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Bengals Booth Podcast: Believe It Or Not · Bengals Booth Podcast

0:03
Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody.
0:04
Speaker 2: I'm Dan Hord and thanks for downloading the Bengals Booth
0:07
Speaker 2: Podcast BA Believe.
0:09
Speaker 3: It or not.
0:11
Speaker 2: Addition, as I talked to two Bengals rookies about a
0:14
Speaker 2: hard to believe coincidence. First round draft pick Miles Murphy
0:18
Speaker 2: and second round selection Dj Turner were childhood buddies and
0:22
Speaker 2: the Bengals didn't even know it before the draft. Plus,
0:26
Speaker 2: I'll check in with my broadcast partner Dave Lapham to
0:28
Speaker 2: discuss the latest off season developments one week before the
0:32
Speaker 2: Bengals mandatory three day mini camp, and I'll wrap things
0:35
Speaker 2: up by discussing the open right tackle position with one
0:38
Speaker 2: of the best right tackles in franchise history. The Bengals
0:42
Speaker 2: Booth Podcast is brought to you by Paycorps. More than
0:45
Speaker 2: twenty nine thousand customers trust Paycorp to help them recruit, pay, engage,
0:51
Speaker 2: and retain employees. Learn more at paycorp dot com. Now
0:56
Speaker 2: here's a quick reminder that you can have the latest
0:58
Speaker 2: edition of this podcast Liver write to your phone, tablet,
1:02
Speaker 2: or computer by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's
1:06
Speaker 2: the greatest thing since the Joe Burrow Foundation. The Bengals
1:11
Speaker 2: quarterback is one of several players on the team who
1:13
Speaker 2: is using his platform to help others. The primary focus
1:17
Speaker 2: of Joe's foundation is to help families battling hunger and
1:21
Speaker 2: children dealing with mental health issues, and this week Joe
1:25
Speaker 2: held a golf tournament that raised nearly one million dollars.
1:29
Speaker 2: The slogan of the Borough Foundation is simple, Everyone has
1:33
Speaker 2: a responsibility to do good, which is not to be
1:37
Speaker 2: confused with the Derek Zoolander Center for children who can't
1:41
Speaker 2: read good and want to learn to do other stuff
1:43
Speaker 2: good too. Hopefully you get the movie reference. In any case,
1:48
Speaker 2: Thank you to Joe Burrow, Sam Hubbard, DJ Reader, Tyler Boyd,
1:52
Speaker 2: Ted Karris, Joe Mixon, T Higgins, Jamar Chase cal Adamitas,
1:57
Speaker 2: and many others for all they are doing to the
2:00
Speaker 2: less fortunate. Now let's get to this week's guests. As
2:04
Speaker 2: you know, before the draft, the Bengals do exhaustive research
2:08
Speaker 2: about every player they might consider picking. The scouts and
2:11
Speaker 2: coaches talked to anybody and everybody to try to learn
2:15
Speaker 2: as much as they possibly can about each prospect. That
2:18
Speaker 2: was obviously the case with their first two picks this year.
2:21
Speaker 2: Defensive end Miles Murphy and cornerback DJ Turner, And yet
2:26
Speaker 2: there was something very interesting about that duo that the
2:29
Speaker 2: Bengals didn't learn until after they were drafted. Murphy and
2:34
Speaker 2: Turner have known each other since they were little kids.
2:37
Speaker 2: The three of us discussed that wild coincidence this week.
2:43
Speaker 2: If I understand the story correctly, Miles, your mom met
2:48
Speaker 2: DJ's dad when they were in kindergarten. Is that correct, Miles,
2:52
Speaker 2: I'll let you go first.
2:54
Speaker 4: Yeah, So, all Mama has told me was they have
2:58
Speaker 4: known each other since it's kindergarten, first grade, grew up
3:01
Speaker 4: in the same neighborhood, been playing together since they were kids,
3:05
Speaker 4: been together since they were growing up, all through their
3:07
Speaker 4: lives and you know, really once he started having kids, me, DJ,
3:11
Speaker 4: my brother and whatnot, we just were just together the
3:15
Speaker 4: whole time. And then probably I guess they are you
3:20
Speaker 4: guys living with Yeah, Swanne, we live in Marietta, so
3:25
Speaker 4: that's like I live on the west coast of Atlanta.
3:27
Speaker 4: They're on the east coast of Atlanta. So they kept
3:31
Speaker 4: in touch, and you know, we were talking for once
3:33
Speaker 4: in a while. He went to Michigan, I went to Clemson,
3:36
Speaker 4: and I guess really just turned.
3:38
Speaker 2: Out, said DJ, what did you hear about Miles family
3:44
Speaker 2: when you were growing up?
3:45
Speaker 1: Not the same exact thing.
3:46
Speaker 5: Kindergarten, first grade, grew up with each other, Yeah, I
3:49
Speaker 5: mean basically yeah, and then we just was family friends.
3:54
Speaker 1: I mean yeah, that's been he.
3:54
Speaker 5: Said, everything real, Yeah, just uh, they grew up with
3:58
Speaker 5: each other and stuff like that, stayed in contact, they
4:00
Speaker 5: was real good friends. And yeah, it just so happened
4:03
Speaker 5: that we both got drafted the same team.
4:05
Speaker 2: I mean, yeah, it's insane, the first round pick and
4:09
Speaker 2: the second round pick of the same NFL team. I mean,
4:12
Speaker 2: the odds of this as childhood acquaintances are astronomical. Were
4:17
Speaker 2: you just wold when that's the way it played out? DJ?
4:20
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean for sure, But like I wasn't too
4:22
Speaker 5: surprised because I mean, like when the draft was going on,
4:25
Speaker 5: clause like, I mean, they take a corner and d N.
4:27
Speaker 5: That's not really kind of crazy, you know, that's kind
4:30
Speaker 5: of a combo you tape.
4:31
Speaker 1: So I mean.
4:32
Speaker 5: It was it's crazy that it happened, and all the
4:34
Speaker 5: people and stuff, but the positionwise you look at it, like,
4:36
Speaker 5: I mean, corner and d N, you know, you go together.
4:38
Speaker 2: So Myles, did you follow him all over the years.
4:41
Speaker 4: I did, yeah, follow him of through our Michigan but uh, like, well, really,
4:46
Speaker 4: like you said, just draft night, I was, I guess
4:48
Speaker 4: the Thursday got drafted to Cincinnati, celebrating all of that.
4:53
Speaker 4: Then Friday, Friday night, I was just chilling in the
4:55
Speaker 4: basement watching the draft, man, I was. I was on
5:00
Speaker 4: my phone and all all I hear upstairs is my
5:03
Speaker 4: mom screamed and she started running.
5:05
Speaker 1: And I look on the TV screen. I'm like, why
5:07
Speaker 1: she's screaming? And then I see DJ's highlights. I'm like, oh, okay,
5:10
Speaker 1: I understand why she's screaming now.
5:11
Speaker 4: So I go upstairs and she's on the phone trying
5:13
Speaker 4: to call his dad, trying to call his mom. I'm like,
5:16
Speaker 4: they're probably celebrated. They're not going to answer the phone
5:18
Speaker 4: right now. Just you know, let him celebrate for a second.
5:20
Speaker 4: But you know, it was cool though. It was for
5:22
Speaker 4: sure cool.
5:22
Speaker 1: My mom actually answered, yeah, she is. Yeah.
5:24
Speaker 5: My mom answered like yeah, because because I was like,
5:27
Speaker 5: who are you on the phone with right now?
5:29
Speaker 1: She was like I was like, oh, okay, okay, yeah,
5:31
Speaker 1: it makes.
5:31
Speaker 2: Sense, So have your well your dad, DJ and Miles.
5:35
Speaker 2: Mom had a lot of contacts since you two guys
5:37
Speaker 2: were taken uh.
5:38
Speaker 5: A little bit, yeah, I mean yeah, for sure. I
5:40
Speaker 5: mean they always stay in contact, even when it just
5:42
Speaker 5: will happened. And they both came the same weekend, and
5:44
Speaker 5: so like when they came, they moved helped me move
5:47
Speaker 5: me in, and then it was helping him move in
5:49
Speaker 5: and all that kind of stuff. And they was here,
5:50
Speaker 5: so they saw each other up here and since ninety.
5:52
Speaker 2: So so this pictures made the rounds. If you two
5:54
Speaker 2: guys as kids, I don't know if you were eight
5:56
Speaker 2: or ten or how old you were, but you're at
5:58
Speaker 2: a you're the childhood birthday party together, which is just crazy.
6:03
Speaker 1: It was I don't know what it was.
6:05
Speaker 2: I don't know how old I was.
6:07
Speaker 1: I have no idea.
6:08
Speaker 2: But some of these agents had the picture with whose agent?
6:11
Speaker 1: Uh nah nah, my my dad, we had the picture.
6:14
Speaker 5: But then my agent had the picture too, and so
6:17
Speaker 5: he sent it to somebody in the Bengals and then
6:19
Speaker 5: asked when it just took off?
6:20
Speaker 1: But like obviously, I mean we had the pictures forever.
6:22
Speaker 2: You know, are you amazed that the Bengals had no idea?
6:26
Speaker 2: I mean, they do all this research about you.
6:28
Speaker 5: Guys, surprising I was surprised that they had no idea,
6:31
Speaker 5: like none. I was surprised because the way they be researching,
6:34
Speaker 5: I thought there were no something, But no, they had
6:37
Speaker 5: no idea.
6:38
Speaker 1: So oh, okay, is.
6:40
Speaker 2: There a bond between you two guys from you know,
6:42
Speaker 2: getting to know each other at least somewhat as kids.
6:45
Speaker 4: About to say, like especially now, it's just been like
6:47
Speaker 4: a just funny moment honestly, and we'll joke about it
6:50
Speaker 4: all the time, but you know, really just building that
6:53
Speaker 4: chemistry on the field, off the field, and then the
6:56
Speaker 4: biggest thing for really for both of us learning that playbook,
6:59
Speaker 4: trying to get that done right now.
7:01
Speaker 1: So no, for sure.
7:02
Speaker 2: I mean, you guys both had highly decorated college careers.
7:06
Speaker 2: How closely did you track each other's progress?
7:10
Speaker 1: I mean big all the time.
7:11
Speaker 5: I mean, like I said, I was looking at going
7:13
Speaker 5: to Clemson too, So I mean I definitely was watching it.
7:16
Speaker 5: And there's a whole bunch of Georgia people from Clemson,
7:18
Speaker 5: Like I know so many people on Clemson. So obviously
7:21
Speaker 5: I'm turning the game on all the time to turn
7:23
Speaker 5: whenever I could to watch Clemson. So yeah, I definitely
7:26
Speaker 5: kept up a lot of well cle his career.
7:29
Speaker 2: So, Miles, since you were taken before DJ, were you
7:33
Speaker 2: thinking going into the second round? Hey, DJ, Turner is
7:35
Speaker 2: still there, but that would be awesome.
7:37
Speaker 4: I literally what I was saying was the front office
7:42
Speaker 4: notes who they want, so they're gonna take soe. I know,
7:47
Speaker 4: I have no say, but you know, it'd be nice
7:50
Speaker 4: to have them, but they gonna take who they want.
7:51
Speaker 2: So that's little what I was saying.
7:53
Speaker 1: They go on.
7:54
Speaker 5: You know, you have no Yeah, you have no saying
7:57
Speaker 5: what's going on?
7:58
Speaker 1: You just waiting for that call. That's all you care about.
8:01
Speaker 2: So now that it's happened and your teammates hopefully for
8:04
Speaker 2: many many years to come, how cool is this? DJ?
8:08
Speaker 5: I mean great plans to do big things here and
8:11
Speaker 5: so you know definitely both us playing in and locked
8:13
Speaker 5: in trying to learn to play a book and you know,
8:15
Speaker 5: ready to go.
8:15
Speaker 2: Do you find it pretty quol as well? Miles?
8:17
Speaker 3: I do?
8:18
Speaker 4: Uh yeah, just uh it's good to know like that,
8:22
Speaker 4: I'm familiar, already familiar with someone. And then our families
8:25
Speaker 4: are familiar with another person's family, so they're for sure
8:29
Speaker 4: gonna I guess once they're trying to figure out the
8:31
Speaker 4: parents section, they're going to be trying to coordinate how
8:33
Speaker 4: that is?
8:34
Speaker 2: So I saw a quote where Miles mom called your
8:37
Speaker 2: dad Drago, which I know a lot of your friends do.
8:41
Speaker 2: Are you going to call him Drago or do you already?
8:46
Speaker 4: I just say DJ because I say DJ or mister Drago,
8:50
Speaker 4: Like that's that is what I say.
8:51
Speaker 5: Yeah, No, I like, how DJ is my name? That's
8:55
Speaker 5: that's how as that's my dad name.
8:57
Speaker 2: So like that's why you're DJ because people call your Drego.
9:00
Speaker 1: Right right, So he's literally Dreco.
9:02
Speaker 5: So but then there's like three d days on the team,
9:06
Speaker 5: and then from from high school and stuff, you know,
9:08
Speaker 5: people in college and all that, people call me one
9:10
Speaker 5: Jargo Drego one. You know, once people find out my
9:13
Speaker 5: real name and not take off. But you know, yeah,
9:16
Speaker 5: I'll go on all of them.
9:17
Speaker 2: From childhood buddies or at least acquaintances to NFL teammates,
9:22
Speaker 2: Miles Murphy, DJ Turner, it's really cool. Great to have
9:25
Speaker 2: you both on the team.
9:27
Speaker 1: Sounds good. Desert.
9:29
Speaker 2: By the way, if you haven't seen the picture that
9:32
Speaker 2: I mentioned in that conversation, just do a search for
9:35
Speaker 2: Miles Murphy DJ Turner childhood photo. It's the first image
9:40
Speaker 2: that will pop up. The Bengals Booth podcast is brought
9:43
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9:46
Speaker 2: the Bengals. With more than one hundred and twenty care
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10:00
Speaker 2: They're free to play with tickets and sign merchandise up
10:03
Speaker 2: for grabs. Find both inside the Bengals app. The Bengals
10:07
Speaker 2: off season program ends next week with a three day
10:11
Speaker 2: mandatory mini camp. After that, the players are off for
10:14
Speaker 2: more than a month before training camp gets underway in
10:17
Speaker 2: late July. For a look at how things stand right now,
10:21
Speaker 2: I caught up with a broadcast partner, Dave Lapham. Let's
10:25
Speaker 2: talk about the approach that Zach Taylor is taking this offseason.
10:29
Speaker 2: A lot has been made to the fact that the
10:30
Speaker 2: Bengals are not holding the maximum number of practices. They're
10:34
Speaker 2: probably holding less physical practices than any other team in
10:38
Speaker 2: the NFL. What do you make of it?
10:41
Speaker 6: I think that the players feel like Zach's taking care
10:44
Speaker 6: of them, so they're going to take care of him.
10:45
Speaker 6: I think that you know, they're putting forth maximum effort
10:49
Speaker 6: at every single practice. I think they feel like they
10:52
Speaker 6: have a coach that gets it and they're going to
10:55
Speaker 6: do everything they possibly can to have success for that
10:57
Speaker 6: football coach. And you know, it's interesting to me because
11:00
Speaker 6: I look at some of it and so many guys
11:03
Speaker 6: have chips on their shoulders. You know, there are guys
11:05
Speaker 6: that want new contracts, so they're gonna give ultimate maximum
11:10
Speaker 6: effort and performance. I think Jamar Chase has a little
11:13
Speaker 6: bit of a mentality like, man, I missed those games
11:16
Speaker 6: last year due to injury. You know, I'm gonna come
11:18
Speaker 6: back and have a monster year this year, feeling like
11:22
Speaker 6: a little bit of regret that he wasn't there, you know,
11:24
Speaker 6: down the stretch, not due to anything other than injury
11:26
Speaker 6: obviously that you can't control. But for guys have different
11:31
Speaker 6: reasons to go out there and just put forth tremendous
11:34
Speaker 6: effort and set themselves up for the best possible season
11:37
Speaker 6: they can have. So I think it's shown itself on
11:39
Speaker 6: the football field.
11:41
Speaker 2: So when they started oh and two last year, a
11:43
Speaker 2: lot of people were like they didn't hit enough in
11:45
Speaker 2: training camp. Guys needed to play in the preseason more
11:48
Speaker 2: than they did well. They ended the season with a
11:50
Speaker 2: ten game winning streak until losing to Kansas City in
11:53
Speaker 2: the AFC Championship Game. Do you think that reinforced in
11:56
Speaker 2: Zach's mind that this is the right approach. We do
11:59
Speaker 2: need to start better than zero and two. But the
12:02
Speaker 2: bottom line is we finished the season relatively fresh, relatively healthy,
12:06
Speaker 2: and we're within two minutes of Whenning are going back
12:09
Speaker 2: to the Super Bowl.
12:09
Speaker 1: Yeah.
12:10
Speaker 6: And I think part of that own to start, and
12:12
Speaker 6: you know, the slow start in general, losing the first
12:14
Speaker 6: three division games and everything. You know, Joe Burrow is
12:17
Speaker 6: coming off with pendicitis and and now that's the straw
12:19
Speaker 6: that stirs the drink. And uh, you know, I really
12:23
Speaker 6: salute him for playing. You know, he was he was
12:26
Speaker 6: not the Joe Burrow that we're seeing, you know, at
12:29
Speaker 6: one hundred percent obviously, but he still performed at a
12:32
Speaker 6: very good level. But it wasn't it wasn't his best level.
12:36
Speaker 6: And once he rounded in the form off, they went so. Yeah,
12:42
Speaker 6: I mean, I don't I don't think you throw the
12:44
Speaker 6: baby out with the bathwater, you know, I think you
12:46
Speaker 6: I think you just still stay with what's your belief
12:49
Speaker 6: is the best way to approach it, because I tell
12:51
Speaker 6: you from experience, and it's even more so now. The
12:56
Speaker 6: same number of games, but you know, change the preseason
12:59
Speaker 6: games to the regular seas. It's a long season. It's
13:02
Speaker 6: just a grind, it really is. And I think this
13:05
Speaker 6: football team has positioned themselves exceptionally well from a roster standpoint.
13:09
Speaker 6: And you know, if you can you handle that variable
13:13
Speaker 6: that nobody can hit. You can't control the injury variable,
13:17
Speaker 6: you try as best you can to control it, and
13:20
Speaker 6: Zach fields this is the best way to do it.
13:22
Speaker 2: They've signed a ton of free agents over the last
13:24
Speaker 2: three or four years. Money is obviously the bottom line
13:26
Speaker 2: and free agency. But do you think this approach really
13:31
Speaker 2: taking care of the guys so to speak, pays off
13:34
Speaker 2: when he comes to free agency.
13:36
Speaker 6: Yeah, because there are no secrets in the league, you know.
13:38
Speaker 6: I mean, everybody has friends on every single team, and
13:42
Speaker 6: there's no doubt that I think. I think Zach Taylor
13:45
Speaker 6: is universally known around the National Football League as quote
13:49
Speaker 6: a player's coach. You know, a guy that is going
13:52
Speaker 6: to take care of the players, isn't going to, you know,
13:55
Speaker 6: burden them unnecessarily. Ego lists that it's all about the players.
14:00
Speaker 6: They're going to do everything they possibly can as a
14:02
Speaker 6: coaching staff to put the players in the best position
14:05
Speaker 6: they possibly can to perform at the highest level they
14:08
Speaker 6: possibly can and win as many games as they can.
14:10
Speaker 2: I know there have been discussions among the coaching staff
14:13
Speaker 2: about whether guys should play in the preseason this coming year,
14:16
Speaker 2: at least a few series in one of the games
14:18
Speaker 2: or something like that. But then we learned last week
14:20
Speaker 2: that they're going to have a joint practice with Green
14:22
Speaker 2: Bay before that preseason game, just one this time, not two,
14:25
Speaker 2: since we saw what happened in the second practice of
14:27
Speaker 2: the Rams last year. But when I saw that, I figured, well,
14:31
Speaker 2: there's probably where your starters are going to see your
14:34
Speaker 2: action or see their action. It's probably not going to
14:36
Speaker 2: be in the actual preseason games. Again, did you feel
14:39
Speaker 2: the same way I did?
14:40
Speaker 1: You know?
14:40
Speaker 6: When I saw that they were coming in. Coach Lafleura
14:45
Speaker 6: and Zach obviously have a very keen understanding of each other,
14:49
Speaker 6: and they totally trust how each other are going to
14:51
Speaker 6: handle that joint practice and they'll get really good work
14:55
Speaker 6: in without going over the top as such as what
14:58
Speaker 6: happened in day two against the Rams. But yeah, when
15:02
Speaker 6: when I saw heard that they were going to have
15:04
Speaker 6: that joint practice, it came to the same conclusion you did. Said, Okay,
15:08
Speaker 6: preseason game number one against Green Bay, I know you're
15:11
Speaker 6: not going to see very many starters for sure, if
15:14
Speaker 6: any and everything's going to be taking place scripted, go
15:20
Speaker 6: after it, and I think both teams will practice at
15:24
Speaker 6: a very high level. Now they won't, they won't, you know,
15:28
Speaker 6: probably take people to the ground. There may there may
15:30
Speaker 6: be a period or two where it's full all out
15:32
Speaker 6: and some of those workouts that's been the case, take
15:35
Speaker 6: them to the ground. But I think I thought they
15:38
Speaker 6: got really good work against the Rams last year, other
15:41
Speaker 6: than obviously when it got out of control with guys
15:43
Speaker 6: taking helmets off each other's heads and squatting at them
15:46
Speaker 6: and all that kind of thing. Other than that we
15:48
Speaker 6: take that part of it away, you know, it was
15:51
Speaker 6: pretty good football. And I think that'll be the same
15:53
Speaker 6: against the Packers for sure.
15:55
Speaker 2: So this is still a voluntary phase. Most of the
15:57
Speaker 2: guys have been here at least for some of the
15:59
Speaker 2: time during these voluntary workouts. We've got mandatory workouts coming
16:04
Speaker 2: up next week. Do you think Jonah Williams will be
16:07
Speaker 2: here for the start of the mandatory period.
16:09
Speaker 1: I do.
16:10
Speaker 6: I think, uh. I think Jonah is uh, you know,
16:13
Speaker 6: he's coming. He's rehabbing, coming off that surgery. So even
16:17
Speaker 6: if he's here, I'm not sure how much he's going
16:20
Speaker 6: to be able to do anyway, but I think he
16:22
Speaker 6: will be here. You know, I'd really be surprised if
16:27
Speaker 6: he's not. Let me put it that way. Knowing him
16:30
Speaker 6: to the extent that I do, and I think that
16:32
Speaker 6: Frank Pollock and uh and Zach and probably everybody, uh,
16:36
Speaker 6: you know, Coach Callahan, everybody involved, you know, feel like
16:41
Speaker 6: there's a good chance that Jonah will be here for
16:43
Speaker 6: those uh those mandatory practices, and I would be very
16:47
Speaker 6: surprised if he. If he wasn't. Stranger things have happened,
16:50
Speaker 6: you know, but I think, if I'm not mistaken, I think, uh,
16:55
Speaker 6: he and his partner had a baby as well, so
16:58
Speaker 6: there's that newborn involved and rehabbing, so he's decided to
17:03
Speaker 6: spend time, you know, in that process taking care of
17:07
Speaker 6: him himself and his family instead of being here in
17:11
Speaker 6: the in the voluntary workouts.
17:13
Speaker 2: It is voluntary, so for anybody that gets on a
17:16
Speaker 2: guy thinking it's a sign of a bad, bad attitude
17:18
Speaker 2: or something like that. I think that's overblown. There's a
17:21
Speaker 2: reason there's voluntary periods and there are mandatory periods. And
17:24
Speaker 2: another thing to keep in mind when it comes to
17:26
Speaker 2: the voluntary periods, the guys on their second contract are
17:30
Speaker 2: highly incentivized to be there. They get big bonuses for
17:34
Speaker 2: showing up for the offseason workouts and so forth. So
17:37
Speaker 2: I'm not saying that those guys are not, you know,
17:39
Speaker 2: being great team players, but they are being compensated to
17:42
Speaker 2: be here.
17:43
Speaker 6: There's no doubt, you know, and you don't. You don't
17:45
Speaker 6: want to get nicked, you know, you don't. I think
17:49
Speaker 6: you can be maybe you can't be fine, but you're
17:52
Speaker 6: certainly not going to get the money that you could
17:54
Speaker 6: have you could have collected by by showing up. And
17:57
Speaker 6: I don't know Jonah. To me, he's I'm not saying
18:00
Speaker 6: he's a throwback from a mentality standpoint, but I think
18:04
Speaker 6: you know, obviously he had had an initial reaction and
18:09
Speaker 6: a disappointment and all that that you can understand. But
18:13
Speaker 6: I think when push comes to shove, Jonah Williams is
18:15
Speaker 6: a consummate team player, and you know, I mean, you
18:19
Speaker 6: go to the right tackle position and show that you
18:20
Speaker 6: can play it. He's still going to be making you know,
18:23
Speaker 6: a lots of money, double digit millions, you know, in
18:26
Speaker 6: that contract year. And you go out there and you
18:28
Speaker 6: show that you can play left tackle and you can
18:31
Speaker 6: also play right tackle in the National Football League, that's
18:33
Speaker 6: going to do nothing to take take away your value
18:37
Speaker 6: as a football player in the offensive line. It's going
18:40
Speaker 6: to enhance it.
18:41
Speaker 2: Let's talk about the guy that took his spot at
18:43
Speaker 2: left tackle, Orlando Brown Junior. He's a proven player, four
18:46
Speaker 2: time Pro Bowler, Super Bowl champion, He's a gigantic man.
18:50
Speaker 2: I am amazed by the person. He is the most amiable, friendly,
18:55
Speaker 2: happy guy I think I've ever met. What a great
18:58
Speaker 2: addition to the locker room.
19:00
Speaker 6: He really is. I mean, he's always got a smile
19:02
Speaker 6: on his face. I mean he's positive in every every
19:07
Speaker 6: single way that you can be from football, not only football,
19:11
Speaker 6: but life in general, you know. I mean, he's he's
19:14
Speaker 6: just one of those guys. He's a he's gonna be
19:17
Speaker 6: a huge asset on the football field, in the locker room,
19:21
Speaker 6: in the community. He's they broke the mold and he's
19:26
Speaker 6: one of those guys that is a rare, rare human
19:29
Speaker 6: being and he gets it. He gets it on every
19:32
Speaker 6: single level. Uh and and he has the it factor,
19:35
Speaker 6: you know, And it's like when you have it, you
19:38
Speaker 6: might understand that you have it and you don't want
19:41
Speaker 6: to lose it. And people can't really define it, but
19:44
Speaker 6: they know that that guy has it. And I think
19:46
Speaker 6: he has that in factor, I really do.
19:49
Speaker 2: So the practices have been pretty vanilla so far. There
19:52
Speaker 2: hasn't been a lot of offense versus defense. There was
19:54
Speaker 2: some seven on seven stuff today. Has anybody caught your eye,
19:58
Speaker 2: any of the rookies, any of the free agents, made
20:01
Speaker 2: you stand up and say, Okay, this guy's showing me something.
20:03
Speaker 1: Yeah.
20:03
Speaker 6: I think the thing that has impressed me is that
20:08
Speaker 6: they've played at a high level of intensity. The tempo
20:11
Speaker 6: has been really good, and nobody has shown that they
20:15
Speaker 6: don't belong.
20:15
Speaker 3: You know.
20:16
Speaker 6: It's like everybody there, there's there's nobody that's that's out
20:19
Speaker 6: of position, either from mental error or just getting beaten
20:22
Speaker 6: physically in some sort of a matchup. It's it's really
20:26
Speaker 6: been pretty good competition out there, and everything's as advertised,
20:30
Speaker 6: I think, which is what you're you're kind of looking for,
20:32
Speaker 6: you know, but seen it in the past, have seen it,
20:36
Speaker 6: you know, as a player. Guys sometimes you know, look
20:41
Speaker 6: like Tarzan and and some of these drills and then
20:43
Speaker 6: all of a sudden, oncome the pads and end up
20:45
Speaker 6: playing like Jane a little bit, you know. And as
20:47
Speaker 6: the old saying goes, so the true tesla when the
20:50
Speaker 6: rubber meets the road, is when the helmets and shoulder
20:53
Speaker 6: pads come on and they go to training camp and
20:56
Speaker 6: and then that's the final, the final step that you
21:00
Speaker 6: have to take. You know, a lot of times, oh
21:02
Speaker 6: he was in position to make that tackle, Well, all
21:04
Speaker 6: of a sudden they put on shoulder peasant helmet and
21:07
Speaker 6: they're not making the tackle. And they might have been
21:08
Speaker 6: in position, but they aren't finishing the thing. But everybody
21:13
Speaker 6: right now, when you're looking at it in shorts and
21:15
Speaker 6: T shirts, every single person out there, from top to bottom.
21:19
Speaker 6: And that's the one thing that has impressed me, I
21:21
Speaker 6: think the most so far in the OTAs is the
21:26
Speaker 6: depth of the roster. I mean, there's nobody that's like,
21:28
Speaker 6: what the hell is this guy doing here? Everybody belongs
21:31
Speaker 6: and I think everybody has something to contribute.
21:35
Speaker 2: So last year at this time, we were getting our
21:37
Speaker 2: first look at Hayden Hurst in a Bengals uniform, and
21:39
Speaker 2: I remember watching him thinking, all right, this guy is
21:42
Speaker 2: more fluid than C. J Uzama, similar size, similar speed,
21:46
Speaker 2: but just gets in and out of his brakes a
21:48
Speaker 2: little more fluidly. Now, IRV Smith Jr. Isn't quite as big,
21:53
Speaker 2: but it's another guy where I'm thinking he's a little
21:56
Speaker 2: smoother and a little more fluid even than hayden Hurst.
21:58
Speaker 6: Yeah, and you know, you see him make plays where
22:03
Speaker 6: you know, if the balls behind him, that's a tough
22:06
Speaker 6: catch to make and to turn your body and be
22:09
Speaker 6: He shows flexibility, he shows strength, he shows athleticism. I
22:14
Speaker 6: think I think Joe Burrow is going to really really
22:17
Speaker 6: like having him as an option to throw to in
22:20
Speaker 6: that passing game with all the receivers that they've got
22:22
Speaker 6: that he can spread the field with and let earth
22:24
Speaker 6: Smith Junior work the middle of the football field. And
22:27
Speaker 6: we've seen, you know, like you said, C. J. Zama
22:30
Speaker 6: do it, hayden Hurst do it. There's no reason watching
22:34
Speaker 6: earth Smith, the athletic ability that he has and the
22:37
Speaker 6: football pedigree, the bloodlines and everything else he has, I
22:41
Speaker 6: expect him to have a pretty significant season. I think
22:44
Speaker 6: Joe Borrow is going to really like throwing the ball
22:46
Speaker 6: to earth Smith Jr.
22:47
Speaker 2: It's the first week of June. There's no Burrow extension yet.
22:53
Speaker 2: Is there any doubt in your mind that this will
22:56
Speaker 2: get done before the start of the season.
23:00
Speaker 6: There's not any doubt in my mind, But I guess
23:02
Speaker 6: would I'd be shocked if it doesn't.
23:04
Speaker 1: I don't know.
23:05
Speaker 6: I guess nothing shocks me anymore, but i'd be I'd be,
23:08
Speaker 6: you know, surprised that you couldn't finalize because I think
23:12
Speaker 6: both sides are eager, you know, to get it done.
23:15
Speaker 6: But it's just a matter of closing the closing the
23:18
Speaker 6: final gap, you know, and and getting that thing done.
23:22
Speaker 6: Having negotiated contracts myself, it's the toughest, the toughest part
23:27
Speaker 6: of the contract is that final that final step to
23:31
Speaker 6: get to you know, you start to close the gap,
23:33
Speaker 6: close the gap, close the gap. There's a give and
23:35
Speaker 6: take and then then everybody starts, Okay, well that's it.
23:38
Speaker 6: I'm not I'm not budgeting anymore, and just that final
23:41
Speaker 6: gap to get it closed, whatever it is. You know,
23:44
Speaker 6: there's one bargaining point that one side is going to
23:47
Speaker 6: be you know, firm on and the opposite and on
23:51
Speaker 6: the other side, and it's just that one final thing
23:53
Speaker 6: to overcome whatever it may be and to get that
23:56
Speaker 6: contract consummated. So it's going to be interest. I'm interested
24:01
Speaker 6: to see who goes who falls first, Herbert or Burrow.
24:06
Speaker 6: But in my estimation, even if Borrow signs first, I
24:10
Speaker 6: don't think Herbert gets as much as Burrow. If Herbert
24:12
Speaker 6: signs first, I think Borrow gets more. If Borrow signs first,
24:16
Speaker 6: I think then the Borrow is set and then Herbert
24:20
Speaker 6: will fall in line. I just don't think it's gonna
24:22
Speaker 6: be one of those deals where all right, well one
24:25
Speaker 6: will sign, the other one will supersede. I don't necessarily
24:29
Speaker 6: think that would would be the case, but we'll see.
24:31
Speaker 2: Yeah, when you put it that way, then there's really
24:33
Speaker 2: no reason for a Herbert deal to hold up a
24:36
Speaker 2: Burrow deal. Yeah, and Burrow deserves more. His team has
24:40
Speaker 2: accomplished much more. Five playoff wins to none, a trip
24:43
Speaker 2: to the Super Bowl to none. Herbert's got the better stats,
24:46
Speaker 2: at least in terms of you know, cumulative numbers, but
24:50
Speaker 2: Burrow has done more to this point to deserve the
24:53
Speaker 2: better deal.
24:53
Speaker 6: I agree, you know, and I think I think that
24:57
Speaker 6: is the pecking order. In my mind. The only quarterback
25:01
Speaker 6: that you know has had more success individually and team
25:05
Speaker 6: wise is Patrick Maholmes, you know, And I think I
25:07
Speaker 6: think Joe is Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrow. That's in
25:10
Speaker 6: my mind, that's that's the pecking order. And I'm not
25:13
Speaker 6: saying there are other great ones. I mean, Lawrence is great,
25:16
Speaker 6: Hurst is great, there's you know, Jackson's great. But I
25:21
Speaker 6: think I think Joe Burrow should should fall, you know,
25:25
Speaker 6: should be the guy right now until Mahomes goes to
25:28
Speaker 6: the bargaining table again, because right now I think he's
25:30
Speaker 6: seventh or something in terms of quarterback compensation. But he's
25:33
Speaker 6: already gone to the table and gotten money and he'll
25:36
Speaker 6: do it again. But I think Joe Burrow has earned
25:40
Speaker 6: that place in the ranking system. I really do.
25:42
Speaker 3: So.
25:43
Speaker 2: We were among the fortunate folks invited to play in
25:45
Speaker 2: Joe Burrow's golf tournament for the Joe Burrow Foundation and
25:49
Speaker 2: then attend the after party, which was spectacular, raising hundreds
25:53
Speaker 2: of thousands of dollars. It was remarkable. You know, Joe
25:56
Speaker 2: has this saying we all have a responsibility to do good.
26:00
Speaker 2: It's not just the saying for Joe Burrow. He lives it.
26:04
Speaker 2: And I mean you talk about a twenty six year
26:07
Speaker 2: old person that gets it, he is the epitome of that.
26:11
Speaker 6: He really is. I mean, you know, the thing, the
26:13
Speaker 6: thing about Joe that resonates with me is, you know,
26:18
Speaker 6: he does everything with class. You know, he does everything
26:21
Speaker 6: in a first class basis really, and it's just everything,
26:26
Speaker 6: everything that he associates himself with is gold. I mean,
26:29
Speaker 6: he is minus everything. He touches his gold. And you know,
26:33
Speaker 6: the fans just they just absolutely go crazy for an
26:38
Speaker 6: opportunity to do something, whatever it may be with Joe Burrow.
26:42
Speaker 6: I mean a day at training camp with Jimmy Burrow,
26:45
Speaker 6: Joe's dad goes for you know, forty forty five thousand dollars.
26:48
Speaker 6: I'm like, what the heck?
26:49
Speaker 3: This is great.
26:50
Speaker 6: But the thing that impressed me haven't been involved in
26:54
Speaker 6: a tournament for you know, a good quarter of a century.
26:57
Speaker 6: With the Down Centerm Association, there's a lot of work
27:01
Speaker 6: and you know, shout out to Karencottell, who does a
27:03
Speaker 6: tremendous job for the Down Syndrom Association. Joe's parents put
27:07
Speaker 6: in so much time and everybody else committee. Those things
27:10
Speaker 6: aren't easy to pull off, and I thought it went
27:13
Speaker 6: really well for the first time that they did it
27:17
Speaker 6: pretty flawless and it was everybody. Everybody really I think,
27:22
Speaker 6: enjoyed it. And it's going to be around for as
27:25
Speaker 6: long as they want it to be around, I think,
27:27
Speaker 6: and it's going to do a lot of good for
27:28
Speaker 6: a lot of people, as they say.
27:31
Speaker 2: The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you by Alta Fiber,
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Speaker 2: get to my final guest, here's a quick invitation to
27:48
Speaker 2: grab your yoga Matt and join who Day on Saturday,
27:53
Speaker 2: June seventeenth at nine am for Namas Day Yoga on
27:57
Speaker 2: the field at pay Course Stadium. Register now at Bengals
28:00
Speaker 2: dot com slash Yoga. It's presented by you by Cotex
28:05
Speaker 2: in partnership with Kroger and titled Babe Period Supply Bank.
28:10
Speaker 2: Joe Burrow hosted his fundraising golf tournament on Monday, and
28:13
Speaker 2: a former Bengal standout hosted his on Thursday. Former right
28:18
Speaker 2: tackle Joe Walter, who helped the Bengals get to Super
28:21
Speaker 2: Bowl twenty three. He's been the host of the Goodwill
28:24
Speaker 2: Celebrity golf outing for more than twenty years, helping to
28:27
Speaker 2: provide employment and training services for people with disabilities. I
28:32
Speaker 2: caught up with Joe before his event got underway. Joe,
28:36
Speaker 2: They're on a ton of question marks on the roster
28:38
Speaker 2: right now, but one of them is at your former position,
28:41
Speaker 2: right tackle. The odds on favorite is probably Jonah Williams,
28:45
Speaker 2: but he's played the left side in Cincinnati the last
28:47
Speaker 2: three years, hasn't played right tackle since his freshman year
28:50
Speaker 2: at Alabama. Do you look at this as a difficult
28:53
Speaker 2: move for him to go back from left to right.
28:55
Speaker 3: I, you know, not really. I think if he's really
28:58
Speaker 3: got his mindset right and he's worked at the offseason,
29:02
Speaker 3: I think he'll just really good at it. He's got
29:04
Speaker 3: that type of mentality. He's a smart guy. But you
29:07
Speaker 3: got to work at it right, and if he does that,
29:10
Speaker 3: I think it does nothing but help him in the future.
29:13
Speaker 2: Let's look at the pool of candidates for right tack.
29:16
Speaker 2: You've got Jonah, You've got l Collins, who played the
29:19
Speaker 2: first fifteen games last year, but then tores Ac, LMCL
29:22
Speaker 2: and PCL on Christmas Eve. You've got Jackson Carman, who
29:25
Speaker 2: hasn't had a great start to his first two NFL seasons.
29:28
Speaker 2: Then you've got Cody Ford kind of a similar situation,
29:31
Speaker 2: but he's been in the league longer. Do you feel
29:34
Speaker 2: good that out of that pool of candidates they're going
29:36
Speaker 2: to get good play from somebody at right tackle?
29:38
Speaker 3: Absolutely, competition breeds greatness, right, So you've got four good guys.
29:43
Speaker 3: I don't know about Collins with his health right it's
29:45
Speaker 3: going to be tougher for him to come back. But
29:47
Speaker 3: with the three other Ford, Jonah and just for Jackson Jackson,
29:53
Speaker 3: I think that'll be good competition and hopefully they get
29:56
Speaker 3: a lot of reps and the coaches can see what
29:58
Speaker 3: they've got. But if you want to play and make
30:01
Speaker 3: money in the future, you got to be good at
30:03
Speaker 3: right tackle.
30:04
Speaker 2: So last year they have the same five guys start
30:07
Speaker 2: the first fifteen games, and then in three straight weeks
30:10
Speaker 2: they lose starters leading up to the AFC Championship game. Unfortunately,
30:13
Speaker 2: it's kind of a deja vu situation for you. He
30:16
Speaker 2: suffered an injury in the final game of the regular
30:18
Speaker 2: season in eighty eight before the Super Bowl. What did
30:21
Speaker 2: you think of how that impacted the Bengals as they
30:23
Speaker 2: tried to get back to the Super Bowl.
30:26
Speaker 3: Oh, it impacts big time, right, you lose three guys.
30:29
Speaker 3: I keep telling everybody, Now, this team on paper looks awesome, right,
30:34
Speaker 3: but you got to stay healthy. And we weren't healthy
30:36
Speaker 3: towards the end of the year last year. Year before,
30:38
Speaker 3: we were healthy. So I think it's all about staying healthy.
30:41
Speaker 3: I think if the line can stay healthy another year
30:44
Speaker 3: playing together, now you're going to have that right tackle
30:46
Speaker 3: mix where he's not used to playing with the guard right.
30:49
Speaker 3: So they've got to learn that. But hopefully with a
30:52
Speaker 3: full training camp and guys out there practicing.
30:55
Speaker 1: It will be good.
30:55
Speaker 3: We'll be all right.
30:56
Speaker 2: Did you have a bit of a deja vu flashback
30:59
Speaker 2: last year when those got got hurt so late in
31:01
Speaker 2: the season.
31:01
Speaker 1: A little bit.
31:02
Speaker 3: Yeah. It was tough because I knew what they were
31:06
Speaker 3: going through, and I know what I go through even
31:09
Speaker 3: today just thinking about not being able to play in
31:11
Speaker 3: the big game and in the playoffs.
31:13
Speaker 2: Or visiting with Joe Walter. What was your reaction when
31:15
Speaker 2: the Bengals signed the number one free agent offensive lineman
31:20
Speaker 2: available this year in Orlando Brown Junior.
31:22
Speaker 3: I was shocked because there was no word. Nobody even
31:25
Speaker 3: knew anything, and it just woke up one day and
31:27
Speaker 3: there he was, and I went, that was one of
31:29
Speaker 3: the largest pickups the Bengals have ever had. And you know,
31:32
Speaker 3: hopefully he can stay healthy. And I know he's really
31:35
Speaker 3: a smart guy and he's really into it and he
31:38
Speaker 3: wants to be great, which is he's got that desire.
31:40
Speaker 3: I think we're going to be good.
31:42
Speaker 2: After they signed him, Jonah demanded a trade. He's going
31:46
Speaker 2: into the final year of his contract. He's only played
31:48
Speaker 2: left tackle in the NFL so far. Did you understand it,
31:53
Speaker 2: did you identify with it? What was your reaction to
31:56
Speaker 2: Jonah's reaction.
31:57
Speaker 3: You know, my initial reaction was I get it. But
32:00
Speaker 3: the more I thought about it that same day, I thought,
32:03
Speaker 3: go play right tackleing make yourself even more valuable right
32:07
Speaker 3: because if you can play both sides and play both
32:09
Speaker 3: sides really well, that's going to do nothing but help
32:12
Speaker 3: you next year in free agency.
32:14
Speaker 2: How confident are you that the Bengals, who win a
32:17
Speaker 2: Super Bowl in the Joe Burrow era very confident.
32:20
Speaker 3: I think they've got all the tangibles they need. They've
32:23
Speaker 3: got folks on both sides of the ball that can play. Obviously,
32:27
Speaker 3: in football you need a little luck and you've got
32:29
Speaker 3: to stay healthy.
32:31
Speaker 2: We're here at the Goodwill Celebrity Golf outing. You've been
32:33
Speaker 2: involved with this for more than twenty years. How did
32:36
Speaker 2: you get involved and why have you stayed involved?
32:38
Speaker 3: Well, initially I started out, as you remember my Special
32:41
Speaker 3: Olympics golf outing, and heck that was twenty three years
32:45
Speaker 3: ago too, And so the folks at Goodwill were there
32:48
Speaker 3: and they came up and talked to me and asked
32:49
Speaker 3: me about it. And you know the reason I do
32:52
Speaker 3: it is because I did the Special Olympics, because you
32:54
Speaker 3: got folks with disabilities that are where than the athletics
32:58
Speaker 3: part of it, right, And then when Goodwill came along,
33:00
Speaker 3: these these folks put folks with disabilities to work, They
33:03
Speaker 3: train them and then find them jobs, right, So it
33:06
Speaker 3: worked hand in hand and it's been a great thing.
33:09
Speaker 3: I love giving all the clients hell and I treat
33:12
Speaker 3: them like anybody else. I don't baby them, and that's
33:15
Speaker 3: what's fun about it.
33:16
Speaker 2: Thanks for all you do. Thanks for the time today.
33:18
Speaker 2: Much appreciate it.
33:19
Speaker 3: Thanks for coming out, brother, appreciate you.
33:22
Speaker 2: That's going to do it for this episode of the
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