jordan Evans too, and I think we have
13:00
Speaker 1: a very strong linebackers group and they were very smart
13:03
Speaker 1: and we've kind of have a year under belt under
13:06
Speaker 1: our belt to understand the system and what needs to
13:08
Speaker 1: be done. So, you know, I think that that kind
13:11
Speaker 1: of speaks for itself. How do you expect your role
13:14
Speaker 1: to change and grow? I would just say that I'm
13:17
Speaker 1: you know, I want to kind of be the guy
13:19
Speaker 1: that kind of runs the show now step in where
13:21
Speaker 1: Bynes was, so to say, you know, Bynes was, I
13:26
Speaker 1: couldn't have asked for a better linebacker truthfully, to learn
13:29
Speaker 1: under he was like a walking football library. So you know,
13:33
Speaker 1: I'm just gonna try to make my own mark, you know,
13:36
Speaker 1: on this team and just kind of do what needs
13:38
Speaker 1: to be done for to help us with football games.
13:40
Speaker 1: That's kind of my goal. You've been here for a
13:43
Speaker 1: few weeks with the voluntary spring practices and now the
13:46
Speaker 1: mandatory mini camp is happening this week. Has anything stood
13:50
Speaker 1: out to you about the practices that you've been through
13:53
Speaker 1: so far. I mean, it's hard to say, truthfully, nothing's
13:56
Speaker 1: been like full speed competition, you know, so, UM, you know,
14:01
Speaker 1: it's definitely nice having there's definitely some fresh faces on defense. UM,
14:05
Speaker 1: and it's kind of exciting to see the guys we
14:07
Speaker 1: brought in in free agency and the guys that we
14:09
Speaker 1: brought in in the draft. UM, seeing guys like Trey Henderson,
14:13
Speaker 1: Trey Wayne's back out there, you know, after not being
14:15
Speaker 1: able to play last year. UM, it's nice to see
14:18
Speaker 1: see those guys around on the field. How fired up
14:21
Speaker 1: were you to see Joe Burrow out there in day one?
14:25
Speaker 1: That is good? It was really I mean, obviously he's
14:27
Speaker 1: he's a leader of a franchise, so UM, anytime he's
14:30
Speaker 1: out there, it's just kind of a blessing to be
14:33
Speaker 1: able to watch him play. And you know, obviously, UM,
14:36
Speaker 1: he's a very good player. And you know, as his
14:39
Speaker 1: knee continues to heal, hopefully gets back two hundred percent
14:42
Speaker 1: and you know, I don't know the the in depth
14:45
Speaker 1: about all his rehab process, but it seems like he's
14:50
Speaker 1: doing really well, and UM, we're definitely are hoping to
14:53
Speaker 1: have him out there for the season. You guys have
14:55
Speaker 1: had perfect attendance basically for voluntary OTAs and that has
15:00
Speaker 1: not been the case around the NFL. The players union
15:03
Speaker 1: actually encourage you guys to skip if you wanted to.
15:08
Speaker 1: What did that say to you? And how significant do
15:10
Speaker 1: you think it is that everybody has been here? I mean,
15:13
Speaker 1: it's definitely significant. Our leaders kind of talk, negotiated, so
15:18
Speaker 1: to say, with coach Taylor, and figured out a plan
15:21
Speaker 1: for us to come back and then and be able
15:23
Speaker 1: to kind of protect us from getting injured. So I
15:26
Speaker 1: think that's why a lot of guys came back for it.
15:30
Speaker 1: And obviously, you know, we didn't have the kind of
15:33
Speaker 1: a year as we would have liked to last year,
15:34
Speaker 1: and so we know that there's work to do, and
15:36
Speaker 1: that's kind of what our everyone's mindset was in terms
15:38
Speaker 1: of why we needed to come back and get some
15:41
Speaker 1: get some some sort of work in. How fired up
15:44
Speaker 1: are you for your second NFL season? I'm definitely excited.
15:48
Speaker 1: You know, there's gonna be new challenges that present itself,
15:51
Speaker 1: but that's life in general, and you know, how you
15:54
Speaker 1: attack adversity, it kind of says a lot about you
15:56
Speaker 1: and your character, and so I helped myself to a
15:58
Speaker 1: very high standard. You know, I'm excited to see what
16:01
Speaker 1: we can do on defense and then as a team,
16:06
Speaker 1: so it'll be a very fun year and hopefully, like
16:08
Speaker 1: I said, get some sense of normalcy with some full stadiums.
16:12
Speaker 1: We are looking forward to seeing you in the middle
16:14
Speaker 1: of the defense. Congratulations again on the offseason engagement, Stay
16:18
Speaker 1: healthy in twenty twenty one, and thanks for the time.
16:21
Speaker 1: Thank you very much. The Bengals Booth Podcast is presented
16:25
Speaker 1: by Bud Light Seltzer. It's light and refreshing with a
16:28
Speaker 1: hint of fruit flavor. We expected the Bengals to have
16:32
Speaker 1: a three day minicamp this week, but it ended after
16:34
Speaker 1: day one as head cood Zach Taylor sent the players
16:37
Speaker 1: home for their summer vacation early. It was partly a
16:41
Speaker 1: reward for perfect attendance during the nine voluntary practices, but
16:45
Speaker 1: Taylor also apparently dangled the possibility of an early break
16:49
Speaker 1: as incentive for the players to get vaccinated. Like Major
16:53
Speaker 1: League Baseball, it appears that the NFL is going to
16:56
Speaker 1: use eighty five percent of the roster being vaccinated as
17:00
Speaker 1: benchmark for relaxing COVID protocols. Eighty five percent of a
17:04
Speaker 1: ninety man roster would be seventy six point five and
17:08
Speaker 1: it appears that the Bengals are among a handful of
17:10
Speaker 1: teams with more than seventy players vaccinated. Now time to
17:15
Speaker 1: discuss that and much more with my broadcast partner Dave Lapham.
17:20
Speaker 1: Lap Let's start with Zach Taylor's decision to end the
17:22
Speaker 1: three day mandatory minicamp after just one practice and send
17:25
Speaker 1: everybody home until training camp in late July. You played
17:29
Speaker 1: for Paul Brown and Forrest greg How do you react
17:32
Speaker 1: to this news. Well, if the two guys you mentioned,
17:35
Speaker 1: I could see Paul Brown doing it potentially. Paul Brown
17:39
Speaker 1: was a guy that if you got your work done
17:40
Speaker 1: and he felt like things were in good order, he
17:44
Speaker 1: never really had you out in the field for long
17:46
Speaker 1: pirds of time and didn't really beat you up. Forrest Gregg,
17:50
Speaker 1: in the other hand, you know, he has a Vince
17:51
Speaker 1: Lombardi disciples. I'm sure we would have been out there,
17:55
Speaker 1: maybe even longer. He would have taken every minute that
17:59
Speaker 1: he would have been allowed. But it was I think
18:02
Speaker 1: when you look at it, Dan, they the reward that
18:06
Speaker 1: that carrot that Zack dangled out that the guys really
18:09
Speaker 1: appreciated was they showed up, you know, they had I
18:12
Speaker 1: don't think there's anybody in the league that can claim
18:15
Speaker 1: the success the Bengals had with OTA's and got a
18:18
Speaker 1: lot of work done. And so I figured, what the
18:22
Speaker 1: heck had had a bunch of good workouts, that a
18:26
Speaker 1: lot of guys on the field working together, you know,
18:29
Speaker 1: advancing uh, mentally and physically. Let's um, let's just use
18:34
Speaker 1: this Wednesday and Thursday as at least today. I know
18:37
Speaker 1: today there's probably quite a few guys down there getting vaccinated.
18:41
Speaker 1: They were a handful, maybe a few more guys short
18:45
Speaker 1: of getting that eighty five percent, they're right there. So
18:48
Speaker 1: if they can get that done and uh and say,
18:51
Speaker 1: you know here, here's here's the incentive. Shut down the
18:55
Speaker 1: last two days you guys. See, we can get a
18:57
Speaker 1: few more guys vaccinated and make it easier with the
19:01
Speaker 1: protocols or training camp. Because my understanding is the protocols,
19:04
Speaker 1: the guys that won't be vaccinated, they're still gonna have
19:07
Speaker 1: to get tested every day. They're gonna have to wear masks,
19:09
Speaker 1: all that kind of thing. I mean, it's it's gonna
19:11
Speaker 1: be kind of like the scarlet letter. Oh there's wine,
19:13
Speaker 1: he's gonna mast on, you know. It's like, so it's
19:16
Speaker 1: gonna it's gonna be a very interesting, very interesting dynamic
19:19
Speaker 1: all that unfold. So I bet, I bet there's a
19:24
Speaker 1: few guys down there today being Wednesday, getting their getting
19:27
Speaker 1: their vaccinations. I wouldn't be surprised. Yeah, no doubt about it.
19:30
Speaker 1: And it sounds like the decision to end the camp
19:33
Speaker 1: after one day was definitely tied to that vaccination level.
19:36
Speaker 1: The Washington Post reported this week that more than half
19:39
Speaker 1: of NFL teams have at least fifty vaccinated players. Three
19:43
Speaker 1: teams have seventy or more. Four teams have a very
19:47
Speaker 1: low number, the Colds, the Jags, the Cardinals, and the Chargers.
19:51
Speaker 1: I'm assuming the Bengals are one of the three teams
19:53
Speaker 1: that have seventy or more. Based on this decision, and
19:57
Speaker 1: as you were saying, I mean, even thing as simple
20:00
Speaker 1: as being able to eat in the cafeteria if you're vaccinated,
20:04
Speaker 1: as opposed to you know, grabbing a box lunch and
20:06
Speaker 1: eating it in front of your locker. All of those
20:08
Speaker 1: little things make a big difference in a group of
20:11
Speaker 1: you know, what ultimately is going to be ninety guys
20:14
Speaker 1: in training camp. There's no doubt, Dan, and uh, you
20:18
Speaker 1: know just here listening to uh you know Sports on
20:22
Speaker 1: ESPN this morning, Chris Paul tested positive and they're not
20:27
Speaker 1: sure if he's been vaccinated or not. That hasn't been
20:30
Speaker 1: made public. But if he's been vaccinated, he's going to
20:33
Speaker 1: be quarantined for a much shorter time than if he wasn't.
20:36
Speaker 1: And that's right in the middle of the playoffs. And
20:38
Speaker 1: you know, that's the thing. It can it can linger
20:40
Speaker 1: on all of a sudden, You lose a guy or
20:44
Speaker 1: maybe more than one guy for a critical division game
20:48
Speaker 1: against Baltimore or Cleveland at some point during the season,
20:52
Speaker 1: or you know everything's going along smoothly through training camp,
20:56
Speaker 1: then all of a sudden, you get a positive test
20:57
Speaker 1: right before the opener and it starts to mess with
21:00
Speaker 1: your roster. And those kind of things are nightmares for coaches.
21:03
Speaker 1: So the after effect, the hangover from COVID nineteen isn't
21:09
Speaker 1: isn't gone yet. They're still suffering through you know, some
21:12
Speaker 1: of that hangover for sure. So we learned on Tuesday
21:15
Speaker 1: that offensive lineman Hakima Dentagy has a torn pectoral muscle
21:19
Speaker 1: that required surgery. He's going to be out for months,
21:22
Speaker 1: maybe the entire season. How big of a blow is this, Yeah,
21:26
Speaker 1: it's it's it's almost unbelievable to me that Trey Waynes
21:29
Speaker 1: and now Adenogy back to back season, same thing lifting
21:33
Speaker 1: weights and identagis lifting weight soft site is my understanding,
21:37
Speaker 1: you know, had had had the injury, had the problem.
21:40
Speaker 1: I don't know if it was the bench press, simple
21:42
Speaker 1: bench press routine like Trey Waynes was doing, but it
21:45
Speaker 1: was something you know involved in the chest, dumbells or
21:47
Speaker 1: free weights or whatever. M's It's sad really because I
21:51
Speaker 1: think I think he's he's got a bright future. I
21:55
Speaker 1: don't think this is going to be something that he
21:57
Speaker 1: won't be able to recover from. But I think he
21:59
Speaker 1: would have been a very valuable candidate for that left
22:01
Speaker 1: guard position. And now all of a sudden, you know
22:04
Speaker 1: they're they're one less person competing for that left guard spot.
22:08
Speaker 1: I think I think the other four spots are pretty
22:10
Speaker 1: much not cement cemented, but I think they have a
22:13
Speaker 1: pretty good idea of the way at least they're going
22:15
Speaker 1: to line up initially and uh, and then it's kind
22:18
Speaker 1: of a free for all at that left guard spot.
22:20
Speaker 1: Um and the denis you won't be won't be part
22:23
Speaker 1: of that, and you know, early to lose the season
22:26
Speaker 1: this early in your career too, you know, when you're
22:28
Speaker 1: just starting through that developmental process. He's the raw tools
22:32
Speaker 1: in terms of we've talked about his footwork, and you know,
22:35
Speaker 1: he's got pretty good hand placed been pretty good punch
22:38
Speaker 1: and all the all those kind of things are great. Boy,
22:40
Speaker 1: there's nothing like you know, getting reps and when you
22:43
Speaker 1: start to miss reps after having the you know, the
22:46
Speaker 1: first few blocks of the foundation are there from your
22:49
Speaker 1: rookie year. And like I've said many times, I know
22:52
Speaker 1: it was the case for me. I know it is
22:53
Speaker 1: a case for a lot of teammates and guys that
22:54
Speaker 1: I played against year one to year two. Man's well,
22:58
Speaker 1: it's a whole new world. Your eyes open up a
23:01
Speaker 1: much different perspective. But what the heck you're you know,
23:04
Speaker 1: you're looking at and you're trying to get accomplished and
23:06
Speaker 1: how to go about accomplishing it. That's for sure. Assuming
23:10
Speaker 1: he did not win the starting left guard spot that
23:14
Speaker 1: that goes to a veteran like Quentin Spain or suet Philo,
23:18
Speaker 1: would he have then been more likely to be one
23:20
Speaker 1: of the top guys in the tackle depth. Yeah, I
23:24
Speaker 1: think I think that that he's a guy that is
23:27
Speaker 1: somebody that's capable of playing you know, right and left side,
23:31
Speaker 1: both inside and outside. I think he's got that type
23:34
Speaker 1: of you know, that type of mentality, that type of ability.
23:39
Speaker 1: I do know that I did mention what desk strength
23:44
Speaker 1: about him? You know, what do you what do you
23:45
Speaker 1: think of a chem identity? And this was obviously before
23:49
Speaker 1: the injury, and he was impressed with him. It's hard
23:51
Speaker 1: not to be impressed with with what he shows you,
23:55
Speaker 1: you know, from an athleticism standpoint, the work to change
23:58
Speaker 1: the direction. Um, he's he's he's really pretty gifted that way.
24:02
Speaker 1: So it's it's it's unfortunate, it really is. I think,
24:07
Speaker 1: feel feel bad. All you're trying to do is improve yourself,
24:11
Speaker 1: you know, working out, trying to get better, trying to
24:13
Speaker 1: get bigger, trying to get stronger, and those those kind
24:16
Speaker 1: of things take place, they happen and you get bitten.
24:19
Speaker 1: So does this increase the possibility or likelihood even that
24:24
Speaker 1: the Bengals try to sign a veteran to add to
24:26
Speaker 1: their offensive line depth. I was looking at the tackles
24:29
Speaker 1: that are still out there, Rick Wagner, Russell o'coon, Mitchell Schwartz,
24:33
Speaker 1: Morgan Moses All between the ages of thirty and thirty two.
24:37
Speaker 1: Now Morgan Moses, I think is probably still looking at
24:40
Speaker 1: a big contract. Not sure about the others. But what
24:43
Speaker 1: do you think, Yeah, that's you've hit the magic you know,
24:47
Speaker 1: the magic sauce for the answer. I think, what kind
24:50
Speaker 1: of contracts are they looking for? And um, you know,
24:53
Speaker 1: some some guys get to the point of their career, well,
24:56
Speaker 1: you know, I've I've earned quite a bit of money
24:59
Speaker 1: and this is what I'll do it for this, but
25:02
Speaker 1: I'm not going to do it for anything less, and
25:04
Speaker 1: they'll just decide I'd I'd rather not put my body
25:07
Speaker 1: through it for the sake of one more year, particularly
25:11
Speaker 1: what the price that they're offering. It just doesn't it
25:15
Speaker 1: doesn't make sense to me. It's not worth while to me. So,
25:17
Speaker 1: you know, where where are some of those guys' mindsets at?
25:20
Speaker 1: You know where where is their basement? You know, we
25:23
Speaker 1: know where their sailing probably is. It's going to be
25:25
Speaker 1: easy to find out, but where's their basement? Where's the floor?
25:28
Speaker 1: So yeah, it's I would think you're going to start
25:32
Speaker 1: kicking tires. There's there's no doubt. You always have to
25:36
Speaker 1: you have to find out which of those guys where
25:39
Speaker 1: their mentality is, you know, and the only way you
25:42
Speaker 1: can do it is pick up the phone and or
25:44
Speaker 1: you know, or if you do want to fly them somewhere,
25:47
Speaker 1: or you fly somewhere or whatever. If there's that kind
25:49
Speaker 1: of an interest, you have to you have to do
25:51
Speaker 1: your due diligence, that's for sure. And I'm sure they're
25:54
Speaker 1: in the process of deciding that right now and trying
25:57
Speaker 1: to explore who the more of liable candidates might be
26:01
Speaker 1: of that list of guys you're talking about, all right.
26:04
Speaker 1: Speaking of contracts, the Bengals have historically extended the contract
26:07
Speaker 1: of their key players as they go into the final
26:10
Speaker 1: year of their current deal and other words, don't let
26:13
Speaker 1: them become free agents. They did that last year with
26:16
Speaker 1: Joe Mixon. It often happens in training camp, and the
26:19
Speaker 1: most obvious candidates when camp begins are Jesse Bates and
26:23
Speaker 1: Sam Hubbard. Will it happen with either or both? In
26:27
Speaker 1: your opinion? I think if I think it's definitely going
26:31
Speaker 1: to happen with one, I'd be shocked if it doesn't
26:34
Speaker 1: happen with one of them. And I think there's a
26:37
Speaker 1: chance it could happen with both. I really I really
26:40
Speaker 1: believe that that those two components, those two players are
26:44
Speaker 1: are big pieces or what they're you know, what they're
26:46
Speaker 1: trying to keep intact and then build around. And you
26:51
Speaker 1: think about it, those are the only two guys left
26:53
Speaker 1: from like three years ago. You know that the starters,
26:56
Speaker 1: they've turned everything else over. Everybody else's is either a
27:00
Speaker 1: more recent draft pick or signed a veteran free agency
27:04
Speaker 1: in the last couple of offseasons. So though those two
27:07
Speaker 1: guys are definitely the type of players that the Bengals
27:12
Speaker 1: would target for this kind of thing for sure, and
27:15
Speaker 1: it would not it would not surprise me if they're
27:17
Speaker 1: both under contract once training camp is underway at some
27:23
Speaker 1: point in time, or you know, in during the course
27:26
Speaker 1: of one of the three preseason games there was an
27:28
Speaker 1: announcement made, or even before camp, Like you said, what
27:32
Speaker 1: would surprise me is if neither one of them are
27:36
Speaker 1: extended before the regular season starts. That would be a
27:39
Speaker 1: pretty more than a mile surprise to me. I think
27:43
Speaker 1: it's going to happen with both. Maybe I'm just being
27:46
Speaker 1: overly optimistic. I don't know, but it just seems to
27:49
Speaker 1: me that they've got the room to do it. They've
27:52
Speaker 1: set their cap situation up well in order to be
27:55
Speaker 1: able to extend those guys, and I think they feel
27:58
Speaker 1: that they are very important the culture that Zach Taylor
28:01
Speaker 1: has created. I agree with you, Dan, And the philosophy
28:05
Speaker 1: of the team has always been and really the last
28:09
Speaker 1: two offseasons it's been against that norm of rather would
28:14
Speaker 1: sign guys that have proven themselves that they drafted in
28:20
Speaker 1: the process developing, would like to continue along that path,
28:23
Speaker 1: then bring somebody else in, somebody else's guy and try
28:26
Speaker 1: to fit him into your scheme and your philosophy and
28:30
Speaker 1: all that sort of thing. The Bengals historically have liked
28:33
Speaker 1: to try to reward their own and build a culture
28:37
Speaker 1: like you're talking about. And these two guys are you know,
28:40
Speaker 1: are big on that side of the football defensefully for
28:43
Speaker 1: that part of it. So yeah, I'd I'd be pretty
28:48
Speaker 1: surprised if at least one isn't done pretty quickly, and
28:52
Speaker 1: then both before the start of the regular season. I
28:54
Speaker 1: agree with you. We were allowed to watch four practices
28:57
Speaker 1: this month. What were some of the things that stood
29:00
Speaker 1: out to you. I think that showing up is one thing,
29:05
Speaker 1: but showing up and going to work is the next thing.
29:08
Speaker 1: And what what stood out to me is I'd be
29:12
Speaker 1: I'd be surprised if anybody in the league got not
29:17
Speaker 1: only better attend or at tennis that was better than
29:21
Speaker 1: what the Bengals had. From a participation standpoint, I think
29:25
Speaker 1: they might have been about amongst the best, if not
29:27
Speaker 1: the best. But what they did when they showed up,
29:31
Speaker 1: it wasn't just I'm here. You know, that's done. I'm
29:34
Speaker 1: gonna not go through the motions, but I'm just, you
29:36
Speaker 1: know whatever, I'm just here to be here. They were
29:41
Speaker 1: Paul Brown used to call it in the spirit of it,
29:43
Speaker 1: and they were definitely in the spirit of it. You know,
29:45
Speaker 1: you've got to be in the spirit of going out
29:47
Speaker 1: and working and getting better and be with your teammates
29:51
Speaker 1: and all the things that are are what you try
29:53
Speaker 1: to get done in these offseason programs, and they were.
29:57
Speaker 1: I was. I was impressed with the level of enthusiasm,
30:03
Speaker 1: the level of activity. Um, you know, I do think
30:07
Speaker 1: that it wasn't burdensome with with the with the OTAs.
30:14
Speaker 1: They couldn't even do any eleven on eleven team. You
30:17
Speaker 1: know that the seven on seven was done one time
30:21
Speaker 1: and the very last OTA they had a seven on
30:23
Speaker 1: seven where you know, defensive backs went against receivers, and
30:28
Speaker 1: linebackers went against tight ends and uh and backside of
30:31
Speaker 1: the back film all that sort of thing um. The
30:34
Speaker 1: only time that they were allowed to go eleven on
30:37
Speaker 1: eleven offense against defense was in the one day of
30:41
Speaker 1: the mini camp that they had, the mandatory mini camp,
30:44
Speaker 1: you know, and that's because the players at that point
30:47
Speaker 1: in time, they're on the coaches time. Now, the coaches
30:50
Speaker 1: league directives. The league still you know, had some requirements,
30:54
Speaker 1: don't overdo it when you do the team and all
30:56
Speaker 1: that sort of thing um. And teams have been fine,
30:59
Speaker 1: and they've been fine draft picks for being too physical
31:03
Speaker 1: during mini camps, mandatory mini camps and so forth. Now,
31:06
Speaker 1: so the league is is player safety is a you know,
31:09
Speaker 1: a big factor and a big issue. But I do
31:11
Speaker 1: think that what they were asked to do, they were
31:14
Speaker 1: doing it at an all out level. I mean, there
31:16
Speaker 1: was there was no you know, coasting, no you know, uh,
31:21
Speaker 1: I'm gonna I'm gonna go half speed. So I'm letting
31:24
Speaker 1: you know I'm going half speed. You go half speed
31:26
Speaker 1: against me? None of that, you know, playing Uh, let's
31:29
Speaker 1: let's just dance through this workout. It was pretty good work.
31:32
Speaker 1: And that's what impressed me is the is the level
31:35
Speaker 1: of level of interest, the level of activity, um, the
31:39
Speaker 1: level of commitment. All of that was was a big,
31:43
Speaker 1: big deal considering that everybody was out there, and I
31:46
Speaker 1: think they I think they made some advancement. Stand you know,
31:49
Speaker 1: it's it's seeing it on the board is one thing,
31:52
Speaker 1: But being out in the field, breaking the huddle and
31:54
Speaker 1: lining up and making adjustments with teammates on the field
31:58
Speaker 1: as things unfold in front of you, there's no substitute
32:01
Speaker 1: for it. And I think they got quite a few
32:04
Speaker 1: workouts in that way. The biggest thing that stood out
32:07
Speaker 1: to me was how much Joe Burrow did. They talked
32:09
Speaker 1: about how cautious they were going to be, and they
32:11
Speaker 1: were to a certain extent. But if you had asked
32:15
Speaker 1: me prior to the OTAs what I expected to see
32:19
Speaker 1: out of Joe Burrow, I thought he would be there.
32:21
Speaker 1: I thought he would throw some passes to the wide receivers,
32:25
Speaker 1: and then I think I probably expected to see him
32:27
Speaker 1: more on the rehab field. But he basically took part
32:30
Speaker 1: in just about everything. They kept him out of the
32:32
Speaker 1: eleven on eleven stuff in that final mandatory or only
32:36
Speaker 1: mandatory minicamp practice when there are defensive lineman and offensive
32:41
Speaker 1: lineman engaged just in case somebody trips or something like that.
32:45
Speaker 1: But other than that, I mean, he was rolling out
32:47
Speaker 1: left and right, running forward and you know, to lead
32:51
Speaker 1: the drills as we talked about in our last podcast,
32:53
Speaker 1: maybe not sprinting one hundred percent, but moving well and
32:57
Speaker 1: giving us all a lot of Optimis him in confidence
33:00
Speaker 1: that he'll be able to answer the bell for the
33:02
Speaker 1: season opener. Yeah, And I think I think basically he
33:07
Speaker 1: put his individual rehab on hold as such. You know,
33:11
Speaker 1: he said, okay, because I think a lot of teammates
33:14
Speaker 1: expected what you're talking to describing Dan. I think they
33:17
Speaker 1: expected him to be out there and doing some things
33:20
Speaker 1: and showing support, but still doing rehab things with guys
33:24
Speaker 1: that were on the rehab field, you know, like the
33:28
Speaker 1: offensive and defensive lineman, DJ reader, Ronelle Wren, you know,
33:31
Speaker 1: and Trey Hopkins and the guys that were rehabbing. I
33:34
Speaker 1: think they expected a mix like that. But his whole
33:37
Speaker 1: thing was no, I tried to work with Jesse Bates
33:42
Speaker 1: and others trying to get everybody here. So since I
33:45
Speaker 1: did that, I'm doing everything I'm doing as much as
33:47
Speaker 1: I can, like you guys are. And I think that's
33:49
Speaker 1: a big statement by him. And basically, you know, he said,
33:54
Speaker 1: you know, I'm still eighty five percent. I told you
33:56
Speaker 1: I was eighty five percent at the beginning of this process,
33:58
Speaker 1: and this month rehabs on hold, I'm still eighty five percent.
34:01
Speaker 1: Now they'll go back to work with Nick Cosgrey and
34:04
Speaker 1: and and you know, get right back to the the
34:08
Speaker 1: finer points of rehab and finish off and come as
34:12
Speaker 1: close as he can to one hundred percent as quickly
34:14
Speaker 1: as he can for training camp. So I think that
34:18
Speaker 1: that was intentional obviously, and him him just being a
34:24
Speaker 1: you know, a leader and proving that he wants to
34:27
Speaker 1: step up to his leadership game in every play shape
34:30
Speaker 1: or form that he can. I think from watching those practices,
34:34
Speaker 1: I have also identified what I now consider to be
34:37
Speaker 1: the Bengals biggest question mark and or potential weakness. And
34:41
Speaker 1: believe it or not, it's not the offensive line. Here's
34:43
Speaker 1: what I think is the biggest question mark. Do the
34:46
Speaker 1: Bengals have a game changing player on defense? Because I
34:51
Speaker 1: think the defense is much better, but I'm not sure
34:54
Speaker 1: I see a guy there that's going to get that
34:56
Speaker 1: sack or force a fumble or come up with interception
35:00
Speaker 1: when the game's on the line in the fourth quarter. Yeah,
35:03
Speaker 1: I think you know, you're looking for somebody to uh,
35:07
Speaker 1: you know, to be a playmaker when when you have
35:11
Speaker 1: to have somebody step up and create a game changing opportunity.
35:17
Speaker 1: Who is that guy going to be? I agree with you.
35:19
Speaker 1: I think they do have, um, you know, very very
35:23
Speaker 1: talented guys as a group. I think they got effort guys.
35:27
Speaker 1: I would never question the effort that I've seen, you know,
35:31
Speaker 1: at this point in time, obviously from Sam Hubbard Hendrickson,
35:34
Speaker 1: the Age Brothers and and others. I wouldn't question their
35:38
Speaker 1: effort whatsoever. Um. I hope I hope the guy that
35:42
Speaker 1: uh that that continues along the path he's continuing on,
35:47
Speaker 1: and I think his teammates are starting to think that
35:51
Speaker 1: he might be This guy would be would be Jesse,
35:53
Speaker 1: you know, being the ball hawk Jesse Bates, the ball
35:55
Speaker 1: hockey safety type guy that that quarterbacks are really going
35:59
Speaker 1: to have to look out for. They're gonna have to,
36:01
Speaker 1: you know, keep one eyeball on at all times. But yeah,
36:05
Speaker 1: who is who is the guy when when you break
36:07
Speaker 1: the huddle, come to the line of scrimmage as an
36:10
Speaker 1: offensive line, where is he? Okay, where you know what?
36:15
Speaker 1: Where Where's where's lt? You always had to identify where's this?
36:19
Speaker 1: Where's the guy that we have to take an extra
36:23
Speaker 1: precaution and put an extra body on and make sure
36:26
Speaker 1: we take care of him. You know, when you break
36:28
Speaker 1: the line of scrimmage, come up to break the huddle,
36:30
Speaker 1: come up to the line of scrimmage. Where is the guy?
36:33
Speaker 1: For the Bengals, I agree with you, who is the
36:35
Speaker 1: guy who's going to step up and be that guy?
36:37
Speaker 1: And really, from a lineman standpoint, I mean the safety
36:42
Speaker 1: and all that, that's that's the quarterback and receiver's issue,
36:44
Speaker 1: you know, unless he's a guy that mixes it up
36:46
Speaker 1: and and as a heavy and blitz packages or whatever,
36:50
Speaker 1: um you know, and that's why, you know, part of
36:54
Speaker 1: me says, well, you know, maybe maybe it's somebody like
36:58
Speaker 1: like Mike Hilton who who can do so many different things.
37:02
Speaker 1: Maybe is he the guy that you're gonna have to
37:05
Speaker 1: come up to the line of scrimmage as a team
37:07
Speaker 1: and say, identify where as Hilton? Because this guy blitz
37:10
Speaker 1: is from everywhere and he's capable of, you know, staying
37:13
Speaker 1: in coverage. He might be somebody that that's going to
37:16
Speaker 1: come free if we don't assign an extra body to him,
37:20
Speaker 1: or if we don't have an extra body quarterback change
37:22
Speaker 1: formation because he's on the edge of the defense and formation,
37:25
Speaker 1: he's gonna you know, high percentage of blitz. Now you
37:28
Speaker 1: have to start to account form. And if you've got
37:29
Speaker 1: a guy like that, a chess piece like that, did
37:32
Speaker 1: you make the offense have to adjust to you know,
37:35
Speaker 1: you're punching and their counterpunching. That's what you're trying to
37:37
Speaker 1: get done for sure. Or maybe this is a defense
37:40
Speaker 1: that doesn't have a guy, but it's counting on a
37:44
Speaker 1: different guy in every game. So it's Hilton one game,
37:47
Speaker 1: it's Hendrickson and another it's Jesse Bates in another. As
37:50
Speaker 1: opposed to having that Miles Garrett T. J. Watt kind
37:54
Speaker 1: of guy that when the game is on the line,
37:57
Speaker 1: that's the guy that that typically makes the play. Yeah,
38:00
Speaker 1: and the defense that comes to mind a little bit
38:03
Speaker 1: when you're talking describing what you just talked about, Dan,
38:06
Speaker 1: the Miami Dolphins defense of the perfect season. You know,
38:10
Speaker 1: there wasn't like, oh, here's this perennial problem. They had
38:13
Speaker 1: a bunch of guys. You know that Wanta Contie was
38:15
Speaker 1: a really good linebacker, Standfill was really good defensive line.
38:18
Speaker 1: But they weren't like, oh my gosh, you know, some
38:21
Speaker 1: of the best players ever. But they had a you know,
38:23
Speaker 1: Dick Anderson on the back end, and they they had
38:27
Speaker 1: players that very very smart, always where they were supposed
38:31
Speaker 1: to be when they were supposed to be there, understood
38:33
Speaker 1: the whole defensive structure and h concepts, you know, as
38:40
Speaker 1: well as anybody could. And maybe maybe it's going to
38:43
Speaker 1: be that type of defense that you know is boy,
38:46
Speaker 1: nobody's ever not where they're supposed to be. These guys
38:49
Speaker 1: are always they're lined up right. Nobody's lining up if
38:53
Speaker 1: you if you line up wrong, you're you're beating before
38:56
Speaker 1: the snap of the football. That's the first thing you
38:58
Speaker 1: have to do to make sure a big gets lined
38:59
Speaker 1: up right. And those guys were always lined up right.
39:03
Speaker 1: And then if you change the strength and formation, do whatever.
39:06
Speaker 1: They always made the right adjustments and they were always
39:09
Speaker 1: hit the right gap. You know, they were where they
39:11
Speaker 1: were supposed to be when they were supposed to be there.
39:13
Speaker 1: And if you can get that done with everybody on
39:16
Speaker 1: the defensive side, of the football. You're way ahead of
39:18
Speaker 1: the game. I'm tempted to call the OTAs and the
39:22
Speaker 1: abbreviated mini camp camp kumbayah because there seems to be
39:26
Speaker 1: such a spirit of harmony and unity. Do you feel
39:29
Speaker 1: the same way? And is that Zach Taylor? Is that
39:31
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow? What accounts for that? Yeah? I think I
39:35
Speaker 1: think it's hum There's a big proliferation, There's no question
39:40
Speaker 1: about it. And the thing too is you look at
39:43
Speaker 1: there's quite a few new coaches on the staff, you know,
39:45
Speaker 1: and and they were all part of that, I think
39:47
Speaker 1: as well. So I think I think Zach is really, um,
39:51
Speaker 1: really doing everything he possibly can to to bond his
39:56
Speaker 1: coaching staff. I think they're doing thing outside of the
40:01
Speaker 1: office as such, you know, and and really trying to
40:04
Speaker 1: grow together and become a very tight knit group as
40:09
Speaker 1: far as the coaching staff goes. And then that that
40:11
Speaker 1: trickles down to the to the players, and um, you've
40:14
Speaker 1: already mentioned guys from a players standpoint, Um, you know,
40:18
Speaker 1: Joe Barrow offensively, Jesse Bates defensively, the quarterback and the
40:22
Speaker 1: quarterback of the defense as such, I think that those
40:26
Speaker 1: are two guys in pivotal places that that are important,
40:31
Speaker 1: and I think that they're up to the task of
40:35
Speaker 1: creating a you know, we are family type atmosphere that
40:39
Speaker 1: the Pittsburgh Pirates, you know, talked about that. Honestly, it's
40:44
Speaker 1: it's it's it's a situation where I said this a
40:48
Speaker 1: few times. The teams in the eighties that went to
40:52
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl best players were amongst the best people.
40:57
Speaker 1: And when you have that, that's energistic effect. You got
41:00
Speaker 1: something special. When your best players are jerks, you got trouble.
41:05
Speaker 1: When your best players are special people, you got big
41:11
Speaker 1: success possibilities. And I think I think that's what that's
41:15
Speaker 1: what this team is starting to evolve to. You know,
41:17
Speaker 1: I think they're better. Players, are all top shelf, high
41:21
Speaker 1: quality people for sure. This is the first time in
41:24
Speaker 1: Zach's three years that none of the kind of vocal
41:27
Speaker 1: veterans from the Marvin Lewis era remain. Carlos Dunlap and
41:31
Speaker 1: Sean Williams are gone. AJ Green and Geno Atkins weren't vocal,
41:36
Speaker 1: but they obviously had a huge presence because of who
41:38
Speaker 1: they were. I don't think that Zach had an issue
41:41
Speaker 1: with anybody but Carlos, but did guys like that have
41:44
Speaker 1: to go for the younger guys that you were referring
41:47
Speaker 1: to to step up and lead? Yeah, I think I
41:50
Speaker 1: think that, Uh, you know, Sean Williams, I think coaches, teammates,
41:56
Speaker 1: He was the kind of guy that was all in
41:58
Speaker 1: all the time. I mean, everybody appreciate and love what
42:01
Speaker 1: what Sean Williams brought to the table. Like you said,
42:05
Speaker 1: Gino and AJ, they were leaders by example, not by
42:09
Speaker 1: you know, word, There were leaders by action, not by
42:12
Speaker 1: spoken word. Um. And then you know, Carlos obviously had
42:16
Speaker 1: had his issues down the stretch there that turned into
42:20
Speaker 1: you know, something that just couldn't be couldn't be resolved,
42:22
Speaker 1: couldn't be handled on either either sides, to either side satisfaction.
42:27
Speaker 1: But I do think that that there were guys ready
42:31
Speaker 1: to take over, you know, some of those h some
42:33
Speaker 1: of those roles. And it's going to be interesting to
42:36
Speaker 1: see how some of these young players what they turn
42:39
Speaker 1: out to be. Are they going to be guys that
42:43
Speaker 1: play really well and don't have a whole lot to
42:45
Speaker 1: say but let their play speak for themselves, or are
42:48
Speaker 1: they going to be guys that are you know, more
42:50
Speaker 1: more vocal or somewhere in between. And it's interesting some guys,
42:58
Speaker 1: you know, you talk to teammates they played with in
43:00
Speaker 1: college and it's like, you're kidding me. In college, man,
43:04
Speaker 1: he was rah rah, he was vocally was this, he
43:06
Speaker 1: was that. Sometimes you get to the next level and
43:08
Speaker 1: it's like, man, you're so like overwhelmed by how good
43:12
Speaker 1: everybody is that you just I'm not going to speak
43:15
Speaker 1: unless spoken to. I'm just going to try to do
43:17
Speaker 1: the best job I can and survive in advance in
43:20
Speaker 1: terms on a day to day basis, and try to
43:22
Speaker 1: play as well as I can. And then other times,
43:25
Speaker 1: you know, guys develop at different rates, you know, and
43:28
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, a guy that was, you know,
43:29
Speaker 1: a good player in college gets an opportunity to grow
43:32
Speaker 1: and physically mature and all that becomes an even better
43:35
Speaker 1: player at the NFL level. And he maybe was quiet,
43:39
Speaker 1: a quiet guy in college, it becomes a vocal guy,
43:42
Speaker 1: you know, as the mature as age wise and physical
43:45
Speaker 1: presence wise and everything else. So it's going to be
43:47
Speaker 1: interesting to see how some of these guys mature over
43:50
Speaker 1: the next you know, five seven, eight years of their career,
43:54
Speaker 1: like the AJ Greens and the Geno Atkins has did. So.
43:58
Speaker 1: The summer vacation begins for the players as of today,
44:03
Speaker 1: and it's a relatively easy time for the two of
44:06
Speaker 1: us until training camp begins. Yes, what you got going on?
44:09
Speaker 1: Do you have a little grand time, a grandkid time planned?
44:12
Speaker 1: What's up for Dave Apple? Yeah, we do, got a
44:16
Speaker 1: lot of a lot of kids, a lot of time
44:18
Speaker 1: spent with the grand kiddies. For sure. We're gonna head
44:22
Speaker 1: down to Hilton Head. We've got twenty one people family,
44:27
Speaker 1: both sides of the family here in Cincinnati and Saint Louis,
44:31
Speaker 1: my wife Lynn's family as well as some of mine
44:34
Speaker 1: going down to going down to Hilton Head. And we've
44:36
Speaker 1: got nine children from age one to age nine, maybe
44:42
Speaker 1: just turning ten. I think it might be. Yeah, Shamus's
44:45
Speaker 1: birthday is while we're down there, he turns ten. So yeah,
44:49
Speaker 1: it's gonna be almost like Camp Waconda down there with
44:54
Speaker 1: all little ones. You know. I got a big old pool,
44:56
Speaker 1: got a big house obviously with a dumb bunch of
44:59
Speaker 1: bedroom and twenty one people total. Pull beach right, it's
45:05
Speaker 1: run on the beach. So we're looking forward to it.
45:07
Speaker 1: It's gonna be a lot of fun. Appreciate your time.
45:10
Speaker 1: Talk to you soon. You're the best that's going to
45:13
Speaker 1: do it. For this episode of the Bengals Booth Podcast,
45:15
Speaker 1: brought to you by bud Light Seltzer, refresh the game.
45:19
Speaker 1: If you haven't done so already, please subscribe, and if
45:21
Speaker 1: you have a minute, give it a rating or share
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Speaker 1: a comment that helps more Bengals fans find this podcast.
45:28
Speaker 1: I'm Dan Horde, and thanks for listening to the Bengals
45:31
Speaker 1: Booth Podcast.