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Bengals Booth Podcast: Ready To Start · Bengals Booth Podcast

0:03
Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
0:06
Speaker 1: the Bengals Booth Podcast the now I'm ready to start. Addition,
0:13
Speaker 1: as Joe Burrow returns to the starting lineup this Sunday
0:16
Speaker 1: and the Bengals final preseason game coming up, you'll hear
0:20
Speaker 1: Burrow explain why it's so important for him to get
0:23
Speaker 1: a few snaps before the regular season opener. Then Tyler
0:27
Speaker 1: Boyd and t Higgins explain why we shouldn't panic about
0:31
Speaker 1: Jamar Chase's drops. In my fun Facts conversation. This week,
0:35
Speaker 1: you'll get to know one of the most pleasant surprises
0:37
Speaker 1: of training camp, defensive back Jayalen Davis. And finally, I'll
0:41
Speaker 1: discuss Joe Burrow, Jamar Chase, the offensive line, and much
0:44
Speaker 1: more with NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger. The Bengals Booth
0:49
Speaker 1: Podcast is presented by bug Light Seltzer Refreshed the Game
0:52
Speaker 1: and here's a quick reminder that you can have the
0:54
Speaker 1: latest edition of this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet,
0:58
Speaker 1: or computer by subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify,
1:03
Speaker 1: or pod Bean. It's the greatest thing since the Bengals
1:07
Speaker 1: New Ruler of the Jungle ceremony This Sunday, fifteen minutes
1:12
Speaker 1: before kickoff against the Dolphins, the Bengals will debut a
1:15
Speaker 1: new pregame ritual from a jungle themed throne at Paul
1:18
Speaker 1: Brown's Stadium, as a so called Ruler of the Jungle
1:22
Speaker 1: will lead the crowd in the Hoo Day chant to
1:24
Speaker 1: get everybody fired up for game time. The first Ruler
1:28
Speaker 1: of the Jungle will be super fan James J. B. Brown,
1:32
Speaker 1: who has led the players out of the tunnel and
1:34
Speaker 1: onto the field at home games for many years. In
1:37
Speaker 1: games to come, the Ruler of the Jungle could be
1:40
Speaker 1: a former Bengal, a celebrity, a prominent Cincinnati athlete from
1:44
Speaker 1: another sport. There are all sorts of possibilities. It's all
1:47
Speaker 1: part of the Bengals concerted effort to make game day
1:50
Speaker 1: memorable at Paul Brown Stadium. Now, let's get to Joe Burrow.
1:55
Speaker 1: On Wednesday, head coach Zach Taylor announced that Joe Burrow
1:58
Speaker 1: will start in Sunday's final preseason game against Miami. He
2:03
Speaker 1: won't be in there for very long, and you can
2:05
Speaker 1: bet there will be no deep passes where Joe stands
2:08
Speaker 1: in the pocket and could take a shot to the
2:10
Speaker 1: left knee. I've been joking that the Bengal should introduce
2:14
Speaker 1: a new shotgun formation where the quarterback stands twenty seven
2:18
Speaker 1: yards behind the center, just to be safe. At least
2:21
Speaker 1: I think that's a joke. In any case, here's Burrow
2:24
Speaker 1: on the decision to let him play in a preseason game.
2:29
Speaker 1: This is the plan the whole time. We just didn't
2:31
Speaker 1: want to tell you, guys. So I'm excited to get
2:34
Speaker 1: out there and have a game game type feel. I
2:37
Speaker 1: think it's important to going into this last preseason game
2:41
Speaker 1: to be as close as you can to having a
2:43
Speaker 1: game like feel. I'm going to be in the huddle
2:47
Speaker 1: during Game one, so I need to be out there
2:49
Speaker 1: for the first play of this game. So I'm excited
2:51
Speaker 1: if you want to make Game three of the preseason
2:53
Speaker 1: feel like Game one of the regular season. And they
2:55
Speaker 1: need to hear how I'm going to call plays during
2:57
Speaker 1: a game. You know they hear it in practice, but
3:00
Speaker 1: they need to hear it in a game like situation. Okay,
3:04
Speaker 1: I'll admit that I have been saying for months that
3:06
Speaker 1: Joe shouldn't play in the preseason. I exaggerated and said
3:10
Speaker 1: I wouldn't even let him come to the stadium. But
3:12
Speaker 1: in case you missed it, on a previous edition of
3:15
Speaker 1: this podcast, former Bengals quarterback Boomer Assiasin made the case
3:19
Speaker 1: that Burrow should play. I would think like him. I'd
3:23
Speaker 1: want to play. I wanted to play in the preseason.
3:25
Speaker 1: I wanted to get hit. I wanted to feel the
3:28
Speaker 1: rush of the game, even though the game didn't mean anything.
3:30
Speaker 1: You're still out there with your teammates. You're calling your plays,
3:33
Speaker 1: even though they may be the most basic of place,
3:35
Speaker 1: but you still want to feel like you can go
3:39
Speaker 1: out there and do it. And I hope they let
3:41
Speaker 1: him play at some point. Boomer and Joe will get
3:45
Speaker 1: their wish. On Sunday, another player returning from a torn
3:49
Speaker 1: acl center Trey Hopkins, will also see his first preseason action.
3:54
Speaker 1: The other big story at Bengals camp has involved Jamar
3:57
Speaker 1: Chase overcoming the butter fingers that plagued him Washington last week,
4:01
Speaker 1: where he dropped all three passes thrown his way in
4:04
Speaker 1: his first practice. After that game, Chase continue to have
4:08
Speaker 1: a case of the drops, but since then he's put
4:10
Speaker 1: together three strong practices in a row. Jamara is hardly
4:14
Speaker 1: the first receiver to have this problem. Earlier this week,
4:18
Speaker 1: I asked Tyler Boyd and t Higgins if they could
4:21
Speaker 1: ever remember a time, whether it was in high school, college,
4:24
Speaker 1: or the NFL, where they simply could not catch the
4:28
Speaker 1: ball absolutely. You know, a few times in my legacy,
4:31
Speaker 1: you know, I felt felt that way. I look out
4:33
Speaker 1: my hands, like, yoh, what is wrong with me? Like
4:34
Speaker 1: what is what is it? You know, because it never
4:36
Speaker 1: happens usually, you know. So I'll just try to try
4:39
Speaker 1: to block everything out once once I know we call
4:41
Speaker 1: a play and I know I'm gonna get the ball,
4:43
Speaker 1: you know, I try to just stay relaxed and just
4:45
Speaker 1: just go back on on a little thing, go back
4:48
Speaker 1: on what I just need to do to figure out
4:50
Speaker 1: a way to get a catch, you know. And once
4:51
Speaker 1: I get that catch and I feel the ball stick
4:53
Speaker 1: to my hands, then that's when I started feeling like okay, yeah,
4:56
Speaker 1: I'm back and back in normal, you know. So it's
4:58
Speaker 1: it's mental, man. It just plays with you lot, you know,
5:00
Speaker 1: because they don't make you feel like you're not good enough,
5:03
Speaker 1: or it can take you deep into the into your thoughts.
5:05
Speaker 1: So I mean, I try to not let it bury myself.
5:08
Speaker 1: You know. I think I did a good good job,
5:09
Speaker 1: but just like I said, just continued to try to
5:12
Speaker 1: move on to the next play. I was in college.
5:13
Speaker 1: I'n'na say. It's my sophomore year. I was. I was
5:17
Speaker 1: fall camp. I was like three days in a row
5:20
Speaker 1: where I was going just dropping it, and I had
5:22
Speaker 1: to sit down and talk to myself. It's like, man,
5:24
Speaker 1: this is not you. You know, you're here to catch
5:27
Speaker 1: the ball and you'll be playing on a college level.
5:31
Speaker 1: And so I mean, I just told myself, man, just
5:33
Speaker 1: to go out there and just be you and just relax.
5:36
Speaker 1: See I was I was doing too much. I wasn't relaxing.
5:39
Speaker 1: And that's ever since then. I'd like to talk to
5:42
Speaker 1: myself when I you know, I start having drops. There
5:45
Speaker 1: are two reasons why I'm not worried about Jamar Chase.
5:49
Speaker 1: Number One, drops weren't an issue with LSU. In fact,
5:53
Speaker 1: vice grip hands were one of the big reasons why
5:55
Speaker 1: Chase was considered the best wide receiver in this year's draft.
5:59
Speaker 1: Number two two, I don't think I have ever seen
6:02
Speaker 1: a player catch more passes off of a jugsmachine after
6:05
Speaker 1: practice than Jamaar Chase. His work ethic is phenomenal and
6:09
Speaker 1: he will put this in the rear view mirror. The
6:12
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth podcast is presented by Bud Light Seltzer. It's
6:16
Speaker 1: light and refreshing with a hint of fruit flavor. Now
6:19
Speaker 1: time for this week's fantastic fun Facts segment, where you
6:22
Speaker 1: get to know the person under the pads. Time for
6:26
Speaker 1: some fun facts with defensive back Jalen Davis from La Mesa, California,
6:31
Speaker 1: not too far from San Diego. That's your home now,
6:34
Speaker 1: But you were born in Honolulu. How much time did
6:36
Speaker 1: you spend in Hawaii. I spent the long time now.
6:39
Speaker 1: I spent the good two weeks two weeks over there
6:44
Speaker 1: in Honoluluaii. Yeah, my dad was in a military in
6:47
Speaker 1: Dnahem when I was out there, and then we moved
6:49
Speaker 1: out right after I was born, so not too long.
6:52
Speaker 1: So we always assume that when your parent is in
6:55
Speaker 1: the military that you had a strict upbringing. Was that
6:59
Speaker 1: the case for you? No, that was that was not
7:01
Speaker 1: the case for me. I had amazing parents to just
7:03
Speaker 1: let me go out there and just do whatever I
7:05
Speaker 1: wanted to do and just be me. We're doing fun
7:07
Speaker 1: facts with Jayalen Davis. Tell me about the nickname Little
7:11
Speaker 1: train y'all. You know that you can find anything on
7:19
Speaker 1: the internet. Yeah, that was my nickname in pop Warner.
7:24
Speaker 1: You know what I mean. First, like my first Taggle
7:26
Speaker 1: football year, I always wanted to run people over. Like
7:30
Speaker 1: whenever I got the ball in my hand, I was
7:31
Speaker 1: wanted to run you over. Ya. I wasn't trying to shake,
7:33
Speaker 1: I wan't trying to do nothing else, was trying to
7:35
Speaker 1: run you over. Said they was. Let you know what,
7:37
Speaker 1: even call you a little train because you just always
7:39
Speaker 1: want to run people over. And I was like always
7:41
Speaker 1: the smallest on the team, and I was always wanted
7:43
Speaker 1: to run people over. So when was the last time
7:45
Speaker 1: somebody called you little train? Well, everybody from that era
7:49
Speaker 1: of me growing up right there still calling me a
7:52
Speaker 1: little train, but not too many people know that. Now.
7:56
Speaker 1: We're doing fun facts with Jayalen Davis. She attended he
7:59
Speaker 1: Looks High School, the ala mater of Reggie Bush, NFL
8:02
Speaker 1: quarterback Alex Smith, and Bill Walton, among others. Is there
8:06
Speaker 1: an explanation for why so many great athletes have come
8:10
Speaker 1: out of Helix High School? I don't know. It's just
8:12
Speaker 1: a it's just a good program over there. There's a
8:14
Speaker 1: good program. Who there's less football and then got good
8:17
Speaker 1: coaches who want you to just to be the best football.
8:19
Speaker 1: So Helix is a good, good program over there in
8:22
Speaker 1: San Diego. In your senior year, four puck return touchdowns,
8:27
Speaker 1: two kick return touchdowns. Do you miss returning kicks? He
8:31
Speaker 1: sometimes I do. I wish I can go back. Hey,
8:33
Speaker 1: I wish I can get that ball back in my
8:35
Speaker 1: hands to go back there and do a little bit
8:37
Speaker 1: because I was that guy back there. How tell you that?
8:40
Speaker 1: But yeah, I do miss it. I do miss it
8:42
Speaker 1: here and there visiting with Jalen Davis from Helix High
8:46
Speaker 1: It was onto Utah State located in Logan, Utah. I'm
8:50
Speaker 1: guessing the very few listeners to this segment I've ever
8:53
Speaker 1: been to Logan, Utah, describe what that's like. It is
8:56
Speaker 1: a very small, very small town who loves Utah State.
9:02
Speaker 1: Good Little Logan is a very small town that loves
9:05
Speaker 1: just the history around the college and just it's a
9:08
Speaker 1: beautiful place. If you've never been, I advised you to
9:10
Speaker 1: go over there and see Logan, Utah mountains are unbelievable.
9:14
Speaker 1: Would you recommend Aggie ice cream? Yes, I would recommend
9:18
Speaker 1: Aggie ice Creams a good ice cream. You go to logan.
9:20
Speaker 1: Make sure you go to Aggie ice Cream. We're doing
9:24
Speaker 1: fun facts with Jayalen Davis. You became the first true
9:28
Speaker 1: freshman to start a season opener at cornerback in school history.
9:32
Speaker 1: Your first game is at Tennessee, one hundred thousand people
9:35
Speaker 1: in attendance. Was it overwhelming at all? No, it wasn't.
9:39
Speaker 1: You know. I feel like that was just like my
9:41
Speaker 1: moment I just realizing like I made for football, Like
9:45
Speaker 1: this is what this is what I can do, Because
9:47
Speaker 1: normally you think you'd be nervous, Like it was so loud.
9:50
Speaker 1: It was a loud of stateium I've ever been in
9:52
Speaker 1: my life, and I was just so ready once I
9:54
Speaker 1: heard all the fans screaming, fans booing, I would have
9:56
Speaker 1: so ready to go out there and showcase my ability.
9:58
Speaker 1: So it was amazing experience. You had a tremendous college
10:02
Speaker 1: career forty nine starts, eleven interceptions, forty eight pass deflections.
10:07
Speaker 1: That's a school record. Despite all of that, you did
10:10
Speaker 1: not get drafted apparently because of your height. How disappointing
10:15
Speaker 1: was that? It was very disappointing, But you know that
10:17
Speaker 1: just adds fuel to the fire, you know what I mean?
10:20
Speaker 1: It just gives me more and more to motivate myself
10:22
Speaker 1: and just go out there and just show everybody what
10:24
Speaker 1: they missed, not own. You wound up signing with the
10:28
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins. Initially your first game with the Dolphins December
10:32
Speaker 1: of twenty eighteen. Final score Miami thirty four, New England
10:36
Speaker 1: thirty three. That's the game that ended with the Miami miracle,
10:41
Speaker 1: a seventy yard touchdown pass with a couple of laterals
10:44
Speaker 1: on the final play of the game. What was it
10:47
Speaker 1: like to be on the field or on the sideline,
10:49
Speaker 1: I suppose for that man that was that was amazing.
10:52
Speaker 1: That was an amazing experience that you would never you
10:55
Speaker 1: would never really see that ever happened in the NFL
10:58
Speaker 1: game and is happening to happen my first time ever
11:00
Speaker 1: playing on an NFL team, NFL sport. It was just
11:04
Speaker 1: an electricity and the just the shock of everything going on,
11:08
Speaker 1: everybody going wild, everybody's screaming, jumping around. It was an
11:11
Speaker 1: amazing time. And we learned that Gronk is not a
11:14
Speaker 1: great tackler because the Patriots had him as the last
11:17
Speaker 1: line of defense and that didn't work out so well.
11:19
Speaker 1: It did not work out so good. If you get Ken,
11:21
Speaker 1: Drake and Gronk, I'm gonna take Ken and Drake every
11:23
Speaker 1: single time. A few more fun facts with a Jayalen Davis.
11:28
Speaker 1: She joined the Bengals last year, initially on the practice squad.
11:31
Speaker 1: He got elevated to the game day roster at Pittsburgh
11:35
Speaker 1: under difficult circumstances. Four cornerbacks were out, four coaches were
11:39
Speaker 1: out due to COVID nineteen. Mackenzie Alexander suffered a concussion
11:43
Speaker 1: early in the game. You wanted up basically playing the
11:46
Speaker 1: entire way. Was that one of the craziest experiences you've
11:50
Speaker 1: had in sports? It was definitely crazy. But you know,
11:53
Speaker 1: I'm here to play football and I can't play football,
11:55
Speaker 1: so whenever my name is called, I'm gonna be ready
11:58
Speaker 1: every single time. That just makes me want to keep
12:00
Speaker 1: on preparing more because you never know when your opportunity
12:02
Speaker 1: is going to come, and when it comes, you better
12:03
Speaker 1: meet the best of it. You've had an excellent training camp,
12:06
Speaker 1: and in the preseason opener against Tampa Bay, you deflected
12:10
Speaker 1: two passes that teammates intercepted. Do you feel like you're
12:14
Speaker 1: kind of opening some eyes with your play? Hey, that's
12:17
Speaker 1: what I'm trying to do here. That's what I'm trying
12:18
Speaker 1: to do right now. It's just open the eyes of
12:20
Speaker 1: everybody watching and just get everybody to trust me and
12:23
Speaker 1: trust that I can do my job and perform to
12:25
Speaker 1: my abilities. And that's what I'm gonna do. It's coming
12:27
Speaker 1: out every day, that's giving my best, doing my job
12:29
Speaker 1: and go from there. All right, a few wildcard categories
12:34
Speaker 1: to wrap things up. Do you have a hidden talent?
12:37
Speaker 1: I am very good at games, very good at video game.
12:42
Speaker 1: That's my hidden talent. And what's your game of choice?
12:45
Speaker 1: Two K in May two K Madden? Anybody ever want
12:47
Speaker 1: to play me? Let me know I will beat you.
12:50
Speaker 1: My fifteen year old son might want a piece of
12:52
Speaker 1: that challenge. Is is there anything that you're absolutely terrible at?
12:58
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, I cannot say I'm absolutely anything Like I'm
13:02
Speaker 1: very good at everything. Nothing wrong with that. If he
13:04
Speaker 1: can back it up. Last thing, If you could meet
13:07
Speaker 1: anybody in history, athlete, statesman, politician, actor, whatever it might be,
13:13
Speaker 1: who would it be? Ah? Michael Vick athlete? Growing up
13:23
Speaker 1: quarterback left the ill thought out that quarterback. So that
13:27
Speaker 1: was my favorite athlete. All right, you were off the
13:29
Speaker 1: hot seat. I appreciate your time continued success. Thank you.
13:33
Speaker 1: Jalen has had an outstanding camp and depth is always
13:37
Speaker 1: crucial at cornerback. Earlier this week, Trey Wayne's injured a
13:41
Speaker 1: hamstring at practice and at this point there's no word
13:44
Speaker 1: on if he'll be back in time for the regular
13:46
Speaker 1: season opener against Minnesota. Last week, due to NFL COVID protocols,
13:51
Speaker 1: we needed depth in the Bengals radio and TV booths.
13:55
Speaker 1: Dave Lapham had to miss the game, so I called
13:57
Speaker 1: it on radio with a voice of the Ohio State Buckeyes,
14:00
Speaker 1: Paul Keels on the TV side. Hall of Famer Anthony
14:03
Speaker 1: Munio's was sidelined, so the Bengals reached out to NFL
14:07
Speaker 1: network analyst Brian Baldinger, who did a terrific job working
14:10
Speaker 1: with Mike Watts. I spoke to Brian about the Bengals
14:14
Speaker 1: this week. All right, let's start with a position you
14:17
Speaker 1: played for eleven NFL seasons, offensive line. The Bengals brought
14:21
Speaker 1: back Frank Pollock, they signed Riley Reef, they drafted three
14:24
Speaker 1: offensive lineman. Do you think it's significantly improved or does
14:28
Speaker 1: that remain a big question mark in your mind? Well?
14:31
Speaker 1: I think it's a question mark. You're gonna see what
14:32
Speaker 1: you know. Trey Hopkins, you know, health is gonna be
14:34
Speaker 1: like if he's gonna be ready to go. He's a
14:36
Speaker 1: big part of this. But I I like the depths Dan.
14:42
Speaker 1: I like Riley Reef at right tackle. He's looked good
14:44
Speaker 1: to me so far, but he's been a quality starter.
14:48
Speaker 1: Joe has got to hold down that left tackle position.
14:51
Speaker 1: You up against Cleveland, you're gonna see Miles Garrett. I mean,
14:53
Speaker 1: both guys are gonna see Miles and you gotta you know,
14:56
Speaker 1: you gotta keep them off your quarterback. I mean it's
14:58
Speaker 1: a that's a hard assigned for anybody. But I believe,
15:01
Speaker 1: like Fred Johnson coming back and just looking at the
15:04
Speaker 1: depth that they have. I like what I solved Deontay
15:07
Speaker 1: Smith in the first preseason game. I got to see
15:10
Speaker 1: more now he missed the second one, but I believe,
15:13
Speaker 1: you know, he's got a chance with his long arms
15:15
Speaker 1: and his frame, you know, to be able to you know,
15:18
Speaker 1: fill in that. I don't know if he can start yet,
15:20
Speaker 1: but I know that, you know, he's a guy that
15:22
Speaker 1: can add depth to your offense life. I think for
15:24
Speaker 1: the first time they've got real depth and I think
15:27
Speaker 1: that's going to be important as they go through the season.
15:30
Speaker 1: Those guys that you mentioned have all been raving about
15:32
Speaker 1: Frank Pollock. How much does an old line coach matter? Well,
15:37
Speaker 1: I'll make a comparison. You look at what Cleveland was
15:40
Speaker 1: the two nineteen and you look at Cleveland with Bill
15:43
Speaker 1: Callahan in twenty twenty. I mean it was the best.
15:46
Speaker 1: It was the best hire that Kevin Sapansk he had.
15:49
Speaker 1: I think it's it's hugely important to be able to
15:52
Speaker 1: mold the group, to be able to work on the techniques,
15:56
Speaker 1: to teach the offense, to teach the scheme. But then
15:59
Speaker 1: more importantly, when things aren't going well on Sundays, do
16:04
Speaker 1: you have the ability to fix or adjust or tinker
16:09
Speaker 1: with your line to be able to take you Dan
16:11
Speaker 1: in trouble? For example, if you can't get to the
16:14
Speaker 1: middle linebacker for whatever reason the way that he's stacked like,
16:17
Speaker 1: you got to figure out the block and scheme to
16:19
Speaker 1: get to him if you're gonna run the ball. Those
16:21
Speaker 1: are just in game adjustments that you have to be
16:24
Speaker 1: able to make, and I think Frank's experience allows them
16:28
Speaker 1: to be able to do that. That is a really
16:30
Speaker 1: good point we're talking to Brian Baldinger from the NFL Network.
16:34
Speaker 1: On Wednesday, Zach Taylor announced that Joe Burrow he is
16:36
Speaker 1: going to play a few snaps in the final preseason
16:38
Speaker 1: game this week against Miami. Do you agree with that
16:41
Speaker 1: decision and what impresses you most about Joe Burrow? Well,
16:45
Speaker 1: I watched him war him up last week in Washington,
16:48
Speaker 1: Dan and he looked really good. He looked focused, He
16:50
Speaker 1: looked leaner than I thought he was. It's a big
16:53
Speaker 1: old metalic brace on that knee, you know, which is fine?
16:58
Speaker 1: Which is fine? I mean I wore a knee brace
16:59
Speaker 1: my entire career after I tore my ACL in college.
17:03
Speaker 1: Many guys Peyton Manning was part of his uniform. So
17:06
Speaker 1: I think that's the big thing, is to go out
17:08
Speaker 1: there and look, the brace is part of the uniform. Now.
17:11
Speaker 1: The knee is never gonna feel quite the same as
17:14
Speaker 1: it did pre injury, but you gotta get used to it.
17:17
Speaker 1: You gotta you gotta feel it. I know he wants
17:19
Speaker 1: to play, and I think it's the right decision. It is.
17:22
Speaker 1: It is fairly quick turn around, but you know, a
17:26
Speaker 1: lot of teams and a lot of players have you know,
17:30
Speaker 1: injured their ACL, had it reconstructed, and came back and
17:33
Speaker 1: played in the time frame that Joe has. But I
17:37
Speaker 1: do think if he's gonna be your Day one starter,
17:39
Speaker 1: you know, against Minnesota, then put him out there because
17:42
Speaker 1: you know two weeks are gonna make a difference. So
17:44
Speaker 1: put him out there. Let him get more comfortable with
17:47
Speaker 1: the equipment, let him get comfortable in a game situation,
17:51
Speaker 1: and let him start getting ready for Minnesota Week one.
17:54
Speaker 1: What stood out to you in the nine and a
17:56
Speaker 1: half games he played last year. Well, I saw him
18:00
Speaker 1: live against Philadelphia and he was unbelievable. I saw him
18:03
Speaker 1: throw for four hundred against Cleveland. He was unreal. I
18:06
Speaker 1: saw him Week one last year against the Chargers. They
18:08
Speaker 1: should have won the game. I don't know about to
18:10
Speaker 1: call at the end of the game. I mean he
18:12
Speaker 1: brought the team down the field and put him in
18:14
Speaker 1: a position to win it. I still believe, you know,
18:17
Speaker 1: Aja caught to whatever. But I just think it's overall poise.
18:21
Speaker 1: The same accuracy we saw at LSU. We saw last year.
18:25
Speaker 1: I think he completed seventy six percenters passes at LSU.
18:28
Speaker 1: It is you know, the Heisman Trophy run in national Championship,
18:32
Speaker 1: you know run that they had just as overall accuracy,
18:36
Speaker 1: uh and no, and just how quickly he can go
18:39
Speaker 1: to a progression and get the ball, you know, to
18:41
Speaker 1: the right guy. I mean, that's that's the skill that
18:45
Speaker 1: not many people have. We're talking to Brian Baldinger. He
18:48
Speaker 1: called the Bengals game last week on TV. It was
18:51
Speaker 1: obvious you did a ton of prep going into that game, Brian,
18:54
Speaker 1: did anything catch your eye or stand out that you
18:57
Speaker 1: didn't know about the Bengals going in? How good I
19:01
Speaker 1: think they could be defensively this year? Dan, You know,
19:04
Speaker 1: obviously you know William Jackson is no longer there, and
19:07
Speaker 1: you know Carl Lawson has gone. But when you look
19:09
Speaker 1: at Trey Hendrickson and you look at you know what
19:12
Speaker 1: they have on the defensive front right now, DJ Reader healthy?
19:17
Speaker 1: You know, I just feel like and there two linebackers
19:21
Speaker 1: and then the corners of Trey Waynes and Cheeto really
19:24
Speaker 1: play healthy, stay healthy, and really play to their abilities,
19:27
Speaker 1: which I think they will. We know the sameetul position
19:31
Speaker 1: is in good hands with Jesse Bates, who's very underrated player.
19:34
Speaker 1: Bomb Bell, Like, I just think defensively they have a
19:38
Speaker 1: chance to stay in every game with what they have
19:41
Speaker 1: right now, their ability to get to the quarterback, the
19:44
Speaker 1: ability to stuff to run. I think defensively, it opened
19:47
Speaker 1: my eyes. I don't know what's going on with a
19:50
Speaker 1: side because I thought he could be a big part
19:52
Speaker 1: of it. So I don't know. You might know more
19:54
Speaker 1: right now, Dan. You know, the reports weren't good, but
19:57
Speaker 1: I thought he could be a guy that could really
20:00
Speaker 1: help them this year. So in the Washington game, Jamar
20:04
Speaker 1: Chase was targeted three times and failed to catch any
20:07
Speaker 1: of those passes. How concerned should we be? I think
20:11
Speaker 1: they were all third downs to uh, Dan, I would
20:15
Speaker 1: be concerned. But I think a lot of these guys
20:19
Speaker 1: that did not play last year are struggling to a degree.
20:23
Speaker 1: You know, I'm today Sewell is struggling right now Detroit. Um.
20:26
Speaker 1: You know, I think I think just some of these
20:29
Speaker 1: guys that didn't play, I mean, I think it takes
20:31
Speaker 1: a while to get their eyes right, to get their
20:33
Speaker 1: hands right. Um, because that's what it looked like to me,
20:36
Speaker 1: looked like he was late with his hands on some
20:37
Speaker 1: of those throws that were made to him last week. Um.
20:41
Speaker 1: Sometimes that's the eyes just adjusting to games. B I'd
20:45
Speaker 1: be concerned now, but it's but the concern would go
20:50
Speaker 1: away if the drops go away. You know that. That's
20:53
Speaker 1: just where I'm at with it right now. I mean,
20:55
Speaker 1: you just gotta you gotta be able to put it
20:57
Speaker 1: all back together like it was twenty nineteen. And if
21:00
Speaker 1: you haven't played competitively, especially at that position, then I
21:06
Speaker 1: think you got to work your way through it. I
21:08
Speaker 1: remember before the draft you saying on NFL Network that
21:12
Speaker 1: you were in favor of taking Chase instead of panay Sewell,
21:16
Speaker 1: what was your reasoning? I thought pinay Swell had real
21:19
Speaker 1: palace issues. I know he's only twenty years old, but
21:23
Speaker 1: when I watched him against better competition, there wasn't a
21:26
Speaker 1: lot in the fact. Well, but when you watched him
21:28
Speaker 1: against Auburn and you watched him against Wisconsin, I thought
21:31
Speaker 1: there was some real balance issues. It showed up last
21:35
Speaker 1: week against Pittsburgh big time. It showed up the week
21:38
Speaker 1: before against Buffalo. Now, you know, look, he's twenty twenty one. Now,
21:43
Speaker 1: you know, maybe he'll get his feet underneath him. But
21:46
Speaker 1: I think there's I think there's some natural concerns that
21:50
Speaker 1: I have about the way his body is, the way
21:54
Speaker 1: that he takes on rushers and adjust. I think that
21:58
Speaker 1: there's some real issues right there with him, and I
22:00
Speaker 1: thought that would carry over into the NFL. And so
22:04
Speaker 1: when they made that decision to go with Jamar Chase,
22:07
Speaker 1: I didn't have any problem with it all to really
22:10
Speaker 1: work on the three receiver sets that you're going to
22:13
Speaker 1: see with what they have right now with Tyler Boyd,
22:16
Speaker 1: which he Hagen Soul. I thought that was the right
22:19
Speaker 1: choice from if the decision was Sewel or Chase, I
22:24
Speaker 1: was going with Chase all day. We're chatting with Brian
22:26
Speaker 1: Baldinger from the NFL Network. He can follow him on
22:29
Speaker 1: Twitter at Baldy NFL. I was fortunate to sit in
22:32
Speaker 1: on a pregame zoom call with you and Zach Taylor
22:34
Speaker 1: and some other people that were broadcasting the game last week,
22:37
Speaker 1: and you brought up the enthusiasm that you saw on
22:41
Speaker 1: the Bengal sideline in the first preseason game. And when
22:43
Speaker 1: you said that, Zach Taylor lit up like a Christmas
22:46
Speaker 1: tree and said he was really glad that you noticed it.
22:49
Speaker 1: You played the game for more than a decade. Is
22:52
Speaker 1: that a significant thing? Yeah, it is, you know, I
22:56
Speaker 1: was just watching. I just bring up an example I
22:59
Speaker 1: was watching in Denver yesterday and they got a young
23:01
Speaker 1: player at Ohio State, John the Cooper, and he had
23:04
Speaker 1: a sack fumble, and I just saw the sidelines, led
23:08
Speaker 1: by Von Miller, jumping up and down like it was Christmas,
23:12
Speaker 1: you know, like pulling for the players. And I see
23:14
Speaker 1: the same thing. You know, I see the same thing
23:17
Speaker 1: with Hubbard and you know with Trey Hendrickson, and you
23:20
Speaker 1: know some of the leaders of the team, where they're
23:23
Speaker 1: pulling for these guys, and it's it's I think it's palpable. Dan.
23:27
Speaker 1: I think you know something to look for this week
23:29
Speaker 1: again where the fetchers are pulling for the young guys.
23:34
Speaker 1: They're not got a baseball cap on and tuned out
23:37
Speaker 1: on the sidelines, they're into it. And I think it's
23:40
Speaker 1: really really important to be able to build that camaraderie
23:44
Speaker 1: and to really have that type of enthusiasm. It's contagious.
23:48
Speaker 1: You need it. Things don't always go right on Sundays.
23:52
Speaker 1: Sometimes you gotta turn your fortune around. I remember when
23:55
Speaker 1: I was a young player in Dallas, when I was
23:58
Speaker 1: a rookie and and two tall Jones was one of
24:00
Speaker 1: our leaders, and I remember, you know, at a point
24:03
Speaker 1: during my rookie season, we were down significantly in a
24:06
Speaker 1: game and I just remember two tall Jones going up
24:09
Speaker 1: down the sidelines saying, we're gonna win this game. We're
24:12
Speaker 1: gonna win it. We're gonna come back and win this game.
24:14
Speaker 1: And I was like, Okay, Judall said, we're gonna win it.
24:17
Speaker 1: Let's see if we did. We came back, we won
24:19
Speaker 1: the game, and you just have to have that belief.
24:23
Speaker 1: And I've seen it on the sidelines and I believe
24:27
Speaker 1: it's it's real, and it's one of the reasons why
24:29
Speaker 1: I'm optimistic about Cincinnati. You know, Zach Taylor's third year
24:34
Speaker 1: of turning this thing around. So the Bengals are in
24:37
Speaker 1: a division where the other three teams made the playoffs
24:40
Speaker 1: last year and all of them won at least eleven games.
24:42
Speaker 1: What do you think about the AFC North this year
24:44
Speaker 1: and what do you think constitute success for Cincinnati. I
24:49
Speaker 1: can't put it, you know, a number of wins on it.
24:53
Speaker 1: I think they'll definitely have more than they had a
24:55
Speaker 1: year ago. I think the top of the total will
24:57
Speaker 1: go up. But it's a very tough division. You know,
25:00
Speaker 1: if you watch PITSTOPGH against Detroit on Friday night, you know,
25:04
Speaker 1: Ben looked great. The young players, the rebuild offensive line
25:07
Speaker 1: looks better. Naji Harris is a good fit for what
25:10
Speaker 1: they're doing. You know, it's I think it's the best
25:13
Speaker 1: division of football. But you know, we saw them in
25:16
Speaker 1: a shootout against Cleveland last year. It was a fun
25:19
Speaker 1: game to watch. I just think the AFC North it's
25:23
Speaker 1: just gonna be as fun a division to watch as
25:27
Speaker 1: any division in all of football. You can say the
25:29
Speaker 1: NFC West, you can say all this stuff, but I mean,
25:32
Speaker 1: you know what you're getting with Lamar Jackson in Baltimore.
25:34
Speaker 1: You know what you're getting from them defensively. You know
25:36
Speaker 1: what Cleveland wants to do offensively right now. The way
25:39
Speaker 1: that they can run the football, the way that they
25:41
Speaker 1: run it, it's just gonna be really really competitive football.
25:45
Speaker 1: It's gonna be every one of those games. I think
25:48
Speaker 1: it's gonna be must watch TV right now. Bryan. I
25:52
Speaker 1: know Bengals fans really enjoyed your analysis last week. I
25:55
Speaker 1: appreciate your time today and I help our paths cross
25:58
Speaker 1: at some point this season. Thank you, you bet Dan,
26:01
Speaker 1: anytime that's going to do it. For this episode of
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