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Bengals Booth Podcast: Bye Bye Bye · Bengals Booth Podcast

0:03
Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody on Dan Horden. Thanks for downloading The
0:06
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth Podcast. The Baby Bye Bye Fine addition, as
0:12
Speaker 1: the Bengals clean out their lockers and discuss the past,
0:15
Speaker 1: present and future coming up, I'll focus on the offense
0:19
Speaker 1: on this edition of the pod and ask Joe Flacco
0:22
Speaker 1: if he wants to be back Dalton Reisner has already
0:26
Speaker 1: made that clear. He'll tell us why Cincinnati is different
0:29
Speaker 1: from his previous NFL stops. Plus a Marius Mims on
0:33
Speaker 1: his quest to be the best and Orlando Brown Junior
0:37
Speaker 1: on the next step for the Bengals offensive line. The
0:40
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you by pay Corps,
0:43
Speaker 1: proud to be the Bengals official HR software provider, by
0:47
Speaker 1: Alta Fiber future proof Fiber Internet designed to elevate your home, business,
0:51
Speaker 1: and community to a new level, and by Kettering Health
0:54
Speaker 1: the best care for the best fans. Kettering Health is
0:57
Speaker 1: the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. Now here's a
1:00
Speaker 1: quick reminder that you can have the latest edition of
1:03
Speaker 1: this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet, or computer
1:07
Speaker 1: by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's the greatest
1:11
Speaker 1: thing since Triple A. I'm not referring to the highest
1:16
Speaker 1: level of minor league baseball. Triple A in this case
1:19
Speaker 1: is the American Automobile Association. I've been a member for
1:23
Speaker 1: twenty seven years, specifically for its roadside assistance program, which
1:28
Speaker 1: came in incredibly handy yet again last weekend. When I
1:33
Speaker 1: traveled home from Memphis after the Liberty Bowl. We got
1:36
Speaker 1: back around twelve thirty in the morning, it was bitterly cold,
1:40
Speaker 1: and when I got to my car in the long
1:42
Speaker 1: term parking lot, the battery was dead as a door nail. Thankfully,
1:47
Speaker 1: Triple A came to the rescue pretty quickly, giving me
1:50
Speaker 1: a jumpstart and getting me on my way before I
1:54
Speaker 1: froze to death. I have a bunch of subscriptions that
1:57
Speaker 1: I probably should have canceled years ago, but I will
2:01
Speaker 1: never not have a Triple A membership. I haven't used
2:05
Speaker 1: it very often over those twenty seven years, but knowing
2:08
Speaker 1: that it's there if needed is worth every penny. Now,
2:13
Speaker 1: let's get to my guests up first. Joe Flacco, the
2:17
Speaker 1: first forty year old to ever suit up for the
2:20
Speaker 1: Cincinnati Bengals. Joe wound up playing in nine games, including
2:25
Speaker 1: the season finale, where he successfully executed a quarterback sneak
2:30
Speaker 1: on his only snap. In the six games he started
2:33
Speaker 1: for Cincinnati, the Bengals averaged more than twenty seven points
2:36
Speaker 1: a game, and Joe's passer rating with the Bengals was
2:39
Speaker 1: ninety one point zero. That's better than his career passer
2:44
Speaker 1: rating with any of the other five teams he's played for.
2:48
Speaker 1: Flacco turns forty one soon on January sixteenth. Does he
2:53
Speaker 1: want to keep playing and more specifically, does he want
2:56
Speaker 1: to keep playing here? Here's my conversation with Jersey Joe.
3:02
Speaker 1: All right, Joe, Almost immediately after you joined the team
3:05
Speaker 1: and started having success, people started asking me, do you
3:08
Speaker 1: think the Bengals want him back? I said, Jerre, they'll
3:10
Speaker 1: want him back. I don't know if he wants to
3:13
Speaker 1: come back. So where are you on that subject?
3:15
Speaker 2: I loved I mean, I loved being here. But I
3:18
Speaker 2: think just for me personally, it's like, let's see how
3:22
Speaker 2: the next few months shake out, and you know, see
3:25
Speaker 2: what opportunities look like and and everything like that, and
3:28
Speaker 2: just kind of sit down and weigh my options. I
3:30
Speaker 2: loved it here, so I'm definitely open. There's definitely a
3:32
Speaker 2: scenario where I could see myself coming back here. It's
3:36
Speaker 2: just kind of let's see how it plays out and
3:38
Speaker 2: go from there.
3:39
Speaker 1: The priority, I assume is if there's a team out
3:42
Speaker 1: there that would give you the opportunity to be the starter,
3:45
Speaker 1: that would be where you would want to sign.
3:47
Speaker 2: I think, I mean, obviously that could be one of them.
3:49
Speaker 2: I mean, I think there's all kinds of different things
3:51
Speaker 2: that could end up happening, and you know, things that
3:53
Speaker 2: I to things I'll end up having to talk to
3:55
Speaker 2: my family about in all of you know, and everything.
3:59
Speaker 3: Else we'll see.
4:00
Speaker 2: But yeah, that would I mean for me, that would be,
4:04
Speaker 2: you know, the ideal way this thing could go.
4:07
Speaker 1: But we'll say, you don't sound like somebody is thinking
4:09
Speaker 1: about retirement.
4:11
Speaker 2: No, I mean I think there's definitely, you know, there's
4:17
Speaker 2: a world where I.
4:20
Speaker 3: Think that.
4:20
Speaker 2: I think the last five six years of my career,
4:23
Speaker 2: I've been like really, uh, I don't want to say quick,
4:28
Speaker 2: but like, I've definitely looked at a lot of situations
4:30
Speaker 2: as like a good opportunity, and I think I'm at
4:33
Speaker 2: the point now where i'd probably have to weigh some
4:35
Speaker 2: of those things and really take a good hard look
4:41
Speaker 2: at if it actually if a certain situation is actually
4:44
Speaker 2: a good opportunity or not. I'm probably at the point
4:47
Speaker 2: where I'd hope that maybe if there was something that
4:51
Speaker 2: I didn't really really love, I'd be able to say no,
4:54
Speaker 2: Whereas the last the last five or six years, I
4:56
Speaker 2: probably would have looked at it as a good opportunity.
5:00
Speaker 2: So yeah, I'm not thinking about retirement, but I do
5:02
Speaker 2: think there's probably somewhere in my head that I hope
5:07
Speaker 2: I'm capable of maybe being a little bit more selective
5:10
Speaker 2: than I have been in the past.
5:12
Speaker 1: These guys love you. I've seen you in the cafeteria
5:15
Speaker 1: telling stories and guys are around the table just taking
5:18
Speaker 1: it all in. Has this been unusual in that respect.
5:21
Speaker 2: I don't know. I don't know if it has been.
5:23
Speaker 2: I mean, I don't really think about those things. I mean,
5:27
Speaker 2: that's kind of the feeling that I've gotten around here,
5:30
Speaker 2: just kind of.
5:31
Speaker 3: But I'm just being myself.
5:33
Speaker 2: I love being in the locker room, love being part
5:35
Speaker 2: of this, you know, of a group of guys like
5:37
Speaker 2: this in general. And I've had a lot of fun
5:39
Speaker 2: here the last couple of months. But I'm just trying
5:42
Speaker 2: to be myself. I'm trying to be a good teammate,
5:45
Speaker 2: trying to be you know, the best I can at
5:48
Speaker 2: what I do, and you know, however things shake out
5:52
Speaker 2: from there, they do. But I've had a lot of fun.
5:54
Speaker 1: Joe Burrows never had a guy in the room like
5:57
Speaker 1: you do. You think you've been helpful for him.
6:00
Speaker 2: Once again, I mean, those things, those thoughts don't really
6:04
Speaker 2: like kind of go through my mind. I think anytime
6:08
Speaker 2: you're in a room with guys and it is a
6:11
Speaker 2: collective Listen, the quarterback rooms unique because there's only one
6:14
Speaker 2: guy that plays, and everybody in there has aspirations to
6:18
Speaker 2: be the guy that's out there playing on Sunday. And
6:21
Speaker 2: I think that's a good thing ultimately, because you know,
6:24
Speaker 2: you should be able to get better from each other
6:26
Speaker 2: in that environment. I think the cool thing about our
6:30
Speaker 2: room this year is that everybody in that room has
6:33
Speaker 2: some kind of ego. But at the same time, we
6:36
Speaker 2: were able to kind of you know, you're able to
6:38
Speaker 2: put those things aside and have a lot of fun together.
6:41
Speaker 2: And you know, I don't know what we learned from
6:44
Speaker 2: each other, but I know that we had a lot
6:46
Speaker 2: of fun in there, and a lot of good conversations
6:49
Speaker 2: came through the game planning process and all of that,
6:52
Speaker 2: so it was very enjoyable.
6:54
Speaker 1: You were used as a one snap quarterback sneak get
6:57
Speaker 1: the first down guy in the season finale, I saw
7:00
Speaker 1: your teammates flexing their biceps when you came off the field.
7:04
Speaker 1: What was that experience?
7:05
Speaker 3: Like?
7:05
Speaker 2: It was fun? I mean, honestly, you know, if I
7:10
Speaker 2: was in Joe's position, I wouldn't have wanted to be
7:12
Speaker 2: out there doing a QB sneak either. So I was
7:14
Speaker 2: on the sideline kind of thinking about that, Yeah, I
7:16
Speaker 2: wouldn't really want to do that, and next thing you know,
7:18
Speaker 2: I'm the one getting thrown in there to do it.
7:22
Speaker 2: But hey, it's all good. Just like you said, the
7:27
Speaker 2: cool thing is just to see fans and players' reactions
7:30
Speaker 2: to it. And I think the cool thing about that
7:34
Speaker 2: is obviously, you know, as a human and just being
7:38
Speaker 2: somewhat selfish, it feels good when you know you feel
7:41
Speaker 2: like people are enjoying your presence in some way, so
7:46
Speaker 2: that that that obviously always feels good when you get
7:49
Speaker 2: some acknowledgment like that. But other than that, just another
7:53
Speaker 2: I mean, I guess my wife said, hey, you added
7:55
Speaker 2: to your your games played list from your one one
7:58
Speaker 2: QB sneak, So.
8:00
Speaker 1: I'm sure it doesn't compare to your Super Bowl run,
8:02
Speaker 1: But was the Thursday night win over Pittsburgh one of
8:05
Speaker 1: the more memorable moments in.
8:07
Speaker 2: A great career for sure. I mean, I've had. It's
8:10
Speaker 2: funny because I've had a few of those the last
8:12
Speaker 2: the last couple of years, a few wins where, yeah,
8:18
Speaker 2: they rank right up there with some of the biggest wins,
8:21
Speaker 2: and obviously they didn't mean it quite quite as much
8:24
Speaker 2: as those wins back then, but you know, for my
8:26
Speaker 2: career and the position it's in and what some of
8:29
Speaker 2: these wins have done for like the longevity of my career,
8:34
Speaker 2: they have meant a lot. So that was that was
8:38
Speaker 2: you know, I remember being up long after that game
8:41
Speaker 2: because I couldn't calm down and the excitement that came
8:43
Speaker 2: from it, and just the whirlwind of it all and
8:45
Speaker 2: the first home game that I was able to play
8:47
Speaker 2: here in front of these fans.
8:48
Speaker 3: It was pretty special.
8:50
Speaker 1: Joe signed a one year contract with Cleveland this year
8:53
Speaker 1: for four point two five million. Man It will be
8:56
Speaker 1: interesting to see what the Bengals are willing to spend
8:59
Speaker 1: on a quarterback, considering the need to improve on defense.
9:04
Speaker 1: Cincinnati paid Jake Browning roughly one million this year, and
9:08
Speaker 1: he becomes a restricted free agent this offseason. The most
9:12
Speaker 1: positive development on offense this year was the play of
9:15
Speaker 1: the O line. It wasn't good in the first few
9:18
Speaker 1: weeks of the season, but by the end of the year,
9:20
Speaker 1: Zach Taylor called this offensive line the best one he's
9:24
Speaker 1: had in his seven years as Bengals head coach. The
9:28
Speaker 1: player up front with the most obvious star potential is
9:31
Speaker 1: twenty three year old genetic freak Amarius Mims. He did
9:35
Speaker 1: not allow a sack in his final nine games, and
9:38
Speaker 1: over the last twelve weeks of the season, was one
9:41
Speaker 1: of the top twenty tackles in the NFL according to
9:44
Speaker 1: Pro Football Focus. I think one of the real success
9:48
Speaker 1: stories this year was your growth. How'd you feel about it?
9:52
Speaker 4: You know, ever since the Denver game I had, I
9:54
Speaker 4: knew I had a very visible bad game. I just
9:57
Speaker 4: tried to come out and you notice, played better each week,
10:00
Speaker 4: weekend and week out, and I feel like I took
10:02
Speaker 4: her a step, you know, on the field and in
10:04
Speaker 4: the classroom just mentally, just like just like basically counting
10:08
Speaker 4: myself to never have that kind of performance ever again,
10:10
Speaker 4: because I was like very bad on my part. I
10:12
Speaker 4: just felt like each week I grew a lot, and
10:14
Speaker 4: you know, I felt like I ended on a good note,
10:17
Speaker 4: just playing physical wise, and just you know, hone in
10:20
Speaker 4: on the small stuff and you know, next year, I
10:22
Speaker 4: hope it's a even bigger league than from year one,
10:25
Speaker 4: the year two to dout year three.
10:26
Speaker 1: There were questions about your durability coming out of Georgia.
10:29
Speaker 1: What did it mean to you to start all seventeen games.
10:32
Speaker 4: I mean, I got a lot of you know, hell
10:34
Speaker 4: for it. You would say, I guess, but then you
10:36
Speaker 4: look back into the draft. I mean, the guys that
10:39
Speaker 4: were before me, I'm pretty sure those guys were you know,
10:41
Speaker 4: pretty sure everybody got banged up too, So you know
10:42
Speaker 4: what I'm saying. So that's the case. I guess everybody
10:44
Speaker 4: banged up. I mean, it's the NFL. It happens, a
10:46
Speaker 4: lot of guys. You know, a lot of guys go down,
10:48
Speaker 4: and you know, I mean, it's just, you know, I know,
10:51
Speaker 4: that's at the best of a building's availability. And you know,
10:53
Speaker 4: I started all seventeen games this year. It got pumped
10:55
Speaker 4: up in three of them, but I end up going
10:56
Speaker 4: back out there because you know, I just know that,
10:58
Speaker 4: you know, my team counts on me, and I know
11:01
Speaker 4: you know, I know that I'm starting right to talk,
11:03
Speaker 4: so I just got to play like it.
11:04
Speaker 1: So four of the five starters are under contract. Dalton
11:08
Speaker 1: Reisner is the one exception. He has publicly expressed the
11:10
Speaker 1: desire to come back.
11:12
Speaker 3: Your thoughts, I.
11:12
Speaker 4: Will be publicly expressing my my I will be publicly
11:16
Speaker 4: expressing that I want him back today too. In about
11:18
Speaker 4: thirty minutes, I will be doing the same thing that
11:20
Speaker 4: he's doing. I want him back. I want to be
11:22
Speaker 4: my right guard for as long as I'm here, and
11:25
Speaker 4: I think he's the best right guard in the NFL.
11:27
Speaker 4: So I really, I really, like I said, I really
11:30
Speaker 4: hope you can get signed back. But in about thirty minutes,
11:32
Speaker 4: I'll be posted that I want Dalton Rosely back. So
11:34
Speaker 4: that will be happening today.
11:36
Speaker 1: Best starting right guard in the NFL. That's a strong statement.
11:39
Speaker 3: My opinion.
11:40
Speaker 4: I mean, I feel like, you know, weekend and week out,
11:42
Speaker 4: he showed that you know, he's a great player, and
11:45
Speaker 4: you know the communication part and how good we play together.
11:47
Speaker 4: I feel like he's one of the best, So you know,
11:49
Speaker 4: I'll stand on it.
11:50
Speaker 1: I think a lot of people have said this offensive
11:53
Speaker 1: line has shown a ton of growth. It's the best
11:55
Speaker 1: offensive line that Joe Burrow has had. How about league wide?
11:58
Speaker 1: Do you feel like you guys, if you stick together,
12:01
Speaker 1: can be thought of league wide?
12:03
Speaker 4: Is one of the best we have one of these.
12:05
Speaker 4: I think we have the best quarterback in the NFL.
12:07
Speaker 4: We have the best one A and one beat receiver
12:09
Speaker 4: tandem in the history of football in my opinion, I mean,
12:13
Speaker 4: it doesn't get no better than Team Tomorrow, just being
12:15
Speaker 4: honest with you, And we have an old line that's
12:17
Speaker 4: gotten better each like each week with also a thousand
12:20
Speaker 4: yard running back. A thousand yard running back, we're see
12:26
Speaker 4: a thousand yard running back and then we got some
12:29
Speaker 4: maja to compliment them. So I mean, I feel like
12:31
Speaker 4: we have the best, the best offense in the NFL.
12:33
Speaker 1: How about the chemistry with Scott Peters having a year
12:36
Speaker 1: with him now, Oh.
12:38
Speaker 3: It's been It's been good since since Campton.
12:40
Speaker 4: Now, just we're just continue to growth, and honestly, I
12:43
Speaker 4: just feel like, you know, if we can keep building
12:45
Speaker 4: off that, I feel like going into twenty twenty six season,
12:48
Speaker 4: we're gonna be very strong.
12:49
Speaker 3: Just being honest with you.
12:50
Speaker 1: The team is publicly announced that Zach will be back
12:52
Speaker 1: for next year. You played for him for two seasons.
12:55
Speaker 1: Share your thoughts on playing for Zach Taylor.
12:58
Speaker 4: I mean, I like playing for coach. Like I said, yeah, man,
13:00
Speaker 4: he like he understands. He he said, he's a great
13:02
Speaker 4: He's a great coach. And you know, he always asked
13:04
Speaker 4: for our pinions and all that good stuff. Not many
13:06
Speaker 4: coaches asked you know, you know, how do you feel
13:08
Speaker 4: about this? How do you feel about that? Most coaches
13:09
Speaker 4: just do it on my own. But like I said,
13:11
Speaker 4: we're very excited that he's back. You know, I feel
13:13
Speaker 4: I feel like he puts us in the best situation possible,
13:16
Speaker 4: you know, to go win. So I mean, let's let's
13:19
Speaker 4: come back and let's get ready to win.
13:20
Speaker 1: What does your offseason look like between now and OTAs well?
13:23
Speaker 4: Right now, I'm just gonna you know, decompress a little bit,
13:26
Speaker 4: go down and do some hog hunting. Mayke gonna shoot
13:29
Speaker 4: a couple of ducks, some deer hunt. No deer hunt
13:31
Speaker 4: season's over with, so I gotta wait on that. But really,
13:34
Speaker 4: like I said, I'm I'm gonna go I'm just some
13:35
Speaker 4: hog hunting, some ducks, some duck hunting Kansas, you know,
13:38
Speaker 4: and then you know, hang out with old Line on Thursday.
13:40
Speaker 3: We going, We're going. We're gonna take a little trip.
13:42
Speaker 3: So that'll be great. Can you share wear?
13:45
Speaker 1: Uh it's Vegas last.
13:46
Speaker 3: Year, right, Yeah, we're going. I guess we're going back again.
13:48
Speaker 1: I guess all right, lookout, hogs and ducks. Marius Mens
13:52
Speaker 1: is coming. Congratulations on an excellent season.
13:55
Speaker 3: I appreciate you.
13:57
Speaker 1: Marius played ninety four percent of the Bengals offensive snaps
14:00
Speaker 1: this year, after playing seventy three percent as a rookie.
14:03
Speaker 1: Somewhere out there, there's a guy on Twitter that made
14:06
Speaker 1: a bet with me prior to last year that if
14:09
Speaker 1: Amarius played more than half of the offensive snaps in
14:12
Speaker 1: his first two seasons, that guy would buy me a
14:15
Speaker 1: stake at the precinct. I don't remember your Twitter handle,
14:19
Speaker 1: but if you listen to this podcast and are a
14:23
Speaker 1: man of your word, I look forward to cashing in.
14:27
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth podcast is brought to you by pay Corps,
14:30
Speaker 1: proud to be the Bengals official HR software provider by
14:33
Speaker 1: Alta Fiber future Proof fiber Internet designed to elevate your home, business,
14:37
Speaker 1: and community to a new level and by Kettering Health
14:41
Speaker 1: the best care for the best fans. Kettering Health is
14:43
Speaker 1: the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. The Bengals don't
14:48
Speaker 1: have many needs On offense. Every starter is under contract
14:52
Speaker 1: except for one thirty year old Dalton Reisner, who signed
14:56
Speaker 1: with the Bengals just a few days before the season opener,
15:00
Speaker 1: wound up starting eleven games. And if you're like me,
15:04
Speaker 1: your ears probably perked up in my interview with a
15:06
Speaker 1: Marius Mims when he called Dalton the best right guard
15:11
Speaker 1: in the NFL. Naturally, I was eager to get Riisner's reaction.
15:17
Speaker 1: I spoke to Marius Mims a few minutes ago. He
15:19
Speaker 1: said he would be campaigning publicly for the best right
15:23
Speaker 1: guard in the NFL to return to Cincinnati. So you
15:27
Speaker 1: have certainly earned his love and respect.
15:29
Speaker 3: That's super kind, man.
15:30
Speaker 5: I don't know about the best right guard in the league,
15:32
Speaker 5: but he's definitely on his way to be one of
15:34
Speaker 5: the best rat tackles in the league, that's for sure.
15:37
Speaker 5: You know, I feel overwhelmed with the unwavering support and
15:43
Speaker 5: love by my teammates and multiple coaches of just valuing
15:49
Speaker 5: me for who I am. This journey has been so
15:51
Speaker 5: up and down this year, but it's also been such
15:54
Speaker 5: a journey of.
15:56
Speaker 3: A career football for me.
15:57
Speaker 5: And to exemplify that, I mean, I showed up and
16:01
Speaker 5: I had had one full pad practice in the last
16:05
Speaker 5: eight months, and then I found myself in full pads
16:08
Speaker 5: playing the Cleveland Browns and Miles Garrett at the Dog Pound.
16:11
Speaker 5: I played well and all was great, and then the
16:13
Speaker 5: next week, I think that getting picked up in September
16:17
Speaker 5: caught up to me, and I had a bad game
16:18
Speaker 5: against the Jaguars and gave up a sack and Joe
16:23
Speaker 5: Burrow got hurt and you can imagine the down that
16:25
Speaker 5: that took, and I ended up losing my position because
16:27
Speaker 5: of that. And then I get shot to play left guard,
16:31
Speaker 5: and I played great, and I played two really good
16:33
Speaker 5: games at left guard, and they end up going with
16:35
Speaker 5: Dylan Fairchild, which who won it. He's your draft pick,
16:38
Speaker 5: He's playing at a high level. Just because I played
16:40
Speaker 5: well doesn't mean I expected to keep the job. So
16:42
Speaker 5: then you kind of get back down again and I'm
16:44
Speaker 5: a backup again for the first time in my career.
16:46
Speaker 5: And then Jalen gets banged up and I get my
16:48
Speaker 5: shot again, and then I play some of the best
16:51
Speaker 5: football that I've played in the last seven or eight
16:53
Speaker 5: games of my season in year seven. Just what an
16:56
Speaker 5: up and down year. But I look at that as
16:59
Speaker 5: a whole, and I'm just so grateful that God brought
17:02
Speaker 5: me here. I'm so grateful that God humbled my heart
17:04
Speaker 5: to take a league minimum deal to come and play
17:07
Speaker 5: for the Cincinnati Bengals and bet on myself, that takes
17:11
Speaker 5: a lot to move you and your family across the
17:13
Speaker 5: country on a day's notice, an hour notice, a minute notice,
17:17
Speaker 5: and just start up a season. And yeah, it just
17:21
Speaker 5: it's just, uh, it's a hard thing to do. And
17:24
Speaker 5: I'm just grateful for the year that I had with
17:27
Speaker 5: the Bengals and the Stripes and everyone a part of
17:29
Speaker 5: this organization, you know, from from Zach Taylor to Jeff
17:34
Speaker 5: Brickner to you know, Matt Summers in the training room,
17:37
Speaker 5: to Scott Peters to Dan Pitcher to you know Mike
17:41
Speaker 5: McCarthy the assistant off a line offensive line coach, Justin
17:43
Speaker 5: Roscotti are a past game coordinator, to Hobbes to Hoard
17:47
Speaker 5: you know what I mean, Like all you guys like
17:49
Speaker 5: you guys make this place special and it's not the
17:51
Speaker 5: Cincinnati Bengals without people like that.
17:54
Speaker 3: So yeah, just grateful for the year, appreciate the shout out.
17:58
Speaker 1: What is your confidence level that the will assign you
18:02
Speaker 1: to a new deal for next year and maybe beyond.
18:05
Speaker 5: You know, I would probably say fifty to fifty. I
18:07
Speaker 5: have no inkling on whether it's going to get done
18:11
Speaker 5: or not. I want it to, but at the same time,
18:14
Speaker 5: I think it needs to be a fair deal for
18:16
Speaker 5: both sides, and I know that the deal I'm willing
18:18
Speaker 5: to sign is a fair deal for them. I just
18:21
Speaker 5: hope that, you know, they can work with me to
18:25
Speaker 5: make it a fit, fair deal on my end, because
18:27
Speaker 5: you know, this is where I want to be. But
18:28
Speaker 5: that doesn't mean that I'm gonna, you know, jeopardize the
18:31
Speaker 5: year that I had and the ability to you know,
18:32
Speaker 5: support my family and my family's family in that way.
18:36
Speaker 5: So I don't know what's to come. All I know
18:38
Speaker 5: is I'm grateful to have wore the stripes this year.
18:40
Speaker 5: I don't want to be the person that's always looking
18:41
Speaker 5: to the next thing. I'm just grateful to have finished
18:43
Speaker 5: year seven. I'm healthy, I made friends, I made relationships,
18:48
Speaker 5: I forged relationships. I got to play for the Cincinnati Bengals.
18:51
Speaker 5: I got to start eleven different times. I got to
18:54
Speaker 5: block for Joe Burrow, I got to block next to
18:56
Speaker 5: Ted Carrits and a Marius Mims, and I just finished
18:59
Speaker 5: year seventy NFL. So I'm not gonna worry about this deal.
19:02
Speaker 5: I'm not going to worry about what's next for Dalton Reiser.
19:04
Speaker 5: I'm just gonna enjoy where I'm at, because what's the point.
19:07
Speaker 3: You know, what's the point if you don't.
19:09
Speaker 1: So I found it interesting that you brought up Joe's
19:12
Speaker 1: injury and the block that you feel like you missed
19:16
Speaker 1: back in week two. Does that still linger? Does it
19:18
Speaker 1: give you a feeling of wanting to be part of
19:21
Speaker 1: a Bengals team that gets back to a great playoff run?
19:24
Speaker 5: You know, I mentioned it because I'm a big believer
19:26
Speaker 5: and I don't run from things. I take them head on,
19:29
Speaker 5: and we're imperfect people and we make mistakes. And I'm
19:32
Speaker 5: fully aware that guys have probably gotten beat hell of
19:34
Speaker 5: a lot quicker and harder than I did, and gotten
19:36
Speaker 5: their quarterback killed and they didn't get injured. So I
19:38
Speaker 5: understand how the game works. I'm just a believer that, like,
19:41
Speaker 5: let's call it for what it is I got beat
19:42
Speaker 5: on the play and Joe got hurt, and by the
19:43
Speaker 5: reason he got hurt. No, But like, do I play
19:46
Speaker 5: a part in the play that led Tom getting hurt?
19:47
Speaker 5: I did, So that doesn't linger it. That's not something
19:51
Speaker 5: that bugs me. I know that things happen in this
19:53
Speaker 5: game of football, and I had a great year and
19:55
Speaker 5: I'm grateful for that. But you know, it doesn't make
19:57
Speaker 5: me want to come back and be a Bengal. What
19:59
Speaker 5: makes me want to back and be a Bengals the
20:00
Speaker 5: people I just told you about, And that includes Joe Burrow,
20:03
Speaker 5: and that includes blocking for Joe, and that includes wanting
20:05
Speaker 5: to win the championship with this team. But it's not
20:07
Speaker 5: just one thing. There's a lot that comes back into
20:09
Speaker 5: wanting to be here.
20:10
Speaker 1: I wasn't in Denver and Minnesota, so I don't know
20:13
Speaker 1: how things were for you there, But you seem like
20:15
Speaker 1: an incredibly good fit in this locker room. Is it
20:18
Speaker 1: unusually the case here or was it pretty much the
20:21
Speaker 1: same in your previous two stops.
20:22
Speaker 5: You know, Denver was often on We didn't win a
20:25
Speaker 5: lot of football games in Denver. There's a lot of
20:27
Speaker 5: coaching turnover. I had a great four years there. I mean,
20:30
Speaker 5: that's where I was raised, That's where I grew the
20:31
Speaker 5: team I grew up wanting to play for. So a
20:33
Speaker 5: lot of great memories in Denver. Actually I was there Flacoh,
20:35
Speaker 5: It's was Flaco's here in Denver. So but did I
20:39
Speaker 5: ever feel the way I felt valued and loved in
20:43
Speaker 5: that locker room compared to the Bengals. No, But I
20:47
Speaker 5: felt that way in Minnesota my first year, and they
20:49
Speaker 5: brought me back the next year because of how good
20:51
Speaker 5: that felt. So, but I mean, to be honest with you,
20:55
Speaker 5: I was just telling my wife, I don't think I've
20:57
Speaker 5: ever felt this overwhelmed with so much love and sport
21:00
Speaker 5: and teammates calling for me to come back, and people
21:03
Speaker 5: running into me and saying you'd better come back. You
21:05
Speaker 5: deserve to come back, Like that's all such a good feeling,
21:07
Speaker 5: man like, Like, that's what we do this for. Is
21:09
Speaker 5: we work our asses off to earn the respect and
21:11
Speaker 5: love from the people that we care about. So to
21:14
Speaker 5: have people say that, I mean that that's what it's
21:16
Speaker 5: all about.
21:17
Speaker 3: That means a lot to me.
21:19
Speaker 1: Reisner finished the season as the Bengals highest graded offensive
21:23
Speaker 1: lineman according to PFF. For the final word on the offense,
21:27
Speaker 1: I caught up with Orlando Brown Junior, who, along with
21:30
Speaker 1: Ted Karras, was on the field for all one thousand,
21:34
Speaker 1: one hundred eleven offensive snaps. A lot of people have
21:39
Speaker 1: said this is the best offensive line the Bengals have
21:41
Speaker 1: had in several years. Is the next step being known
21:45
Speaker 1: as one of the best offensive lines in the NFL?
21:47
Speaker 6: Yeah, you know, I think that comes with a few
21:50
Speaker 6: different things.
21:50
Speaker 3: And at the top of the list is winning.
21:52
Speaker 6: And so you know, it's hard to be a great
21:54
Speaker 6: offensive line when when and get that recognition and notoriety
21:59
Speaker 6: when you record isn't great. And so to me, that's
22:03
Speaker 6: the next step is, you know, when we start winning
22:05
Speaker 6: these games and you know, our our conversations are being had,
22:09
Speaker 6: Joe's being kept clean, our offensive superstars are making plays,
22:13
Speaker 6: Our our love will come for.
22:15
Speaker 1: The five guys are re signed. Dalton is the one exception.
22:19
Speaker 1: He has publicly stated he hopes to be back.
22:21
Speaker 3: Where are you on the subject? Oh man?
22:23
Speaker 6: I mean he's such a large piece of our room
22:26
Speaker 6: and who we are just in terms of his everyday energy,
22:30
Speaker 6: his consistency as a player. You know, he's one to
22:34
Speaker 6: hold others accountable as well, he's a leader.
22:37
Speaker 3: Man.
22:37
Speaker 6: I got so much respect for him just coming off
22:39
Speaker 6: the couch. I mean we were laughing about it when
22:42
Speaker 6: he came in against Cleveland. He didn't even know half
22:44
Speaker 6: of our names. So that's he's out there player with
22:47
Speaker 6: a bunch of red guys off the couch, right.
22:48
Speaker 3: But I just he's so important to who we are
22:52
Speaker 3: and what we are.
22:53
Speaker 6: And yeah, man, I hopefully you know, the business takes
22:56
Speaker 6: care of himself and he's able to come back.
22:58
Speaker 1: I assume he knew yours, yes, sir, Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
23:01
Speaker 1: big twelve guys.
23:02
Speaker 3: That's that might be one of the few reasons.
23:05
Speaker 1: For people that have never played a line. It's hard
23:07
Speaker 1: to know how long it takes to adjust to a
23:10
Speaker 1: new coach and a new style. How long did it
23:12
Speaker 1: take with Scott Peters And how do you guys feel
23:14
Speaker 1: about it now?
23:15
Speaker 6: Yeah, I think it did take take a little bit
23:17
Speaker 6: of time to learn his fundamentals and techniques and things
23:21
Speaker 6: like that. But man, pretty early in the season, I
23:25
Speaker 6: want to say, after Denver, man things just started to
23:27
Speaker 6: click better.
23:28
Speaker 3: Maybe that was Detroit, maybe the game after Denver.
23:31
Speaker 6: To me, I feel like, man, it was it was
23:34
Speaker 6: there and honestly, you know, you could say from training
23:36
Speaker 6: camp on man, we've just continuously gotten better.
23:39
Speaker 3: I think even leading up to this last game on Sunday.
23:42
Speaker 1: The offense doesn't need much help. I think we can
23:45
Speaker 1: all assume there will be a few reinforcements on defense.
23:48
Speaker 1: How many pieces does this defense need a big change
23:52
Speaker 1: or a couple of key guys?
23:54
Speaker 3: I think just a couple of key guys.
23:56
Speaker 1: Man.
23:57
Speaker 6: You know, when you're building an NFL team, it's really
23:59
Speaker 6: the culture that you're trying.
24:00
Speaker 3: To set in the locker room. And uh, as much as.
24:02
Speaker 6: It is about the talent, it's about the people, and
24:04
Speaker 6: so uh our our front office and ownership coaches, they'll
24:08
Speaker 6: do a great job bringing in the right pieces.
24:11
Speaker 1: You're one guy that stays here, grinds at pay Court
24:15
Speaker 1: Stadium year round. What kind of rn R do you take?
24:18
Speaker 1: I know there's a little O line trip and then
24:20
Speaker 1: then when do you get after it?
24:21
Speaker 3: Uh? Man, I'll right after that trip.
24:23
Speaker 6: So I'll take that little time off there, and once
24:27
Speaker 6: I get back here to Cincy, Man, I'm right back
24:28
Speaker 6: to it. So I learned over the years it's it's
24:31
Speaker 6: easier to maintain and have to lose it and build
24:34
Speaker 6: it back up.
24:34
Speaker 1: So another very durable year for you after you know,
24:39
Speaker 1: missing a few games last year. How big of a
24:41
Speaker 1: point of pride was that?
24:43
Speaker 3: Yeah, No, it was it was huge. It was huge. Uh.
24:46
Speaker 6: You know for me, anytime I can play one hundred
24:48
Speaker 6: percent of the snaps and be available, be able to
24:50
Speaker 6: go out there and fight with my brothers, man, it's
24:52
Speaker 6: always important to me.
24:53
Speaker 3: So yeah, I'm thankful for it.
24:55
Speaker 6: You know, I probably got to give more credit to
24:57
Speaker 6: Joey Bose, my nutrition this Ashley.
25:02
Speaker 3: Yeah, man, I mean I.
25:03
Speaker 6: Think those and my body guy Dave Matthews and my
25:06
Speaker 6: massage woman agin that. I mean, those those four people
25:09
Speaker 6: right there really have helped me stay healthy this year
25:12
Speaker 6: and maintain you know, just just being able to go
25:15
Speaker 6: out there and be available a.
25:17
Speaker 1: Few feet away from us. Joe Flacaus talking to the masses.
25:20
Speaker 1: Everybody wants to know if he'll want to come back
25:23
Speaker 1: as Joe Burrow's back up next year. What kind of
25:25
Speaker 1: an impact did he have in this locker room, Such
25:27
Speaker 1: a large impact.
25:28
Speaker 6: He's a he's a he's a guy man obviously, like
25:30
Speaker 6: he's done it for so long, you know, he he
25:34
Speaker 6: understands what it takes to play at a high level,
25:38
Speaker 6: and he brought a different energy for us. He brought
25:40
Speaker 6: us a lot of positive energy. Uh, you know, the
25:44
Speaker 6: ability to go out there and execute. Obviously with Joe
25:47
Speaker 6: being out and taking over for Jake there when he
25:49
Speaker 6: when he got traded, it was great, man. So I
25:52
Speaker 6: got a ton of respect for Flack and everything he's done.
25:55
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow spoke yesterday about how he believes the front
25:58
Speaker 1: office listens to what he has to say, they value
26:01
Speaker 1: his opinion. You're an important leader on this team. I
26:03
Speaker 1: know that everybody in this building has a lot of
26:05
Speaker 1: respect for you. When you meet with Zach in that
26:08
Speaker 1: season ending meeting, do you express some honest opinions about
26:12
Speaker 1: ways this franchise can improve?
26:14
Speaker 3: You know, I don't really necessarily take that approach.
26:16
Speaker 6: For me, It's about just being transparent about what's going
26:19
Speaker 6: on in the locker room, the tuple minute here that
26:22
Speaker 6: we have, and just controlling what I can control, which
26:26
Speaker 6: is really making sure we get the most out of
26:28
Speaker 6: everybody in here. So that's more of my appros Man,
26:31
Speaker 6: It's a lot different than Joe.
26:33
Speaker 1: Appreciate you, Orlando, Congratulations on another fine season and thanks.
26:37
Speaker 3: For your cooperation. Sar thank you.
26:39
Speaker 1: This was Orlando's eighth NFL season and he'll turn thirty
26:43
Speaker 1: in May. He has one year left on the four year,
26:46
Speaker 1: sixty four million dollar deal that he signed with the
26:49
Speaker 1: Bengals in twenty twenty three. That's going to do it
26:52
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