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Bengals Booth Podcast: Call Me Al · Bengals Booth Podcast

0:03
Speaker 1: Hi again everybody.
0:04
Speaker 2: I'm Dan Hord and thanks for downloading the Bengals Booth Podcast.
0:08
Speaker 1: The if you can call me.
0:13
Speaker 2: Addition, as I sit down for an in depth conversation
0:17
Speaker 2: with defensive coordinator Al Golden, then it's my one on
0:21
Speaker 2: one visit with andre Yosi Bosh, who's part of a
0:23
Speaker 2: twenty twenty three draft class that's turned out to be
0:27
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Speaker 2: Now here's a quick reminder that you can have the
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Speaker 2: latest edition of this podcast delivered write to your phone,
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Speaker 2: tablet or computer by subscribing wherever you get your podcast.
1:00
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2:35
Speaker 2: playing it than I do. Now let's get to my
2:39
Speaker 2: first guest. We all know that last year was a
2:42
Speaker 2: tough one for the Bengals defense. In back to back
2:44
Speaker 2: losses to the Jets and Bears. Heading into the bye week,
2:47
Speaker 2: Cincinnati gave up eighty six points and allowed ten touchdowns.
2:52
Speaker 2: But in the eight games after the bye, the Bengals
2:55
Speaker 2: defense allowed fewer than eighteen points a game, and by
2:59
Speaker 2: the Dvoa met Cincinnati had the thirteenth best defense in
3:03
Speaker 2: the NFL during that span. Since then, Al Golden's defense
3:08
Speaker 2: has added Dexter Lawrence, Brian Cook, boy A Mafe, Jonathan Allen,
3:12
Speaker 2: Kyle Dugger, and three defensive draft picks. The defense should
3:17
Speaker 2: be better, but how much better? I sat down for
3:21
Speaker 2: an in depth conversation with the Bengals DC this week.
3:26
Speaker 2: It's always great to spend a few minutes with Bengals
3:28
Speaker 2: defensive coordinator Al gold and you did a news conference
3:32
Speaker 2: the day after the Dexter Lawrence trade.
3:34
Speaker 1: That was a couple of months ago.
3:36
Speaker 2: Now that you've been around him on a regular basis
3:38
Speaker 2: and watched him practice, what do you think Yeah.
3:41
Speaker 3: I remember, I recall vividly just how excited I was
3:44
Speaker 3: and how I spent that Sunday. We ended up going
3:48
Speaker 3: to dinner that night, but I spent that sunday watching
3:51
Speaker 3: his film from the previous year and how excited I was,
3:54
Speaker 3: And then I met the man. You know, just an
3:58
Speaker 3: incredible human being, self player. He'll do whatever we ask
4:01
Speaker 3: him to do. It brings energy every day. I don't
4:03
Speaker 3: know if it's common knowledge or not, but so we're
4:06
Speaker 3: at dinner.
4:07
Speaker 1: That night, Zach's there. He says I'll be.
4:09
Speaker 3: There tomorrow, and he never left, so he didn't miss
4:13
Speaker 3: He didn't miss a day in the offseason. So that's
4:14
Speaker 3: a testament to his character and obviously what he wants
4:17
Speaker 3: to get done here in the next year.
4:19
Speaker 2: You've coached some great players, some great defensive tackles. Have
4:22
Speaker 2: you ever seen anybody with that combination of massive size,
4:26
Speaker 2: but quickness and athleticism.
4:28
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's rare, It's very rare. But I think what
4:32
Speaker 3: separates him is just how disruptive he is. And even
4:36
Speaker 3: when he's not making the sack or batting the ball
4:39
Speaker 3: down or making the tackle, he's he's disrupting the course
4:45
Speaker 3: and the flow of the game and certainly the pocket
4:48
Speaker 3: and having that pocket presence inside and now we feel like,
4:52
Speaker 3: you know, we have five guys that we can rotate
4:54
Speaker 3: inside that that can all push the pocket and obviously
4:57
Speaker 3: give us a better edge on the perimeter.
5:00
Speaker 1: You like the.
5:00
Speaker 2: Expression force multiplier. Is Dexter the greatest example of a
5:05
Speaker 2: force multiplier?
5:06
Speaker 1: Yeah?
5:06
Speaker 3: I just think the thing that's nice about him is
5:09
Speaker 3: you don't have to take him off the field. He
5:10
Speaker 3: can push the pocket on third down or known passing downs,
5:13
Speaker 3: get back on track if you will, and.
5:16
Speaker 1: We have a good rotation.
5:17
Speaker 3: But I think what separates him is his ability to
5:19
Speaker 3: finish on the perimeter. When you watch his tackles, and
5:23
Speaker 3: we studied his rap and roll tackles and showed.
5:25
Speaker 1: It to the unit a number of times.
5:28
Speaker 3: Just his reach, his mobility down the line of scrimmage
5:31
Speaker 3: and ability to finish in the CD gap.
5:33
Speaker 1: Or on the perimeters is very unique for a man
5:35
Speaker 1: of his size.
5:36
Speaker 2: Duke Tobin did a news conference right after the season
5:39
Speaker 2: last year where he said the following, we have tons
5:41
Speaker 2: of leadership on offense. We need somebody, multiple people to step.
5:46
Speaker 1: Up and lead the defense. With the addition of Dexter.
5:49
Speaker 2: And Brian Cook and Boy and Mafe, Jonathan Allen and others.
5:54
Speaker 1: Do you see a change there?
5:55
Speaker 3: Yeah, what I see is the confluence of what we
5:57
Speaker 3: were talking about at the end of last year.
5:58
Speaker 1: With the growth of of.
6:00
Speaker 3: The guys that were here last year, you know, d
6:03
Speaker 3: Knight and and Jordan Battle and Bart Carter, Miles Murphy,
6:09
Speaker 3: and I see that group continuing on their trend, and
6:12
Speaker 3: then I see this other group coming in and it's great.
6:16
Speaker 1: There's nobody stand offish.
6:18
Speaker 3: Everybody's got you know, focused on moving forward together, uh
6:21
Speaker 3: and really combining forces.
6:23
Speaker 1: And it's been great to see.
6:25
Speaker 3: But I can tell you just from being back there
6:28
Speaker 3: during practice to hear those guys talk and solve problems
6:32
Speaker 3: and take ownership. Uh, they're empowered to solve problems. Cook
6:37
Speaker 3: is a great example of that. He's he plays with
6:39
Speaker 3: so much poise, and he's a great communicator and he's
6:42
Speaker 3: just fun to be around every day. Every every guy
6:45
Speaker 3: that Duke gave us in the off season, they're tremendous
6:48
Speaker 3: people off the field. They're obviously great athletes where we
6:51
Speaker 3: wouldn't have brought him here, but they're great people and
6:53
Speaker 3: they've all added to the leadership of our building.
6:56
Speaker 2: Brian Cook was the first free agent the Bengals signed
6:59
Speaker 2: on the day of free agency. Was that just the
7:02
Speaker 2: way it worked out? Or was he at the top
7:04
Speaker 2: of the wishland that was?
7:05
Speaker 3: That was a great get for us, and he's proved
7:10
Speaker 3: formidable since then. I mean, whatever we ask him to do,
7:14
Speaker 3: he can do. And again, just being around him, I'm
7:19
Speaker 3: not surprised, but I'm excited about you know, his range
7:22
Speaker 3: and his ability to cover. Those are bonuses for all
7:25
Speaker 3: the other things that he does really well. Disrupt the football,
7:27
Speaker 3: tackle in the alley, run the show. So he's got
7:31
Speaker 3: the complete package and obviously worthy of of you know,
7:35
Speaker 3: his price tag.
7:35
Speaker 2: In the offseason, I saw all of his games that
7:38
Speaker 2: you see. He's a physical tone setter.
7:42
Speaker 1: It's clean.
7:42
Speaker 2: He's only been called for one penalty the last couple
7:45
Speaker 2: of years and it wasn't a personal foul. But did
7:48
Speaker 2: your defense need a dose of that?
7:50
Speaker 1: Yeah?
7:50
Speaker 3: I think again, I see not just what he brings,
7:54
Speaker 3: but I see just the guys from last year continuing
7:58
Speaker 3: to make that positive trend. And and I see it
8:02
Speaker 3: in practice, you know, I see it when we're doing drills.
8:05
Speaker 3: There's an intentionality there. And I think what b Cook
8:09
Speaker 3: does is he brings a professionalism and intentionality and a
8:12
Speaker 3: purpose to every drill. And so I quality controlled the
8:16
Speaker 3: tackling drills with the coaches and we show it to
8:19
Speaker 3: the guys, and he's coming up time and time again.
8:21
Speaker 3: And now it's Jordan Battle, now it's b Carter, Demetrius Knight.
8:24
Speaker 3: So we've got to run on guys now trying to
8:28
Speaker 3: really do things at an elite level, and obviously Brian's
8:32
Speaker 3: one of the stimulus.
8:33
Speaker 1: For that, staying in the secondary.
8:35
Speaker 2: Dax Hill thrived as an outside corner when you moved
8:38
Speaker 2: him to that spot last year.
8:40
Speaker 1: He would like to stay outside. Is that the plan?
8:43
Speaker 1: It is the plan.
8:44
Speaker 3: I think Dax has done a tremendous job and JD's
8:49
Speaker 3: growth inside isn't allow is allowing us to do that.
8:53
Speaker 3: And then you know the growth of others, you know,
8:55
Speaker 3: whether it's Fig dj Ivy, then contributions that they made,
8:58
Speaker 3: especially in our dying package, and then obviously bringing someone
9:02
Speaker 3: like Bobo in And I don't know if you were
9:04
Speaker 3: out there today, but he made a really nice interception
9:07
Speaker 3: just before we broke and seven on seven. And he's
9:11
Speaker 3: another guy with one two and a good football mind
9:14
Speaker 3: and he's learning quickly, so we got a good group there.
9:17
Speaker 3: Chuck and Jordan do a great job with the back end,
9:20
Speaker 3: and we'll continue to work and some packages. You know,
9:24
Speaker 3: Dax will be wherever his matchup is, so sometimes that
9:26
Speaker 3: will be inside, but certainly on early downs. We're going
9:29
Speaker 3: to continue this course with him because it's working out
9:32
Speaker 3: really well.
9:33
Speaker 2: JD is Jalen Davis. He was on the Super Bowl team,
9:35
Speaker 2: so he's been here longer than most of the guys
9:38
Speaker 2: on the roster. He's always been a valuable reserve, but
9:41
Speaker 2: was it a bit of a pleasant surprise when he
9:44
Speaker 2: moved into the starting lineup and had the impact that
9:46
Speaker 2: he did.
9:47
Speaker 3: I'm a big Jalen Davis fan again. Tremendous person, great work, ethic, intellect,
9:53
Speaker 3: confidence when he's on the field, the ability to run it.
9:56
Speaker 3: He gives me so much confidence on the defensive as
10:00
Speaker 3: a play caller because I know he's always going to
10:02
Speaker 3: write the ship and he's always going to communicate where
10:05
Speaker 3: he is lined up and what we need to get done.
10:07
Speaker 3: So obviously that's comforting from my standpoint. The thing I'll
10:12
Speaker 3: say about JD is he had a great offseason, and
10:15
Speaker 3: what I mean by that is before he got here.
10:17
Speaker 3: He came here when we started the off season program
10:20
Speaker 3: in tremendous condition and he couldn't wait to show me
10:24
Speaker 3: the condition that he was in. And then obviously he's
10:27
Speaker 3: had a really, really good spring for us.
10:29
Speaker 1: And again, Chuck does a great job with those guys. TJ.
10:32
Speaker 2: Turner played at a Pro Bowl level. You often had
10:35
Speaker 2: him shadowing the other team's best wide receiver and he
10:39
Speaker 2: didn't start in Week one?
10:41
Speaker 1: Was that one of the most.
10:42
Speaker 2: Dramatic start of the seasons. The end of the season's
10:46
Speaker 2: examples of growth that you've seen.
10:47
Speaker 3: Yeah, maybe you know, you know his career turned on
10:51
Speaker 3: that access right there, and I think it's not even
10:56
Speaker 3: that day to the end of the season. It's that
10:58
Speaker 3: day to maybe two weeks later. And he started to climb.
11:02
Speaker 3: He became processed, driven, doing all the little details off
11:06
Speaker 3: the field, making sure he's taking care of his mind,
11:08
Speaker 3: his mental health. His mind brings energy when he plays.
11:13
Speaker 3: Obviously has makeup speed really good at the catch point.
11:17
Speaker 3: So he made a lot of great strides and I
11:21
Speaker 3: see it out there right now as he continues to
11:23
Speaker 3: make that progress for us.
11:25
Speaker 2: I feel like the addition of Kyle Ducker Duger has
11:27
Speaker 2: kind of flown under the radar a little bit. The
11:30
Speaker 2: Patriots thought enough to give him a fifty eight million
11:32
Speaker 2: dollar deal a few years ago. Then he got hurt,
11:34
Speaker 2: Then there's a coaching change. Now he winds up in
11:37
Speaker 2: Cincinnati at the age of thirty.
11:38
Speaker 1: How does he fit with you?
11:40
Speaker 3: I'm excited about Doug again, just savvy, just watching him operate,
11:45
Speaker 3: say if we're bringing him out a pressure, and just
11:47
Speaker 3: how he plays with poise, he gets his quarterback indicators
11:51
Speaker 3: and then he comes and he disguises really well. He's
11:53
Speaker 3: a physical player. He's a big, big body presence. Again,
11:58
Speaker 3: we're teaching him everything right now. But the things that
12:01
Speaker 3: he did really well last year for New England and
12:03
Speaker 3: Pittsburgh was just play with Savvy in the box and
12:08
Speaker 3: he can find the ball, I get the.
12:09
Speaker 1: Ball carrier on the ground. And he's a great addition
12:12
Speaker 1: for us.
12:12
Speaker 3: And again he just brings guys that are that are
12:15
Speaker 3: ready made professionals and ready for right now, built for
12:19
Speaker 3: right now.
12:20
Speaker 2: I've been watching the two second year linebackers quite a
12:23
Speaker 2: bit in these offseason practices. It looks to me like
12:27
Speaker 2: they're being more vocal and communicating more.
12:30
Speaker 1: Is that accurate quickly.
12:32
Speaker 3: Again, they're both you know, really comfortable, they're solving problems,
12:37
Speaker 3: they're making choices, really good choices on the field. They're
12:40
Speaker 3: getting us lined up right, they're getting us in the
12:42
Speaker 3: adjustment or stunt. And again I've said it to you
12:45
Speaker 3: multiple times. I could call the front, I can call
12:48
Speaker 3: the coverage, but I can't always call the stunt correctly.
12:51
Speaker 3: You have to do that based on formation, backfield set
12:54
Speaker 3: and whatever the game plan or or whatever the indicators are.
12:57
Speaker 3: And they're doing that now. They're much more comfortable in
13:00
Speaker 3: that and they can handle more. I think more importantly,
13:04
Speaker 3: what I see is just they're able to focus on
13:06
Speaker 3: the technique because the mind is a little bit quieter.
13:09
Speaker 3: So I knew there was going to be dividends. And
13:12
Speaker 3: again credit to Mike Hodges for really pushing through last year,
13:16
Speaker 3: pushing through. At the end of the day, it wasn't perfect.
13:19
Speaker 3: They continued to make growth, but we ended up with
13:21
Speaker 3: two guys one hundred plus tackles coming back on a
13:24
Speaker 3: group that's been fortified around them. So I'm really excited
13:27
Speaker 3: about those two.
13:28
Speaker 2: At practice, you've got the walkie talkie, which I assume
13:31
Speaker 2: you're using to communicate with players on the field. Barrett
13:35
Speaker 2: Carter and Demetrius Knight both have helmets on in practice.
13:39
Speaker 2: Do you talk to them both or is it like
13:41
Speaker 2: a game only talk to one.
13:42
Speaker 3: Yeah, we take turns with the green dot, and Joe
13:46
Speaker 3: Giles will do it too, but we'll take turns with
13:50
Speaker 3: the green dot just to make sure everybody's trained with it.
13:53
Speaker 1: And you know, again, so you know that.
13:56
Speaker 3: We have some continuity there if someone has you know,
14:01
Speaker 3: if there's a problem with a green dot, or if
14:02
Speaker 3: someone gets thayed for a couple of plays, that we can.
14:07
Speaker 1: You know, continue to move forward.
14:08
Speaker 2: I spoke to an NFL analyst that did like a
14:11
Speaker 2: ten year study of PFF data and he says that
14:16
Speaker 2: linebackers improved the most based on that data from first
14:21
Speaker 2: year to second year, more than any other position. Does
14:24
Speaker 2: that track for you?
14:26
Speaker 1: Well?
14:26
Speaker 3: Times too right, right for both? So I hope that's true.
14:30
Speaker 3: I feel like it's true now. And again we put
14:34
Speaker 3: those guys in a very precarious spot last year. Again,
14:40
Speaker 3: I've done it with one before, part time, you know,
14:45
Speaker 3: with Logan, but he had buydes as a backstop, you know,
14:49
Speaker 3: and then he had Germaine next to him. But to
14:52
Speaker 3: do it with both guys with threw them in the
14:54
Speaker 3: deep end. They fought, they battled, and somehow, you know,
14:58
Speaker 3: made their way home. And I think we're going to
15:01
Speaker 3: be the I think the Cincinnati Bengals are going to
15:04
Speaker 3: be the benefactors of that.
15:05
Speaker 1: And that's certainly playing out that way the spring.
15:07
Speaker 2: Sticking with the second year guys, I've been keeping an
15:09
Speaker 2: eye on Shamar Stewart as much as I can. Everything
15:12
Speaker 2: looks just to tick faster to me. Is that just
15:16
Speaker 2: knowing what he's doing?
15:17
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think so. And again, it was unfortunate.
15:20
Speaker 3: Miss you know, the off season program, so missed all
15:24
Speaker 3: of this last year, missed the majority of training camp.
15:27
Speaker 3: And then okay, Shamar, now you've got to go in
15:29
Speaker 3: and play for us. So he goes in and plays
15:31
Speaker 3: for us. And if you go back and look at this
15:32
Speaker 3: the Cleveland game, there's some plays.
15:34
Speaker 1: Where you're like whoa.
15:36
Speaker 3: Then he gets dinged up the second week and now
15:39
Speaker 3: he's back, so he ends up missing a whole bunch
15:41
Speaker 3: of time. So yeah, I'm excited about his progress. He's
15:45
Speaker 3: got to continue to just make it small, be processed, driven,
15:49
Speaker 3: be a pro, look at the iPad all the time,
15:51
Speaker 3: ask questions, be engaged, own.
15:54
Speaker 1: His paths success. Everybody's as different.
15:58
Speaker 3: For example, I'll give you one a tidbit just Dejon
16:02
Speaker 3: just d the the amount of process that he has
16:07
Speaker 3: right now in the growth that he's made. That's another
16:09
Speaker 3: good example of guys developing at different times or have
16:13
Speaker 3: a different timeline. And that's what we're trying to teach
16:16
Speaker 3: Samar right now is to own that timeline, own that process,
16:18
Speaker 3: and really push forward here as we get into August.
16:21
Speaker 3: Miles Murphy took big steps last year. What's the next step?
16:25
Speaker 3: Just continue to do it, Like here's what he did
16:27
Speaker 3: at the end of you know, really from mid season
16:29
Speaker 3: last year on, it's just made the game really small,
16:32
Speaker 3: didn't press to get a sack, didn't press, got his
16:35
Speaker 3: eyes quiet, was in ping pong and pre snap. Knew
16:38
Speaker 3: exactly what his technique was where he needed to be
16:41
Speaker 3: executed at a really high level, and the plays came.
16:44
Speaker 3: He knows he left the couple out there as as
16:47
Speaker 3: did we all me too as the play caller. And
16:50
Speaker 3: I think this year we're seeing another level of him
16:54
Speaker 3: this spring and obviously just continue that path and those plays.
16:57
Speaker 3: He's too he's too talented, he's too long he's too
17:00
Speaker 3: strong for those plays not to come if he continues
17:03
Speaker 3: this positive trend that he's on right now.
17:04
Speaker 2: You were asked about him during training camp last year
17:07
Speaker 2: you said it's time. Does that expression apply to Chris
17:11
Speaker 2: Jenkins this year?
17:12
Speaker 1: So I think so.
17:13
Speaker 3: And again I think we talked about Doug being overshadowed
17:17
Speaker 3: by some of that, but I think Chris's growth this
17:19
Speaker 3: offseason has been overshadowed a little bit. But we need
17:23
Speaker 3: him to come through. Like we need to play a
17:24
Speaker 3: lot of guys. We need to play ten guys up front,
17:26
Speaker 3: and we need to be able to roll guys in there,
17:30
Speaker 3: and Chris is a valuable piece of that.
17:32
Speaker 1: I'm a big fan of his.
17:33
Speaker 3: He brings energy, he's very intelligent, he's strong, he can
17:38
Speaker 3: anchor down. We just got to take that next step
17:40
Speaker 3: in terms of being able to make plays and.
17:45
Speaker 1: Get some negatives for us.
17:47
Speaker 2: After the first day of the draft, teams reorganize their
17:50
Speaker 2: board based on who is selected in round one. When
17:53
Speaker 2: the Bengals did that this year, Cassius Howell was at
17:56
Speaker 2: the top of the day to board and you were
17:59
Speaker 2: able to get him with a ninth pick of the
18:01
Speaker 2: second round. Why were you in this organization so high
18:04
Speaker 2: on Cassius.
18:05
Speaker 3: How sudden player versatility you know, has the ability to drop,
18:10
Speaker 3: has the ability to rush off the edge, gives you
18:13
Speaker 3: an alley presence at any time. So he's really a
18:16
Speaker 3: true hybrid in that. Okay, where what is this guy doing.
18:20
Speaker 1: On this play?
18:20
Speaker 3: So I think between him and boy A, we have
18:23
Speaker 3: a good group there of guys that can be versatile.
18:28
Speaker 3: And I'll give you a little sneak inside. So we're
18:32
Speaker 3: sitting there at the beginning of Saturday, the two guys
18:35
Speaker 3: that we have picked, the two guys that we have
18:37
Speaker 3: at the top of the board, are there, and so
18:41
Speaker 3: we say no to a million trades and finally Duke
18:46
Speaker 3: gets the trade that he wants and lo and behold.
18:50
Speaker 3: We trade back, get a pick in the fifth round
18:51
Speaker 3: and get the same two guys that we had on
18:53
Speaker 3: the top of the board at the fourth round. And
18:56
Speaker 3: I think that gets overshadowed a lot. So we were
18:59
Speaker 3: able to bring in, you know, two guys in the
19:01
Speaker 3: fourth round, the center and a wide receiver that we
19:04
Speaker 3: had really high grades on. So that was a that
19:06
Speaker 3: was a pretty cool moment to see that play out live.
19:09
Speaker 3: It didn't impact us on defense, but it was just
19:12
Speaker 3: it was just awesome to see got the two guys
19:15
Speaker 3: in the fourth that we wanted and picked up a fifth,
19:18
Speaker 3: uh without giving anything up, which was awesome.
19:21
Speaker 1: Is Landon Robinson a coach's dream.
19:24
Speaker 3: He's a great kid, super smart, strong, do whatever you
19:28
Speaker 3: ask him to do. I think the biggest thing is
19:31
Speaker 3: he the details are mean a lot to him, So
19:37
Speaker 3: he is a He tries to please Jerry in terms
19:40
Speaker 3: of this is the way Jerry wants it, and and
19:42
Speaker 3: that's it. He'll give you that, and I think there's
19:45
Speaker 3: something to be said for that. In terms of technique alignment,
19:48
Speaker 3: just the specifics, he does a really good job of, uh,
19:51
Speaker 3: you know, being able to make make those techniques his
19:53
Speaker 3: own and then reproduce it on the field. And I
19:56
Speaker 3: think he's got a really good process. So I'm excited
19:58
Speaker 3: about him.
19:59
Speaker 2: There's an advanced stat used to measure defense called DVA.
20:03
Speaker 2: In the last eight games last year, the Bengals improved
20:06
Speaker 2: by thirty two percent, which was the most in the
20:10
Speaker 2: second half of the season by any team since twenty fourteen.
20:14
Speaker 2: What was the key to such improvement? It starts with
20:17
Speaker 2: the players.
20:18
Speaker 3: Obviously, a bunch of guys came together, we talked earlier
20:21
Speaker 3: about the guys who grew as leaders, DJ Turner and
20:26
Speaker 3: Jordan Battle. Obviously, the two linebackers played different in the
20:30
Speaker 3: second half. Miles Murphy was on a different one. Then
20:32
Speaker 3: we got help from Cedric and Daks looked more comfortable
20:36
Speaker 3: outside and he was coming off the ACL two. Jalen
20:40
Speaker 3: came in and fortified us in the alley. So there
20:44
Speaker 3: was a lot of things that came together to make
20:47
Speaker 3: that happen. Coaches did a great job. Everybody stayed together,
20:50
Speaker 3: and again that's what we're so excited about. I think
20:52
Speaker 3: it's easy for the outside world to say, Okay, yeah,
20:54
Speaker 3: we added these guys, but let's not forget about what
20:57
Speaker 3: the course that.
20:58
Speaker 1: These guys plotted before that addition.
21:01
Speaker 3: And again, I think it's that combination that you know
21:04
Speaker 3: should be the perfect storm for us.
21:05
Speaker 2: Did you simplify things to get guys to play faster?
21:08
Speaker 3: Always try to simplify. Again, if if it's too complicated,
21:13
Speaker 3: it's my fault. I got to make sure I continue
21:15
Speaker 3: to simplify. We're working hard right now to build a
21:19
Speaker 3: system that you know, can endure everything that we'll see
21:22
Speaker 3: weekend and week out. I think that's what the players want.
21:25
Speaker 3: They don't want to walk in on a Wednesday and
21:28
Speaker 3: have you know, eight new calls, nine new calls. So
21:31
Speaker 3: I feel like I'm doing a better job. Coaching staff's
21:34
Speaker 3: input has been phenomenal, and we've just taken a deep
21:38
Speaker 3: breath and and you know, have a big purview on
21:41
Speaker 3: right now in terms of what we got to try
21:43
Speaker 3: to get done for our guys, which you know sometimes
21:47
Speaker 3: is painful this time of year because it's a little
21:49
Speaker 3: bit more than you can handle on a three day
21:51
Speaker 3: work week or if you're not meeting as much as
21:54
Speaker 3: you would during the regular season. But we will be
21:57
Speaker 3: the benefactors once training camp hits on what these guys
22:00
Speaker 3: put in out there today and what we got to
22:02
Speaker 3: do next week.
22:03
Speaker 2: You use the acronym best for your defensive philosophy and
22:07
Speaker 2: the letter T in bes T stands for tackling, which
22:11
Speaker 2: didn't go very well last year, but not all mistackles
22:14
Speaker 2: are created equal. Will better play on the defensive line
22:18
Speaker 2: make tackling easier?
22:20
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's not just that, it's that we have additional
22:23
Speaker 3: pieces that are going to allow us the freedom to
22:26
Speaker 3: do multiple things and give different looks.
22:28
Speaker 1: So but certainly then.
22:32
Speaker 3: When you when you think of speeding up the quarterback,
22:35
Speaker 3: how that impacts time and distance? Right, So space tackle
22:40
Speaker 3: is the hardest tackle to make in this league. And
22:42
Speaker 3: you know, the more the more time there is to throw,
22:45
Speaker 3: the more they get to the top of the routes,
22:47
Speaker 3: the more space either vertically or horizontally. And then obviously
22:52
Speaker 3: that becomes more difficult. So we got to get better technically.
22:56
Speaker 3: I got to do better job calling the game. Pass
22:59
Speaker 3: rush has to has to do their spot a part
23:02
Speaker 3: in when we are and man, we got to contest
23:05
Speaker 3: the ball and if we're in zone, we got to
23:06
Speaker 3: break a little bit faster. And again they all those
23:09
Speaker 3: things coming together, what's going to make us better at that?
23:12
Speaker 2: Between being on the Super Bowl staff in twenty one
23:15
Speaker 2: and returning last year, did the NFL change much in
23:18
Speaker 2: the three years you were at Notre Dame.
23:19
Speaker 3: I think it's constantly changing. I think, you know, we're
23:23
Speaker 3: seeing it's a different era obviously, pre Snap Star Wars.
23:28
Speaker 3: If you will, you know, there's so many different things
23:30
Speaker 3: going on. Pre Snap people would have said, you know,
23:34
Speaker 3: a bunch of years ago, man, it looks like Canadian football.
23:36
Speaker 3: But we got so many jet motions going on right
23:39
Speaker 3: now and half backs out back in, you know, tight
23:42
Speaker 3: ends out back in. You got so many different things
23:44
Speaker 3: going on pre snap. I think the personnel usage has changed.
23:48
Speaker 3: I would bet if you looked at some of those
23:50
Speaker 3: stats that you look at, I would bet you know,
23:53
Speaker 3: twelve and thirteen personnel is higher than it has been
23:55
Speaker 3: in quite some time. With the advent of the jet
23:58
Speaker 3: motions and just trying to change the numbers, you know,
24:03
Speaker 3: at the last second or post snap, you know, trying
24:06
Speaker 3: to get multiple guys over here when the defense can't
24:09
Speaker 3: move multiple guys over there. Just in a simplistic form.
24:13
Speaker 2: Anyway, last thing, a lot of the players say the
24:17
Speaker 2: vibe is different.
24:19
Speaker 1: Do you feel that. I do.
24:21
Speaker 3: Again, it makes it fun to go to work every day.
24:23
Speaker 3: And again, it starts with the human beings that we
24:26
Speaker 3: have in the building. And I'm talking about the entire
24:30
Speaker 3: building now, just the offensive leadership, the defensive leadership, the
24:35
Speaker 3: head coach, the way the guys you know, attack the
24:40
Speaker 3: weight room, the way they're hanging out together in the
24:43
Speaker 3: dining facility doing things off the field. I think there's
24:47
Speaker 3: a connectivity. I think there's an energy, and I think
24:50
Speaker 3: there's a great spirit. And I said it before, like
24:55
Speaker 3: you know, you're watching, you're watching, you're watching the film,
24:58
Speaker 3: and you know what you're getting in terms of a
24:59
Speaker 3: football player. But man, you know Brian Cook, Jonathan Allen,
25:03
Speaker 3: Dugger Decks, all these guys that we've brought and then
25:07
Speaker 3: the guys that we drafted just really really good people.
25:10
Speaker 3: And obviously that makes it fun to go to work
25:13
Speaker 3: every day.
25:14
Speaker 1: I always enjoy picking a brain. Thanks for the time,
25:16
Speaker 1: Thanks Dan.
25:18
Speaker 2: Up next, my visit with Andre Yosi Vash. But first,
25:22
Speaker 2: here's a quick reminder that the Bengals Booth podcast is
25:24
Speaker 2: brought to you by pay Corps, proud to be the
25:26
Speaker 2: Bengals official HR software provider, by Alta Fiber future proof
25:31
Speaker 2: fiber Internet designed to elevate your home, business and community
25:35
Speaker 2: to a new level, and by Kettering Health the best
25:38
Speaker 2: care for the best fans. Kettering Health is the official
25:42
Speaker 2: healthcare provider of the Bengals. Andrea Yosi Vash spent his
25:46
Speaker 2: Friday morning this week hosting a free football camp for
25:49
Speaker 2: more than one hundred kids in grades one through eight
25:52
Speaker 2: from Cincinnati South Avondale School. It was called the Old
25:56
Speaker 2: Spice School of Swagger Football Camp, and the Bengals wider
26:00
Speaker 2: did a great job of interacting with the kids. I
26:03
Speaker 2: caught up with the twenty six year old from Honolulu.
26:08
Speaker 2: Growing up in Hawaii, did you have the opportunity to
26:11
Speaker 2: do anything like.
26:12
Speaker 4: This, Yeah, I mean sometimes the university would have stuff,
26:16
Speaker 4: so we would go to that, and you know, all
26:18
Speaker 4: the local guys like to come back and do stuff,
26:20
Speaker 4: So there's always stuff like that. So it's always nice,
26:23
Speaker 4: you know, just to give back in to remember yourself
26:26
Speaker 4: being a kid, being kind of nervous to be with
26:28
Speaker 4: the big boys or something. So it's pretty fun.
26:31
Speaker 2: Do you remember the first time you met a big
26:33
Speaker 2: name athlete?
26:34
Speaker 4: Uh, that's a great that's actually I've never even asked
26:37
Speaker 4: that before. The first time I met a big name athlete? Well,
26:41
Speaker 4: the Pro bol used to be in Hawaii, so I
26:42
Speaker 4: used to see them.
26:43
Speaker 1: I'm not sure.
26:44
Speaker 4: I honestly can't remember the first time I actually met
26:46
Speaker 4: one though, but the Pro Bowl. My dad used to
26:48
Speaker 4: take me all the time. It used to be a
26:49
Speaker 4: big pain man named Marvin Harrison fan, so I remember
26:52
Speaker 4: those days.
26:53
Speaker 1: That's cool.
26:53
Speaker 2: I never knew that you attended Pro Bowls as a kid.
26:56
Speaker 1: That must have been incredible.
26:57
Speaker 4: It was really fun. Actually, the first guy I met
26:59
Speaker 4: was probably Tony Gonzalez. Actually he was friends with one
27:02
Speaker 4: of my friend's neighbors, and I think you threw a
27:05
Speaker 4: football with him one time when I was a kid,
27:06
Speaker 4: now that I remember it back, so that's pretty cool.
27:09
Speaker 4: But yeah, those times are awesome.
27:10
Speaker 2: All right, You've been going through OTAs in mini camps.
27:13
Speaker 2: A lot of guys keep saying the vibe is different.
27:17
Speaker 2: Do you feel that way? And if so, how or why?
27:20
Speaker 4: I think we have a lot of like the new
27:22
Speaker 4: guys you brought in are all of vets who've been
27:24
Speaker 4: on winning teams or who are individually have a lot
27:27
Speaker 4: of success, and like, for example, Decks, you know, he's
27:30
Speaker 4: been a captain on his team. Don't want to talk
27:33
Speaker 4: about the Giants at all, but you know, he he
27:35
Speaker 4: holds his own he was a captain. He knows how
27:37
Speaker 4: to command the room and how to deal with you know,
27:40
Speaker 4: a lot of players. So that's awesome. And Boye you
27:42
Speaker 4: know one Super Bowls Cook. I mean we don't like
27:46
Speaker 4: the Chiefs, but I mean he's a great player. Uh So,
27:49
Speaker 4: just guys like that who come in haven't have experience,
27:53
Speaker 4: so the vibes are just really lighthearted.
27:55
Speaker 1: But really it's.
27:56
Speaker 4: Good to be lighthearted but also to be professional. I
27:58
Speaker 4: think we have the perfect combo of that right now.
28:00
Speaker 2: Dexter's made a really strong impression on me because he's
28:03
Speaker 2: like a three hundred and fifty pound massive positivity.
28:06
Speaker 4: Yeah, he's a he's a he's like he's a little
28:09
Speaker 4: bit more self spoken than you would have imagined, but uh,
28:12
Speaker 4: he's a He's a great locker room guy, super super
28:14
Speaker 4: humble and just is about his work and loves football.
28:18
Speaker 4: I remember watching him walk to the showers. I'm not
28:21
Speaker 4: anything weird when he was walking past me in my
28:23
Speaker 4: locker and he was just like he is fighting hand
28:26
Speaker 4: combat just in his twel on the way to the showers.
28:29
Speaker 4: I'm like, that's the guy that I want to like
28:30
Speaker 4: tee for sure.
28:31
Speaker 2: So like pass rush moves with his hands on the
28:33
Speaker 2: way to the shower.
28:34
Speaker 1: Yeah.
28:34
Speaker 4: Yeah, I was like, Okay, he's a little bit different.
28:37
Speaker 2: Yeah, you're coming up on year four. Your stats last
28:40
Speaker 2: year were almost identical to the year before except for touchdowns.
28:44
Speaker 2: How did you feel about it?
28:45
Speaker 1: It was good.
28:47
Speaker 4: I you know, my first year starting I was just
28:49
Speaker 4: happy to be there. And then my last year was
28:51
Speaker 4: my second year starting, and you know, as you grow,
28:54
Speaker 4: you want more opportunity, but I had the same role,
28:56
Speaker 4: so you know, I just had to come to terms
28:59
Speaker 4: with that. And now you know, I'm just happy to
29:00
Speaker 4: be here again, and I want us to go to
29:03
Speaker 4: Super Bowl. So I'm just really pumped and excited, and
29:06
Speaker 4: I just I'm just gonna do me and not care
29:08
Speaker 4: what anybody has to say and just just go out
29:09
Speaker 4: there and bawl.
29:10
Speaker 2: I remember last year, it sounded like you said a
29:13
Speaker 2: very specific goal on yards after catch as an area
29:17
Speaker 2: where you could improve. Do you have something similar this year,
29:20
Speaker 2: a very specific thing that you think you can do better.
29:24
Speaker 4: Well, I want to be better in all parts of
29:25
Speaker 4: my game, but I think I'm just gonna let the
29:26
Speaker 4: game flow.
29:27
Speaker 1: Now.
29:27
Speaker 4: You know, if you're thinking thinking about goals or wanting
29:30
Speaker 4: to do something that isn't, let's say, like the correct
29:33
Speaker 4: thing to do in that situation is bad, So you
29:37
Speaker 4: just gotta you know, if it's a yards you have
29:38
Speaker 4: to catch situation, do it. If it's a possession catch,
29:41
Speaker 4: do it. Don't try to make anything it's not, and
29:43
Speaker 4: just let the game flow. And That's how I'm trying
29:45
Speaker 4: to live life right now.
29:46
Speaker 2: Did you spend time with wide receiver Guru Drew Lieberman again.
29:50
Speaker 4: Yes, idea. Yeah, Chase and I were down there this
29:52
Speaker 4: spring and we're just working on a lot of you know,
29:55
Speaker 4: we know what I need to work on. We know,
29:58
Speaker 4: you know, some of the things that happened last year
30:00
Speaker 4: and and my situation too, So like I feel like
30:04
Speaker 4: this year was a big mental year for me just
30:06
Speaker 4: to get back to what I've just to be a
30:08
Speaker 4: ballplayer and just go, just go all out.
30:11
Speaker 2: You and Chase are obviously very close and part of
30:13
Speaker 2: the same draft class that twenty twenty three class, Miles Murphy,
30:17
Speaker 2: DJ Turner, Jordan Battle, Charlie Jones, Chase Brown.
30:22
Speaker 1: You that's pretty impressive.
30:24
Speaker 2: All of you guys are going to get second contracts,
30:27
Speaker 2: if not with the Bengals somewhere.
30:30
Speaker 1: Is that a big point of pride among you guys? Yeah?
30:33
Speaker 4: It was kind of funny because I felt like when
30:34
Speaker 4: we came in people didn't really like us that much because,
30:37
Speaker 4: you know, they just went to the SC Championship and
30:38
Speaker 4: then we come in and we're losing, you know, like
30:41
Speaker 4: not losing.
30:41
Speaker 1: A lot, but like more than we have been.
30:44
Speaker 4: But when you really look at it, we were all
30:45
Speaker 4: contributed contributors. Moz is coming to his own. DJ's one
30:48
Speaker 4: of the best in the league, battles doing well, and
30:51
Speaker 4: then Charlie's one of the best returners in the league.
30:52
Speaker 4: And then Chase and I are starting, and even dj
30:55
Speaker 4: Ivy like he's a great special teamer and he when
30:57
Speaker 4: he gets in he makes plays. So I feel like
30:59
Speaker 4: we've contributed. I feel like, you know, we definitely have something.
31:03
Speaker 4: You know, we want to go out with a bank
31:04
Speaker 4: this year, and we were actually talking about in the
31:06
Speaker 4: locker room how it would be perfect for our class
31:08
Speaker 4: to go out with a bang.
31:09
Speaker 2: My apology is to Djivy. He certainly should have been
31:12
Speaker 2: included on my list.
31:13
Speaker 1: Let me ask you.
31:14
Speaker 2: About Joe Burrow. He says, it's as good as he's
31:17
Speaker 2: felt maybe in his entire NFL career physically going into
31:21
Speaker 2: a season.
31:22
Speaker 4: What do you notice He's he's lighter this year for
31:25
Speaker 4: sure too. I mean, at least right now. You know,
31:28
Speaker 4: he's stern where he needs to be, which is great,
31:30
Speaker 4: and he's a little bit more vocal because he knows
31:33
Speaker 4: the details matter. But yeah, he looks great. It's nice
31:36
Speaker 4: to see him like after practice working on stuff too.
31:39
Speaker 4: And yeah, I mean, honestly, you come back to OTAs
31:41
Speaker 4: and you think we've been in camp for like three weeks.
31:43
Speaker 4: Just the way that we're moving in just putting the
31:46
Speaker 4: ball to everybody.
31:47
Speaker 1: So it's been great.
31:48
Speaker 2: Got a mandatory camp next week, then he get about
31:50
Speaker 2: a month off.
31:51
Speaker 1: What does that month look like for you?
31:53
Speaker 4: I just take a small break, maybe four or five
31:56
Speaker 4: days just to hang out, and then I'll just go
31:58
Speaker 4: back and train and get ready for camp, because you know,
32:01
Speaker 4: this year is big for us and we were in
32:03
Speaker 4: it together and I want to make sure I'm as
32:05
Speaker 4: ready as I can be to you know, hopefully play
32:08
Speaker 4: so fedue.
32:09
Speaker 2: This youth camp is the old Spice school of swagger.
32:13
Speaker 2: Do you feel like you bring some swagger?
32:15
Speaker 4: I definitely, I would like to think so. I don't
32:18
Speaker 4: know if other people think so, but I feel like
32:20
Speaker 4: I do so. I think that's all that matters.
32:22
Speaker 2: These kids are having a ball, They've got ear to
32:24
Speaker 2: ear grins. I know how excited they are to meet
32:27
Speaker 2: a Cincinnati Bengals. So thank you for doing this, and
32:29
Speaker 2: thanks for spending some time with me.
32:31
Speaker 4: Palm.
32:31
Speaker 1: Thanks.
32:32
Speaker 2: That's going to do it for this episode of the
32:34
Speaker 2: Bengals Booth podcast, brought to you by pay Core. Proud
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32:52
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33:05
Speaker 2: I'm Dan Horde and thanks for listening to the Bengals
33:08
Speaker 2: Booth podcast.