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Bengals Booth Podcast: Rise · Bengals Booth Podcast

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: I get everybody. I'm Dan Hoard and thanks for downloading
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: the Bengals Booth Podcast. The don't be surprised I Will
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: stewardis addition, as we hear from the four players signed
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: by the Bengals in the first week of free agency,
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: Brian Cook, boy A Mafey, Jonathan Allen and Josh Johnson.
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you by pay Corp,
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  Speaker 1: Health the best care for the best fans. Kettering Health
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  Speaker 1: is the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. Now here's
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: a quick reminder that you can have the latest edition
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: of this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet, or
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: computer by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's the
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: greatest thing since Orlando Brown Junior. I'll be focusing on
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: the newcomers joining the Bengals on this podcast, but I
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: also want to salute Orlando Brown Junior for serving as
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: his own agent and agreeing to a two year contract extension.
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: It means the Bengals have a good player at a
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: crucial position at a very reasonable price, under contract for
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: three more seasons. The four time Pro bowler has been
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: one of the Bengals team leaders over the last three years.
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: It is in the building almost every day year round
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: as he strives to be the best player he can
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: possibly be. Orlando won a Super Bowl ring in Kansas City,
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: and it is confident that he can win another in Cincinnati.
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm very confident, man. You know.
• 1:44
  Speaker 3: We've got a lot of special players and a lot
• 1:46
  Speaker 3: of special men in our locker room, and so a
• 1:49
  Speaker 3: lot of responsibility falls on us to make sure that
• 1:52
  Speaker 3: we take those next steps as a team. You know,
• 1:54
  Speaker 3: I think for what is worth, there are no coaches,
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: there are no front office executs, snow owners that step
• 2:01
  Speaker 3: on the field on Sunday, and so at the end
• 2:04
  Speaker 3: of the day, a lot of responsibility falls unless as
• 2:07
  Speaker 3: players to be able to get the most out of
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: the locker room, you know, and it starts with me
• 2:09
  Speaker 3: as a leader, one of the leaders here. You know,
• 2:12
  Speaker 3: we got one of the hardest pieces of the puzzle
• 2:14
  Speaker 3: with Joe Burrow, and so I think it's important for
• 2:17
  Speaker 3: everybody else around him, including myself to you know, step up,
• 2:20
  Speaker 3: step up to the play.
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: With Dalton Riisner re signing a few weeks ago, the
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: Bengals will have their entire starting offensive line back for
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: the first time in the Joe Burrow era, as well
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: as a year of experience under offensive line coach Scott Peters. Now,
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: let's get to the newcomers up first, twenty six year
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: old Brian Cook, the number one free agent safety on
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: the market according to Pro Football Focus, after spending his
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: first four NFL seasons in Kansas City. I got to
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: know Brian during the three years he spent with the
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: UC Bearcatz after transferring from Howard University as a junior.
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: He didn't start because Cincinnati had two NFL draft picks
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: at safety in James Wiggins and Derek Forrest, but when
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: Wiggins got injured before the Peach Bowl, Cook stepped in
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: and made plays all over the field against Georgia. Former
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: UC head coach Luke Fickle discussed it with Dave Lapham
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: on the End of Trenches podcast presented by First Star Logistics.
• 3:22
  Speaker 4: I think he's the most underrated guy on our team
• 3:25
  Speaker 4: and from the coaches as well. From us. You know,
• 3:29
  Speaker 4: played corner in college his first two years at Howard,
• 3:32
  Speaker 4: and one of those guys I think graduated in high
• 3:35
  Speaker 4: school with maybe like one hundred and sixty pounds at
• 3:37
  Speaker 4: maybe like five nine five. I think maybe his junior
• 3:41
  Speaker 4: year was like one hundred and fifty pounds in five
• 3:43
  Speaker 4: foot eight. Wow, and he just I guess he grew
• 3:46
  Speaker 4: and so and then even for us, the first year
• 3:50
  Speaker 4: he you know, he had to sit out because he
• 3:52
  Speaker 4: transferred from Howard before you could be immediately eligible. And
• 3:55
  Speaker 4: then the next is the next year, he got hurt
• 3:58
  Speaker 4: a little bit in camp and he had two NFL
• 4:00
  Speaker 4: draft picks in front of him. So we knew he
• 4:04
  Speaker 4: was a really good football player. We knew he was
• 4:06
  Speaker 4: a special kid. And tell me he was a second
• 4:08
  Speaker 4: team academic All American, but we didn't. He didn't play
• 4:13
  Speaker 4: a ton for us. And uh when when Wiggins got
• 4:17
  Speaker 4: hurt and he played the rest of the he played
• 4:19
  Speaker 4: the whole championship game, and then he played against Georgia.
• 4:22
  Speaker 4: That's when we first really recognized what we had. And
• 4:24
  Speaker 4: he played his butt off against you, I mean like
• 4:27
  Speaker 4: he blitzed and made plays, He made plays down the field.
• 4:31
  Speaker 4: And then in the summer we had in the winter,
• 4:34
  Speaker 4: we had our little combine testing and when he ran
• 4:36
  Speaker 4: four four five, I kind of looked around. I'm like,
• 4:39
  Speaker 4: I'm not sure we're really good coaches. Guy, tell me
• 4:42
  Speaker 4: why we didn't have this guy on the field for
• 4:45
  Speaker 4: I mean, he is uh, he's dynamic, and he is
• 4:49
  Speaker 4: as good a well rounded kid as we've gotten the
• 4:51
  Speaker 4: whole program. Is he one of the guys that sets
• 4:54
  Speaker 4: the tone from a work ethics standpoint?
• 4:55
  Speaker 5: Is he one of those guys that's tylish worker type?
• 4:58
  Speaker 4: He is a worker. He is a no nonsense guy.
• 5:02
  Speaker 4: He is he is He really is one of those
• 5:04
  Speaker 4: high end intelligent guys that you know, does everything you want.
• 5:09
  Speaker 4: He is a leader in that room more than anything.
• 5:12
  Speaker 4: Those other two guys, obviously, you know, have made it
• 5:15
  Speaker 4: last year in the NFL and played, and I would
• 5:18
  Speaker 4: tell you that he's, you know, a more vocal guy
• 5:21
  Speaker 4: on the field, controls the whole back end, and only
• 5:24
  Speaker 4: one year of starting really for us. So another one
• 5:28
  Speaker 4: of those guys. I'm like, wow, man, I've loved to
• 5:30
  Speaker 4: have had him for another year, but I'm not sure
• 5:33
  Speaker 4: that's I'm not sure that's fair to him, all right,
• 5:36
  Speaker 4: But yeah, I think I think his best ball is
• 5:38
  Speaker 4: to be played at the next level.
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: I don't have to tell you that tackling has been
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: an issue in the Bengals secondary well. That is one
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: of Brian's biggest strengths. According to Pro Football Focus, Cook
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: missed twenty two tackles in four seasons with the Chiefs.
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: PFF counted twenty two missed tackles for Gino Stone in
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: his last fourteen games. Here's Brian on the art of tackling.
• 6:02
  Speaker 6: It starts with film study. I mean like you have
• 6:04
  Speaker 6: to like every week is different. You know, you have
• 6:06
  Speaker 6: your basics, like okay, your eyes and your leverage understanding too.
• 6:11
  Speaker 6: You want to strike half a man. I'm not sure
• 6:13
  Speaker 6: anybody's here with me with boxing, but the whole concept
• 6:15
  Speaker 6: of boxing is to hit about getting hit. Sitting with football,
• 6:18
  Speaker 6: you know what I'm saying, How can I strike someone
• 6:19
  Speaker 6: in the area that I can deliver a blow and
• 6:23
  Speaker 6: then knowing what to strike?
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: You know what I'm saying.
• 6:26
  Speaker 6: They didn't understand leverage, just main thing Like most guys
• 6:29
  Speaker 6: who are tacklers mostly mostly pieback er dog the wrastlers.
• 6:34
  Speaker 6: But for me, I would also say too, like you
• 6:36
  Speaker 6: go back to film study, is understanding how that person
• 6:39
  Speaker 6: or person carrying a ball. How do you like the run?
• 6:42
  Speaker 6: You know what I'm saying, And that will kind of
• 6:43
  Speaker 6: put you a step closer because now you're relaying on
• 6:46
  Speaker 6: their instincts rather than just your own, you know what
• 6:48
  Speaker 6: I'm saying, Plus the like the technique aspect for like
• 6:51
  Speaker 6: keeping your eyes on your target and striking and running through.
• 6:54
  Speaker 6: I think also too, like you know, it's like don't
• 6:55
  Speaker 6: stop your feet. That's one issue that even myself had
• 6:58
  Speaker 6: to go out of, but it happens. You know, It's
• 7:01
  Speaker 6: like football. You also are people at the end of
• 7:04
  Speaker 6: the day. You know, we all human, all flawed. So
• 7:06
  Speaker 6: having a consistency to be able to do that day
• 7:08
  Speaker 6: in and day out. It is a skill and attack.
• 7:10
  Speaker 6: It requires a lot of work, but you know, with
• 7:12
  Speaker 6: the proper habits it can it can be turned over
• 7:16
  Speaker 6: really fast. Understand what they really need for me as well.
• 7:20
  Speaker 6: You know what I'm saying, I can I am who
• 7:21
  Speaker 6: I am. I want to bring that to the table.
• 7:23
  Speaker 6: But at the same time, I also want to learn
• 7:25
  Speaker 6: my teammates and understand how to make them better as well,
• 7:28
  Speaker 6: and then that will be who I end up becoming
• 7:30
  Speaker 6: as well. So every problem, my journey is different here.
• 7:33
  Speaker 6: I said, I will be a leader that will be
• 7:36
  Speaker 6: you know, that vocal point and that the anchor they
• 7:38
  Speaker 6: can they can depend on to guys to get guys
• 7:41
  Speaker 6: lined up, or just have someone a point of reference
• 7:43
  Speaker 6: when the bullets are flying. But also want to be
• 7:47
  Speaker 6: you know, much more than that too. If a god
• 7:48
  Speaker 6: needs you know, a different type of help or leadership
• 7:52
  Speaker 6: in the area, I want to be able to perform
• 7:54
  Speaker 6: and help them with that as well.
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: Cook signed a three year deal that's reportedly worth forty
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: points two five million dollars. The bengals next two editions
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: addressed their biggest need, improving the pass rush. Like Cook,
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: twenty seven year old edge rusher boy A Mafey signed
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: a three year contract reportedly worth sixty mil. After spending
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: four years in Seattle and winning a Super Bowl ring
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: this year. Mafey had nine sacks two years ago, and
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: while that number dropped to two last year, he was
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: still applying consistent pressure. He ranked number eight among edge
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: rushers in pass rush win rate.
• 8:34
  Speaker 7: A lot of things a lot of people question about
• 8:35
  Speaker 7: me is like the production, and that's a big question.
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: I understand that. But the thing is.
• 8:39
  Speaker 7: Is the coaches saw the film. They saw what I
• 8:42
  Speaker 7: can do on the field, they want to tap in
• 8:44
  Speaker 7: and make sure that the pressure weight and all that
• 8:47
  Speaker 7: turns into sacks, you know. And so with them, with
• 8:50
  Speaker 7: me buying in and getting that chance to really dig
• 8:53
  Speaker 7: into that and really get into the nitty gritty of
• 8:55
  Speaker 7: what I need to do to improve my game, I
• 8:57
  Speaker 7: feel like back in the young type of untapped potential
• 9:00
  Speaker 7: can really show itself. I believe that's what they brought
• 9:03
  Speaker 7: me in here to do, to be, you know, bring
• 9:05
  Speaker 7: that back into the like, you know, be that pass rusher,
• 9:08
  Speaker 7: be that person to you know, helping the pass rush,
• 9:10
  Speaker 7: helping the defense on all downs. And that's what I
• 9:13
  Speaker 7: want to do when I come here, you know, make
• 9:15
  Speaker 7: sure that bring that, you know, bring that championship mentality
• 9:18
  Speaker 7: and that bring that level.
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: To the game.
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: Mafey was PFF's number four ranked free agent edge rusher
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: and signed for much less than the three players ranked higher.
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: The Bengals haven't had an elite interior pass rusher since
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: Geno Atkins, and to address that issue, they added two
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: time Pro Bowler Jonathan Allen. Allen is thirty one years
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: old and entering his tenth NFL season, so he probably
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: won't repeat the nine sacks season he had for Washington
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: in twenty twenty one, but he's made more than ninety
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: three million dollars in his career for a reason, he's
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: still a valuable rotational pass rusher. Here's my one on
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: one conversation with a former first round draft pick who
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: was part of a national championship team at Alabama. Jonathan
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: and your introductory news conference, you brought up Joe Burrow's
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: name about five times. Clearly his ability to help you
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: win a Super Bowl title was a very important consideration.
• 10:17
  Speaker 8: Yeah, when you have a guy like that on your team,
• 10:20
  Speaker 8: you always have a chance. You're never out of any game.
• 10:22
  Speaker 8: And you know, as I get later on my career,
• 10:24
  Speaker 8: it's all about winning, and what better chance than to
• 10:26
  Speaker 8: play with a guy like that.
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: You got to an NFL championship game two years ago
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: with Washington. How did getting that close affect your desire
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: to get back and go even further?
• 10:37
  Speaker 8: Just so close and not being able to even experience
• 10:40
  Speaker 8: Super Bowl with something that I still think about to
• 10:42
  Speaker 8: this day. So, you know, making my decision to come here,
• 10:45
  Speaker 8: I really really wanted to find a spot that I
• 10:48
  Speaker 8: felt gave me the best opportunity to get to get
• 10:50
  Speaker 8: back to there, and you know, even go further.
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: You've had great individual success, including a couple of Pro
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: Bowl appearances. Are those personal achievements still a big priority
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: or is it all about the Super Bowl at this point.
• 11:02
  Speaker 8: I don't think a player will be telling the truth
• 11:04
  Speaker 8: that they did if they told you they didn't care
• 11:06
  Speaker 8: about personal success. Now, I don't think that comes before
• 11:08
  Speaker 8: the team. And I think the good thing about being
• 11:10
  Speaker 8: here is I can accomplish both.
• 11:12
  Speaker 5: But you know, we have a guy given ability to
• 11:14
  Speaker 5: do something. You want to showcase that talent.
• 11:16
  Speaker 8: So I think being here with these coaches gives me
• 11:18
  Speaker 8: an opportunity to do that and have a chance to
• 11:20
  Speaker 8: go get a Super Bowl.
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: The Bengals have been trying to improve their interior pass
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: rush for years. You've got to proven track record in
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: that area. What's the key to being good at it?
• 11:30
  Speaker 5: Oh Man? Yeah? Man? Where do we start first?
• 11:35
  Speaker 8: I mean, obviously, if you want to get tentle with
• 11:36
  Speaker 8: the getoff, I mean that's obviously the most important, but
• 11:38
  Speaker 8: there's a lot of things that go into it, and
• 11:40
  Speaker 8: I think it's the understanding of where the slot is
• 11:41
  Speaker 8: going to be, how you're rushing with your other four guys.
• 11:44
  Speaker 5: It's not just go out there and just win.
• 11:45
  Speaker 8: You're one on one, which sometimes it is that, but
• 11:47
  Speaker 8: there's a lot of things that go into that, and
• 11:49
  Speaker 8: you know that's something that we have to build as
• 11:50
  Speaker 8: a D line that.
• 11:51
  Speaker 5: We can work together and you know, get that accomplished.
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: A couple of weeks ago, I did an interview with
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: Dalton Reisner where he randomly brought up your name while
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: this dicussing offensive line coach Scott Peters. He referred to
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: you as one of the best defensive tackles of his
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: era and said, you have an amazing move where you
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: club get underneath and don't detach. You drive the offensive
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: lineman into the quarterback. Is that a signature move?
• 12:17
  Speaker 8: Yeah, that's something Jim tom Sula, old San Francisco coach
• 12:20
  Speaker 8: talking of my rookie year coming in the NFL. And
• 12:23
  Speaker 8: it might not be the best move to get sacks
• 12:25
  Speaker 8: because you're attached to the offensive line, but it's a
• 12:27
  Speaker 8: very disruptive move and a move that I prop myself
• 12:30
  Speaker 8: on and I've made a career out of it.
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: You are a captain at Washington and nominated for the
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: Walter Payton Man of the Year award, So that speaks
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: to your leadership ability. Do you expect to be looked
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: at as a leader by the Bengals young defensive lineman.
• 12:43
  Speaker 8: My biggest thing is I just want to help them
• 12:46
  Speaker 8: get to the understanding of things that I wish I
• 12:48
  Speaker 8: would have done sooner.
• 12:49
  Speaker 5: How to take care everybody, how to prepare for.
• 12:51
  Speaker 8: A week properly. And that's not me trying to come
• 12:53
  Speaker 8: in and just change everything they do. Kind of like
• 12:56
  Speaker 8: my mentor was Ryan Kerrigan. He just led by example,
• 12:59
  Speaker 8: you know what I mean. He just did the right
• 13:00
  Speaker 8: things all the time, and slowly that kind of pat
• 13:02
  Speaker 8: got passed on to me.
• 13:03
  Speaker 5: So that's kind of what I plan to do.
• 13:05
  Speaker 8: Just come and to try to try to show them
• 13:07
  Speaker 8: things that I did to become successful. And you know,
• 13:09
  Speaker 8: obviously they're going to have things that I don't know,
• 13:11
  Speaker 8: you know. I mean, we all can learn from one another,
• 13:13
  Speaker 8: and you know, hopefully we can get this thing going.
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: Bengals defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery actually recruited you in
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: high school, is that correct?
• 13:21
  Speaker 5: Yeah? He tried to give me to go to Michigan.
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and you've maintained a relationship.
• 13:25
  Speaker 8: Yeah, you know, maintained a relationship every time we played
• 13:28
  Speaker 8: Green Bay get a chance to talk to him after
• 13:30
  Speaker 8: the game. He was my coach for the Pro Bowl,
• 13:31
  Speaker 8: I think back in twenty two, So definitely somebody that
• 13:34
  Speaker 8: I'm excited to suit up for.
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: The last time you played here in Cincinnati, it was
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: a primetime game versus Washington that the Commanders won in
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: a shootout. The atmosphere impressed you that night. Correct, that
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: Monday night game was exciting.
• 13:48
  Speaker 8: My wife wasn't able to make it, but I just
• 13:49
  Speaker 8: remember getting getting home and telling her how cool it
• 13:52
  Speaker 8: was and exciting it was to play there because it
• 13:54
  Speaker 8: was my first time. You know, my family's from here,
• 13:56
  Speaker 8: so it was just it was an incredible space.
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: And look, with the Lord, this will be your tent.
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: You've done very well financially. What drives you to keep playing?
• 14:07
  Speaker 5: For me, I just don't want to retire with what ifs.
• 14:09
  Speaker 8: I don't feel like as a team, I've had the
• 14:11
  Speaker 8: success that I wanted I didn't have. I haven't had
• 14:13
  Speaker 8: a chance to go to a Super Bowl. I haven't
• 14:15
  Speaker 8: had a chance to, you know, play in a Super Bowl.
• 14:17
  Speaker 8: And I still think that I have a lot of
• 14:19
  Speaker 8: left in the tank and it would be a shame
• 14:20
  Speaker 8: if I didn't use that.
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: It's been suggested that the Vikings defensive scheme, which was
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: blitz oriented, didn't necessarily suit you. Is that valid?
• 14:30
  Speaker 8: I mean there's always going to be schemes that highlight
• 14:32
  Speaker 8: certain players in every game. There's a pill that I
• 14:35
  Speaker 8: like to say that someone has to carry, someone has
• 14:37
  Speaker 8: the hard downs, and I mean we bliss a lot,
• 14:39
  Speaker 8: and you know, to Coach Floor's credit, it works. But
• 14:42
  Speaker 8: I'm excited to come here and be able to chance
• 14:43
  Speaker 8: to you know, get someone on wants and rush the
• 14:45
  Speaker 8: passer and get out to the quarterback a little bit.
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: I think every team would like to be able to
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: rotate defensive linemen to keep them fresh. Is that ideal
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: for you? Particularly at age thirty one?
• 14:56
  Speaker 5: For sure?
• 14:56
  Speaker 8: Even younger in my career, I was always a firm
• 14:58
  Speaker 8: believer of having as many guys who can, you know,
• 15:00
  Speaker 8: get the job done as possible. I mean, it's unrealistic
• 15:03
  Speaker 8: to think that me at sixty or fifty percent is
• 15:06
  Speaker 8: better than somebody at eighty or ninety percent, you know, so,
• 15:08
  Speaker 8: I think the key to a good defense line is
• 15:10
  Speaker 8: depth and having a bunch of guys who can get
• 15:12
  Speaker 8: in and get the job done so we all stay fresh.
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: I'm sure the Bengals had you and their sites, but
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: what about the other way around.
• 15:18
  Speaker 8: So when we first found out that we weren't going
• 15:20
  Speaker 8: to be staying in Minnesota last year, my agent and
• 15:23
  Speaker 8: Blake Bears.
• 15:23
  Speaker 5: He always goes.
• 15:24
  Speaker 8: There and puts together a list of teams that he
• 15:26
  Speaker 8: feels will be a great fit financially and schematically and citywise,
• 15:30
  Speaker 8: because that's almost just important as liking where you're staying at.
• 15:33
  Speaker 8: And Cincinnati was in the top three, and then after
• 15:35
  Speaker 8: the discussion started, it kind of just just happened.
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: Of those three teams, were you equally open to every
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: possibility or did you have a preference?
• 15:44
  Speaker 8: I didn't, you know, I wasn't sure that we're even
• 15:47
  Speaker 8: going to be in this situation. So when it happened,
• 15:49
  Speaker 8: I was like, you know what, we're just gonna just
• 15:51
  Speaker 8: we're not going to cross anybody off the list.
• 15:53
  Speaker 5: And it was between here and a couple of teams
• 15:56
  Speaker 5: that I.
• 15:56
  Speaker 8: Won't mention, but uh, I mean, after doing after in
• 16:00
  Speaker 8: the research and talking with the coaches, it was pretty
• 16:02
  Speaker 8: simple and pretty obvious where we wanted to go.
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: How can you best help the Bengals defense.
• 16:07
  Speaker 8: I'm really excited to be able to get out to
• 16:09
  Speaker 8: the quarterback. I think we're going to be able to
• 16:10
  Speaker 8: really do that. But you know, I'm not big into promises,
• 16:13
  Speaker 8: and you know, we have a long way to go
• 16:14
  Speaker 8: before we get there. So I'm just honestly excited to
• 16:16
  Speaker 8: get to work. Gets to know, everybody, gets to know
• 16:18
  Speaker 8: the scheme, and just you know, gets OTAs.
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: We're excited you're here.
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: That's going forward.
• 16:23
  Speaker 5: Thank you, I appreciate it.
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: Alan signed a two year deal that's reportedly worth twenty
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: six mil. The Bengals Booth podcast is brought to you
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: by pay Corps, proud to be the Bengals official HR
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: software provider, by Alta Fiber future proof fiber Internet designed
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: to elevate your home, business, and community to a new level,
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: and by Kettering Health the best care for the best fans.
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: Kettering Health is the official healthcare provider of the Bengals.
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: The Bengals final edition in the first week of free
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: agency was veteran quarterback Josh Johnson. If you include training
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: camp and practice squad stap, Johnson has been employed by
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: a record fourteen NFL teams over the last eighteen years.
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: Including two stints with Cincinnati. He was Andy Dalton's backup
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: in twenty thirteen. The Bengals are still hoping to bring
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: back Joe Flacco. Johnson provides insurance in case that doesn't
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: work out, and even if it does, he would be
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: a candidate to remain on the practice squad. One thing
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: is certain, Josh Johnson was the perfect person for a
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: segment I call ten Teammates in a Hat. There are
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: two quarterbacks from the two thousand and eight NFL Draft
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: that are still playing, Joe Flacco and Josh Johnson, returning
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: to Cincinnati after being a Bengal back in twenty thirteen.
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: I am asking Josh to play the game I call
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: ten teammates in a Hat. I've written down the name
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: of a teammate or coach from every team that you've
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: played with in your NFL career. So I'm going to
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: ask you to pick out ten slips of paper, one
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: at a time, and just share a memory about the
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: name that you read. Are you ready?
• 18:06
  Speaker 5: All right?
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: I am ready. Here comes teammate or coach number one
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: with Josh Johnson.
• 18:12
  Speaker 9: Who we have here. So the first one we have
• 18:16
  Speaker 9: is Lamar Jackson. The Ravens twenty twenty three. What do
• 18:22
  Speaker 9: I remember with l A brother? I'm a brother, I'm
• 18:28
  Speaker 9: a great football player. Twenty twenty three was a special season,
• 18:32
  Speaker 9: made it all the way to the AFC Championship.
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: Did you mentor him? Obviously with your experience and he
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: still was relatively in the early stages of his career.
• 18:44
  Speaker 9: I helped, I helped. I was a voice in the room.
• 18:49
  Speaker 9: Wouldn't We didn't have like a mentor relationship. We had
• 18:51
  Speaker 9: more of a brother relationship, and he helped me at
• 18:54
  Speaker 9: things as well, and just really being there to be
• 18:57
  Speaker 9: a support and see his blind spots all right.
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: Former teammate number one, Lamar Jackson from the Ravens a
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: few years ago. Here comes number two with Josh Johnson
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: number two.
• 19:09
  Speaker 9: We have oh dehell Beckham Junior Giants twenty sixteen. What
• 19:15
  Speaker 9: do I remember about oh Electric every day to the
• 19:20
  Speaker 9: point where the coaches had to sometimes tell them he
• 19:23
  Speaker 9: can't practice.
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: We'll go at thousand Moss Power.
• 19:26
  Speaker 9: Play at thousand Mos Power was electric, Brendon energy, Brenda juice.
• 19:30
  Speaker 9: We went to the playoffs that year as well, and
• 19:33
  Speaker 9: still a brother to me to this day.
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: Always good to know a guy with his talent level,
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: has that work ethic every.
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: Day, every day, had it all, had it all. Great player.
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: All right. Here here comes former teammate number three.
• 19:49
  Speaker 9: We have Ooh Rex Ryan Buffalo twenty fifteen. Got through
• 19:55
  Speaker 9: halfway through the season. Didn't know too much about Rex
• 19:58
  Speaker 9: outside of playing against some personality. Loved him. Funny guy,
• 20:04
  Speaker 9: like great, great guy to be around every day, but
• 20:06
  Speaker 9: also on top of the football, really loved playing for him.
• 20:13
  Speaker 9: Funniest memory of Rex was he always liked the Blitch
• 20:17
  Speaker 9: Club zero.
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: He was gonna blitch you. He was gonna blitch you.
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: He was gonna blitch you.
• 20:22
  Speaker 5: All right.
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: Here comes former teammate or coach number four, number.
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: Four, Patrick sertin P. Two.
• 20:31
  Speaker 9: My memory of P. Two is this every day technician.
• 20:35
  Speaker 9: You saw that he was the best right away. Didn't
• 20:38
  Speaker 9: say a lot, just showed it worked like he was
• 20:41
  Speaker 9: a ten year vet. And I just remember always telling
• 20:43
  Speaker 9: him I could tell you I could see your dad
• 20:45
  Speaker 9: imprint all over you because he was a professional, worked
• 20:48
  Speaker 9: at his craft and as we all know, one of
• 20:51
  Speaker 9: the best in the game.
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: All Right, we're off to a great start. This is
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: a good list. Here comes number five.
• 20:56
  Speaker 9: You pulled out some good ones surprising ones too. Adrian Peterson, Washington,
• 21:05
  Speaker 9: twenty eighteen. The resume speaks for itself. Hall of Famer,
• 21:10
  Speaker 9: one of the greatest to ever do it. What I
• 21:11
  Speaker 9: remember by Ap when he stepping the huddle with him,
• 21:15
  Speaker 9: his eyes is like so big and he's like he's
• 21:18
  Speaker 9: looking through your soul.
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: But to me, that's just more of him.
• 21:22
  Speaker 9: That's his way of engaging you, let him know I'm
• 21:24
  Speaker 9: here with you and I'm gonna fight with you. And uh,
• 21:27
  Speaker 9: just watching him run in some of those games and
• 21:30
  Speaker 9: he was probably at this time thirty two thirty three,
• 21:33
  Speaker 9: like you you can see like why who he is
• 21:37
  Speaker 9: and so I'm just sawing him this summer. It was
• 21:39
  Speaker 9: great to catch up with him and he's doing well.
• 21:42
  Speaker 9: So shout out to AP.
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: All right, we're at the halfway point. Here comes former
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: teammateer coach number six.
• 21:47
  Speaker 9: Number six, Joe Big, Joe, Joe Cool in the Jets,
• 21:53
  Speaker 9: Joe Joe Fla.
• 21:55
  Speaker 2: I'm saying all Joe nicknames. Man, being around Joe is awesome.
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: Man.
• 22:00
  Speaker 9: Like always, how I always let people know about my
• 22:03
  Speaker 9: experience with you. Obviously, we came out the draft together,
• 22:05
  Speaker 9: both with small small school quarterbacks, but the first guy
• 22:09
  Speaker 9: that you just go out in the field, don't warm up,
• 22:11
  Speaker 9: do this right here and just start throwing dots. Man, Like,
• 22:15
  Speaker 9: just start throwing dots. So it's good to be his teammate,
• 22:17
  Speaker 9: good to be around him. Raises you know, raises the
• 22:19
  Speaker 9: level of play of everybody around and just great just
• 22:23
  Speaker 9: being out there with him.
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: Always cool, funny, real cool, calm collected.
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: Dude, what was your reaction to the hot streak he
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: had with Cincinnati last year.
• 22:31
  Speaker 9: I was not surprised. You put Joe can play and
• 22:33
  Speaker 9: then he put them out there with these with these
• 22:35
  Speaker 9: guys that they that we got over here. I was
• 22:37
  Speaker 9: not surprised at all. I knew whence your trade happened.
• 22:40
  Speaker 9: I was like Joe about to go ball. I knew
• 22:42
  Speaker 9: what was gonna happen.
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: I knew it.
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: There you go, Josh knew here comes number seven.
• 22:48
  Speaker 9: Number seven. We got Bobby Wagner washing it. So with
• 22:55
  Speaker 9: Bobby Man is uh, don't say a lot. Bobby one
• 22:58
  Speaker 9: more quiet teammates I ever had, but his presence is
• 23:01
  Speaker 9: spelled every day. I've always known Bobby played with my
• 23:04
  Speaker 9: cousin Marshawn and Seattle. They was part of some great teams.
• 23:07
  Speaker 9: But playing with him last year was special for me
• 23:10
  Speaker 9: just to see somebody play that position at that age
• 23:13
  Speaker 9: at a high level and do it. I mean probably
• 23:17
  Speaker 9: top five and tackles last year. Just his leadership every day,
• 23:21
  Speaker 9: didn't say a lot, just led by example, did everything
• 23:24
  Speaker 9: the right way, and it was just fun going against
• 23:25
  Speaker 9: you on scout team, just really trying to make plays
• 23:28
  Speaker 9: on him. It was I love going against guys like
• 23:30
  Speaker 9: that every day, makes you better.
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: So shout out to Bobby watching pay him in the
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: year too.
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: And for people that don't know, Marshawn is Marshawn Lynch.
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: Who is your okay number eight as we played ten
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: teammates and a half number eight.
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: Mike Nuds News, you threw it back right here.
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: Mike Nugent, the former kicker.
• 23:50
  Speaker 9: Former kicker. Nuds was always great people to me. Man
• 23:53
  Speaker 9: always had a great smile, very strong leg. He's from
• 23:59
  Speaker 9: this area too, if I'm not yes, a little bit north. Yeah,
• 24:01
  Speaker 9: he's from this area too. Great guy. Kicked a lot
• 24:05
  Speaker 9: of great field goals on teams that I was on.
• 24:07
  Speaker 9: So I always appreciate the field goal kickers because if
• 24:09
  Speaker 9: we don't score touchdowns, but we moved the ball and
• 24:11
  Speaker 9: they put give us three. You know that's always good
• 24:14
  Speaker 9: for us and the team as a whole. But I
• 24:16
  Speaker 9: just I'll never forget a new smile.
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: Man.
• 24:18
  Speaker 9: He's always lit the room up with his smile. Just real, calm, cool,
• 24:21
  Speaker 9: collected dude. But I had a great smile.
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: You overlapped with him in a couple of places, including
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: Cincinnati in twenty thirteen. All right, we've got two names
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: to go.
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: Coach Harbaugh. Jim Harbaugh forty nine ers San Diego.
• 24:37
  Speaker 9: Really man, the guy that got me going, recruiting me
• 24:40
  Speaker 9: from San Diego when nobody wanted to. He saw something
• 24:43
  Speaker 9: in meat out I didn't seeing myself at the time.
• 24:46
  Speaker 9: He knew that he recruited a five eleven quarterback from Oakland.
• 24:50
  Speaker 9: I'll never forget him telling me I want to meet
• 24:51
  Speaker 9: your parents. I'm like, what you mean. He's like, because
• 24:54
  Speaker 9: I think he's gonna grow, and I'm like, huh, And
• 24:58
  Speaker 9: he was right. I ended up getting a lot taller,
• 25:00
  Speaker 9: I grew into my body, grew into my athleticism. We
• 25:03
  Speaker 9: did a lot of special things at San Diego, and
• 25:06
  Speaker 9: he's a big has a big influence on who the
• 25:08
  Speaker 9: quarterback I am today. So shout out to coach Harball
• 25:10
  Speaker 9: and the whole Harborball family really Coach Jack, coach Coach John.
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: Your coach at the University of San Diego and then
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: San Francisco a couple of times. All right, we've hit
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: number ten. You gotta stir up the last few.
• 25:30
  Speaker 9: Derrick Henry Ravens twenty twenty four, I call him d H.
• 25:37
  Speaker 9: Another brother ganged. The brother there always respected him as
• 25:41
  Speaker 9: a player. The talent speaks for itself, but what most
• 25:46
  Speaker 9: people don't know is really how hard that man works.
• 25:48
  Speaker 9: It's very disciplined, very disciplined, doesn't mispractice, which is rare
• 25:53
  Speaker 9: as a running back position, goes a thousand miles power
• 25:57
  Speaker 9: every day. One of my funniest stories with him was
• 26:00
  Speaker 9: just running outsides on with him. The first time he
• 26:03
  Speaker 9: whispered in the back, you better get on, you better
• 26:06
  Speaker 9: get on a good win And I didn't know what
• 26:08
  Speaker 9: he meant. But when I take this snap and you
• 26:10
  Speaker 9: just see this two hundred and sixty pound guy running
• 26:13
  Speaker 9: and chase that outside edge as fast as he did,
• 26:15
  Speaker 9: I knew exactly what he meant it. But I also
• 26:18
  Speaker 9: know he meant business. So Grander brother there was also
• 26:22
  Speaker 9: a great teammate great Player, Hall of Famer, one of
• 26:24
  Speaker 9: the best to ever do it.
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: All right, I'm making a wild card decision. There are
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: still several slips of paper left in that hat, but
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: I am just going to freelance and say twenty thirteen
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: Cincinnati Bengals, because I know that piece of paper is
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: still in the hat. A. J.
• 26:40
  Speaker 9: Gray April drm Meyer Green, not talked about enough. One
• 26:48
  Speaker 9: of the best to ever do it, best ball skills
• 26:51
  Speaker 9: I've ever been around, ever, quiet assassin at that time.
• 26:58
  Speaker 9: I just like people say, get tell me about age.
• 27:01
  Speaker 9: I said, were running maybe eight go balls or practice
• 27:04
  Speaker 9: and it's gonna catch all of them, and won't say nothing.
• 27:08
  Speaker 9: And you don't really see that, Like now I've played
• 27:10
  Speaker 9: this long, you don't really see that from your starting
• 27:12
  Speaker 9: your best receiver every day. And I remember we were
• 27:15
  Speaker 9: playing the Jets and and he threw him a post
• 27:18
  Speaker 9: route and it went up, and he was the first
• 27:21
  Speaker 9: guy I've seen in game look put his head back
• 27:24
  Speaker 9: down like a center fielder and then go track the
• 27:26
  Speaker 9: ball again. And that's just really who AJ Green was, like,
• 27:31
  Speaker 9: not talked about enough. I know in Cincinnati he is.
• 27:34
  Speaker 9: He's one of the best to ever do it. But
• 27:36
  Speaker 9: amongst the football world, one of the best receivers ever,
• 27:40
  Speaker 9: one of the greatest guys I ever been around, and
• 27:42
  Speaker 9: shout out to AJ.
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: It's a pretty remarkable list. Maybe go do it again
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: sometime because there's still many many names that you've played with.
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much for doing this and welcome back
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: to Cincinnati.
• 27:54
  Speaker 2: Thank you, thanks for having him. Glad to be back.
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: Let's who they.
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: That's going to do it for This episode of the
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: Bengals Booth Podcast brought to you by pay Core, Proud
• 28:02
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• 28:06
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• 28:10
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• 28:14
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• 28:16
  Speaker 1: the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. If you haven't
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: done so already, please subscribe to this podcast and if
• 28:23
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• 28:26
  Speaker 1: a comment that helps more Bengals fans find us. I'm
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: Dan Hord and thanks for listening to The Bengals Booth Podcast.