Latest / Bengals Booth Podcast / Bengals Booth Podcast: Coming Home

Transcript

Bengals Booth Podcast: Coming Home · Bengals Booth Podcast

0:03
Speaker 1: Hi, gain everybody. I'm Dan Hord and thanks for downloading
0:06
Speaker 1: the Bengals Booth Podcast.
0:08
Speaker 2: The I'm Coming Home. I'm Coming Home.
0:13
Speaker 1: Addition, As I catch up with this week's ruler of
0:16
Speaker 1: the Jungle, the one and only Adriel Jeremiah Green, we
0:20
Speaker 1: reminisce about his remarkable decade in Cincinnati, discuss the Bengals
0:25
Speaker 1: track record for drafting great wide receivers, and talk about
0:29
Speaker 1: the team's current stars, Joe Burrow and Jamar Chase. I
0:33
Speaker 1: think you'll enjoy hearing what AJ has to say. Then
0:37
Speaker 1: I'll look ahead to the Baltimore game with Logan Wilson
0:40
Speaker 1: and Ravens. Broadcaster Jerry Sandusky and Dave Lapham joins me
0:44
Speaker 1: for a closer look at why Joe Burrow struggled so
0:47
Speaker 1: badly in Week one. The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought
0:51
Speaker 1: to you by Kettering Health, the official healthcare provider of
0:54
Speaker 1: the Bengals. With more than one hundred and twenty care
0:56
Speaker 1: facilities in fifteen hundred care providers, Kettering Health is committed
1:00
Speaker 1: to guiding you to your best health. Visit ketteringhealth dot
1:05
Speaker 1: org to learn more. Now here's a quick reminder that
1:08
Speaker 1: you can have the latest edition of this podcast delivered
1:12
Speaker 1: write to your phone, tablet, or computer by subscribing wherever
1:15
Speaker 1: you get your podcasts. It's the greatest thing since Enter
1:20
Speaker 1: the Jungle. That's the name of a new coffee table
1:24
Speaker 1: book about the Bengals that was written by my friend
1:26
Speaker 1: James Rapine. It's a comprehensive season by season look at
1:30
Speaker 1: Bengal's history with vivid color photographs and some fun stuff
1:34
Speaker 1: like all decade teams in Bengals trivia. And I was
1:38
Speaker 1: flattered when James asked me to write the foreword. If
1:41
Speaker 1: you're interested in buying a copy, you can find Enter
1:45
Speaker 1: the Jungle at Cincinnati bengalsbook dot Com. You can also
1:50
Speaker 1: find it on Amazon and just about anywhere where books
1:53
Speaker 1: are sold. Now, let's get to my first guest, who
1:58
Speaker 1: is frequently mentioned in that book. Now, an I formation
2:01
Speaker 1: backfield on first and ten, play action fake.
2:03
Speaker 3: We're got to the right gop ball for a wide
2:05
Speaker 3: open h Green catches it the eighteen.
2:08
Speaker 1: It's a touchdown.
2:10
Speaker 3: For Adriel Sharamiah Green his eighth consecutive game with a
2:16
Speaker 3: touchdown catch on a beautiful fifty seven yard bomb from.
2:21
Speaker 1: The red rifle to play action fake. Dalton sets up
2:23
Speaker 1: to throw.
2:24
Speaker 4: He rangs it deep for a wide up at AH
2:26
Speaker 4: Green catches instide lett him go hit the twenty to
2:30
Speaker 4: ten the fun touchdown. Bengals eighty one yards to eighteen.
2:39
Speaker 4: Adriel Jeremiah Green.
2:42
Speaker 1: Boyit out to the right. Here's a pass to.
2:43
Speaker 3: AJ wiggles out of an ankle tackle and runs into
2:47
Speaker 3: the end zone for a Bengals touchdown. Great yak yards
2:52
Speaker 3: after catch produces a touchdown for Adriel Jeremiah Green. Dalton
2:57
Speaker 3: takes a shotgun snap against a five man rush. He's
3:00
Speaker 3: gonna fire, teach. AJ Green is open. He bobbles it.
3:03
Speaker 3: He's done it. That's the funny wait cut. He's still
3:06
Speaker 3: running ten five touchdown Adriel Jeremiah Green seventy seven yards.
3:14
Speaker 3: The former juggler as a kid made a juggling catch
3:18
Speaker 3: and took it to the house to give the Bengals
3:21
Speaker 3: a twenty one to sixteen lead. On first and ten,
3:24
Speaker 3: Dalton fakes to mix hims a eye Indeed. BJ Green
3:27
Speaker 3: catches at the buffalo forty spretty torment on the field
3:30
Speaker 3: of the vine and five touchdown seventy seven yards. Andy
3:38
Speaker 3: Dalton finding AJ Green, who roasted the rookie cornerback true
3:43
Speaker 3: Davy is.
3:44
Speaker 1: White boyd goes in motion. Dalton back to throw, steps up,
3:47
Speaker 1: heaps it long. AJ Green is watahman.
3:50
Speaker 5: He's donning.
3:51
Speaker 1: Touchdown.
3:53
Speaker 3: Bengals has Ammy. Dalton floated a high rainbow fifty four
3:59
Speaker 3: yards down, a touchdown to AJ Green.
4:02
Speaker 6: No revis island there.
4:04
Speaker 1: It is third and seven at the Pittsburgh twenty five.
4:07
Speaker 1: McCarn five yards behind the line, takes a shotgun snap.
4:10
Speaker 1: It's a four man rush AJ gunfield for a J Green.
4:14
Speaker 4: He cutches in and goes into the end zone.
4:17
Speaker 3: Touchdown Bengals a twenty five yard touchdown and the Bengals
4:24
Speaker 3: have a one point lead.
4:27
Speaker 1: Dalton back to throw. We're down to five seconds left
4:29
Speaker 1: in the half. He's gonna throw a high deep hail
4:31
Speaker 1: Mary pass into the enz and it.
4:34
Speaker 4: Is Baba yeah cod hey Jas takes the catch on.
4:39
Speaker 3: The ricochet hail Mary, a forty nine yard touchdown pass
4:45
Speaker 3: as a prairie is answered in the end zone. Bye
4:49
Speaker 3: Adriel share Amiah Green.
4:51
Speaker 1: AJ Green announced his retirement in February and finished his
4:55
Speaker 1: career number two in Bengals history in catches, receiving yar
5:00
Speaker 1: yards and touchdown grabs behind Chad Johnson. The thirty five
5:04
Speaker 1: year old would have almost certainly held all of those
5:06
Speaker 1: records if not for injuries that caused him to miss
5:09
Speaker 1: half of twenty eighteen and all of twenty nineteen. He'll
5:14
Speaker 1: be back in town this weekend to serve as the
5:16
Speaker 1: Ruler of the Jungle for the home opener, and I
5:19
Speaker 1: caught up with AJ this week. This is the third
5:23
Speaker 1: year of the Ruler of the Jungle and I have
5:26
Speaker 1: never heard Bengals fans more excited about the selection than
5:30
Speaker 1: they are this week for one of the greatest leaders
5:32
Speaker 1: in franchise history, AJ Green. AJ, when the team reached out,
5:38
Speaker 1: what was your reaction?
5:39
Speaker 2: You know, I was a little surprised because it was, uh,
5:42
Speaker 2: it's a little early, but I'm on it to come back.
5:47
Speaker 2: Me and I it was just like honor man. I
5:50
Speaker 2: loved it. I loved it.
5:52
Speaker 1: Sometimes when a player leaves in free agency, there's a
5:55
Speaker 1: little bit of bitterness on both sides for whatever reason,
5:58
Speaker 1: but that certainly did not appear to be the case
6:00
Speaker 1: with you. Why do you still have such great feelings
6:04
Speaker 1: about the franchise in the city.
6:07
Speaker 2: I think for me, it's just we didn't leave on
6:09
Speaker 2: bad terms. It's just every good thing has to end.
6:12
Speaker 2: And I understood the business side of football. Like I said, man,
6:17
Speaker 2: it took care. Took care of me for ten years,
6:20
Speaker 2: and a lot of people don't last ten years in
6:22
Speaker 2: one spot. So I'm very honored the last that long
6:26
Speaker 2: in one organization. And they were the first organization gave
6:29
Speaker 2: me my chance. And you know, they're just great people.
6:32
Speaker 2: The Brown family are great people, man. And I you know,
6:34
Speaker 2: they hand out all my situations, even when I got hurt,
6:38
Speaker 2: there's always out of respect and and that's the least
6:41
Speaker 2: I can do, is you know, come back and uh
6:44
Speaker 2: be a fan and and uh just I just want
6:47
Speaker 2: that organization to win Bushal Mike Brown. I just want
6:49
Speaker 2: Mike Brown to get one.
6:50
Speaker 1: When you left, you didn't really get a chance to
6:53
Speaker 1: say goodbye in person, and Bengals fans didn't get a
6:57
Speaker 1: chance to give you the tribute that they would have
6:59
Speaker 1: liked to have given you. Does this ceremony feel like
7:02
Speaker 1: there's a little bit of that?
7:04
Speaker 2: Yeah, of course, you know, when you leave and you
7:07
Speaker 2: still you still want to play, it's a little bittersweet
7:11
Speaker 2: because you've you envisioned yourself leaving on a higher note.
7:15
Speaker 2: But that wasn't the case. So coming back here after
7:19
Speaker 2: everything's done, you know what I'm done playing is sweet.
7:23
Speaker 2: It's better than I'm being somewhere else. And then I
7:26
Speaker 2: got to come back. But to be done with football
7:28
Speaker 2: and come back to the place that I became AJ
7:30
Speaker 2: Green is unbelievable.
7:33
Speaker 1: Let's turn the clock back to April of twenty eleven.
7:36
Speaker 1: The Panthers take Cam Newton with the first pick, the
7:39
Speaker 1: Broncos take Von Miller with the second, the Bills take
7:42
Speaker 1: mister big stuff Marcel Darius with a third, and now
7:45
Speaker 1: the Bengals are on the clock. Did you know you
7:49
Speaker 1: were going to be the pick? And what do you
7:50
Speaker 1: remember about that night? Oh?
7:53
Speaker 2: Man, the crazy thing. I didn't know I was going
7:55
Speaker 2: to the Bengals because I had got a call from
7:57
Speaker 2: Atlanta and I'm like, oh, are you going to Atlanta?
8:01
Speaker 2: But I guess it's somebody playing tricks on me, like
8:04
Speaker 2: we made the pick, Like I'm made from my phone
8:06
Speaker 2: at the four or four and I'm like, what in
8:07
Speaker 2: the world's going on? Like Atlanta don't have the fourth pick,
8:12
Speaker 2: but like, yeah, we're taking you. We got the fourth pick,
8:14
Speaker 2: and I hung up. I'm like this is weird and
8:16
Speaker 2: then I got a five to one to three number
8:19
Speaker 2: calling me in this herb and we just selected your
8:21
Speaker 2: number four. So I'm like, what is going on? And
8:23
Speaker 2: he was like, no, You're about to be a Bengal
8:25
Speaker 2: and I'm like, oh, okay, And it's exciting, man, just
8:29
Speaker 2: to get my name called that early. The have a
8:32
Speaker 2: lot of emotions, all the work that you put in
8:35
Speaker 2: your whole life to get to this point, man, it
8:37
Speaker 2: paid off and I couldn't be much more happy.
8:40
Speaker 1: At that point, Chad Johnson was still on the Bengals roster.
8:43
Speaker 1: He didn't get traded for a few months until after
8:45
Speaker 1: the draft. Did you think about the possibility of you
8:48
Speaker 1: and Chad being teammates?
8:50
Speaker 2: Of course, I'm thinking about Chad. I'm thinking about t O.
8:55
Speaker 2: I'm thinking like Carson. I'm like, oh, I'm going to
8:57
Speaker 2: be the young book and go out there just like
8:59
Speaker 2: true a little bit. Don't have to be you don't
9:02
Speaker 2: have to do too much, learn from the guy, learn
9:04
Speaker 2: from some future Hall of famers, and uh got time
9:08
Speaker 2: to develop. And but that wasn't the case, No, it
9:13
Speaker 2: was not.
9:14
Speaker 1: After picking you in round one, the Bengals obviously took
9:17
Speaker 1: Andy Dalton round two and for eight years. It was
9:19
Speaker 1: the Andy and a J Show. Did the two of
9:22
Speaker 1: you hit it off right away? And if so, why, Yeah?
9:25
Speaker 2: Of course. I think for us to come in together,
9:28
Speaker 2: you know, you when you come in with your a
9:30
Speaker 2: guy in your class, you always create that bond. And
9:33
Speaker 2: I think Andy and I created that bond from day one.
9:37
Speaker 2: You know, we both come from humble beginnings, both great families,
9:43
Speaker 2: and we both had, you know, want to win, and
9:46
Speaker 2: he came from a great program at TCU. He did
9:48
Speaker 2: some great things, and then we grew up, we grew
9:51
Speaker 2: together and to this day we're still like we're family.
9:55
Speaker 2: So last week we went out to dinner and uh,
9:58
Speaker 2: it was fun, but it's just that's my guy, no
10:01
Speaker 2: matter what. Just family.
10:03
Speaker 1: Now, your first seven years were basically as good as
10:07
Speaker 1: any wide receiver in NFL history. Do you have a
10:11
Speaker 1: favorite game, a favorite moment, a favorite catch, any sort
10:15
Speaker 1: of favorite thing that sticks out?
10:18
Speaker 2: Andy and I were just talking about that, like, well
10:20
Speaker 2: with you know some of our favorite moments. I think
10:23
Speaker 2: for me it was the Seattle game when Seattle was
10:26
Speaker 2: coming off that Super Bowl in twenty fifteen, when we
10:28
Speaker 2: beat him at home, when I've had some great catches
10:33
Speaker 2: and Andy was playing at the MVP level that year
10:35
Speaker 2: before he got hurt. And then probably one of my
10:38
Speaker 2: favorite catches probably the playoff game that night game with
10:42
Speaker 2: the Steelers, even though we lost. That's probably one of
10:44
Speaker 2: the highlights of my career, just scoring that potential game winner.
10:50
Speaker 2: It didn't happen that way, but should have happened that way.
10:52
Speaker 2: But my best catches, but Seattle game was good, and
10:58
Speaker 2: then Baltimore when I had like two hundred yards. That
11:02
Speaker 2: was a good game.
11:02
Speaker 1: We beat Baltimore there to twenty seven against the Ravens,
11:07
Speaker 1: and it's appropriate you are the ruler of the Jungle
11:09
Speaker 1: in a game against Baltimore because you tormented the Ravens
11:13
Speaker 1: throughout your career. John Harbaugh famously said it would be
11:16
Speaker 1: nice just once to cover aj before he retires. Those
11:21
Speaker 1: were good Baltimore teams. Is there are reason why defensively
11:26
Speaker 1: they did something that kind of played into your skill set?
11:30
Speaker 2: Oh? Man. I think they just played a lot of
11:32
Speaker 2: main a lot of you know, you versus him, and
11:35
Speaker 2: I think their defense is built like that. They also
11:38
Speaker 2: start up front great corners. I know Jimmy Smith and
11:41
Speaker 2: I always had great battles together, so I got the
11:46
Speaker 2: best of the them a couple of times. But you know,
11:48
Speaker 2: we used to probably wanted the hardest game, harder hitting games.
11:51
Speaker 2: You know, your body feel a little sore, more sore
11:54
Speaker 2: than other other weeks. But we played them twice a
11:58
Speaker 2: weekend and we just figured each other out some time.
12:01
Speaker 1: I asked your former teammate Tyler Boyd about you recently.
12:04
Speaker 1: Here's what he said. Aj is one of the greatest
12:07
Speaker 1: dudes I ever met. He does everything right. He never
12:11
Speaker 1: gets in trouble, never does stupid stuff. He's the perfect
12:14
Speaker 1: example of being a football player and a man. That's leadership.
12:20
Speaker 1: How did you try to lead for me?
12:23
Speaker 2: As you know, Dan, I'm not really the biggest vocal
12:27
Speaker 2: person in the room, so I lead more of my
12:30
Speaker 2: example of what I do on and off the field.
12:32
Speaker 2: And I think that's that's just who I am. That's
12:34
Speaker 2: how I teach my boys to treat everybody would respect,
12:38
Speaker 2: carry yourself with respect on and off, be a good,
12:44
Speaker 2: good teammate, be a good leader. I think that's the
12:47
Speaker 2: all aspects of it. Being a great athletist, you got
12:50
Speaker 2: to have everything, yeah to just not on the field,
12:53
Speaker 2: off the field as well. And that's the way I
12:55
Speaker 2: carried myself. I wanted to be just as great off
12:58
Speaker 2: the field out that I wanted to be on the field.
13:01
Speaker 1: You overlapped with Joe Burrow his rookie year. What do
13:04
Speaker 1: you think of what Joe has become?
13:07
Speaker 2: I had no question. I remember the first meeting. Joe
13:11
Speaker 2: stood up and he told that story about when he
13:14
Speaker 2: was in high school and one of his friends got
13:17
Speaker 2: picked on uh and he cried and he was in
13:20
Speaker 2: tears up there, and I'm looking, I'm looking over to
13:23
Speaker 2: some of the older guys. I'm like, this guy got it.
13:27
Speaker 2: He is a leader of men, and these guys, whoever,
13:30
Speaker 2: he whoever's going to be in his room, He's going
13:33
Speaker 2: to lead them and they're gonna follow him. And you're
13:35
Speaker 2: see in it right now. He's a I call him
13:38
Speaker 2: a young Tom Brady, the way he carried hiself. I've
13:40
Speaker 2: been around Tom Brady a couple of times, and they
13:43
Speaker 2: got the same demeanor.
13:45
Speaker 1: You didn't overlap with Jamar Chase. What stands out when
13:48
Speaker 1: you watch him play.
13:51
Speaker 2: I remember when they drafted Jamal and I got a
13:55
Speaker 2: I was talking to Troy after they drafted him, and
13:59
Speaker 2: he's like, who is period two? I'm like, he's a
14:02
Speaker 2: faster A J. Brown. He's big, physical, but he can
14:06
Speaker 2: take take the top off and I and I and
14:10
Speaker 2: you can see it. He can make all the hard
14:12
Speaker 2: catches and then he can just run past you. And
14:16
Speaker 2: that's one thing. But the Bengals they gonna draft great receivers.
14:19
Speaker 2: That's another one. Coming Churches with two with tv T.
14:22
Speaker 2: So it's the same thing Chad from Chad Uh, from
14:27
Speaker 2: Chad to TJ to Chris Henry to me, Marv Moe
14:32
Speaker 2: and now tv UH Chase and T and Uh and
14:37
Speaker 2: T Man. It's just the Bengals got the recipe. So
14:40
Speaker 2: if you want to receive you better, you better talk
14:42
Speaker 2: to Duke about this.
14:46
Speaker 1: So when the Bengals made the Super Bowl two years ago,
14:48
Speaker 1: you actually reactivated your Instagram account in order to congratulate
14:54
Speaker 1: the players in the city of Cincinnati. What were your
14:57
Speaker 1: emotions like during that Super Bowl run? You just been
15:00
Speaker 1: with the team the year before.
15:02
Speaker 2: Uh, you know, I wish, I wanted, I wanted to
15:04
Speaker 2: be a part of that, but it didn't happen that
15:07
Speaker 2: where I think, But I was happy for those guys.
15:10
Speaker 2: I'm happy for the city of Cincinnati because you know,
15:14
Speaker 2: I went to Arizona and you know, I seen the
15:17
Speaker 2: other side of it, and Cincinnati fans are unbelievable the
15:20
Speaker 2: way they fight for the team. Even when we're within winning,
15:23
Speaker 2: the stadium will still packed. I'm in Arizona and we
15:27
Speaker 2: eight no and the stadium is still not packed. So
15:29
Speaker 2: I'm like, yeah, this is a little different from Cincinnati,
15:32
Speaker 2: and I was just happy for the team. I'm happy
15:34
Speaker 2: for the guys because I know the work that they
15:36
Speaker 2: put in, man, and that's a harder compliment to get to.
15:39
Speaker 2: But I was just rooting for them because I know
15:42
Speaker 2: the what it took to to get where they're at.
15:48
Speaker 2: To that level. Man, it's unbelievable.
15:50
Speaker 1: So let's talk about the current team. They had a
15:52
Speaker 1: subpar performance in Week one. Obviously, that happens from time
15:56
Speaker 1: to time. What would be your advice to the guys
15:58
Speaker 1: if you had the opportunity to visit with them?
16:00
Speaker 2: Sweet And I don't think there's nothing I can tell them.
16:03
Speaker 2: I think they they already played at the highest level
16:05
Speaker 2: and that's playing in the super Bowl, So I understand
16:07
Speaker 2: they know, you know, I think when that that that
16:11
Speaker 2: year they had that run, or even last year they
16:13
Speaker 2: started up er and to you know, Joe missed a
16:15
Speaker 2: lot of a training game, so he still still got
16:18
Speaker 2: to get the feeldback. So it's a long season. They
16:20
Speaker 2: canna be fine. They got a great tief defense, great offense,
16:24
Speaker 2: and they lived by one of the greatest and that's
16:26
Speaker 2: and that's in Joe, And I think they're gonna be fine.
16:29
Speaker 1: This is the first time that you've been healthy and
16:32
Speaker 1: not playing football in the fall since you were a
16:35
Speaker 1: little kid. What do you miss and what are you
16:38
Speaker 1: doing to keep busy?
16:40
Speaker 2: You know, I think I thought I was gonna miss playing,
16:42
Speaker 2: but I don't, not at all. I don't have that itch,
16:45
Speaker 2: not yet as as now. But I just met the
16:48
Speaker 2: biggest things being in the locker room with the guys
16:50
Speaker 2: talking and you know, just talking about everything, playing the games, betting,
16:54
Speaker 2: you know, just little just little guy stuff. But I
16:58
Speaker 2: think that's the biggest thing is it's the locker room.
17:02
Speaker 2: But the game, playing the game and practicing. Nah, I
17:05
Speaker 2: don't miss that at all. I don't miss that out.
17:07
Speaker 2: But right now I'm just being my boys. I coached
17:11
Speaker 2: both of their teams, and I playing playing a lot
17:14
Speaker 2: of golf. I just played golf yesterday. Uh so I'm
17:19
Speaker 2: staying very active. I said, we got a dog now,
17:22
Speaker 2: So I get up six o'clock in the morning, take
17:23
Speaker 2: the dog out, get my coffee, give my little breakfast,
17:27
Speaker 2: and get the boys ready for school. Take the boys
17:29
Speaker 2: to school, come back, get a little tea time.
17:31
Speaker 7: I love it.
17:32
Speaker 1: I know you've been back to Cincinnati once. What are
17:35
Speaker 1: you looking forward to on this return trip. Whether it's
17:39
Speaker 1: seeing people, whether it's seeing something, what are you looking
17:42
Speaker 1: forward to?
17:43
Speaker 2: I think for me, it's just getting back to the city.
17:46
Speaker 2: I know my wife and my family are very excited
17:48
Speaker 2: to get hit the restaurants and the pre sinc and
17:51
Speaker 2: and stuff like that. I'm excited to get my boys
17:52
Speaker 2: around the players because it easy. Loves football, uh Jo Burrow,
17:56
Speaker 2: Dramaal Chase TVT. He loves That's all he does. He
18:00
Speaker 2: played with the Bengals all day in Madden, so it'd
18:02
Speaker 2: be excited for him to see them on a few
18:04
Speaker 2: see them in person. So I'm excited for that with
18:06
Speaker 2: my wife and I we are excited to get back
18:08
Speaker 2: to the city man and see some people that we
18:11
Speaker 2: you know, grew up with and watch us grew as
18:14
Speaker 2: we grew into a family as well. So I got
18:17
Speaker 2: some friends out there that's gonna come to a game.
18:19
Speaker 1: So Bengals fans are over the moon that you are
18:22
Speaker 1: going to be the ruler of the jungle this week.
18:24
Speaker 1: Thank you for a decade of great football in Cincinnati
18:27
Speaker 1: and for all you have meant to this franchise. I
18:30
Speaker 1: appreciate your time today and I look forward to seeing
18:32
Speaker 1: you this weekend.
18:33
Speaker 2: Thank you.
18:34
Speaker 1: Dan Aj, his wife Miranda, and their two boys will
18:38
Speaker 1: be at practice on Saturday before he fires up the
18:41
Speaker 1: fans with the Who Day Chant on Sunday before kickoff.
18:45
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth podcast is brought to you by pay Corps.
18:48
Speaker 1: More than twenty nine thousand customers trust Paycorps to help
18:51
Speaker 1: them recruit, pay, engage, and retain employees. Learn more at
18:56
Speaker 1: paycoorp dot com. In last week's twenty four to three
19:00
Speaker 1: lost to the Browns, the Bengals offense really struggled. Cincinnati
19:03
Speaker 1: punted on more than half of its drives, and the
19:06
Speaker 1: Bengals were the only team in the NFL that did
19:09
Speaker 1: not reach the red zone. And after missing most of
19:12
Speaker 1: training camp, Joe Burrow only completed fourteen of thirty one passes,
19:16
Speaker 1: the first time in his career he's completed fewer than
19:18
Speaker 1: half of his throws. Dave Lapham joins me to discuss
19:22
Speaker 1: Burrow's bad day, But before we get to that, there
19:26
Speaker 1: was important breaking news at practice on Wednesday. This just
19:35
Speaker 1: in Joe Burrow got a haircut. This reporter would describe
19:40
Speaker 1: it as much shorter on the sides and not quite
19:43
Speaker 1: as thick on the top. Naturally, because it's Burrow. He
19:47
Speaker 1: was asked about it after practice.
19:51
Speaker 7: People were talking about the haircut for all the kids
19:55
Speaker 7: out there that want to get a Joe Burrow haircut,
19:57
Speaker 7: for a bunch of them, help their care What what
20:00
Speaker 7: is it.
20:02
Speaker 8: You're looking at it?
20:03
Speaker 5: I don't even know what to tell people. Just make
20:05
Speaker 5: it happen.
20:06
Speaker 6: How do you know it's time to get a haircut.
20:09
Speaker 5: When you have a game like that on Sunday?
20:12
Speaker 7: I love that.
20:14
Speaker 1: Just following up on the haircut, were you just kidding
20:17
Speaker 1: about being related to the bad game?
20:19
Speaker 2: Your motivation?
20:22
Speaker 1: So Joe basically said, you know what, after a game
20:25
Speaker 1: like that, the biggest statistical dut of my career so far,
20:29
Speaker 1: I needed to change things up. I'm gonna get a haircut.
20:31
Speaker 6: Yeah, and it's the two hundred and twenty five million
20:33
Speaker 6: dollar cut. I mean, what the heck? I as well
20:36
Speaker 6: sell that's one of the minor celebrations of getting that
20:41
Speaker 6: big contract, get the get the hair trimmed. It is uh,
20:46
Speaker 6: it is amazing, though, I mean, how would you couldn't
20:50
Speaker 6: comprehend every single move you make, every single thing you
20:54
Speaker 6: do from a clothing standpoint, from a grooming standpoint, it
20:59
Speaker 6: is amazing. Talk about a guy that's under the microscope,
21:02
Speaker 6: who well, the magnifying glass for all of it. It
21:05
Speaker 6: is Joe Burrow.
21:06
Speaker 1: So Game one this year was not good for Joe Burrow.
21:09
Speaker 1: Is his fiftieth NFL start if you include the playoff
21:12
Speaker 1: games that he's been in, and statistically this was the worst.
21:16
Speaker 1: He had his worst passer rating fifty two point two.
21:20
Speaker 1: He had his fewest yards ever eighty two yards under
21:23
Speaker 1: rainy conditions in Cleveland. I did little research about his
21:27
Speaker 1: previous bad games, and this amazed me. All right, this
21:32
Speaker 1: was his worst passer rating game ever.
21:35
Speaker 6: Yeah.
21:36
Speaker 1: The next two lowest passer rating games ever were also
21:41
Speaker 1: season openers.
21:42
Speaker 7: Wow.
21:43
Speaker 1: The second worst was last year when he threw four
21:45
Speaker 1: interceptions against the Steelers. The third worst was the first
21:50
Speaker 1: game of his NFL career against the Chargers back in
21:53
Speaker 1: twenty twenty. So out of fifty games, the three worst
21:57
Speaker 1: statistically were all season openers.
22:01
Speaker 6: And I think you can relate it to COVID on
22:04
Speaker 6: one of them didn't have any training camp. You know,
22:07
Speaker 6: COVID was an issue. And you start off you don't
22:09
Speaker 6: really know what. You don't know yet as far as
22:12
Speaker 6: the National Football League, you have a knee injury, you
22:16
Speaker 6: have appendicitis, you have calf poll. I mean he has
22:20
Speaker 6: never had a training camp. He's never had a full
22:23
Speaker 6: training camp. So I mean, as great as he is,
22:28
Speaker 6: hot flash.
22:29
Speaker 5: He's human. He's a human being.
22:32
Speaker 6: And he needs repetition to breed comfort level just like anybody,
22:36
Speaker 6: and everybody does. And when he doesn't get it, I
22:39
Speaker 6: think you know, you take for granted that he's so
22:42
Speaker 6: he's been so good. His skill set is so magnificent
22:46
Speaker 6: that the expectation is he doesn't even need to work
22:50
Speaker 6: at it to be outstanding. Now, the reason he's outstanding
22:54
Speaker 6: is he works at it. And when that's taken away
22:57
Speaker 6: from him, when those reps are taken away, and I'm
23:00
Speaker 6: mean because he he is so intent and so layser
23:03
Speaker 6: focused on those reps and getting them right. When he
23:07
Speaker 6: when he misses him, he's going to be rusty. He's
23:11
Speaker 6: going to be a tick off. I mean, he was
23:15
Speaker 6: a tick off. So many times he got ticked off,
23:17
Speaker 6: you know. I mean it was just one of those,
23:18
Speaker 6: one of those things. And look at a tape of
23:21
Speaker 6: that game, it was amazing how he was just a
23:25
Speaker 6: little bit inaccurate compared to the way he normally throws it.
23:30
Speaker 6: His receivers weren't making them, they were just sort of
23:32
Speaker 6: making the play when he was a little bit off.
23:35
Speaker 6: They were a little bit off. He's a little bit off.
23:37
Speaker 6: I mean, the whole thing, the whole it just snowballed
23:40
Speaker 6: and they never got any any kind of a rhythm
23:43
Speaker 6: or timing or anything close to it. But honestly, when
23:47
Speaker 6: I when I watched that game again, I think that
23:51
Speaker 6: Zach and the coaching staff decided to go to a
23:54
Speaker 6: quick passing game because of the medical issue that Joe
23:57
Speaker 6: was dealing with. And it's like, we don't want him
24:01
Speaker 6: holding the football, subjecting himself to hits or having to
24:05
Speaker 6: run around back there and not knowing what the outcome
24:09
Speaker 6: might be. So everything was short, intermediate at best to
24:15
Speaker 6: the perimeter passing game. And then the rain that we
24:20
Speaker 6: talked about, the heavy mist made it very very difficult
24:24
Speaker 6: to get the ball out of her hand that quickly.
24:26
Speaker 6: He was having problems with it. Put on a glove
24:28
Speaker 6: about the third or fourth series, had it off, had
24:31
Speaker 6: it back on again. I mean the whole thing. The
24:34
Speaker 6: wet ball, you know, was a little bit of a factor.
24:36
Speaker 6: And then Schwartz's game plan was the perfect game plan.
24:40
Speaker 6: He pressed his coverage, He squeezed the field. I mean,
24:44
Speaker 6: he put a lot of different looks on the front
24:46
Speaker 6: end and the back end. He inverted coverages. He had
24:50
Speaker 6: defensive linemen playing all over inside, outside, giving different looks
24:54
Speaker 6: and lining him up in different formations. Schematically, he caused
24:59
Speaker 6: some communication issues and they had to eventually make adjustments.
25:03
Speaker 6: I mean, he printed a book basically on how to
25:06
Speaker 6: defend that short passing game, you know, and I think
25:09
Speaker 6: bottom line is better open it up, you know, and
25:14
Speaker 6: roll the dice a little bit in terms of what
25:18
Speaker 6: the situation is with you. I remember saying, Dan, how
25:21
Speaker 6: about if we throw a deep one time just to
25:23
Speaker 6: make them defend it, just to loosen things up. How
25:26
Speaker 6: about a deep ball? And then right away in the
25:28
Speaker 6: second half, got the eighteen yard pass interference and went
25:31
Speaker 6: deep again. It was incomplete, but at least, you know,
25:34
Speaker 6: it made him do something different. They were just sitting
25:37
Speaker 6: on all those short intermediate routes. And I think, I
25:41
Speaker 6: don't think that it's not Baltimore's game. Baltimore is a
25:46
Speaker 6: team schwartz. The schwartz has the Cleveland Browns attacking at
25:50
Speaker 6: the line of scrimmage. They want to invert the line
25:52
Speaker 6: of scrimmage. They are penetrating, they're hitting get they're attacking.
25:56
Speaker 6: Baltimore up front is not read and react, but they
26:00
Speaker 6: are a gap control defensive front. And on the back end,
26:05
Speaker 6: Cleveland was playing press man and they were They had
26:08
Speaker 6: ten guys within five yards of line of scrimmage a
26:10
Speaker 6: ton and they were playing press man. Baltimore does not.
26:14
Speaker 6: Baltimore plays more zone. So Baltimore is very good upfront
26:18
Speaker 6: and very good on the back end like Cleveland is
26:20
Speaker 6: from a personnel standpoint, but schematically they're very, very different.
26:26
Speaker 1: The Browns did not have a bunch of sacks last Sunday,
26:29
Speaker 1: but they did get a lot of pressure on Joep.
26:32
Speaker 1: The average time from the snap to the Browns applying
26:36
Speaker 1: pressure was one point nine to five seconds, less than
26:41
Speaker 1: two seconds. That tied for the sixth fastest since they've
26:45
Speaker 1: been measuring that stat beginning in twenty nineteen.
26:48
Speaker 6: And that's that's a stat that needs to get better. Obviously,
26:54
Speaker 6: there's there's no question about it, and I think it
26:57
Speaker 6: will improve. I do think the offensive line, you know,
27:00
Speaker 6: as rusty as Joe Burrow was, there were a lot
27:04
Speaker 6: of guys that were knocking rust and dust off their uniforms.
27:06
Speaker 6: I mean, there were a lot of guys that went
27:08
Speaker 6: out there without any live game experience in the preseason,
27:14
Speaker 6: working next to each other and alongside, you know, teammates
27:18
Speaker 6: and communicating back and forth. I mean, I think Jo
27:22
Speaker 6: and as receivers, they were communicating again, just looking at
27:28
Speaker 6: each other like what's up, just to tick off, you know,
27:31
Speaker 6: it just could not quite just could not quite complete
27:34
Speaker 6: the task and never ever got in any kind of
27:38
Speaker 6: a rhythm, timing, tempo, None of that was there. And
27:43
Speaker 6: I mean third down, jeez, what they go two for
27:46
Speaker 6: fifteen and they went one for seven when it was
27:51
Speaker 6: third and one to five one for seven. Second third
27:55
Speaker 6: down was the third and one they convert the first
27:57
Speaker 6: third down. Second one is a third and one they
27:59
Speaker 6: don't convert, and then it's just three and out, three
28:03
Speaker 6: and out, three and out. I mean they had seven
28:06
Speaker 6: three and out possessions I believe during the course of
28:08
Speaker 6: the football game and fifteen possessions, but the last one
28:11
Speaker 6: was the kneel down one play. So literally half of
28:14
Speaker 6: their possessions seven of their fourteen possessions were three and out.
28:19
Speaker 1: So went back and did some research on how Joe
28:22
Speaker 1: Burrow has historically bounced back from the worst games of
28:25
Speaker 1: his career. So, if you look at the three lowest
28:27
Speaker 1: passer rating games he ever had before this one, right
28:30
Speaker 1: in the next three games, he threw seven touchdown passes,
28:33
Speaker 1: one pick, passer rating of ninety five. If you look
28:36
Speaker 1: at the three lowest yardage games of his NFL career,
28:40
Speaker 1: the three games after that, he had a passer rating
28:42
Speaker 1: of one twenty eight point nine. So Joe Burrow has
28:45
Speaker 1: always bounced back the next week. We anticipate that he
28:48
Speaker 1: will against Baltimore this Sunday, but I wanted to learn
28:52
Speaker 1: some more about how he bounces back. So I ask
28:55
Speaker 1: this question of offensive coordinator Brian Callahan, what's Burrow like
29:00
Speaker 1: after a bad.
29:00
Speaker 8: Game the same as he is after a good one,
29:04
Speaker 8: which which makes him consistent. I think that's that's the
29:07
Speaker 8: name of the game in the NFL. You know, there's seventeen.
29:09
Speaker 8: There's seventeen games, and you're gonna play well in some
29:12
Speaker 8: and not in others. And some defenses are tough matchups,
29:15
Speaker 8: and some games you play outstanding and some games you
29:19
Speaker 8: struggle to score points. And I think as long as
29:22
Speaker 8: you never really ride that roller coaster of emotional reactions
29:25
Speaker 8: to things, and you've come in and fix it needs
29:27
Speaker 8: to be fixed when you win, in you lose, and
29:29
Speaker 8: then you move on and get ready for the next one.
29:31
Speaker 8: And I think that's a pretty standard approach for guys
29:33
Speaker 8: like Joe, and I think that's how our team is.
29:35
Speaker 8: So so we have to keep doing.
29:38
Speaker 6: The interesting thing during the pressure with Joe, you know
29:41
Speaker 6: has talked about that. Not only is Joe that way,
29:44
Speaker 6: the coaches, you know, Zach Taylor and Brian Callahan talk
29:47
Speaker 6: about Joe being that way. Joe talks about them that way.
29:51
Speaker 6: The opposite was true. Joe Borrow said that Zach is
29:55
Speaker 6: totally consistent in his approach and there's not the roller
29:59
Speaker 6: coaster highs and lows. Brian Callahan the exact same way.
30:03
Speaker 6: So I do believe that as a football team, it
30:07
Speaker 6: starts at the top with Zach to the coordinator, you know,
30:11
Speaker 6: to the quarterback to his teammates, compartmentalize and move on.
30:17
Speaker 6: Don't ignore it, it happened, Watch the tape, learn from it,
30:21
Speaker 6: make any necessary adjustments, and then put it in the bank,
30:25
Speaker 6: way back in the memory bank, and move on.
30:28
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you by Alta
30:30
Speaker 1: Fiber future proof fiber Internet capable of delivering multi gigabit
30:35
Speaker 1: speeds designed to take your home, business, and community to
30:38
Speaker 1: a new level. Elevate your connection with Alta Fiber. While
30:42
Speaker 1: the Bengals offense struggled in Cleveland, the defense played pretty well.
30:46
Speaker 1: The Browns only scored two touchdowns on fourteen possessions, and
30:50
Speaker 1: one of those TV drives lasted eighteen yards. I discussed
30:54
Speaker 1: last week's game and this week's matchup against the Ravens
30:58
Speaker 1: with linebacker Logan. Logan is a fan. When your team
31:03
Speaker 1: has a rough game, it lingers until the next game.
31:06
Speaker 1: As a player, how quickly do you move on?
31:09
Speaker 5: Twenty four hour rule.
31:10
Speaker 9: That's our mindset, you know, learn from the mistakes that
31:12
Speaker 9: we were in that game and learn from the good
31:15
Speaker 9: things as well.
31:15
Speaker 5: But it's on to Baltimore this week after twenty four hours.
31:19
Speaker 1: I've got a buddy who's a diehard Bengals fan. When
31:21
Speaker 1: the team loses, he watches recorded episodes of America's Funniest
31:25
Speaker 1: Home videos just so he can completely put it out
31:28
Speaker 1: of his mind. Do you do anything like that or
31:31
Speaker 1: do you kind of replay the game until that twenty
31:34
Speaker 1: four hour rule is finished?
31:35
Speaker 9: Yeah, I think it's kind of you know, replay like
31:37
Speaker 9: maybe certain plays that you think you messed.
31:39
Speaker 5: Up on that you want to be better on.
31:41
Speaker 9: You and then just like I said, you just learned
31:44
Speaker 9: from it, and then at the end of the day
31:45
Speaker 9: you try to get your body right to go.
31:47
Speaker 1: The next week, we're chatting with Logan Wilson. The defense
31:50
Speaker 1: played well. You four seven punts, you had two takeaways.
31:53
Speaker 1: If not for an eighteen yard drive in the fourth quarter,
31:55
Speaker 1: the Browns probably wouldn't have scored twenty points. What did
31:58
Speaker 1: you think of the defense as overall performance?
32:01
Speaker 9: You know, I thought we did some things really well.
32:03
Speaker 9: I think there's some things that we still need to
32:04
Speaker 9: continue to do better at. Obviously them scoring too many
32:07
Speaker 9: points is the biggest thing, and just continuing to learn
32:11
Speaker 9: from those those good things, like forcing those those turnovers,
32:13
Speaker 9: those are huge. The more often that we can get
32:15
Speaker 9: the ball back to our offense, the better off we're
32:18
Speaker 9: going to be as a team. And we understand that,
32:20
Speaker 9: and so we're always trying to find ways to hunt
32:22
Speaker 9: the ball, and I think that's a big thing for us.
32:24
Speaker 5: To go on moving forward.
32:25
Speaker 1: It was a wet, sloppy day. It was obviously hard
32:28
Speaker 1: to throw the ball. How was the footing?
32:30
Speaker 5: Footing was was average to say the least.
32:33
Speaker 9: It wasn't It wasn't horrible, but just because really because
32:36
Speaker 9: the grass was kind of brand new. It was the
32:38
Speaker 9: first game on that grass before it gets all torn
32:40
Speaker 9: out throughout the year, which is probably good.
32:42
Speaker 5: But I was not expecting it to rain that much.
32:44
Speaker 9: I remember checking the forecast that morning it was like
32:46
Speaker 9: fifteen percent chance of rain and just decided to rain
32:48
Speaker 9: the whole game.
32:49
Speaker 5: So it was it was weird.
32:52
Speaker 1: You didn't come out. You were in for all seventy
32:54
Speaker 1: four defensive snap snaps. Jermaine Pratt played sixty six of
32:57
Speaker 1: the seventy four. Is that a big point pride for
33:00
Speaker 1: the two of you, that you don't have to come out,
33:02
Speaker 1: whether it's first down, third and long whatever.
33:05
Speaker 9: Yeah, we pride ourselves on being able to play all
33:07
Speaker 9: three downs, and you know, We push each other within
33:10
Speaker 9: the schemes of our defense to do things that you know,
33:12
Speaker 9: we might not have done in the past, and we're
33:15
Speaker 9: always trying to grow from each other and learn. And
33:17
Speaker 9: I think that having that mindset of like just never
33:19
Speaker 9: being satisfied has helped us grow into the players we
33:22
Speaker 9: are and will continue to help us move forward.
33:24
Speaker 1: We're visiting with Logan Wilson after last year's playoff lost
33:27
Speaker 1: in Kansas City. I remember talking to Jermaine in front
33:29
Speaker 1: of his locker and I was thinking, this is probably
33:32
Speaker 1: the last time I do this. I didn't seem likely
33:34
Speaker 1: that he would re sign, just because of the contract
33:37
Speaker 1: situations on the team. Then on the first day of
33:39
Speaker 1: free agency, signed a three year extension. Were you a
33:42
Speaker 1: bit surprised? What was your reaction?
33:44
Speaker 9: I mean, I was a little bit surprised too. I
33:46
Speaker 9: wasn't sure if we were going to get him back.
33:48
Speaker 9: But you know, I'm obviously exact that he came back
33:51
Speaker 9: and that we got to continue what him and I
33:53
Speaker 9: have going forward. And I think that, you know, we
33:55
Speaker 9: can continue to establish ourselves as one of the best
33:57
Speaker 9: linebacker duos in the NFL. And you know, I think
34:01
Speaker 9: that having that continuity is so rare in this league,
34:04
Speaker 9: you know, Like for him and I to be going
34:06
Speaker 9: in now year four together, I think is rare to
34:09
Speaker 9: have that. And I think that he and I both
34:13
Speaker 9: know and trust each other of what we're going to
34:14
Speaker 9: do on each play, and it helps us just play fast,
34:16
Speaker 9: and you know, we can talk through things pre snap
34:19
Speaker 9: that help us be on the right page, you know,
34:22
Speaker 9: within that play.
34:23
Speaker 1: You got your extension done about a month ago, so
34:25
Speaker 1: you're going to be here for at least four more years,
34:28
Speaker 1: which were thrilled about. What was that whole process like
34:30
Speaker 1: for you?
34:31
Speaker 5: I kind of just let my agent take care of that.
34:34
Speaker 9: You know, at the end of the day, I was
34:35
Speaker 9: just trying to to better my craft on the field
34:38
Speaker 9: and help our defense as a whole start to gel,
34:40
Speaker 9: you know, some new guys back there, and I really
34:43
Speaker 9: didn't worry about it a whole lot.
34:44
Speaker 2: You know.
34:44
Speaker 9: Obviously I was in contact with my agent and we
34:46
Speaker 9: were exchanging words with what was going on and whatnot,
34:49
Speaker 9: and you know, I'm very excited and exetic that it.
34:52
Speaker 5: Was able to get done.
34:53
Speaker 1: You're a wyoming guy. Is there a big plot of
34:56
Speaker 1: land in your future? Will you buy horses? Will you
34:59
Speaker 1: and your wife see the world. What are some of
35:01
Speaker 1: the things you have planned?
35:03
Speaker 9: I think, well, you know, we'll eventually build our like
35:06
Speaker 9: forever home back there in Wyoming. I think we're trying
35:10
Speaker 9: to work on that right now, but we haven't bought
35:13
Speaker 9: any land yet. That'll be in the future.
35:14
Speaker 5: One thing.
35:15
Speaker 9: Not gonna worry about that stuff right now during the season.
35:17
Speaker 9: We can look into that kind of stuff in the
35:18
Speaker 9: off season.
35:20
Speaker 1: Let's look ahead to this week's opponent, Baltimore. In your
35:22
Speaker 1: first three seasons, they were going to try to run
35:24
Speaker 1: it down your throat. Now they've got a new offensive
35:27
Speaker 1: coordinator who came from the college ranks. Do you expect
35:29
Speaker 1: them to be much different?
35:30
Speaker 5: There'll be some differences, for sure, you know.
35:32
Speaker 9: I think that there they'll have some stuff that their
35:34
Speaker 9: offensive coordinator ran at Georgia, and then they'll have some
35:37
Speaker 9: stuff that they've kind of ran in the past. It'll
35:39
Speaker 9: be different with more past concepts. You know, we know
35:43
Speaker 9: what to we don't mean, it's always hard to know
35:46
Speaker 9: what to expect because you get preseason guys and they
35:48
Speaker 9: don't always show our preseason games and they always show everything.
35:50
Speaker 9: But they're starting to show some stuff obviously in the
35:53
Speaker 9: Houston game, and you know, well, at the end of
35:57
Speaker 9: the day, we'll rely on our rules and fundamentals to
36:00
Speaker 9: adjust to whatever they throw at us.
36:02
Speaker 1: You played these guys in back to back games at
36:04
Speaker 1: the end of the year, final game of the regular season,
36:06
Speaker 1: first round of the playoffs. Does it feel like you
36:09
Speaker 1: just played Baltimore?
36:11
Speaker 6: Uh?
36:12
Speaker 9: Not really, honestly, just because it was a while ago.
36:16
Speaker 9: But you know, I think that they're always They're always
36:18
Speaker 9: a tough opponent. It's always those division games are always tough,
36:21
Speaker 9: and I think we have one of, if not the
36:23
Speaker 9: best division in the National Football League right now, and
36:26
Speaker 9: so we always have our hands full playing him, and
36:28
Speaker 9: we always look forward to the challenge.
36:31
Speaker 1: In that playoff game, you had a hand, actually two
36:34
Speaker 1: hands in the most famous defensive play in Bengals history,
36:38
Speaker 1: the fumble into jungle. You forced it, Sam ran it
36:40
Speaker 1: back for the touchdown. Do you have a framed picture
36:44
Speaker 1: of it or any sort of keepsake as a memory
36:46
Speaker 1: of that great moment.
36:47
Speaker 9: Well, it's funny because that football that Sam ended up
36:50
Speaker 9: scoring with was in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
36:53
Speaker 5: And when the family it came down.
36:55
Speaker 9: When I did that softball game during OTAs we went
36:57
Speaker 9: down to the Canton before we left for the summer,
36:59
Speaker 9: after which he has has finished and got to see
37:01
Speaker 9: that picture in the Profoball Hall of Fame with that football,
37:05
Speaker 9: So it was pretty cool to see that. I mean,
37:06
Speaker 9: I'll always have Eventually, I'll probably get a frame photo
37:10
Speaker 9: of that because I think that's going to be an
37:11
Speaker 9: Alzheimer for me.
37:13
Speaker 1: There's no question that that's going to be an Alzheimer
37:15
Speaker 1: for all of us, and we look forward to the
37:17
Speaker 1: next Alzheimer whenever that happens. Best of luck this week.
37:21
Speaker 1: Thanks much for the time as always, and beat the Ravens.
37:24
Speaker 5: Appreciate it. Thank you.
37:26
Speaker 1: In Lamar Jackson's five NFL seasons, the Bengals have faced
37:29
Speaker 1: the Ravens eleven times, including last year's playoff game. Baltimore
37:35
Speaker 1: is six and one when Lamar starts and zero to
37:38
Speaker 1: five when he doesn't. Lamar's missed the last three meetings
37:42
Speaker 1: at pay Corps Stadium. The Bengals Booth podcast is presented
37:46
Speaker 1: by Bengals Picks and Ultimate Bengals. They're free to play
37:49
Speaker 1: with tickets and signed merchandise up for grabs. Find both
37:52
Speaker 1: inside the Bengals app. The Bengals appear to be in
37:56
Speaker 1: good shape in terms of injuries heading into Sunday's game.
37:59
Speaker 1: Josephsi practiced on a limited basis on Wednesday, and it
38:03
Speaker 1: sounds like there's a good chance he'll be able to
38:05
Speaker 1: go on Sunday. The Ravens, on the other hand, have issues.
38:10
Speaker 1: Their best running back JK Dobbins suffered a season ending
38:13
Speaker 1: achilles tear last week, and offensive lineman Ronnie Stanley and
38:17
Speaker 1: Tyler Linderbaum both left the opener with injuries. They're considered
38:22
Speaker 1: week to week. Safety Marcus Williams suffered a pectoral injury,
38:26
Speaker 1: so he's definitely out, and their best cornerback Marlon Humphrey
38:29
Speaker 1: had foot surgery in mid August and did not play
38:32
Speaker 1: in the opener. Lap and I discussed those injuries and
38:36
Speaker 1: much more with Ravens broadcaster Jerry Sandusky when he joined
38:40
Speaker 1: us on the Bengals Game Plan Show.
38:43
Speaker 7: Other than that, Missus Lincoln, you're gonna love the second
38:46
Speaker 7: act of the play. Look, I think you're gonna see
38:52
Speaker 7: the Ravens have to make a lot of ajustice on
38:54
Speaker 7: the offensive line the rest of the season. They've got
38:56
Speaker 7: adjust to the backfield. I doubt we'll see Marlon Humphy
38:58
Speaker 7: since they didn't practice day, so you know Week two
39:02
Speaker 7: and you know, the Ravens new offense really now becomes
39:05
Speaker 7: an offense that has to adjust on the fly.
39:08
Speaker 6: Speaking of new offense, offensive coordinator Todd Monkin plenty of
39:13
Speaker 6: experience as a coordinator in the National Football League and
39:16
Speaker 6: then with University of Georgia National championship run. What kind
39:21
Speaker 6: of a coach is he, Jerry.
39:24
Speaker 7: He's terrific. I'm so impressed with Todd Munkins because he
39:28
Speaker 7: empowers his players and he puts He gives his players
39:33
Speaker 7: a lot of latitude in this offense to make adjustments.
39:36
Speaker 7: You know, Lamar for the first five years of his career,
39:38
Speaker 7: play comes in thinking about a helmet, falls, the huddle,
39:42
Speaker 7: run the play, whether you know it's gonna work or not.
39:44
Speaker 7: In Monkin's offense, Lamar comes to the line. He can
39:46
Speaker 7: adjust protection, he can read the defense. Now, he can
39:49
Speaker 7: call audibles, and he can suggest things and so it's
39:53
Speaker 7: much more of a conversation. It's much more. And Dave,
39:57
Speaker 7: I don't care if you are in football broadcast, if
40:00
Speaker 7: you sell dining room tables for a living. When the
40:03
Speaker 7: employees feel like they are involved in the decision making,
40:07
Speaker 7: they're going to put their heart and soul, not just
40:09
Speaker 7: their hands in the back into it, and long term,
40:11
Speaker 7: I think you're gonna see really good results because of that.
40:14
Speaker 6: So you're saying he empowers people.
40:16
Speaker 5: Huh.
40:17
Speaker 7: Completely really impressed with Todd Monkin.
40:21
Speaker 1: We are visiting with the Ravens radio voice Jerry Sandusky.
40:24
Speaker 1: Baltimore has drafted some wide receivers in the first round
40:27
Speaker 1: in recent years. It hasn't always worked out, but it
40:29
Speaker 1: looks like it might be working out this time. Zay
40:32
Speaker 1: Flowers taken twenty second overall. He had nine catches last week,
40:36
Speaker 1: and based on everything I've read about training camp, sounds
40:40
Speaker 1: like Zay Flowers is exactly what the Ravens were hoping
40:44
Speaker 1: for when they took him, and.
40:46
Speaker 7: It's what they've been looking for in the draft since
40:48
Speaker 7: nineteen ninety six. They've never found that guy. They found
40:51
Speaker 7: him in Zay Flowers. Dan, you know, the Ravens are
40:54
Speaker 7: the only NFL team that have never drafted a Pro
40:57
Speaker 7: Bowl wide receiver ever, no Pro Bowl wide receivers. And
41:01
Speaker 7: I'm not I't believe me. I'm not elevating the rookie
41:03
Speaker 7: to Pro Bowl already, but he's already had the best
41:07
Speaker 7: first game of any Ravens rookie, I almost double the
41:11
Speaker 7: number of reception. He's got quickness, he's got football IQ.
41:15
Speaker 7: He's He's the kind of guy that if you get
41:18
Speaker 7: him the ball in space. Remember how you felt about
41:20
Speaker 7: Jamar Shase the first time you saw him, he realized, Okay,
41:23
Speaker 7: he's got to get in the ball. He's going to
41:24
Speaker 7: make plays. He's a different style than Jamar, but he
41:27
Speaker 7: has the same quality of get him the ball some way, anyway,
41:31
Speaker 7: he'll make plays.
41:32
Speaker 6: What about the running game, I mean, do you think
41:37
Speaker 6: that uh, basically Todd Munkin and John Harbaugh based put
41:43
Speaker 6: Lamar Jackson under wraps or did Houston take away Lamar
41:47
Speaker 6: Jackson as an option running the football when he was
41:50
Speaker 6: doing the you know, the RPOs, his own reads and
41:53
Speaker 6: that kind of thing. It will Lamar Jackson be as
41:56
Speaker 6: big a running threat quarterback run threat as he's been
41:59
Speaker 6: in the pastund Todd Munkin, Dave.
42:02
Speaker 7: I think he's going to be as big a run threat,
42:06
Speaker 7: but from a different angle. What I mean by that
42:08
Speaker 7: is the in the Greg Roman offense, the read option
42:12
Speaker 7: was the base of that offense. Along with power running
42:15
Speaker 7: ISO's trap that was the base of the offense and
42:18
Speaker 7: everything worked off of that. The Reid option is part
42:21
Speaker 7: of this offense. You'll see it some weeks, it will
42:23
Speaker 7: be a lot of weeks you don't see it. Where
42:24
Speaker 7: Lamar's going to get his yardage is this is more
42:27
Speaker 7: of a West Coast spread the defense horizontally offense. Well,
42:31
Speaker 7: when you spread out of defense, you will eventually give
42:33
Speaker 7: Lamar Jackson big running lane and if the passing opportunity
42:37
Speaker 7: is not there, he'll get chunk yardage extending plays. And
42:41
Speaker 7: I think you're going to start seeking this point forward
42:43
Speaker 7: in Lamar's career, getting his running yardage as secondary not primary.
42:49
Speaker 1: Okay, Jerry, two years ago in this rivalry, in the
42:52
Speaker 1: two games, Joe Burrow threw for nine hunty one yards
42:55
Speaker 1: and the Bengals scored forty one points in each game.
42:58
Speaker 1: Last year, he never topped two twenty against Baltimore. The
43:01
Speaker 1: Bengals offense never scored more than twenty. Does Baltimore feel
43:07
Speaker 1: like it's got a pretty good formula for keeping the
43:09
Speaker 1: Bengals offense in check?
43:12
Speaker 7: So? I think they did last year, but I don't
43:14
Speaker 7: know about this year because two years ago they felt
43:16
Speaker 7: like they did and they gave up a thousand yards.
43:18
Speaker 7: It's one of those things with this rivalry. There are
43:22
Speaker 7: a lot of really good coaches in this rivalry. I
43:25
Speaker 7: think Zach Taylor has evolved into a terrific young head
43:28
Speaker 7: coach in this league. I think lou Hana Rumo is
43:30
Speaker 7: one of the best defensive coordinators in the entire league.
43:33
Speaker 7: And I think, you know, the Ravens has some really
43:36
Speaker 7: I've told you how much I think of Mike of
43:39
Speaker 7: Todd Monkin. Mike McDonald is now in his second year
43:42
Speaker 7: and he's a terrific young coordinator. So I think we're
43:44
Speaker 7: gonna see games where the defense really does a great
43:48
Speaker 7: job putting lid on. But look, both of these teams
43:51
Speaker 7: now have big time playmakers. We haven't even talked about
43:53
Speaker 7: Objays as well as A Flowers, Mark Andrews. With what
43:58
Speaker 7: you got in that and that received, there's gonna be
44:02
Speaker 7: Sundays where defensive coordinators do great jobs, and there's gonna
44:04
Speaker 7: be Sundays where playmakers make plays. I don't think anybody
44:08
Speaker 7: involved in this rivalry is either arrogant enough or dumb
44:11
Speaker 7: enough to think they've got the formula to stop the
44:13
Speaker 7: other guy. Sunday in and Sunday out.
44:16
Speaker 6: You know defensively, when I look at both of these units,
44:19
Speaker 6: a lot healthy dose to respect for what the Baltimore
44:22
Speaker 6: Ravens have up front, healthy dose respect respect the same
44:26
Speaker 6: way for the Bengals and the back end. Now you know,
44:30
Speaker 6: the Bengals have a lot of young talent in the
44:32
Speaker 6: back end. The Ravens got some talent on the back
44:35
Speaker 6: end as well. But the position group that doesn't get
44:40
Speaker 6: talked about as much but is really good the linebackers.
44:44
Speaker 6: I mean, Smith and Queen combined for what twenty seven
44:48
Speaker 6: tackles in the first game. Logan Wilson and Jermaine Pratt
44:52
Speaker 6: played at an extremely high level for the Cincinnati Bengals.
44:55
Speaker 6: They're three down linebackers. It might come down to which
44:58
Speaker 6: dynamic duo is the most dynamic at linebacker.
45:02
Speaker 7: It was wild you brought it up because I was
45:03
Speaker 7: doing game preps a little bit before I jumped on
45:06
Speaker 7: the call with you guys, and one of the big
45:08
Speaker 7: things that I circled was this might be the best
45:12
Speaker 7: matchup of inside linebackers we'll see all year until we
45:15
Speaker 7: see the Bengals again later down this year, because both
45:18
Speaker 7: defenses rely so heavily. The green dot is inside that group.
45:23
Speaker 7: For both teams. The big tackle numbers are inside that group.
45:26
Speaker 7: The sacks are driven from that group. And when I
45:29
Speaker 7: watched the tape, I see Jermaine Pratt, Logan Wilson doing
45:33
Speaker 7: a lot of what I see from Rokwan Smith and
45:35
Speaker 7: Patrick Queen. They're moving guys in front of them, They're
45:39
Speaker 7: checking the secondary. They're the brains of the unit, They're
45:41
Speaker 7: the heart of the unit, and they really have become
45:44
Speaker 7: mirror groups who are huge impacts. We're going to talk
45:48
Speaker 7: a lot Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson, but I think
45:52
Speaker 7: the outcome on Sunday is going to be which one
45:54
Speaker 7: of these two inside linebacker groups has a bigger impact
45:58
Speaker 7: on the game.
46:00
Speaker 6: And finally, and freciate you, as always, Jerry, special teams.
46:03
Speaker 6: You can never talk about a coach harball team without
46:06
Speaker 6: addressing the special teams because everybody knows it's so important
46:10
Speaker 6: to him. How do you see the special teams match
46:12
Speaker 6: up in this one?
46:14
Speaker 7: Well, I think if either offense gets the ball the midfield,
46:17
Speaker 7: you're a scoring age. And I'm not think Justin Tucker
46:21
Speaker 7: and Evan McPherson have the strongest legs and the most
46:24
Speaker 7: accurate deep legs in the NFL. The two guys I
46:27
Speaker 7: feel bad for are the kick returners because they might
46:30
Speaker 7: as well take Sunday off because unless the teams want
46:33
Speaker 7: to kick it high and short and want to force
46:35
Speaker 7: a return, there will be no kick returns in this game.
46:38
Speaker 7: And that you know, really, when you think about it,
46:40
Speaker 7: if you're the offensive coordinators, you can literally look at
46:42
Speaker 7: this and say, I only have to chew up half
46:44
Speaker 7: the field to get points. There are there aren't many
46:47
Speaker 7: offensive coordinators who say the fifty yard line gives me
46:50
Speaker 7: a shot at scoring, and everything in there just increases
46:53
Speaker 7: my likelihood of points. Again, you know, these two teams
46:56
Speaker 7: have evolved into a lot of similar ways. Great edge
47:00
Speaker 7: pass rushers, great young quarterbacks, explosive wide receivers, terrific inside linebackers.
47:05
Speaker 7: And you've got a third year kicker whose world class,
47:08
Speaker 7: and we've got a twelve year kicker whose world class.
47:10
Speaker 7: There's a lot of parallels and Mike variance, Dave, and
47:14
Speaker 7: I think you've probably feel similar is that when you
47:17
Speaker 7: put two teams on the field, the coaches know each other,
47:20
Speaker 7: players know each other, The talent level so high, a
47:23
Speaker 7: lot of equals. It just comes down to which playmaker
47:26
Speaker 7: is going to make a plays one o'clock on Sunday.
47:29
Speaker 1: Here's an invitation to join us for the Bengals pep
47:32
Speaker 1: Rally Show on Friday from three to six at Wings
47:34
Speaker 1: and Rings in Fairfield. Running back Trayvon Williams is scheduled
47:38
Speaker 1: to be our guest in the final hour. That's going
47:41
Speaker 1: to do it for this episode of the Bengals Booth Podcast,
47:44
Speaker 1: brought to you by Bengals Picks and Ultimate Bengals. There
47:47
Speaker 1: free to play, with tickets and signed merchandise up for
47:50
Speaker 1: grabs by pay Corps, the official HR software provider of
47:54
Speaker 1: the Bengals, by Alta Fiber future Proof Fiber Internet elevate
47:59
Speaker 1: your connection with Alta Fiber, and by Kettering Health, the
48:04
Speaker 1: official healthcare provider of the Bengals. If you haven't done
48:07
Speaker 1: so already, please subscribe to this podcast and if you
48:10
Speaker 1: have a minute, give it a rating or share a
48:12
Speaker 1: comment that helps more Bengals fans find us. I'm Dan
48:16
Speaker 1: Horde and thanks for listening to The Bengals Booth Podcast.