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Bengals Booth Podcast: Good Vibes · Bengals Booth Podcast

0:03
Speaker 1: Hike and everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
0:06
Speaker 1: the Bengals Booth Podcast. The I'm feeling them good Vibes. Addition,
0:13
Speaker 1: as the new look Bengals get ready for the start
0:15
Speaker 1: of training camp coming up, you'll hear from three people. First,
0:19
Speaker 1: head coach Zach Taylor as he discusses the challenge of
0:22
Speaker 1: getting Joe Burrow ready to take over at quarterback with
0:26
Speaker 1: no OTA's mini camps or preseason games. Second, I'll talk
0:31
Speaker 1: to Sam Hubbard about trying to play football during a pandemic.
0:35
Speaker 1: And Third, it's one of the best receivers in Bengals history.
0:38
Speaker 1: T J. Hushman Zada as he discusses John Ross T.
0:42
Speaker 1: Higgins AJ Green in his unique connection to Joe Burrow
0:46
Speaker 1: during Joe's time at LSU. The Bengals Booth Podcast is
0:50
Speaker 1: presented by Prime Sport, the official fan, travel and hospitality
0:55
Speaker 1: partner of the Cincinnati Bengals. And here's a quick reminder
0:58
Speaker 1: that you can have the latest edition of this podcast
1:01
Speaker 1: delivered right to your phone, tablet, or computer by subscribing
1:05
Speaker 1: on iTunes, Stitch, your Google Play, Spotify, or pod Bean.
1:09
Speaker 1: It's the greatest thing since the State of Maine. I
1:14
Speaker 1: recently went on a family vacation to a Kadia National
1:17
Speaker 1: Park in Maine. We figured this would be the perfect
1:20
Speaker 1: time for outdoor activities away from crowds, so we hiked
1:24
Speaker 1: kayakt watched the sunrise on the top of Cadillac Mountain,
1:28
Speaker 1: the best sunrise I've ever seen, and eight lots of lobster.
1:33
Speaker 1: So if you are yearning to spend some time in
1:35
Speaker 1: the great outdoors, you should consider visiting Maine. There's a
1:39
Speaker 1: reason why most of the license plates in that state
1:42
Speaker 1: say Vacation Land. Now, let's get to football. I'm recording
1:48
Speaker 1: this on Wednesday, the day after Bengals veterans reported to
1:52
Speaker 1: Paul Brown Stadium for the start of training camp, although
1:55
Speaker 1: there will be several days of COVID nineteen testing before
1:58
Speaker 1: the players are actually doing anything related to football. Zach
2:02
Speaker 1: Taylor did a fifteen minute zoom call with reporters on Wednesday,
2:05
Speaker 1: and a couple of things stood out to me. Number One,
2:09
Speaker 1: he said that everybody on the roster reported for camp,
2:12
Speaker 1: but would not say if anybody was considering opting out
2:16
Speaker 1: of playing this year. You know, we'll keep that to
2:18
Speaker 1: ourselves right now. If players feel that way. On our
2:21
Speaker 1: team or any other team. I'm sure they'll make it public,
2:24
Speaker 1: but right now, we'll just keep that to ourselves. Those
2:27
Speaker 1: are those are personal decisions for those guys, and certainly
2:29
Speaker 1: we'll support those decisions. There's a lot of reasons for him,
2:33
Speaker 1: but again, I don't want to speak for any player
2:35
Speaker 1: in this league that's going through those conversations with their
2:38
Speaker 1: loved ones. And so again, if those guys want to
2:40
Speaker 1: announce things, they can, but we're not going to make
2:43
Speaker 1: any comment on it. Zach was also asked about the
2:45
Speaker 1: idea of quarantining one of his quarterbacks during the season
2:49
Speaker 1: to eliminate the possibility of the entire position group catching
2:53
Speaker 1: the virus. It's something you have to consider and talk through,
2:56
Speaker 1: which we have, but you just you really have to
3:00
Speaker 1: imagine all scenarios as you go through this and just
3:03
Speaker 1: be creative and proactive. And so those are conversations we've had,
3:06
Speaker 1: but that's where it stands right now, as you can imagine.
3:09
Speaker 1: Zach answered several questions about Joe Burrow, ranging from the
3:12
Speaker 1: challenge of getting him ready to play with no preseason
3:15
Speaker 1: games to the idea of having him sit as a
3:18
Speaker 1: rookie due to these circumstances. Zach made it clear that
3:22
Speaker 1: the Bengals have every intention of beginning the season with
3:26
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow at quarterback. You know, we're gonna put a
3:28
Speaker 1: lot on Joe right out the gate, and obviously we've
3:32
Speaker 1: got weeks to sort out who's starting and all that
3:35
Speaker 1: good stuff. But Joe's gonna walk in and take the
3:38
Speaker 1: first snaps at quarterback, and he's prepared for that, and
3:42
Speaker 1: we drafted him because we have a lot of confidence
3:43
Speaker 1: in him and what he's gonna bring to the table.
3:45
Speaker 1: And so even with the uniqueness of what this training
3:47
Speaker 1: camp is going to look like, we're gonna give him
3:50
Speaker 1: plenty of opportunities to get ready to play in week one.
3:52
Speaker 1: Do you have in your mind a baseline of what
3:54
Speaker 1: realistic expectations are for Joe this year? Play well in
3:58
Speaker 1: week one? You know that that's our starting is Joe
4:02
Speaker 1: and really our entire team. It's it's this is a
4:05
Speaker 1: different year than last year. We have a lot of
4:07
Speaker 1: guys who have grown from the experiences that we had
4:10
Speaker 1: last year, rookies and veterans, and we have a lot
4:13
Speaker 1: of new pieces to the puzzle as well. You know,
4:15
Speaker 1: a lot of free agents and rookies that we're depending on,
4:18
Speaker 1: and so it's it's not just Joe, it's everybody. We
4:21
Speaker 1: want to make sure that everybody's we're giving them all
4:25
Speaker 1: the opportunities to hit the ground running on September thirteenth
4:29
Speaker 1: when our first came rolls around, and so that that's
4:31
Speaker 1: just that's our focus right now is making sure that
4:34
Speaker 1: all the positions are up to speed. We're going to
4:35
Speaker 1: give them all all the things that they need in
4:37
Speaker 1: the meetings and practices so that as a team that
4:40
Speaker 1: we hit the ground running and we play really well
4:42
Speaker 1: in week one. It seems like a lot to ask.
4:44
Speaker 1: You know, Joe hasn't no no preseason games, no ta's,
4:47
Speaker 1: no training camp. But you know, do you feel like
4:49
Speaker 1: that's a pretty high high measure for him to come
4:52
Speaker 1: in and immediately step in and play well in that
4:54
Speaker 1: opener against LA. We took him because we've got high
4:57
Speaker 1: expectations for Joe, and from everything I know about him
5:00
Speaker 1: and ob scene of him, he's got high expectations himself,
5:02
Speaker 1: and so he's going to do everything you can to
5:04
Speaker 1: put himself in a position to be successful. I trust that,
5:07
Speaker 1: and I think when you guys get a chance to
5:09
Speaker 1: talk to him, you'll feel the same way. Borough agreed
5:12
Speaker 1: to contract terms on Tuesday and is expected to sign
5:15
Speaker 1: that deal on Thursday. Now, let's get to Joe's friend
5:20
Speaker 1: and former college teammate, Sam Hubbard. Earlier this year on
5:23
Speaker 1: Bengals dot Com, I predicted that Hubbard will be the
5:26
Speaker 1: team's defensive MVP this year after having six sacks as
5:31
Speaker 1: a rookie. Sam finished second on the team with eight
5:33
Speaker 1: and a half last year, a half sack behind Carlos Dunlap.
5:37
Speaker 1: According to Pro Football Focus, Sam added thirty four hurries
5:41
Speaker 1: and six quarterback hits. I think he winds up with
5:45
Speaker 1: double digit sacks this year on a dramatically improved Bengals defense.
5:49
Speaker 1: And I spoke to the former Ohio State Buckeye this week. Sam,
5:53
Speaker 1: we're speaking on the day that NFL veterans report to
5:56
Speaker 1: camp and in this case, your first COVID nineteen test.
5:59
Speaker 1: Can you describe how you're feeling about going back to
6:02
Speaker 1: work under these strange circumstances. Yeah, it's definitely unique circumstances,
6:07
Speaker 1: Like you said, but we've been training for so long.
6:10
Speaker 1: I think a lot of us, all the guys, are
6:13
Speaker 1: just ready to get back to playing football. Whatever that
6:15
Speaker 1: may look like in the safest possible way, and you
6:19
Speaker 1: know it's going to be a different year and a
6:21
Speaker 1: lot of different aspects, but we want to get out
6:23
Speaker 1: there and you know, get on the field. You have
6:27
Speaker 1: a unique perspective because your mom is a nursing supervisor
6:31
Speaker 1: and your sister is a nurse. How has that impacted
6:33
Speaker 1: your feelings about the protocols worked out between the NFL
6:37
Speaker 1: and the Players Association. I think it just gives me,
6:40
Speaker 1: you know, a sense of how important and how you know,
6:43
Speaker 1: vital it is that we all follow them and take
6:45
Speaker 1: it very seriously because you know there's a player responsibility aspect.
6:51
Speaker 1: You know, all of us doing our part, stay in
6:52
Speaker 1: socially distance, following the protocols, not just for ourselves, but
6:57
Speaker 1: you know, for the benefit of our teammates so everyone
6:59
Speaker 1: can stay safe. I think that you know, it's it's
7:02
Speaker 1: a very serious situation that you know, they're with it
7:05
Speaker 1: every day taking care of those patients, and you know,
7:08
Speaker 1: I'm just more aware and educated because of their experiences. Sam,
7:13
Speaker 1: based on what I've seen, you did not let the
7:16
Speaker 1: pandemic slow you down in terms of strength and conditioning.
7:19
Speaker 1: How did you train this offseason and has your physique changed. Yeah,
7:24
Speaker 1: it trained really hard. You know, we didn't have OTAs,
7:26
Speaker 1: so we were really able for five six straight months
7:29
Speaker 1: to just focus on what I needed to do to
7:32
Speaker 1: get better as a player individually. And you know it
7:35
Speaker 1: looked different, you know, some garage workouts, you know, kind
7:39
Speaker 1: of isolated, focusing on you know, just working out by myself,
7:42
Speaker 1: my trainer, and uh, yeah, I've just tried to you know,
7:46
Speaker 1: work on every aspect pass for US, run, defense, strength,
7:51
Speaker 1: overall conditioning. I'm ready to go and I'm just hoping
7:54
Speaker 1: it works out for the year. We're talking to Sam Hubbard.
7:57
Speaker 1: As you mentioned, no OTAs, no mini camps, but there
8:00
Speaker 1: were a bunch of virtual Zoom meetings. What did you
8:03
Speaker 1: get out of those? It was a lot of mental reps,
8:06
Speaker 1: a lot of film study, watching you know remotely, you know,
8:10
Speaker 1: install and stuff that you know, we we all knew
8:13
Speaker 1: as veterans. But um, I really got time to you know,
8:17
Speaker 1: break down my own film, um, see what I need
8:21
Speaker 1: to improve on, and then you know, do in trials. Individually,
8:24
Speaker 1: it was more of a mental you know, off season
8:28
Speaker 1: on the in the you know, play sense on the
8:31
Speaker 1: field sense, um, taking those mental reps. But really trying
8:35
Speaker 1: to focus and improve my awareness and mental aspect of
8:39
Speaker 1: the game because the reps just weren't existing without OTAs
8:43
Speaker 1: and stuff like that. Normally, in those OTAs, you get
8:46
Speaker 1: to know the rookies, you get to know new teammates.
8:48
Speaker 1: Were you able to do that at all over zoom calls?
8:52
Speaker 1: We did our best. You know, facetimes, texts, zoom calls.
8:55
Speaker 1: It's uh, obviously an awkward situation. It's tough to really
8:59
Speaker 1: get to know somebody through the computer, but we made
9:03
Speaker 1: it work. We did our best. Coaches did a good
9:05
Speaker 1: job with the unique team bonding exercises. But I'm excited
9:09
Speaker 1: to get in the building once we're all cleared, to
9:13
Speaker 1: get to know these guys and see what they bring
9:15
Speaker 1: to the table. Let's talk defense. The team signed eight
9:19
Speaker 1: undrestricted free agents, Five of them could start on D.
9:24
Speaker 1: What was your reaction to that infusion of veteran talent
9:27
Speaker 1: on defense. I loved it, you know, just from a
9:30
Speaker 1: character football character and the reputations these guys had and
9:36
Speaker 1: I knew Von I've heard a lot about DJ Reader.
9:39
Speaker 1: Just the type of guys that they're bringing in the
9:41
Speaker 1: program is really exciting because they do things the right
9:44
Speaker 1: way they're coming from winning programs and their competitors and
9:49
Speaker 1: having them, you know, to the talent we already have
9:52
Speaker 1: is going to help us a lot. As you mentioned,
9:55
Speaker 1: you knew Von from being teammates at Ohio State. What
9:58
Speaker 1: does he specifically add both in terms of his locker
10:01
Speaker 1: room leadership and his play on the field as a safety.
10:04
Speaker 1: He's a great leader. He's a very competitive individual. I've
10:08
Speaker 1: played with him for two years at AHU State and
10:11
Speaker 1: he's just a true pro. He goes about a business
10:13
Speaker 1: the right way. Out on the field, he brings intensity.
10:17
Speaker 1: He's you know, hard nosed football player, plays back in
10:22
Speaker 1: safety but tackles like a linebacker. And uh, you know,
10:26
Speaker 1: he's just someone that you can always count on behind
10:28
Speaker 1: you to play physical, do his job, and in crunch
10:32
Speaker 1: time makes some big plays. Pro Football Focus recently ranked
10:37
Speaker 1: the Bengals defensive line is the tenth best in the NFL.
10:40
Speaker 1: How does DJ Reader impact the entire group? And do
10:44
Speaker 1: you hope to play fewer snaps than the eight hundred
10:47
Speaker 1: and fifty three you logged on defense last year? DJ? Yeah,
10:51
Speaker 1: he's a he's a great player. He's when he turned
10:54
Speaker 1: on the film, you notice what a force he is
10:57
Speaker 1: run stopping and especially he's very good at the pastor
11:00
Speaker 1: from inside. You know. I hope to be a little
11:04
Speaker 1: bit more on the edge of this year with the
11:06
Speaker 1: addition to DJ because he really can rush the passer
11:09
Speaker 1: and uh, you know, we got some young guys coming
11:13
Speaker 1: in clid Kareem on the outside and a little bit
11:17
Speaker 1: of rotation. Hopefully be a little bit fresher. But yeah,
11:20
Speaker 1: like I said, hopefully be outside a little bit more
11:23
Speaker 1: on third downs and stuff like that. But I'm just
11:25
Speaker 1: really excited overall with you know, the experience and talent
11:29
Speaker 1: we have on the defensive line. We are catching up
11:32
Speaker 1: with Sam Hubbard. It's no secret that you and Joe
11:35
Speaker 1: Burrow are good friends. He reportedly agreed to a contract today.
11:39
Speaker 1: Do you remember your initial impressions of him at Ohio
11:43
Speaker 1: State and what does it mean to you to be
11:45
Speaker 1: reunited in the NFL. I've known Joe for a long time.
11:49
Speaker 1: I don't know if I remember my initial impressions. I
11:51
Speaker 1: just know that, uh, you know, ever since he stepped
11:53
Speaker 1: in the door at O'house State, he was a competitor,
11:56
Speaker 1: you know, one of the hardest working guys in the room.
11:59
Speaker 1: And that are changed with all the success. He's still
12:02
Speaker 1: that same guy, and you know, I'm really excited that
12:05
Speaker 1: they greeded terms and he's I know, he's excited to
12:08
Speaker 1: get out there and meet the guys and you know,
12:12
Speaker 1: learn the offense and take hold of the football team.
12:15
Speaker 1: Before the draft, did he pick your brain about the franchise? Uh? Yeah,
12:20
Speaker 1: I mean we were talking. Obviously, he was in a
12:23
Speaker 1: position to be drafted very highly. We had a very
12:25
Speaker 1: high draft pick, so we had a bunch of conversations
12:29
Speaker 1: just about what we got going and the goals we're
12:31
Speaker 1: trying to accomplish. You know, the guys in the locker room,
12:35
Speaker 1: you know, the group of young talent and guys who
12:38
Speaker 1: want to win. And he was excited to hear about
12:40
Speaker 1: it and excited to have the opportunity to come be
12:43
Speaker 1: a part of it. Sam. He used his Heisman speech
12:46
Speaker 1: to help the less fortunate where he's from, and you
12:48
Speaker 1: recently did something similar here in Cincinnati. He started a
12:51
Speaker 1: fundraising effort that helped raise more than eighty thousand dollars
12:56
Speaker 1: for the Free Store Food Bank and it's going to
12:57
Speaker 1: help provide more than two hundred and fifty meals. Was
13:01
Speaker 1: that eye opening to you to know how big of
13:03
Speaker 1: an impact you can have with your platform. Yeah, it was.
13:07
Speaker 1: It was amazing to see all the you know, support
13:10
Speaker 1: from the city, especially being from here, the support from
13:13
Speaker 1: my teammates, guys like Carlos, and the support from Cincinnati
13:18
Speaker 1: based companies like Fifth Third Try to Health. It was incredible.
13:23
Speaker 1: You know, obviously it's tough times right now, but acts
13:27
Speaker 1: like that and you know, coming together really really inspired
13:30
Speaker 1: me to continue to keep working on things and using
13:34
Speaker 1: my platform for the better in year three. Do you
13:38
Speaker 1: feel like a veteran, Yes, I definitely do. I do
13:41
Speaker 1: feel like a veteran, and I'm trying to, you know,
13:44
Speaker 1: show that with these rookies you're in a very awkward
13:47
Speaker 1: and tough situation, trying to give them some words of
13:49
Speaker 1: wisdom and help their learning curve and bring them along
13:52
Speaker 1: and also, you know, just be more of a leader
13:56
Speaker 1: and help take this team where we want to go.
13:59
Speaker 1: I'm the case recently that guys that are self motivated,
14:03
Speaker 1: and I would certainly put you in that group having
14:06
Speaker 1: a bit of an advantage this year, because I'm sure
14:10
Speaker 1: there are guys that work as hard as you do,
14:12
Speaker 1: but I'm not sure that anybody works hard or do
14:14
Speaker 1: you feel like maybe your work ethic put you a
14:17
Speaker 1: foot ahead considering the absence of OTAs and many camps
14:22
Speaker 1: in the off season. Yeah yeah, like you said, I
14:25
Speaker 1: probably myself on my work ethic and you know, put
14:28
Speaker 1: on a lot of work this offseason. I really want
14:30
Speaker 1: to put it on display. And that's why I'm so
14:33
Speaker 1: hopeful and you know, really hoping that this h this
14:37
Speaker 1: season is able to go through smoothly. I know, we
14:40
Speaker 1: got a lot of other guys that are very self
14:41
Speaker 1: motivated and feel the same way, and we want to
14:45
Speaker 1: get out there and show all the all the work
14:47
Speaker 1: we put in and put it on display. It's going
14:50
Speaker 1: to be a while before you have hard hitting type practices.
14:55
Speaker 1: Do you have any concern about getting ready for the
14:58
Speaker 1: physical nature of football all considering the limitations that are
15:02
Speaker 1: being put on training camp. I think we're in a
15:04
Speaker 1: very tough situation, and you know, there's not too many
15:09
Speaker 1: good ways to go about it. But the plan we
15:11
Speaker 1: have gone forward gives us a little bit of acclamation
15:15
Speaker 1: period and we're just really gonna have to be detailed
15:19
Speaker 1: in our reps and our preparation and getting our bodies right,
15:25
Speaker 1: and it's gonna be unique. It's gonna be a tough challenge,
15:28
Speaker 1: but I think we're up for it. And you know,
15:32
Speaker 1: time will tell, but I like where things are going well.
15:35
Speaker 1: It's exciting for Bengals fans to have the players are
15:38
Speaker 1: reporting back to the stadium for the start of training
15:40
Speaker 1: camp today, and I appreciate your time and look forward
15:43
Speaker 1: to seeing you from a distance, probably or over a
15:45
Speaker 1: zoom call sometime soon. Thanks for your time, Sam, Yeah,
15:48
Speaker 1: no problem, Thank you. Here's an interesting nugget about Hubbard.
15:53
Speaker 1: According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Sam ranks second in
15:58
Speaker 1: the NFL last year on down pressure rate at seventeen
16:02
Speaker 1: point five percent, trailing only Benson Mayoa of the Raiders
16:07
Speaker 1: at eighteen point eight percent. The player who finished one
16:11
Speaker 1: spot below Sam Hubbard in that stat was two time
16:14
Speaker 1: NFL Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald. Anytime a
16:18
Speaker 1: defensive lineman ranks ahead of Aaron Donald in anything, it's
16:22
Speaker 1: worth noting. Before we get to our next conversation. Here's
16:25
Speaker 1: a quick reminder that you can take your Bengals pride
16:28
Speaker 1: to the next level in twenty twenty with an official
16:30
Speaker 1: Bengals fan package from Prime Sport. The Bengals single season
16:35
Speaker 1: record four receptions isn't held by A. J. Greene or
16:38
Speaker 1: Chad Johnson or Isaac Curtis. It's held by t J.
16:42
Speaker 1: Hushman Zada, who hauled in one hundred and twelve catches
16:45
Speaker 1: in two thousand and seven en route to a Pro
16:47
Speaker 1: Bowl appearance. TJ is a broadcaster these days for FS one.
16:52
Speaker 1: In addition to helping train wide receivers in the off season,
16:56
Speaker 1: he also knows plenty about the Bengals new quarterback. TJ.
17:01
Speaker 1: Let's start with Joe Burrow. You were one of the
17:03
Speaker 1: first people really singing his praises because you're wired in
17:07
Speaker 1: at LSU where two of your daughters are going to
17:10
Speaker 1: be on the softball team. Describe your history with Joe
17:13
Speaker 1: and his coaches at LSU. Well, I'm glad she said that.
17:18
Speaker 1: I was. Actually, I probably was the first guy on
17:20
Speaker 1: TV to say that Joe was gonna be drafted very
17:25
Speaker 1: I really was. I wouldn't say bandwagon, but I was
17:28
Speaker 1: a big supporter of Zoe before anybody was, I will
17:31
Speaker 1: say that, But just being up there and around it,
17:35
Speaker 1: they were just very optimistic that the twenty nineteen college
17:40
Speaker 1: football season for LSU was going to go very well.
17:42
Speaker 1: And it was because of Joe and after that Sector's game,
17:46
Speaker 1: that's the first game of the season. I said, I'm minute,
17:49
Speaker 1: dudes gonna be the first pick. He had a lot
17:51
Speaker 1: of weapons around them, and people always try to change
17:56
Speaker 1: at all man, he had all these great guys around them.
18:00
Speaker 1: Somebody has to get on the ball, and they helped him.
18:04
Speaker 1: He benefited from having great players to play with, and
18:06
Speaker 1: they benefited from having a great quarterback with great pocket
18:09
Speaker 1: presence and touch an actressy as well. Yeah, no question
18:13
Speaker 1: about it. A lot of people also say that the
18:16
Speaker 1: you know, the Joe Brady system pumped up his stats somehow,
18:20
Speaker 1: but I kind of look at it at the as
18:22
Speaker 1: the opposite, Whereas the year before their offense was so
18:26
Speaker 1: primitive that I don't know that any quarterback could have
18:29
Speaker 1: put up big numbers. I could always make an argument
18:33
Speaker 1: to discredit anyone, or I can make an argument to
18:36
Speaker 1: pump somebody up and make him look good and put
18:38
Speaker 1: him on the pedicalal. Did Joe Brady help LSU when
18:42
Speaker 1: he came, of course he did. But I don't care
18:47
Speaker 1: how great a coach is. The players have to execute.
18:52
Speaker 1: You have to execute, and if you don't have a
18:54
Speaker 1: guy that can execute, what needs to be done. It
18:58
Speaker 1: doesn't matter what's being called. I mean, if you look
19:02
Speaker 1: at LSU that you would have said they had look
19:05
Speaker 1: at the offensive line, they didn't have anybody to get drafted,
19:08
Speaker 1: if I'm not mistaken, in the first two rounds. But
19:12
Speaker 1: they were considered one of the better offensive lines in
19:15
Speaker 1: college football. And yeah, they played well. But Joe's pocket
19:19
Speaker 1: presence and its ability to slide, step up and just
19:23
Speaker 1: kind of maneuver in the pocket. He helped those guys out.
19:25
Speaker 1: But a lot of that gets overlooked because Joe is
19:27
Speaker 1: a guy that kind of came through. He just came
19:30
Speaker 1: out of nowhere. All you transferred fallile stage ure, good
19:32
Speaker 1: enough to play. And so when guys company situations like that,
19:37
Speaker 1: they always looked to get the credit to someone else
19:39
Speaker 1: and saying this guy, we just didn't evaluate them the
19:42
Speaker 1: right way. You're all the oldest daughter was there last
19:45
Speaker 1: year on the softball team. Did you get caught up
19:47
Speaker 1: in the excitement because she was there, you know, living
19:50
Speaker 1: out that season as an LSU student. Oh man, Yeah,
19:54
Speaker 1: like I thought for Lshoe, like like I went to
19:56
Speaker 1: score there, like I was in the lung. We watched
20:01
Speaker 1: every game. My son, he's an added Avid advid football fan.
20:06
Speaker 1: I mean, he pretty much knows everyone what he feels.
20:08
Speaker 1: He's gonna go to hell su But yeah, I thought
20:11
Speaker 1: flu like I wasn't a lum. Yeah I was. I
20:13
Speaker 1: was really into it. That's funny. We're talking to former
20:16
Speaker 1: Bengals Pro bowler T. J. Hushman Zada. You were in
20:19
Speaker 1: your third year with the Bengals when Carson Palmer arrived
20:21
Speaker 1: as the number one overall pick, So I'm sure you
20:23
Speaker 1: can remember. You know what you are looking to see
20:26
Speaker 1: out of him? What will the veterans be looking for?
20:30
Speaker 1: When they started practicing with Joe Burrow, Jones just has
20:35
Speaker 1: a And again I was around them lead up to
20:38
Speaker 1: the pre draft process. You know they trained with George Palmer.
20:42
Speaker 1: He's just a He has a sternness about him, like
20:46
Speaker 1: just a natural leader. Man. He's not gonna let anybody
20:49
Speaker 1: run over him. And I don't think anybody would try
20:52
Speaker 1: to run over him just because of the way he
20:54
Speaker 1: carries himself. And he's gonna command respect right away. And
20:58
Speaker 1: that's what the Bengals need, is the Beingals are talent
21:02
Speaker 1: to manens. I talk to people and when I get
21:04
Speaker 1: on TV, it feels like I'm a Homer as you
21:08
Speaker 1: just saying that because you played for the Bengals. But
21:11
Speaker 1: I really believe the Bengals have a ton of talent
21:15
Speaker 1: on both sides of the ball. I thought last year
21:18
Speaker 1: they were kind of lacking in the linebacker department. They
21:20
Speaker 1: kind of upgraded that in the draft. These guys can
21:23
Speaker 1: produce and help early. But when you look at their
21:26
Speaker 1: team skill players from receivers to running backs, tight ends, quarterback,
21:34
Speaker 1: you can look across the league and say, Wow, the
21:36
Speaker 1: beingles matched up with anybody the skill player wise. Now
21:38
Speaker 1: this offensive line can come together. You get Jonah Williams
21:41
Speaker 1: back whom miss his entire rook year. If they can
21:44
Speaker 1: come together, the Bengals can supply some people. But it's
21:47
Speaker 1: not going to be easy because arguably the AFT North
21:51
Speaker 1: and the NFT West or probably the two toughest divisions
21:55
Speaker 1: in football. If Roethlisberger is Roethlisberger, I mean, I've been
22:03
Speaker 1: has been one of the better quarterbacks in the league
22:05
Speaker 1: for a long time, and I think people are starting
22:09
Speaker 1: to realize, like when Ben plays, the Steaters are gonna
22:12
Speaker 1: be good. If he's been, they're gonna be good. Then
22:15
Speaker 1: it's gonna be tough to beat. Him, the Ravens are
22:17
Speaker 1: going to be good. And you look at Cleveland if
22:21
Speaker 1: it's kind of similar to Cincinnati, if they played to
22:23
Speaker 1: their potential, it's gonna be a dog fight. Man. In
22:26
Speaker 1: that disition, we're talking to t J. Hushman Zada. Let's
22:29
Speaker 1: turn to the wide receivers, because you've spent a bunch
22:31
Speaker 1: of time working with John Ross in recent offseasons. Where
22:35
Speaker 1: is he physically and mentally right now? Physically he should
22:41
Speaker 1: be good, you know, just kind of trial and error,
22:44
Speaker 1: trying this, trying that. How you feel Ross? I feel good? Okay,
22:48
Speaker 1: let's stick with that. And with Ross, he is just
22:52
Speaker 1: so physically talented. And I tell them this all the time.
22:56
Speaker 1: I said, man, Ross, if we could switch roles to
22:59
Speaker 1: be like if I could give him my mentality or
23:02
Speaker 1: he could give me his talent, Oh my god, that
23:05
Speaker 1: that too, Those two combinations make the best RESI whatever.
23:08
Speaker 1: But in my opinion, only down to league that I
23:10
Speaker 1: could say can do what he does is tyrie him
23:14
Speaker 1: and like he's that talented, he's sassed, he's quick catching
23:18
Speaker 1: the ball. Well, he just has to believe he has
23:22
Speaker 1: all these qualities. And a lot of me working with
23:26
Speaker 1: Ross is working with a mentally as well. Is when
23:29
Speaker 1: it's easy to be confident when things are going well,
23:33
Speaker 1: can you be confident when things are going bad? And
23:36
Speaker 1: so if he can maintain his level of confidence when
23:40
Speaker 1: things are always great, the fingers are going to have
23:45
Speaker 1: a problem on their hands with Aja Tyler boy drafting
23:48
Speaker 1: Tea and Ross because he told me so many balls
23:50
Speaker 1: to go around. But Ross is the only guy on
23:53
Speaker 1: that team that can do what he does and that
23:56
Speaker 1: will always separate them. You played with a chip on
24:00
Speaker 1: your shoulder going back to the draft, and you always
24:03
Speaker 1: thought you were one of the best players in the
24:05
Speaker 1: league and played like it. How do you put that
24:08
Speaker 1: attitude into John Ross? It's just talking for him and
24:13
Speaker 1: just letting him. I tell him all the timeline, bros.
24:15
Speaker 1: You were drafted in the top ten for a reason
24:18
Speaker 1: and share yourself that way. Don't worry. And I get
24:22
Speaker 1: it though it's it's me and him has had long
24:25
Speaker 1: discussions about I get it. If you go through go
24:29
Speaker 1: back to his rookie year. I don't know if you
24:31
Speaker 1: recall this, but I recall it. The first time he
24:34
Speaker 1: cuts the ball in the NFL game. Do you know
24:37
Speaker 1: what happened? He fumbled? He fumbled, and they didn't play
24:42
Speaker 1: him the rest of the year. They didn't play him
24:45
Speaker 1: the rest of the year. Now, you tell me any
24:49
Speaker 1: human being, what would that do for your confidence? Kill it?
24:53
Speaker 1: And so it killed his confidence because he's sent any
24:56
Speaker 1: video of practice and I didn't even know him that
25:00
Speaker 1: well at that time. I hadn't even started working with him.
25:04
Speaker 1: And the video that he's sending me a practice, nobody
25:07
Speaker 1: can cover him. And so you're playing well in practice,
25:10
Speaker 1: but they're not giving you an opportunity who possibly played
25:15
Speaker 1: well or not play well in the game. And so
25:17
Speaker 1: I believe it affected him mentally and it killed his confidence.
25:22
Speaker 1: And so working with me and just yeah we work
25:25
Speaker 1: physical obviously a lot, but it's really the mental part
25:28
Speaker 1: of don't let what happened a few years ago message
25:33
Speaker 1: your confidence. And I believe Zach Taylor tried to give
25:36
Speaker 1: him that confidence back Earl. I mean, if Ross doesn't
25:39
Speaker 1: get hurt early last year, who knows what type of
25:41
Speaker 1: season he has because he came out gun blazing. He
25:45
Speaker 1: came out to shoot and did very well early. And
25:49
Speaker 1: so I try to give you my confidence in and
25:53
Speaker 1: just make everybody has that confidence. You just gotta keep
25:57
Speaker 1: it in you. I was angry and that way. I
26:00
Speaker 1: felt like I was overlooked, and I played that way
26:02
Speaker 1: and I practiced that way every day. He's not me
26:06
Speaker 1: and I'm not him, but hopefully some of that rubs
26:10
Speaker 1: off on him. So TJ. Leading up to this year's draft,
26:13
Speaker 1: you did work with T Higgins, and the Bengals called
26:15
Speaker 1: you to pick your brain about him before taking him
26:18
Speaker 1: with the first pick of the second round. Describe T
26:21
Speaker 1: to the good player man. He's he kind of reminds
26:25
Speaker 1: me of AJ. Tall, big dude, can really run routes
26:30
Speaker 1: and think the tips, gets in and out of breaks
26:33
Speaker 1: like a little guy, big catch radius if and that's
26:37
Speaker 1: the things they have. Weapon like T is if he
26:42
Speaker 1: reaches his potential and he matches out, he has the
26:47
Speaker 1: potential to be one of the better receivers in the
26:49
Speaker 1: game of football. If he doesn't leave any meat on
26:53
Speaker 1: the ball, so to speak. He just has to reach
26:56
Speaker 1: his potential. And the good thing is he can learn
27:00
Speaker 1: of somebody like AJ. He's a little taller than AJ.
27:03
Speaker 1: But AJ always gets overlooked when you say who's the
27:06
Speaker 1: best receivers in the league because he's been hurt the
27:08
Speaker 1: last couple of years. But if he if he's healthy, Um,
27:11
Speaker 1: it's gonna be good for Tea because he's gonna be
27:13
Speaker 1: able to learn from one of the better receivers in
27:15
Speaker 1: the game. Did you have T ranked as the second
27:18
Speaker 1: best receiver in this class? I thought T was probably
27:22
Speaker 1: top three receivers. I thought Jerry Judy was the best receiver.
27:26
Speaker 1: And then you can kind of you can kind of
27:30
Speaker 1: pick and choose. Did you like the speed of Rugs?
27:32
Speaker 1: Did you like the toughness and the run after the
27:34
Speaker 1: catch and seeding lamb? Did you like everything that justin Jefferson? Did?
27:39
Speaker 1: I think I used prom Arizona stage. Is gonna be
27:42
Speaker 1: a really really good player, but all those guys, I
27:45
Speaker 1: thought he was the first round pick, to be honest
27:47
Speaker 1: with you, but again you it's gonna in Cincinnati's gonna
27:54
Speaker 1: be tough because even if T is it's ready to play.
27:58
Speaker 1: AJ is gonna be the best receiver run team that
28:00
Speaker 1: he's healthy. Oh, Tyler Boyd can play too, and so
28:04
Speaker 1: they pick that guy that can play. And if Ross
28:06
Speaker 1: stays healthy, Oh, he does something on the team that
28:09
Speaker 1: nobody else can do. He stretches the field with great
28:12
Speaker 1: speed and great quickness, and so beingles have a problem
28:16
Speaker 1: on her hand and take good problems. But if everybody's healthy,
28:20
Speaker 1: h it's gonna be tougher team. Just because he's a
28:23
Speaker 1: rookie and it's different, but again, it's a good problem
28:26
Speaker 1: to have, is that Tyler will figure it out. I'm
28:29
Speaker 1: glad you mentioned John Ross because he reminds me of you.
28:33
Speaker 1: He doesn't get a ton of hype, but he's tough
28:35
Speaker 1: as nails, great route runner, good feel for the passing game.
28:40
Speaker 1: Do you see some of that when you watch him?
28:42
Speaker 1: Do you mean Tyler Boid? Yeah, I'm sorry if I
28:45
Speaker 1: said Ross, I mean Tyler Boyd yep. And Tyler Boyd
28:48
Speaker 1: is he's not He's not gonna I mean a lot
28:52
Speaker 1: of it too, though he would probably get a little
28:54
Speaker 1: more credit if the Bengals start to have some success
28:58
Speaker 1: because when you think the Bengals, honestly, you probably think
29:03
Speaker 1: Geno Atkins, AJ Green, maybe Joe Nixon and so everybody
29:09
Speaker 1: else tends to get overlooked if the team will start
29:12
Speaker 1: to have it said, trying to PoID is good. He's
29:14
Speaker 1: a good route runner, he gets in and out of breaks,
29:19
Speaker 1: and that's why the Bengals have receiver. I mean, you
29:22
Speaker 1: can just look across the league. If you say top
29:26
Speaker 1: three receivers, if everybody plays up to their potential, the
29:29
Speaker 1: Bengals easily. We have one of the better receiver cars
29:32
Speaker 1: in the league. And if Joe can play well early,
29:37
Speaker 1: it's going to be a surprise for people. But it
29:39
Speaker 1: won't surprise me because he has guys around him like
29:42
Speaker 1: he had at LSU. Joe does a good job of
29:45
Speaker 1: giving his receivers a chance to win, and he's accurate
29:49
Speaker 1: with the ball. And if he can do this in Cincinnati,
29:54
Speaker 1: the Queen City gonna be rolling again on offense like
29:56
Speaker 1: we had when we were playing. Would love it to
29:58
Speaker 1: be two thousand and five evolved over again. Aj Green
30:02
Speaker 1: turns thirty two on the last day of the month.
30:04
Speaker 1: How much great football does he have left in him?
30:08
Speaker 1: And age? Like people, the way the game of football
30:11
Speaker 1: is now like honestly, aj can play if he stays healthy,
30:15
Speaker 1: he can play at a high level for four to
30:17
Speaker 1: five more years. High level, high level, and that the
30:22
Speaker 1: game of football is different like others. I'm forty two,
30:27
Speaker 1: I have weighed the same for twenty years. I still
30:30
Speaker 1: in shape, I still have ASPS. I only work out
30:33
Speaker 1: a couple of times a week, the game of football
30:35
Speaker 1: is different. If guys are standing in shape. AJ in essence,
30:39
Speaker 1: his body should be healthy if gets healthy, if that
30:42
Speaker 1: makes any sense, because he's been hurt for the last
30:45
Speaker 1: couple of years and so AJ phenomenal man. I tell
30:50
Speaker 1: people all the time, if you want to learn how
30:51
Speaker 1: to get off of press coverage, even if the release
30:54
Speaker 1: isn't a great release, it will be a great release
30:57
Speaker 1: by watching like AJ is just so violent at the
31:01
Speaker 1: line of scrimmage that even if it's not good, it's
31:04
Speaker 1: gonna work because he believes in it. And yeah, I'm
31:08
Speaker 1: looking forward to AJ reminded people that he's AJ Green.
31:13
Speaker 1: I'm looking I'm looking forward to that because he doesn't
31:15
Speaker 1: talk a lot. He's not gonna hyping type himself up.
31:19
Speaker 1: And I don't even know Aja that well, but I'll
31:21
Speaker 1: hype him up. He I'm looking forward to him reminded
31:25
Speaker 1: people how good he really is. Joe Burrow has never
31:29
Speaker 1: thrown to these guys. No OTAs, no mini caps. It
31:33
Speaker 1: looks like there will be no preseason games. Now, how
31:36
Speaker 1: big of a problem is that it could be? It
31:39
Speaker 1: could be a hinder if it could be uh, someone
31:43
Speaker 1: of a problem. But you would think in practice, they're
31:45
Speaker 1: gonn They're gonna get a ton of reps in practice
31:47
Speaker 1: and train account and hopefully that's enough. It's gonna take
31:52
Speaker 1: some time where guys like the ball um what Joe likes.
31:57
Speaker 1: But this is the NFL. You know, we're workout. They
32:00
Speaker 1: don't work at it every day, and so again, everybody's
32:04
Speaker 1: in the same position for the most part. Tom Brady
32:07
Speaker 1: Camphen they've been working out. Um a little different with
32:11
Speaker 1: the Bingers. I don't believe Joe has throne with any
32:14
Speaker 1: of them. Joe is thrown with Ross. I got them together,
32:16
Speaker 1: but that was so long ago that you kind of
32:20
Speaker 1: got to rediscover that cohesiveness they had. But it will
32:24
Speaker 1: be different. I believe they'll they'll find a way to
32:26
Speaker 1: uh figure it out. But yeah, it does put them
32:30
Speaker 1: at somewhat of the disadvantage with no OTA and maybe
32:35
Speaker 1: no preseason games. Who knows what happens. I have two
32:39
Speaker 1: questions left for t J. Hushman's out A Number One,
32:43
Speaker 1: when Steelers fans recognize you, do they give you crap
32:47
Speaker 1: for shining your shoes with a terrible towel after winning
32:50
Speaker 1: in Pittsburgh. Uh yeah, still to this day. But it's
32:54
Speaker 1: all it's all fun, it's all you know, it's all
32:57
Speaker 1: it's not enough malicious. But yeah, may Man, what made
33:01
Speaker 1: you do that? And I was like, I don't know,
33:03
Speaker 1: it just kind of just happened. I didn't plan it,
33:06
Speaker 1: It wasn't premeditating. It just will spurred them all the
33:09
Speaker 1: type of thing. But yeah, they'll still give me crap
33:11
Speaker 1: about it, and ver remind me how they beat us
33:13
Speaker 1: in the playoffs thanks to Kimo van Alhof and unfortunately.
33:18
Speaker 1: All right, final question, do you remember the time that
33:22
Speaker 1: you pranked me? No, what happened? This was great. So
33:29
Speaker 1: March of two thousand and five, you're about to sign
33:32
Speaker 1: your first big contract extension with the Bengals. I'm working
33:37
Speaker 1: for Fox nineteen at the time. I think there was
33:39
Speaker 1: a midnight deadline for you to make a decision. So
33:43
Speaker 1: I'm calling you and trying to get an update before
33:46
Speaker 1: going on the air at on the ten o'clock news
33:49
Speaker 1: And I get you just before going on and you say, man,
33:54
Speaker 1: I've decided to leave. Had a great time in Cincinnati,
33:58
Speaker 1: but I'm moving on. So I'm writing down on a
34:01
Speaker 1: notepad and I'm bummed out because you know you were
34:03
Speaker 1: You're just coming into your own. I was really excited
34:06
Speaker 1: about it, and then just about the moment I was
34:09
Speaker 1: going to hang up, you said, man, I'm playing with you.
34:12
Speaker 1: I'm I'm resigning with the Bengals. So the good news
34:15
Speaker 1: is I had a scoop for the top of the
34:17
Speaker 1: ten o'clock news. The bad news is you almost broke
34:20
Speaker 1: my heart. Yeah that probably that does sound like someone
34:23
Speaker 1: would do it. I'll do that. I'll do that often
34:27
Speaker 1: messing around. Yea would Yeah, I don't recall that, but
34:30
Speaker 1: that is something that is not that you said it
34:32
Speaker 1: to me. I'm like, yeah, that is something that I
34:34
Speaker 1: would do. I'd actually do that often still to this day. Yeah,
34:38
Speaker 1: matter with it. That's what somebody and they really think that.
34:42
Speaker 1: Oh wow, and then I gotta tell them like, no, no,
34:46
Speaker 1: I'm just playing. I'm just playing. I'm just playing. You
34:48
Speaker 1: had me. But the good news is, you know, before
34:50
Speaker 1: I went out in the air, you set me straight.
34:52
Speaker 1: So it turned out fine. I just had about a
34:55
Speaker 1: one minute stretch of being heartbroken. Oh wow. Yeah, it's
34:58
Speaker 1: a good thing that h I didn't let it go
35:01
Speaker 1: a little longer. You got off the phone and I'm like, oh,
35:03
Speaker 1: let me let me know. Plat it around yeah, especially
35:06
Speaker 1: because that was pretext days, so you would not have
35:09
Speaker 1: been able to fire me off a quick text to
35:11
Speaker 1: send me straight in change right, pretext, pre social media crazy. Hey,
35:16
Speaker 1: I really appreciate you doing this. I always love getting
35:18
Speaker 1: your insight. I love the work you're doing for FS one,
35:21
Speaker 1: and I hope to see you Paul Brown steady when
35:24
Speaker 1: that's allowed again. I won't be there, and I appreciate it.
35:28
Speaker 1: Thank you for your time. I appreciate it. Take care
35:30
Speaker 1: of yourself. Hi. Thanks to TJ and Sam Hubbard. And
35:34
Speaker 1: that's going to do it for this episode of The
35:36
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth Podcast, brought to you by Prime Sport, the
35:39
Speaker 1: official fan, travel and hospitality partner of the Cincinnati Bengals.
35:43
Speaker 1: If you haven't done so already, please subscribe, and if
35:46
Speaker 1: you have a minute, give it a rating or share
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Speaker 1: a comment that helps more Bengals fans find this podcast.
35:53
Speaker 1: I'm Dan Horde, and thanks for listening to The Bengals
35:56
Speaker 1: Booth Podcast