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Bengals Booth Podcast: Back To Tennessee · Bengals Booth Podcast

0:03
Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody.
0:04
Speaker 2: I'm Dan Hoard and thanks for downloading The Bengals Booth Podcast.
0:08
Speaker 2: The Find My Way Back to Tennessee addition, as the
0:14
Speaker 2: Bengals head to Nashville for the third year in a
0:17
Speaker 2: row and look to beat the Tennessee Titans for the
0:19
Speaker 2: third straight time. Coming up, I'll talk to former NFL
0:23
Speaker 2: offensive lineman Ross Tucker, the host of the Ross Tucker
0:26
Speaker 2: Podcast and a game analyst for CBS this year, and
0:30
Speaker 2: find out if his opinion of the Bengals changed after
0:33
Speaker 2: Monday Night's win over the Rams, and what he thinks
0:36
Speaker 2: it's going to take to beat the Titans. On Sunday,
0:39
Speaker 2: My one on one player interview this week is with
0:42
Speaker 2: AJ McCarron, whose pro football career has come full circle
0:46
Speaker 2: with a return to Cincinnati. Dave Lapham joins me and
0:50
Speaker 2: shares a great story about Titans coach Mike Vrabel, and
0:53
Speaker 2: in our No The Faux segment, we'll get the latest
0:55
Speaker 2: time this week's opponent from Nashville's sports anchor and sports
0:59
Speaker 2: talk show hosts John Burden. The Bengals Booth Podcast is
1:02
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1:13
Speaker 2: the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. Now here's a
1:16
Speaker 2: quick reminder that you can have the latest edition of
1:19
Speaker 2: this podcast delivered rite to your phone, tablet, or computer
1:22
Speaker 2: by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's the greatest
1:26
Speaker 2: thing since sincey Light. That's the name of a light
1:31
Speaker 2: beer from Ryenggeist Brewery in downtown Cincinnati that's one of
1:34
Speaker 2: the hottest selling Cincinnati brewed beers of all time. As
1:38
Speaker 2: the radio announcer for UC football and basketball, I had
1:42
Speaker 2: the honor of pouring the first beer at the brewery
1:45
Speaker 2: back in June, and a portion of the proceeds from
1:48
Speaker 2: every sincey Light sold goes to Cincy Rains, the nil
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Speaker 2: collective that helps pay UC athletes through name, image and
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Speaker 2: likeness deals. So if you're a beer drinker and room
2:00
Speaker 2: for UC in addition to rooting for the Bengals, give
2:03
Speaker 2: since he lte a try every sip helps the Bearcats.
2:07
Speaker 2: Now time to hear from my first guest, former offensive
2:11
Speaker 2: lineman Ross Tucker, host to popular podcast calls NFL games,
2:15
Speaker 2: for CBS and Westwood One and introduced me to my
2:19
Speaker 2: front page story dot com. That made for the perfect
2:23
Speaker 2: Mother's Day gift this year. I caught up with Ross
2:26
Speaker 2: this week and started our conversation by asking if his
2:30
Speaker 2: opinion of the Bengals changed after Monday Night's win over
2:33
Speaker 2: the Rams.
2:36
Speaker 1: Maybe a little bit, Dan.
2:38
Speaker 3: I think they were obviously able to get Jamar Chase involved,
2:42
Speaker 3: which they hadn't been able to do. And I thought
2:45
Speaker 3: Mixon showed some real burst and juice, which I thought
2:48
Speaker 3: was highly encouraging with some of his runs. Hadn't seen
2:52
Speaker 3: that as much from him recently, so I think the
2:56
Speaker 3: ability to get both those guys going a little bit
2:59
Speaker 3: was encouraged. You know, obviously, Burrow missed throws that you
3:03
Speaker 3: just never see him miss.
3:05
Speaker 1: I mean, he's so good and he's.
3:07
Speaker 3: So accurate that it's like jaw dropping when he misses
3:12
Speaker 3: some of the easy throws that he missed the other night.
3:14
Speaker 3: But as long as he doesn't suffer a setback, and
3:17
Speaker 3: I think even he said this, as long as you
3:20
Speaker 3: know that Calf continues to get better and they can
3:22
Speaker 3: manage it these next couple games. Now, listen, the Titans
3:26
Speaker 3: D line is legit, so that won't be easy. But
3:29
Speaker 3: if Joe can get through this portion of the calf injury,
3:33
Speaker 3: I think the Bengals will be able to break through
3:36
Speaker 3: to the other side and get back to being what
3:38
Speaker 3: they've been in the last couple of years.
3:40
Speaker 2: You played in the NFL, what would you think of
3:42
Speaker 2: Joe's willingness to play if you are his teammate.
3:46
Speaker 1: Just really appreciate it.
3:47
Speaker 3: Yeah, just really appreciate it because you know that it's
3:52
Speaker 3: not fun to play when you're injured. Now listen, I
3:55
Speaker 3: will say this as a former offensive lineman. A lot
3:57
Speaker 3: of those guys have something bothering him, right. I Mean
4:00
Speaker 3: it's like I always laugh when these people say, are
4:03
Speaker 3: you one hundred percent later in the year.
4:04
Speaker 1: If you're a hundred percent later in the year, what
4:06
Speaker 1: have you been.
4:06
Speaker 3: Doing the whole time? I mean, you're not going to
4:10
Speaker 3: feel like you're one hundred percent. But he very easily
4:13
Speaker 3: could have sat that one out and said let's be
4:16
Speaker 3: safe and let's be smart about this.
4:19
Speaker 1: But I think.
4:19
Speaker 3: Burrow knew the risk of going on three, didn't want
4:22
Speaker 3: to take that chance, and especially I think the mental
4:26
Speaker 3: toughness dan for him to battle through performing poorly in
4:31
Speaker 3: the first half and just stick with it to be
4:33
Speaker 3: able to lead his team to a critical, critical victory.
4:37
Speaker 3: I think that's what the guys really appreciate as much
4:39
Speaker 3: as anything.
4:41
Speaker 2: We are visiting with Ross Tucker. The defense was awesome
4:44
Speaker 2: on Monday Night, six sacks, two takeaways. Does that group
4:49
Speaker 2: have to lead the team right now while Burrow and
4:51
Speaker 2: the offense are still jelling well.
4:54
Speaker 1: I think they do, and I think they have been.
4:57
Speaker 3: I'm really impressed by the Bengals defense and have been
5:01
Speaker 3: for the last few years. I said it last year,
5:04
Speaker 3: I'll say it again this year. Dan, I'd be really
5:07
Speaker 3: surprised if lou Ana Rumo does not get a head
5:10
Speaker 3: coaching job.
5:11
Speaker 1: But I don't know.
5:12
Speaker 3: He didn't even get that many interviews, so maybe I
5:14
Speaker 3: don't know what I'm talking about.
5:16
Speaker 1: But they're just a really good group.
5:18
Speaker 3: Love Logan Wilson and what he does Hendrickson on the
5:22
Speaker 3: D line.
5:22
Speaker 1: I mean, it's been the same guys.
5:24
Speaker 3: Now for a few years that are really high level
5:28
Speaker 3: players in the prime of their career, and they're showing
5:32
Speaker 3: it every week now. To have a corner like Cam
5:35
Speaker 3: tayl Or Britt and what he brings the table, they
5:37
Speaker 3: just have a really good team, and for them to
5:40
Speaker 3: be able to massage the situation of losing both safeties
5:45
Speaker 3: and still being able to play really good on that
5:47
Speaker 3: side of the ball, I think speaks really well. Even
5:51
Speaker 3: more so, I would say I have Anna Rumo and
5:52
Speaker 3: the position coaches for that matter.
5:54
Speaker 2: So after three weeks, the other three teams in the
5:57
Speaker 2: AFC North, the Browns, the Ravens, and the Steelers are
5:59
Speaker 2: all off to two and one starts. Does anything jump
6:03
Speaker 2: out about the other three teams in the division so far?
6:07
Speaker 3: Yeah, I would say one thing jumps out for sure,
6:09
Speaker 3: and it's the Browns defense. The Browns defense is really
6:13
Speaker 3: really good. So now you've got a team where the
6:17
Speaker 3: Browns defense was a liability last year they were horrendous,
6:21
Speaker 3: and now it's a strength. I mean, I'm watching those
6:24
Speaker 3: guys and they've been almost unblockable so far.
6:28
Speaker 1: To start this year.
6:29
Speaker 3: Miles Garrett is as good of a defensive player as
6:32
Speaker 3: there is in the NFL. So to see what those
6:35
Speaker 3: guys have been able to do on that side of
6:37
Speaker 3: the ball, that's probably the most noteworthy thing, right. I mean,
6:40
Speaker 3: the Steelers are probably about where I thought they'd be.
6:44
Speaker 3: The Ravens losing to the Colts. That was a bad
6:46
Speaker 3: loss for the Ravens and a good one for the Bengals.
6:50
Speaker 3: Obviously that the Ravens lost that game at home against
6:54
Speaker 3: the Colts in overtime.
6:56
Speaker 1: But I would say the Ravens and Steelers.
6:58
Speaker 3: Are about who or what I thought they'd be. It's
7:01
Speaker 3: the Browns defensively that has done the biggest one to
7:05
Speaker 3: eighty from last season.
7:07
Speaker 2: You're a Princeton guy. The Bengals drafted one this year
7:10
Speaker 2: and rookie Andre Yosi Bosch the wide receiver. What do
7:14
Speaker 2: you think of Andre and his long term NFL potential?
7:17
Speaker 3: I think he needs to go back to Princeton because
7:19
Speaker 3: we lost to Bryant last Saturday, and I'm not real
7:21
Speaker 3: happy about it. We need Andre back in our black
7:26
Speaker 3: and orange, not the Bengals black and orange.
7:28
Speaker 1: By the way, what are the odds of that?
7:30
Speaker 3: The odds there aren't that many teams that have orange
7:33
Speaker 3: and black. For him to be able to go from
7:36
Speaker 3: Princeton to the Bengals is pretty wild.
7:38
Speaker 1: But no, it sounds like you had a good preseason.
7:41
Speaker 3: I saw where you guys mic him up for a
7:43
Speaker 3: game that was pretty funny. You know, it's so interesting
7:46
Speaker 3: because a guy like that, they don't usually get that
7:50
Speaker 3: many snaps unless someone ahead of them gets hurt or
7:53
Speaker 3: they kind of earn that opportunity.
7:55
Speaker 1: But I'm excited for him. I'm excited for you guys.
7:58
Speaker 3: He's never just been a you know, I mean, and
8:02
Speaker 3: I'm sure you talked about it. But he's doing winter track,
8:05
Speaker 3: he's doing spring track. He's an All American decathlete. I
8:09
Speaker 3: think if this guy's just doing football year round, he
8:13
Speaker 3: obviously has the physical ability. He's got terrific guys to
8:17
Speaker 3: learn from, with Chase and Boyd and Higgins, and so
8:20
Speaker 3: you've got he has a mental acuity, he's got the
8:24
Speaker 3: physical ability, and he's got.
8:26
Speaker 1: Good guys to learn from.
8:27
Speaker 3: There's certainly a really good recipe there for him to
8:31
Speaker 3: be able to have some success.
8:33
Speaker 2: So the Bengals are at Tennessee on Sunday. What are
8:35
Speaker 2: a few keys to beating the one in two Titans.
8:38
Speaker 1: Well, I don't think they're gonna be able to run
8:40
Speaker 1: the ball very well, because.
8:41
Speaker 3: Nobody runs the ball very well against the Tennessee Titans.
8:44
Speaker 3: That is clearly their focus. So I guess I would
8:48
Speaker 3: start with protecting Burrow. They've got some real difference makers
8:53
Speaker 3: up front, whether it's Landry or arn Key. On the outside,
8:56
Speaker 3: Jeffrey Simmons is probably about as good of a defensive
9:00
Speaker 3: tackle as there is in the NFL. So I would
9:03
Speaker 3: say run it enough to keep them honest, and then
9:06
Speaker 3: make sure you're double teaming Jeffrey Simmons and trying to
9:10
Speaker 3: get the ball out of Burrow's hands quickly, which.
9:12
Speaker 1: By the way, he does very well.
9:15
Speaker 3: It's a huge positive for Burrow, but that's a big
9:18
Speaker 3: concern when they're on offense and on defense.
9:21
Speaker 1: Kind of interesting.
9:22
Speaker 3: I don't know why the Titans aren't leaning on Derrick
9:25
Speaker 3: Henry as much as they have in recent years. Maybe
9:29
Speaker 3: it's game script, they've gotten behind or whatever, but they've
9:32
Speaker 3: been having that Tajy Spears play a lot, the rookie
9:36
Speaker 3: out of Tulane. You can't let Henry get going. They're
9:39
Speaker 3: clearly better at home than they are on the road.
9:42
Speaker 3: And if they get a lead and they can just
9:45
Speaker 3: pound away at Henry, that's tough for any defense.
9:48
Speaker 2: Your schedule is nuts. I appreciate your time. Keep up
9:52
Speaker 2: the great work.
9:53
Speaker 1: Dan, it's my pleasure love hearing you. Love those all
9:56
Speaker 1: white unis. You guys were rocking on Monday night. I
10:00
Speaker 1: don't know you guys call it White Tiger. That was awesome.
10:02
Speaker 1: Always good to be with you, Happy to be on
10:05
Speaker 1: with you. Thank you so much for having me.
10:08
Speaker 2: As Ross noted, the Bengals defense can't allow the King
10:11
Speaker 2: Dereck Henry to get rolling this week, and Cincinnati has
10:14
Speaker 2: contained him on the road in each of the last
10:17
Speaker 2: two years. Henry had sixty two yards on twenty carries
10:21
Speaker 2: in the Bengals playoff win two years ago and just
10:23
Speaker 2: thirty eight yards on seventeen carries when Cincinnati beat the
10:27
Speaker 2: Titans in the regular season last year. That's two point
10:31
Speaker 2: six yards of carry in those two games. As for
10:34
Speaker 2: the Bengals offense, barring a setback at practice, we won't
10:38
Speaker 2: be doing the Willie play or Won'ty play thing with
10:42
Speaker 2: Joe Burrow this week. He threw for two hundred and
10:44
Speaker 2: fifty nine yards with a passer rating of fifty nine
10:46
Speaker 2: point eight in the win over the Rams, and I
10:49
Speaker 2: discussed that performance with Dave Lapham. His personal numbers weren't
10:55
Speaker 2: spectacular on Monday night. He didn't throw a touchdown pass.
10:58
Speaker 2: It's the first time in the Joe era they have
11:01
Speaker 2: won a regular season game where he did not throw
11:03
Speaker 2: at least one touchdown pass. Now, his numbers would have
11:07
Speaker 2: been better if t Higgins didn't have a rare case
11:09
Speaker 2: of the dropsies, But in any case, Joe did enough
11:13
Speaker 2: for the Bengals to get a badly needed win over
11:15
Speaker 2: the Rams. Let's hear from offensive coordinator Brian Callahan.
11:19
Speaker 4: It was a tough week, you know, just not knowing
11:22
Speaker 4: for a long stretch of it what it was, who
11:25
Speaker 4: was going to be, what it was going to look like.
11:28
Speaker 4: And then you know, there was a beginning part of
11:30
Speaker 4: the game where like what is this going to look like?
11:33
Speaker 1: You know?
11:34
Speaker 4: And Joe Guy's an absolute warrior to be able to
11:38
Speaker 4: go out there and play the way he played and
11:40
Speaker 4: those in that state was really impressive.
11:43
Speaker 2: Good enough to beat the Rams. But let's be honest,
11:46
Speaker 2: the offense has to get much better if the Bengals
11:49
Speaker 2: are truly going to be the type of team that
11:52
Speaker 2: we all expected them to be going into the season.
11:54
Speaker 5: Well, in reality, dan three football games offensively, their highest
11:59
Speaker 5: production was the nineteen points net one win against the
12:02
Speaker 5: Rams twenty seven to twenty. Fourth Baltimore offense scored seventeen.
12:06
Speaker 5: There was an eighty one yard punt return, special teams touchdown.
12:10
Speaker 5: So offensively, they scored three in the opener, they scored
12:13
Speaker 5: seventeen points in Week two against Baltimore offensively, and then
12:17
Speaker 5: nineteen points in the victory against the Rams.
12:19
Speaker 1: So it's trending up.
12:20
Speaker 5: Yeah, So hopefully that continues in the Tennessee. I you know,
12:27
Speaker 5: it's the Bengals have won down there. The interesting thing
12:33
Speaker 5: is against Zach Taylor, Mike rabelers zero and three's that's
12:39
Speaker 5: his worst record against any individual coach head to head.
12:43
Speaker 5: So the Bengals and Zach Taylor at this juncture, we've
12:47
Speaker 5: kind of had the Titans in Mike Rabel's number. And
12:50
Speaker 5: I remember, I can't remember if it was the playoff
12:53
Speaker 5: game or the last regular season game last year, where
12:56
Speaker 5: I just happened to be walking out of the locker
12:58
Speaker 5: room trailing Vrabel, and man, he went to his car.
13:02
Speaker 5: I was going to the bus. He walked to his car.
13:04
Speaker 5: He started kicking his car, dent in his car.
13:07
Speaker 1: Come on, he was pissed kicking his car.
13:10
Speaker 5: He kicked the side of his car, put two huge
13:12
Speaker 5: dentst and I'm like, whoa boy. It was after the
13:15
Speaker 5: playoff loss down there, he was I mean, he was
13:19
Speaker 5: hot man, he was human.
13:21
Speaker 2: The Bengals have not scored a ton of points in
13:23
Speaker 2: those two most recent victories over Tennessee twenty last year
13:27
Speaker 2: nineteen in the playoff game, but that's been enough. It
13:30
Speaker 2: was similar to the Rams game on Monday night. Their
13:32
Speaker 2: defense has really shut down the Titans. We talked about
13:36
Speaker 2: how they slowed down Derreck Henry the last couple of games,
13:39
Speaker 2: but they've really given Ryan Tannehill trouble. Three interceptions in
13:43
Speaker 2: that playoff game.
13:44
Speaker 5: Absolutely the last two times the two victories sixteen points
13:47
Speaker 5: that held him two both times twenty to sixteen. And
13:50
Speaker 5: just like last week's score in the victory, they'd beat
13:53
Speaker 5: Tennessee nineteen sixteen as well in the playoffs. So you know,
13:59
Speaker 5: it's a tough place to play. It's going to be
14:02
Speaker 5: loud down there. It's crazy down there. As I recall,
14:06
Speaker 5: the stands are right on top of the players. I mean,
14:09
Speaker 5: it's just I remember the players talking about people could
14:12
Speaker 5: have been throwing things out of me. They could hear everything,
14:15
Speaker 5: they were right on top of them. So the noise
14:18
Speaker 5: kind of just hangs right in there, and it's very
14:21
Speaker 5: very difficult. So your non spoken communication has to be
14:27
Speaker 5: top shelf because you're not going to be able to hear.
14:30
Speaker 5: And what bothered me is it's third and one, back
14:34
Speaker 5: to back fall starts at home when you don't have
14:37
Speaker 5: to deal with crowd noise, two separate veteran players, Tyler
14:41
Speaker 5: Boyd or Orlando Brown junior back to back fall starts.
14:45
Speaker 5: Now it's third in eleven, third and one where you
14:47
Speaker 5: have a short guardage goal line play to convert. Now
14:49
Speaker 5: it's starting eleven, and it's like one of the many
14:51
Speaker 5: times there were third and ten or more and struggled
14:54
Speaker 5: on third down having those kind of down a distance conversions.
14:57
Speaker 5: So you're going to have to play a clean game
15:00
Speaker 5: down there, and the Tennessee Tits are going to lean
15:04
Speaker 5: on those fans to give the Bengals there's as many
15:06
Speaker 5: promis with crowd noise as they can.
15:09
Speaker 2: The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you by Alta
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Speaker 2: Fiber by Kettering Health, the official healthcare provider of the Bengals,
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Speaker 2: and by pay Corps, the team's official HR software provider.
15:23
Speaker 2: Following the Baltimore game, where Joe Burrow's status was up
15:26
Speaker 2: in the air after he tweaked his calf injury. The
15:28
Speaker 2: Bengals signed an old friend and added him to the
15:31
Speaker 2: practice squad. AJ McCarron, who spent his first four NFL
15:35
Speaker 2: seasons in Cincinnati before bouncing around to Buffalo, Oakland, Houston, Atlanta,
15:41
Speaker 2: and even Saint Louis of the XFL. AJ, it's great
15:46
Speaker 2: to have you back here in Cincinnati. I know Bengals
15:48
Speaker 2: fans have been rooting for you since you left. What
15:51
Speaker 2: was it like for you to walk back into the building.
15:53
Speaker 6: Yeah, that was awesome. Listen, I've told everybody since I've
15:57
Speaker 6: got here, you can feel the love that the city
15:59
Speaker 6: has for me, and it's greatly appreciated. And I loved
16:06
Speaker 6: coming back to this organization and being back in this city.
16:10
Speaker 6: It's awesome to be a part of it again and
16:12
Speaker 6: see the excitement within the city surrounding the organization. It
16:16
Speaker 6: is awesome.
16:17
Speaker 2: It sounds like it was in the back of your
16:19
Speaker 2: head to possibly come back to Cincinnati someday.
16:22
Speaker 6: Oh yeah, you always want to kind of go back
16:26
Speaker 6: as a player and where you first started and be
16:29
Speaker 6: able to, you know, maybe retire there. But I mean,
16:33
Speaker 6: I don't plan on retiring anytime soon. But yes, it's
16:36
Speaker 6: awesome to kind of full circle and come back to
16:40
Speaker 6: this organization. It's special for sure.
16:42
Speaker 2: You have already played a football season this year in
16:45
Speaker 2: the latest version of the XFL with Saint Louis after
16:48
Speaker 2: nearly a decade in the NFL. Why did you make
16:50
Speaker 2: that choice?
16:51
Speaker 6: It was mainly just my oldest son wanting to watch
16:55
Speaker 6: me play. And I tour my ACL in twenty one
17:00
Speaker 6: in Atlanta, So it's really just coming back and being
17:05
Speaker 6: able to play and lead a team and play, you know,
17:09
Speaker 6: weekend and week out and have him experience and my
17:15
Speaker 6: middle son Cash as well, so have him both be
17:18
Speaker 6: a part of it and see daddy play. Was you
17:21
Speaker 6: know something that every player that has kids dreams of.
17:25
Speaker 2: Your oldest son was born when you were here. Yeah,
17:27
Speaker 2: back in twenty sixteen, I believe. Was he able to
17:30
Speaker 2: be around the team much?
17:32
Speaker 5: Yeah?
17:32
Speaker 6: Yeah, he was ball boy and we come to practice,
17:37
Speaker 6: come to meetings, sit in and hang out, and it
17:40
Speaker 6: really helped him from playing. You know, me as a
17:45
Speaker 6: dad coaching him in baseball and in flag football, but
17:49
Speaker 6: seeing how dad got coached at practice and knowing like, okay,
17:52
Speaker 6: well Dad's not mad at me. He's just coaching me,
17:54
Speaker 6: So it really actually helped him grow as a player.
17:58
Speaker 6: And this year base ball and then leading into football
18:01
Speaker 6: was such a huge difference for him, and I mean,
18:04
Speaker 6: he grew as a player. So it's it was awesome
18:07
Speaker 6: to see.
18:08
Speaker 2: You led the league in touchdown passes, you led the
18:10
Speaker 2: league in passing efficiency. Did it renew the belief that
18:13
Speaker 2: you can help an NFL team win?
18:15
Speaker 5: Yeah?
18:16
Speaker 6: I mean listen that that was the first time in
18:19
Speaker 6: twenty one tear my ACL that I've ever had an
18:21
Speaker 6: injury to not be able to play football that season,
18:25
Speaker 6: so and sit out, and you know, as somebody that's
18:31
Speaker 6: going through the injury like that, you always have doubts
18:33
Speaker 6: can you get back to where you were and can
18:36
Speaker 6: you still play at.
18:36
Speaker 5: A high level.
18:37
Speaker 6: So being able to come out and prove not only
18:41
Speaker 6: to myself but everybody else that I can still play
18:43
Speaker 6: at a high level and play the QB position in
18:48
Speaker 6: an efficient way, it was something that I was excited
18:51
Speaker 6: about and have the opportunity to do. And you know,
18:54
Speaker 6: I had great teammates that helped all that, you know,
18:57
Speaker 6: be possible. And so it was a year.
19:01
Speaker 2: Let's turn the clock back to twenty fifteen. Your first
19:03
Speaker 2: year on the Bengals active roster. The team was ten
19:06
Speaker 2: and two when Andy Dalton broke his thumb. You took
19:09
Speaker 2: over for the rest of the year despite not having
19:11
Speaker 2: really any NFL experience and played great. What was your
19:14
Speaker 2: most vivid memory of that stretch.
19:16
Speaker 6: Yeah, I think just being kind of thrown into the
19:18
Speaker 6: fire because rookie year, being on NFL, never getting any experience,
19:24
Speaker 6: and then really had that preseason of fifteen and then
19:30
Speaker 6: other than that it was scout team practice reps because
19:33
Speaker 6: didn't I didn't get any reps as a two for
19:37
Speaker 6: our own offense that year, So all of a sudden
19:40
Speaker 6: being thrown in in that Pittsburgh game here and then
19:44
Speaker 6: having to go from there to San fran and then
19:47
Speaker 6: Denver and then Baltimore again and then playoff game against
19:51
Speaker 6: pitt here. Listen, it was a special year. It was
19:54
Speaker 6: a lot of great memories for my family. I mean,
19:58
Speaker 6: definitely sucks and it was tough to lose that playoff game,
20:01
Speaker 6: but it was still something that I'll, you know, cherish
20:05
Speaker 6: for the rest of my life.
20:06
Speaker 2: Your touchdown past aj Green with one fifty to go
20:09
Speaker 2: gave the Bengals a one point lead. It would have
20:11
Speaker 2: gone down as one of the most memorable plays in
20:14
Speaker 2: franchise history. If not for what happened after that, does
20:17
Speaker 2: it still sting?
20:19
Speaker 6: Oh for sure, because you know, you just never know
20:25
Speaker 6: what would have happened from a career standpoint, and then
20:30
Speaker 6: maybe being able to start, you just you don't know
20:32
Speaker 6: what the next year leads to. But listen, I've always
20:36
Speaker 6: been a firm believer. God has a plan for everything,
20:38
Speaker 6: So just roll with the punches sometimes and enjoy the
20:43
Speaker 6: journey while you're on it.
20:44
Speaker 2: A couple more questions for AJ mccaron. There are a
20:46
Speaker 2: couple of guys left from when you were here previously,
20:48
Speaker 2: Tyler Boyd and Joe Mixon, but the other guys are new,
20:51
Speaker 2: including Joe Burrow. Would have been your impressions of him
20:54
Speaker 2: watching from afar?
20:56
Speaker 6: I told him when I first got here, it's been
20:57
Speaker 6: awesome to watch him.
20:58
Speaker 5: You know.
20:59
Speaker 6: I got to watch him a little bit in college
21:02
Speaker 6: just staying so busy, but mainly the big games, and
21:06
Speaker 6: then now meeting him and watching him in person the
21:11
Speaker 6: other night was something that was awesome to see. But listen,
21:15
Speaker 6: he's a special talent. He's special quarterback, and I mean,
21:20
Speaker 6: this guy's the limit. He's an awesome leader and a
21:23
Speaker 6: great quarterback, and it's it's fun to be in that
21:26
Speaker 6: room with him and you know, help in any way possible.
21:30
Speaker 2: You're thirty three, father of three young boys, You're financially
21:34
Speaker 2: secure from your time in the NFL. What do you
21:36
Speaker 2: still have left that you would like to accomplish in
21:38
Speaker 2: the NFL?
21:40
Speaker 6: Well, I mean I'd like to, you know, work my
21:42
Speaker 6: way to either playing or being on the active roster
21:46
Speaker 6: again and and helping the team out in a certain way.
21:50
Speaker 6: So but right now, I'm taking it day by day,
21:53
Speaker 6: just enjoying this this ride and and then we'll figure
21:58
Speaker 6: everything out once this season ends. But for right now,
22:02
Speaker 6: I'm just I just want to enjoy my time while
22:04
Speaker 6: I'm back in the city and part of this organization,
22:07
Speaker 6: and then we'll see what the future holds.
22:10
Speaker 2: Welcome back the Orange and Black. Looks good on you.
22:12
Speaker 2: Nice to have you back in this locker room.
22:14
Speaker 6: Thanks for the time, Thank you, I appreciate it.
22:16
Speaker 2: Now time for this week's Know the Faux segment. John
22:19
Speaker 2: Burton is a Nashville sportscaster and joined Lapping Me this
22:23
Speaker 2: week on the Bengals Game Plan show.
22:26
Speaker 7: It's an interesting Titans football team. We're watching, you know,
22:29
Speaker 7: one win, two losses, both losses. They haven't scored an
22:33
Speaker 7: offensive touchdown, which is certainly not expected. So you know,
22:37
Speaker 7: in the ultimate week to week league, the Titans appear
22:39
Speaker 7: to be the ultimate week to week team, at least
22:42
Speaker 7: so far through three games.
22:44
Speaker 1: So John.
22:44
Speaker 2: When these teams met last year, the Titans were seven
22:47
Speaker 2: and three. The Bengals won a tight game. The Bengals
22:50
Speaker 2: didn't lose again until the AFC Championship game. The Titans
22:53
Speaker 2: never won again. They lost their last seven. They're one
22:57
Speaker 2: and two so far this year. What are the biggest issues?
23:01
Speaker 2: What is plaguing the Tennessee Titans.
23:04
Speaker 7: Well, offensively, it's inconsistently inconsistency, especially along the offensive line.
23:10
Speaker 7: You know, they lost two pillars of that offensive line
23:13
Speaker 7: last year or this past offseason. And Taylor Lawan and
23:16
Speaker 7: Ben Jones. Not only were they two Pro Bowl type
23:19
Speaker 7: productive players la one at left tackle and of course
23:22
Speaker 7: Jones at center, but they were also two big time
23:24
Speaker 7: leaders in that locker room. And you know, you lose
23:27
Speaker 7: you lose production and leadership there. You know, you had
23:30
Speaker 7: Peter Skronsky, who they drafted first in the first round
23:33
Speaker 7: out of Northwestern. You know, he's dealing with an appendectomy.
23:36
Speaker 7: He hasn't played in a couple of games. He's probably
23:39
Speaker 7: not going to be back for a while. And they
23:41
Speaker 7: you know, they have four new starters, actually I believe
23:43
Speaker 7: five new starters on along that offensive line, and you know,
23:47
Speaker 7: they're the one guy that they were counting on the
23:49
Speaker 7: right tackle, Petique Frere. You know, he's suspended six games
23:54
Speaker 7: for gambling violations. So they've had all kinds of problems
23:57
Speaker 7: along that offensive line. And you know, with thes you
24:00
Speaker 7: guys know this, it starts with the running game. It
24:02
Speaker 7: starts with Derrick Henry. They haven't been able to get
24:05
Speaker 7: that going on a consistent basis. And last week they
24:08
Speaker 7: had a lot of trouble against the Browns protecting Ryan Tannehill.
24:11
Speaker 7: He got sacked five times, three and a half of
24:13
Speaker 7: those by Miles Garrett, who you guys know is an
24:16
Speaker 7: absolute beast. You know, they signed Andre Dillard at left
24:19
Speaker 7: tackle during the offseason from the Eagles. He hasn't really
24:23
Speaker 7: provided much, to be honest with you. So that's the
24:26
Speaker 7: problems on offense. Defensively, a lot of breakdowns in the secondary.
24:29
Speaker 7: You know, this Titans team is one of the best
24:31
Speaker 7: front sevens in all the football, you know, led by
24:34
Speaker 7: their superstar defensive tackle Jeffrey Simmons. But if you can
24:38
Speaker 7: get that front seven blocked, We've seen a lot of
24:40
Speaker 7: breakdowns in the secondary with the corners in the safeties,
24:44
Speaker 7: and teams have been able to get big plays over
24:46
Speaker 7: the top in the passing game. So you know, those
24:48
Speaker 7: those are the issues facing this team, and you know
24:51
Speaker 7: they're they're a lot more inconsistent than a lot of
24:54
Speaker 7: us thought we were going to see here in Nashville.
24:57
Speaker 5: So that the defensive line, like you talk about Jeffrey Simmons,
25:02
Speaker 5: I mean, the Bengals go from Aaron Donald last week
25:05
Speaker 5: with the La Rams to Jeffrey Simmons, who I think
25:08
Speaker 5: of the best two interior defensive players the National Football
25:12
Speaker 5: League has to offer. I do think that Simmons has
25:15
Speaker 5: a better supporting cast around him right now than Aaron
25:18
Speaker 5: Donald does. I mean, You've got you know, Autrey, You've
25:22
Speaker 5: got Key, You've got Landry. I mean it's that down
25:26
Speaker 5: line group is responsible for six sacks, I mean eight
25:30
Speaker 5: sacks already. So are they playing well enough? Is it
25:35
Speaker 5: a surprise there's breakdown in the secondary because I look
25:37
Speaker 5: at the two guys. In my mind, defensively, Jeffrey Simmons
25:41
Speaker 5: is way big a cut above, and I thought that
25:46
Speaker 5: Bayer at safety was way big a cut above as well.
25:49
Speaker 5: Is with twenty seven career interceptions, number one for safeties
25:53
Speaker 5: in time he's been in the NFL, number two overall
25:56
Speaker 5: in the NFL. Is he not playing up to snuff?
26:00
Speaker 7: Yeah, I think Dave A lot of it has to
26:02
Speaker 7: do with the fact that and we talked about this
26:04
Speaker 7: after the game on Sunday when they lost to the Browns,
26:07
Speaker 7: communication appears to be an issue in that secondary and
26:11
Speaker 7: he talked about, guys need to be on the same page.
26:13
Speaker 7: And you know, there was a play where Amari Cooper
26:16
Speaker 7: got free right down the seam, wide open, caught a
26:20
Speaker 7: pass from Deshaun Watson from the touchdown that really put
26:23
Speaker 7: this game away. And you know there's there appear to
26:26
Speaker 7: be communication issues and that the one phrase you hear
26:29
Speaker 7: from the secondary guys is we need to be on
26:31
Speaker 7: the same page. We're not on the same page. And
26:33
Speaker 7: again it's about getting that front seven blocked. If you
26:37
Speaker 7: can get Simmons blocked, if you can get Harold Landry blocked,
26:39
Speaker 7: if you can get the Nico autrey blocked and give
26:42
Speaker 7: quarterbacks time to throw. You see a lot of big
26:44
Speaker 7: plays down the field. So yeah, it is a price.
26:47
Speaker 7: It is a surprise to see a guy like Kevin
26:49
Speaker 7: Byer not be able to be the ballhawk he's been
26:51
Speaker 7: his entire career. And this goes back to his college
26:54
Speaker 7: days at Middle Tennessee State just down the road. So yeah,
26:57
Speaker 7: there are issues in the secondary. And you know, obviously
27:00
Speaker 7: the further you go in the season, you're gonna be
27:02
Speaker 7: playing better quarterbacks and better passing attacks. They need to
27:06
Speaker 7: get that cleaned up quickly because you know your face,
27:09
Speaker 7: they're gonna be faithing Joe Burrow and those great receivers
27:11
Speaker 7: coming up this weekend, and they don't get these problems fixed,
27:14
Speaker 7: it could be a long day for him.
27:16
Speaker 2: We're visiting with Nashville broadcaster John Burton. Let's talk Ryan Tannehill.
27:20
Speaker 2: The Bengals have beaten his teams the last five times
27:24
Speaker 2: he started against Cincinnati.
27:26
Speaker 1: How's he playing a.
27:28
Speaker 7: Little up and down right now? But you know, unfortunately
27:30
Speaker 7: for him, he's not getting the protection that he needs now.
27:33
Speaker 7: He was terrible in the first game against the Saints,
27:36
Speaker 7: got sacked three times, I believe through three interceptions. Was
27:40
Speaker 7: just absolutely really bad, to be honest with you bounce
27:44
Speaker 7: back nicely in the almost s at San Diego. In
27:47
Speaker 7: the LA Charger game, you know, completed twenty to twenty
27:50
Speaker 7: four passes, you know, no no interceptions, no turnovers. Really
27:56
Speaker 7: was a big reason why they won that game. And
27:58
Speaker 7: then this past week, you know, he barely throws for
28:01
Speaker 7: one hundred yards, no turnovers. But man, Miles Garrett and
28:05
Speaker 7: that Cleveland defensive front, we're all over him all day.
28:08
Speaker 7: And you know, he's got some talented receivers to work with,
28:12
Speaker 7: and obviously DeAndre Hopkins, we know what he's done in
28:15
Speaker 7: this league. Treylan Burks is the second year guy that
28:19
Speaker 7: they hope will be the replacement for aj Brown, who
28:21
Speaker 7: they traded away last week. They've got a talented, athletic
28:24
Speaker 7: tight end in Chigakonkuo. But I think it comes down
28:27
Speaker 7: to inconsistency in the running game and lack of protection
28:31
Speaker 7: in the passing game. And you know, Tannehill is a
28:33
Speaker 7: good quarterback, He's not an elite level guy. I don't
28:37
Speaker 7: believe he's the type of guy that can just put
28:39
Speaker 7: a team on his back and go to the Super Bowl.
28:41
Speaker 7: He needs help and right now, he's not getting the
28:43
Speaker 7: help he needs. At least in two out of the
28:44
Speaker 7: first three games, we haven't seen it.
28:47
Speaker 5: Derrick Henry has averaged over three hundred rushes the last
28:52
Speaker 5: four years. Is there any sign of where and tear
28:55
Speaker 5: or is Derrick Henry still the beast he once was?
28:59
Speaker 7: In all honesty, I really think Derek has lost a step.
29:02
Speaker 7: And you know, he's twenty nine years old and he's
29:05
Speaker 7: he's had a lot of carries, as you mentioned, the
29:07
Speaker 7: last couple of years. What they've tried to do is
29:09
Speaker 7: they drafted Tai J. Spears out of Tulane to be
29:13
Speaker 7: like the change of pace running back. And trust me,
29:15
Speaker 7: ever since Derek has been here, they've been looking for
29:17
Speaker 7: that quote unquote change of pace back. But Spears appears
29:21
Speaker 7: to be the guy that can get it done. You know,
29:23
Speaker 7: he's good out of the backfield, he can catch the ball.
29:25
Speaker 7: He's small, but he can run between the tackles. I
29:28
Speaker 7: think the hope is this year, let's get Spears involved
29:31
Speaker 7: in the running game a little bit more because Derek,
29:33
Speaker 7: as good as he's been, as great as he's been,
29:35
Speaker 7: we all know, is not a three down back. He's
29:37
Speaker 7: not a traditional three down back. So I think the
29:40
Speaker 7: idea is to share. Maybe not obviously Derek's gonna get
29:44
Speaker 7: the bulk of the carries, but I think they want
29:47
Speaker 7: to involve Taij. Spears a little bit more for a
29:49
Speaker 7: couple of reasons. Right Number one, it keeps Derek fresher
29:52
Speaker 7: in the fourth quarter and obviously later in the season
29:55
Speaker 7: as well, because you know, listen, the three of us,
29:59
Speaker 7: we we all love to be twenty nine years old again.
30:02
Speaker 7: But you know, as with running backs, you know as
30:05
Speaker 7: you get closer to thirty year, production is going to
30:08
Speaker 7: you know, probably diminish a little bit. And going back
30:12
Speaker 7: to Tannehill and Derrick Henry, both these guys are in
30:14
Speaker 7: the final years of their contracts, so you know, they're
30:17
Speaker 7: days here in Tennessee may be numbered and we'll have
30:19
Speaker 7: to see where what the future holds. But yeah, to me,
30:22
Speaker 7: it appears Derek has slowed a bit. I mean, probably
30:25
Speaker 7: his worst games. It's becoming the Titans full time bell
30:29
Speaker 7: cow back last week, twenty yards on eleven carries. You
30:32
Speaker 7: just don't see that from Derrick.
30:33
Speaker 5: Henry Mike Rabels after a loss like like they suffered,
30:39
Speaker 5: and this guy, his whole game was physicality, there's no
30:43
Speaker 5: question about it. I mean, and to lose a football
30:47
Speaker 5: game to Cleveland twenty seven to three and Henry rushes
30:51
Speaker 5: for twenty yards and they're just kind of you know,
30:54
Speaker 5: beaten up and beaten down. What is he like after
30:57
Speaker 5: that type of that type of a game, and what
31:02
Speaker 5: what a practice has been like? What can the Bengals
31:04
Speaker 5: expect And they expect a Tennessee Titan team that is
31:08
Speaker 5: going to be up in the bit and they better
31:09
Speaker 5: put on the big boy pats.
31:13
Speaker 7: Yeah, I would say so, Dave, because you know, the
31:15
Speaker 7: one thing that Rabel preaches well a few things, effort, finish,
31:20
Speaker 7: and violence. He wants his team within the rules to
31:23
Speaker 7: be as violent as possible. So they're gonna they're gonna
31:27
Speaker 7: emphasize physicality this week. Obviously with Joe Joe Burrow probably
31:31
Speaker 7: still being a little bit limited because of that calf,
31:34
Speaker 7: they're gonna want to go after him and test him early.
31:37
Speaker 7: See you know, see how his mobility is, Uh, see
31:39
Speaker 7: how he if he can avoid the rush. Obviously, this
31:42
Speaker 7: defense has had a lot of success individually against Burrow
31:45
Speaker 7: sect and what nine times in that playoff game, even
31:48
Speaker 7: though the Bengals still won. As to what Rabel's like,
31:51
Speaker 7: after a week like this, Uh, it's Belichick two point zero,
31:55
Speaker 7: it's on the Cincinnati. That's kind of what he's been
31:58
Speaker 7: preaching this week. And you know, he's a no nonsense guy,
32:01
Speaker 7: as we all know, he's a hard nosed guy. He's
32:03
Speaker 7: a Northeast Ohio guy, Ohio State, Pittsburgh Steeler, New England Patriot,
32:08
Speaker 7: Kansas City Chiefs. So yeah, you know, we're not allowed
32:12
Speaker 7: to watch practice. We can watch the warm ups and
32:14
Speaker 7: all that stuff, but I would imagine he's going to
32:17
Speaker 7: be turning the heat up and practice this week because
32:19
Speaker 7: let's face it, guys, we got two one in two
32:21
Speaker 7: teams going at each other. Neither team can can you know,
32:25
Speaker 7: afford a loss because at one in three it's an
32:27
Speaker 7: uphill climb and I think both teams realize that. And
32:30
Speaker 7: you know, after the performance last week when they stunk
32:33
Speaker 7: it up in Cleveland, Vrabel does not want to repeat performance,
32:36
Speaker 7: especially in front of the home fans coming up this Sunday.
32:40
Speaker 2: That's going to do it for this episode of the
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33:05
Speaker 2: I'm Dan Hord and thanks for listening to the Bengals
33:09
Speaker 2: Booth podcast