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Bengals Booth Podcast: On The Road Again · Bengals Booth Podcast

0:03
Speaker 1: I get everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
0:06
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast. The on the Road Again addition,
0:12
Speaker 1: as the Bengals look for their first road win in
0:15
Speaker 1: more than two years as they face the Dolphins this
0:18
Speaker 1: Sunday in Miami. Coming up, Dave Lapham joins me to
0:21
Speaker 1: discuss the latest Bengals news, including a pair of roster
0:24
Speaker 1: moves that happened on Wednesday. My one on one player
0:28
Speaker 1: interview is with second year running back Trey Von Williams,
0:31
Speaker 1: who finally got a chance to carry the ball a
0:34
Speaker 1: few weeks ago and is hoping for more opportunities over
0:37
Speaker 1: the final five games. And in our Know the Faux segment,
0:40
Speaker 1: we'll get the scoop on the seven and four Dolphins
0:43
Speaker 1: from Cameron Wolff, who covers the team four ESPN. The
0:48
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth Podcast is presented by Bud Light Seltzer. Refresh
0:52
Speaker 1: the game, and here's a quick reminder that you can
0:55
Speaker 1: add the latest edition of this podcast delivered right to
0:58
Speaker 1: your phone, tablet, or computer by subscribing on iTunes, Stitcher,
1:02
Speaker 1: google Play, Spotify, or pod Bean. It's the greatest thing
1:07
Speaker 1: since Season two of Peyton's Places, So This is an
1:12
Speaker 1: update of a previous Greatest Thing Since last year, future
1:17
Speaker 1: Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning hosted a thirty episode
1:21
Speaker 1: documentary series called Peyton's Places in conjunction with a celebration
1:26
Speaker 1: of the NFL's one hundredth season. The series looks at
1:29
Speaker 1: key moments in NFL history, and if you love football,
1:33
Speaker 1: you'll love this show. Manning is a fantastic host, and
1:37
Speaker 1: his appreciation for the history of the game shines through
1:40
Speaker 1: in every episode. Season two just started with an episode
1:45
Speaker 1: about Marshawn Lynch and it's hysterical. So look for Peyton's Places.
1:51
Speaker 1: In my opinion, it's well worth a subscription to ESPN Plus.
1:56
Speaker 1: Now time for my conversation with Dave Lapham. We started
2:00
Speaker 1: with a couple of roster moves that the Bengals made
2:03
Speaker 1: on Wednesday. Offensive lineman Xavier Suaphilo is activated from the
2:07
Speaker 1: injured list. He hasn't played since hurting his ankle in
2:10
Speaker 1: Week one. Unfortunately, to make room on the roster for him,
2:14
Speaker 1: wide receiver Auden Tate went on the injured list with
2:18
Speaker 1: his shoulder injury that will require surgery. Auden's expected to
2:22
Speaker 1: be back in time for training camp. But the Bengals
2:25
Speaker 1: will obviously miss his contested catchability over the final five
2:30
Speaker 1: games of the year, no doubt about it. Dan, he
2:33
Speaker 1: is probably the guy that makes more fifty fifty players
2:37
Speaker 1: than anybody in his mind. It's not fifty fifty, seventy five,
2:41
Speaker 1: twenty five or better in his favor. He's got the length,
2:44
Speaker 1: he's got vice grip hands, he's very very good one covered.
2:49
Speaker 1: In today's National Football League a lot of times there's
2:53
Speaker 1: not a whole lot of separation. So Auden Tape becomes
2:56
Speaker 1: one of those guys where he's open when he's covered
2:58
Speaker 1: kind of dealing. They are going to miss him. They
3:00
Speaker 1: gonna miss him in on third down conversion possibilities, are
3:04
Speaker 1: going to miss him in the red zone where he
3:06
Speaker 1: can really step up and cause issues when there are
3:09
Speaker 1: tight quarters, compressed field, all those sorts of things. So
3:12
Speaker 1: that's a weapon that you'd like to have for sure,
3:14
Speaker 1: as in the final five games of the season. Let's
3:16
Speaker 1: turn to Xavier to a Philo. He signed a three
3:19
Speaker 1: year free agent deal in the off season. He got
3:22
Speaker 1: injured in Week one when he was starting at right guard.
3:25
Speaker 1: What do you think happens with him for the rest
3:27
Speaker 1: of this year. That's a great question. I think I
3:29
Speaker 1: wonder if you know they're still monitoring how he's coming back.
3:34
Speaker 1: Had a severe ankle injury obviously, and the guy like
3:37
Speaker 1: that though, with the leadership that he has, and he
3:39
Speaker 1: will provide consistency and level of play, and that's that's
3:42
Speaker 1: what's been lacking a little bit. Redman just can't stay healthy,
3:46
Speaker 1: you know, elbow and concussion and just he seems to
3:50
Speaker 1: be one of these players that that just can't can't
3:53
Speaker 1: stay healthy on a week a week to week basis,
3:56
Speaker 1: and Sue A. Philo could be a guy to go
3:58
Speaker 1: in there and provide and see at the position. You know,
4:02
Speaker 1: the thought was that Michael Jordan was going to sit
4:05
Speaker 1: down for a little while and just kind of collect himself.
4:07
Speaker 1: And his play has been wildly inconsistent. One week he'll
4:10
Speaker 1: look like a pro bowler and the next week he'll
4:12
Speaker 1: look like he shouldn't be a starter, and everything in between.
4:15
Speaker 1: So that that graph has going to level out a
4:17
Speaker 1: little bit into a good high level of play. So
4:21
Speaker 1: there's there's options there. I mean, I think Sue Philo
4:24
Speaker 1: would be the right guard, and then of course Quentin Spain,
4:27
Speaker 1: mister versatile, he could he could be plugged in there
4:30
Speaker 1: at left guard very easily. And if Redmund is still
4:34
Speaker 1: nicked up with concussion protocol, and if they decide that
4:37
Speaker 1: they still want to do what they were thinking about
4:39
Speaker 1: doing with Michael Jordan, just let him sit back and
4:42
Speaker 1: observe for a while and think about things. And the
4:44
Speaker 1: thing he has to do. Dan playing as simple is
4:46
Speaker 1: just lower as pads. If he plays with a lower
4:49
Speaker 1: pad level, he'll be fine. But he gets he gets
4:52
Speaker 1: a little bit sloppy, I think with his pad love
4:54
Speaker 1: when it comes back to haunt him periodically. The Bengals
4:57
Speaker 1: are obviously trying to figure out what they're line is
5:00
Speaker 1: going to look like next year. They may use their
5:02
Speaker 1: first draft pick on an offensive lineman, particularly if they
5:05
Speaker 1: have the ability to draft Piney Sewell out of Oregon.
5:09
Speaker 1: But I wonder, with five games left and then two
5:12
Speaker 1: years left on Xavier sue Philo's deal, if they want
5:15
Speaker 1: to try to figure out over the course of the
5:17
Speaker 1: next five games, all right, should this guy be the
5:20
Speaker 1: right guard next year when Joe Burrow is healthy and
5:23
Speaker 1: back in there at quarterback. Yeah? I thought that in
5:25
Speaker 1: training camp. I thought he was a little bit spotty.
5:28
Speaker 1: I thought his best performance was the quote scrimmage that
5:31
Speaker 1: they staged, you know, and then and then the injury
5:33
Speaker 1: occurs and and there's there's problems. Um, so you know,
5:38
Speaker 1: he may be one of these gamer type guys when
5:40
Speaker 1: the when the whistle blows and you you start to
5:43
Speaker 1: play full contact, meaningful games that count towards standings. He's
5:48
Speaker 1: he's one of those guys that shows up and shows
5:50
Speaker 1: up big, and you just don't know. You don't have a,
5:53
Speaker 1: like you said, a category or a log of plays
5:56
Speaker 1: to be able to evaluate from. And I mean you
5:58
Speaker 1: can evaluate him from his time. I'm down in the
6:00
Speaker 1: state of Texas with the Texans and the Cowboys, but
6:03
Speaker 1: that's not up here in Cincinnati with the Cincinnati Bengals.
6:07
Speaker 1: So yeah, it's I think they are gonna I if
6:10
Speaker 1: he can go, if the doctors feel like he can go,
6:13
Speaker 1: and obviously they do because they brought him off of
6:15
Speaker 1: injury reserve and he's been he's been you know, on
6:18
Speaker 1: that twenty one day UH protocol deal. And if they
6:21
Speaker 1: feel like he's physically able to go, I think the
6:24
Speaker 1: Bengals are gonna have to go evaluate some snaps. They're
6:26
Speaker 1: gonna have to let him go out there and play
6:27
Speaker 1: and see what he can do and make some decisions
6:30
Speaker 1: like you're like you spoke of Dan So at some
6:32
Speaker 1: point this week, possibly even today, Joe Burrow is having
6:35
Speaker 1: reconstructive surgery on his left knee. It's being done in
6:39
Speaker 1: Los Angeles by doctor Neil el Atrotch. I have no
6:43
Speaker 1: idea if I'm saying that correctly, but he has become
6:47
Speaker 1: the go to guy for sports stars. Used to be
6:50
Speaker 1: doctor James Andrews, but now it's doctor Neil el A Trotch.
6:53
Speaker 1: He repaired Tom Brady's knee a few years ago. They
6:56
Speaker 1: remained very close. He operated on se Quon Barkley's a
7:00
Speaker 1: cl earlier this year. He did multiple surgeries over the
7:03
Speaker 1: years on the late Great Kobe Bryant. So Joe Burrow
7:06
Speaker 1: is clearly in good hands. Here is Joe's close friend
7:10
Speaker 1: Sam Hubbard and Joe Burrow going forward. Joe's hanging in there. He's, uh,
7:14
Speaker 1: you know, he's on his way out to West Coast
7:18
Speaker 1: give the surgery and starts path recovery. Mentally, he's he's
7:23
Speaker 1: staying up and you know, my heart goes out to
7:27
Speaker 1: him as the surgery approaches and his recovery process begins.
7:32
Speaker 1: He's still pretty upbeat. I think he's just ready to
7:36
Speaker 1: get this process going and uh, you know, get healthy
7:39
Speaker 1: for next year. He's he's as about as positive and
7:41
Speaker 1: upbeating as you could be with the circumstances and the injury,
7:45
Speaker 1: and he's being strong and you know, like I said,
7:49
Speaker 1: I'm thinking about him, We're all thinking about him. Lap
7:53
Speaker 1: It's only been a week and a half since Joe
7:55
Speaker 1: Burrow's injury. Do you take it as a good sign
7:59
Speaker 1: that they are planning do surgery this quickly? I do?
8:02
Speaker 1: You know? They're swelling obviously is the big issue. So
8:05
Speaker 1: you have to get the swelling out of there. That
8:07
Speaker 1: could complicate matters. So the fact that that his body
8:11
Speaker 1: has reabsorbed a lot of that issue, I think is
8:14
Speaker 1: a positive sign. And I think that speaks to his age,
8:17
Speaker 1: his condition of his body, and his conditioning overall. I
8:21
Speaker 1: think all those are positive signs. And he's represented by
8:25
Speaker 1: um CAA creative athletes and artists, and a lot of
8:29
Speaker 1: times these agencies have relationships with orthopedic surgeons and it
8:34
Speaker 1: becomes you know, that's that's where the political ping pong
8:37
Speaker 1: might say, Okay, the organization wants their orthopedic surgeon to
8:41
Speaker 1: do the do the job, and the representative of the agency,
8:46
Speaker 1: the agent wants somebody else to do the job, and
8:48
Speaker 1: they have to settle those kind of those kind of
8:50
Speaker 1: political volleyballs. But it's not unusual that there's a there's
8:55
Speaker 1: an orthopedic surgeon on another team that is highly guarded,
9:00
Speaker 1: and everybody goes in that direction. This isn't the first time, obviously,
9:03
Speaker 1: as all the littan you guys that you mentioned that
9:05
Speaker 1: he's operated on, Andrew Wortworth has just had a procedure
9:09
Speaker 1: done with him as well, and speaks very highly of
9:11
Speaker 1: of course, he's the RAMS team orthopedic doctor, which is
9:15
Speaker 1: a different situation. But he's going to go out to
9:17
Speaker 1: LA have the surgery and probably the early early rehab
9:21
Speaker 1: part of it will be out there in LA and
9:23
Speaker 1: then he'll work his way back here to Cincinnati and
9:25
Speaker 1: continue that rehab process. It's interesting reading about his relationships
9:30
Speaker 1: with some of the patients that he's had over the years.
9:32
Speaker 1: He and Tom Brady remain very close. They are frequent
9:34
Speaker 1: to golfing buddies. Apparently when he did Cooper Cups acl
9:39
Speaker 1: and as you mentioned, he has the RAMS team doctor,
9:41
Speaker 1: so there's a relationship there. But Cooper cup and his
9:44
Speaker 1: family lived his house, lived at his house for a
9:46
Speaker 1: while in and around the surgery. So he sounds like
9:50
Speaker 1: a guy that players definitely have a lot of trust in. Yeah,
9:53
Speaker 1: Andrew Wortworth quote was, this guy's a great man. And
9:57
Speaker 1: in my opinion, if Andrew wort Worth gives you that
10:00
Speaker 1: that kind of thumbs up, and that's good enough for me.
10:03
Speaker 1: That's all I need to know. Because Wit knows people
10:05
Speaker 1: and he understands people, there's no doubt about it. That
10:08
Speaker 1: is an excellent point. So this week we have the
10:10
Speaker 1: two eight and one Bengals against the seven and four Dolphins,
10:14
Speaker 1: and let's turn the clock back to last year because
10:17
Speaker 1: Miami got off to the worst four games start in
10:22
Speaker 1: NFL history last year. They lost to Baltimore in Week one,
10:26
Speaker 1: fifty nine to ten. They lost to New England in
10:29
Speaker 1: Week two, forty three nothing. They lost to Dallas in
10:32
Speaker 1: Week three thirty one to six. They lost to the
10:35
Speaker 1: Chargers in Week four, thirty to ten. That is the
10:39
Speaker 1: worst four game deferential at any point in any season
10:43
Speaker 1: in NFL history. Both of these teams started the season
10:48
Speaker 1: oh and seven last year, but Miami finished five and four.
10:53
Speaker 1: Now they're seven and four this year. That's twelve and
10:55
Speaker 1: eight combined, whereas the Bengals during that same twenty game
10:59
Speaker 1: span our four fifteen and one. So one team has
11:04
Speaker 1: learned how to win, the other team hasn't yet. Dolphins
11:08
Speaker 1: coach Brian Flores says, that is a real thing. Yeah,
11:12
Speaker 1: you do need to learn how to win in this league.
11:14
Speaker 1: I think there's there's something to that. Um, I'm not
11:19
Speaker 1: sure if I wish I had, if I had the formula,
11:21
Speaker 1: i'd probably you know, bottle it up and but I don't.
11:26
Speaker 1: But I think it is. You know, part of that
11:28
Speaker 1: is just working every week, preparing every week, good good
11:34
Speaker 1: good meetings, good walk through his good practice, good routines, um,
11:39
Speaker 1: you know, on the field, off the field, and then
11:42
Speaker 1: you know, let the chips fall away fall What stands
11:44
Speaker 1: out to you about Brian Flores and this Miami team.
11:49
Speaker 1: Brian Flores is ready for his opportunity. Four years in
11:52
Speaker 1: the scouting department, special teams coach, defensive coach, defensive coordinator,
11:59
Speaker 1: now head coach, and all of his time spent in
12:01
Speaker 1: New England, the best organization that you can spend time,
12:04
Speaker 1: and I think to have an apprenticeship as such. And
12:07
Speaker 1: the thing that stands out to me, Dan in that
12:10
Speaker 1: process that you're talking about, that nightmarish process. This guy
12:14
Speaker 1: is all about defense. He's a defensive oriented head coach,
12:17
Speaker 1: the first one they've had since Nick Saban and his patience,
12:22
Speaker 1: no panic, so Brian Flores. He has answers. You know,
12:27
Speaker 1: when problems arise, he's got an answer. He's got a plan, A,
12:30
Speaker 1: B C. He's ready. The guy. The guy is very,
12:34
Speaker 1: very smart. He's very honest with his players, very tough
12:38
Speaker 1: on his players, extremely disciplined. It sounds like a mini
12:41
Speaker 1: Bill Belichick. This may be the guy of all the
12:43
Speaker 1: assistance that Bill Belichick's coaching tree has produced. This may
12:47
Speaker 1: be the guy that has the brightest future. Yeah, bell
12:50
Speaker 1: O'Brien did well for a while in Houston, but most
12:52
Speaker 1: of those Belichick disciples have not done well as head coaches.
12:56
Speaker 1: I want to follow up on free agency because you
12:59
Speaker 1: alluded to that the Bengals were the number two free
13:02
Speaker 1: agent spending team this past offseason. They spent almost one
13:06
Speaker 1: hundred and thirty five million on free agents from other teams.
13:10
Speaker 1: The Dolphins spent more than one hundred million more than that.
13:14
Speaker 1: They were the number one free agent spender. They spent
13:17
Speaker 1: more than two hundred thirty nine mill on free agents.
13:21
Speaker 1: And what they did was they said, it's an organization.
13:24
Speaker 1: As an organization, we are ripping it up and starting over.
13:28
Speaker 1: They just shredded it and had obviously more cap space
13:32
Speaker 1: than anybody in so doing. And they said, we're going
13:35
Speaker 1: back to square one and we're gonna build it block
13:38
Speaker 1: by block from square one. So again they had a
13:41
Speaker 1: plan and they thought, okay, it's tank for two a time. Look,
13:43
Speaker 1: they're getting rid of everybody all they're good players, they're
13:45
Speaker 1: getting rid of them. They're moving guys. They had players
13:48
Speaker 1: that they let go, you know, quality players, wide receiver,
13:51
Speaker 1: running back, different players, defensive pass rush guys, and Flores whole.
13:57
Speaker 1: His whole philosophy is you want to be good on
13:59
Speaker 1: the back end, and you want to be deep on
14:01
Speaker 1: the back end. And he has the most expensive tandem
14:04
Speaker 1: at cornerback in the National Football League. They got Byron
14:07
Speaker 1: Jones from Dallas fifty seven million guaranteed. Howard, they've got
14:12
Speaker 1: an expensive tannem back there, and they've got death back there.
14:15
Speaker 1: He'd rather have outstanding back end and not have that
14:19
Speaker 1: premier pass rush guy and just get pass rushed from
14:22
Speaker 1: a lot of different ways. With his pressure packages and
14:25
Speaker 1: good solid football players. Twelve different players have a quarterback sack.
14:30
Speaker 1: Now Ogba has eight, you know, and that puts him
14:32
Speaker 1: tied for seventh in the National Football League. But he's got,
14:36
Speaker 1: you know, twelve guys total. Seven different guys have a
14:40
Speaker 1: quarterback sack or less. So he's bringing them from everywhere,
14:43
Speaker 1: everywhere and anywhere. And third down, man, you want to
14:47
Speaker 1: stay out of third down against them. They lead the
14:49
Speaker 1: National Football League. And that's when he does all of
14:52
Speaker 1: his crazy stuff. He's real aggressive. He'll have a bunch
14:55
Speaker 1: of people up at the line of scrimmage. He'll bring
14:58
Speaker 1: small bodies and then he'll he'll rush his big guys.
15:02
Speaker 1: I'll notice he'll rush his big guys for a step
15:04
Speaker 1: or two into the offensive lineman, engage him, and then
15:06
Speaker 1: disengage and drop back into coverage. And that's really tough
15:10
Speaker 1: on the quarterback. You don't know which four or five
15:13
Speaker 1: of the seven are coming because these guys are engaging,
15:15
Speaker 1: and then the big guys drop back and the little
15:17
Speaker 1: guys come and everything else in between. I mean, that's
15:20
Speaker 1: when third down, that's when it gets crazy. Against the Dolphins,
15:25
Speaker 1: just like it does against Billy B. Billichick. Dolphin's rookie
15:28
Speaker 1: quarterback to a Tungo Vyla, the fifth pick in this
15:31
Speaker 1: year's draft, did not start last week four Miami due
15:35
Speaker 1: to an injured thumb. At their practice today, he wore
15:38
Speaker 1: black tape around his wrist and his thumb, but no
15:41
Speaker 1: word on whether he'll be the starter on Sunday against
15:44
Speaker 1: Cincinnati if he can't go. Thirty eight year old Ryan
15:48
Speaker 1: Fitzpatrick will start the NFL leader in combined beard and
15:53
Speaker 1: chest hair. Here is his head coach, Brian Flores on Fitzy.
15:58
Speaker 1: You know, Ryan's a very good leader, um, talented player, smart, gritty,
16:05
Speaker 1: you know, tough and it really embodies a lot of
16:07
Speaker 1: the characteristics we're looking for in a Dolphin. Can handle adversity, mentally, tough.
16:14
Speaker 1: You know, it's been it's been, you know, great working
16:17
Speaker 1: with him, I would say these last two years it's
16:20
Speaker 1: been a great mentor to tour and a lot of
16:22
Speaker 1: other young players. So, you know, it's one thing, you
16:26
Speaker 1: know as a coach to try to teach you you know,
16:29
Speaker 1: these young guys and mentor and teach them how to
16:33
Speaker 1: be a pro. It's another thing when you have a
16:35
Speaker 1: guy like Ryan in the locker room, in the huddle
16:38
Speaker 1: with them, you know, really saying a lot of the
16:39
Speaker 1: same things. So you've been a very, very valuable piece
16:43
Speaker 1: to our to the growth of some of our young players,
16:45
Speaker 1: I would say, lap Since the injury to Joe Burrow,
16:49
Speaker 1: I've heard a lot of people say, why didn't the
16:51
Speaker 1: Bengals go out and sign a better veteran quarterback than
16:54
Speaker 1: Brandon Allen And many have brought up the name Ryan Fitzpatrick. Well,
16:58
Speaker 1: fitz he wasn't available prior to last year. He signed
17:01
Speaker 1: a two year, eleven million dollars deal with the Dolphins
17:04
Speaker 1: that is up at the end of this season. You
17:07
Speaker 1: know him from his time with the Bengals in two
17:10
Speaker 1: thousand and eight, and knew of him before that from
17:12
Speaker 1: his days at Harvard. If he wants to keep playing,
17:15
Speaker 1: should the Bengals try to sign Ryan Fitzpatrick? Absolutely, if
17:20
Speaker 1: he wants to keep playing. And that's the key. In
17:22
Speaker 1: conversation with him down there before the Miami game last year,
17:27
Speaker 1: he said that that you know, he's got seven kids,
17:30
Speaker 1: He's got one for every day of the week. So
17:33
Speaker 1: and now and now they're they're getting of an age
17:36
Speaker 1: where he doesn't want to hop scotch them around to
17:39
Speaker 1: different places. You know, he's interested in stability of education
17:43
Speaker 1: and all those sort of things, and he really likes
17:45
Speaker 1: it down there. So, um, he was you know, he's
17:48
Speaker 1: trying to make a decision about whether we would come
17:50
Speaker 1: back to Miami or not. So if he's trying to
17:53
Speaker 1: make that kind of a decision, I wonder how much
17:56
Speaker 1: it would you know, he'd have to be guaranteed playing
17:59
Speaker 1: time in my opinion, because he was looking to be
18:02
Speaker 1: guaranteed playing time for Miami to come back, you know,
18:05
Speaker 1: after last season. So uh, it's it's it's an interesting dynamic,
18:10
Speaker 1: you know. And would he leave his family down there,
18:14
Speaker 1: because that's the thing that he loves is that he
18:16
Speaker 1: doesn't have to hit his family's with him all the time.
18:19
Speaker 1: You know, he doesn't have to relocate to be somewhere
18:22
Speaker 1: else as a player at this stage of his career,
18:25
Speaker 1: and he doesn't want to necessarily relocate that entire family,
18:28
Speaker 1: the size of the family we're talking about. So there's
18:31
Speaker 1: a lot of circumstances. There are a lot of extenuating circumstances.
18:33
Speaker 1: But I will say that he does have a high
18:36
Speaker 1: respect from Mike Brown being a you know, an Ivy
18:39
Speaker 1: League grad himself and the Brown family, and he had
18:43
Speaker 1: a good experience with his first day in Cincinnati. So
18:47
Speaker 1: there are a lot of positives there. It'd be interesting
18:49
Speaker 1: if if both parties could come to some kind of
18:51
Speaker 1: an agreement that would make sense economically and all the
18:55
Speaker 1: intangibles that we just talked about. Fitz he doesn't need
18:58
Speaker 1: the dough made seventy one point five mill over the
19:02
Speaker 1: course of sixteen seasons, So this Harvard grad has done well,
19:05
Speaker 1: like many Harvard grads. I just wonder, because of the
19:09
Speaker 1: uncertainty over Joe Burrows timetable, if maybe something can be
19:14
Speaker 1: worked out where, hey, we may need somebody that's starting
19:17
Speaker 1: for us at the beginning of next season. Would he
19:20
Speaker 1: be willing to sign on with the possibility that, you know,
19:24
Speaker 1: he could be the starter at the beginning of the year,
19:26
Speaker 1: and then if Joe comes along at a great rate
19:28
Speaker 1: and is ready by the beginning of the season, he could,
19:31
Speaker 1: you know, take whatever chunk of guaranteed money he gets
19:33
Speaker 1: and sail off into the sunset. Yeah. I think those
19:37
Speaker 1: are the kind of the parameters we're talking about, because
19:39
Speaker 1: that's what he was I think talking about with Miami,
19:43
Speaker 1: and he wants to play at this stage, he wants
19:46
Speaker 1: to play. He doesn't want to be separated from his
19:49
Speaker 1: family and not play. That's that does that doesn't ring
19:53
Speaker 1: true to him. And on top of the seventy one
19:55
Speaker 1: million you're talking about, he's got a bunch of Harvard
19:58
Speaker 1: buddies that may have doubled or tripled his money in
20:00
Speaker 1: terms of investments and things that they're they're involved with
20:03
Speaker 1: around not only the United States, but worldwide. There's no
20:07
Speaker 1: telling how much money fits he has made at this
20:10
Speaker 1: point because he's a very intelligent guy with his money
20:13
Speaker 1: as well. So yeah, it's he still has the burning
20:16
Speaker 1: desire to play, and I think he still does. He
20:20
Speaker 1: was he was pretty vocal, kind of unfits you like,
20:24
Speaker 1: you know, when Brian Flores decided to sit him, It's
20:26
Speaker 1: like I have to go to a meeting and sit
20:28
Speaker 1: across and look at a guy who fired me. I
20:31
Speaker 1: don't like that, you know, I mean, that's that's very
20:33
Speaker 1: very strong statement coming from Ryan Fitzpatrick. But I think
20:37
Speaker 1: coach Flores respected it. You know. He basically he likes
20:41
Speaker 1: his competitive fire. Um, he likes his his toughness and
20:45
Speaker 1: all that sort of thing. So it wasn't an issue.
20:47
Speaker 1: And uh, like you said it, there'd have to be
20:52
Speaker 1: um parameters involved. If this occurs, that occurs, if this does,
20:56
Speaker 1: that does, there's gonna have to be a lot of stages,
20:58
Speaker 1: I think, and levels and to any kind of a
21:01
Speaker 1: deal that might be struck. Head coach Zack Taylor often
21:04
Speaker 1: talks about building a winning culture in Cincinnati, but at
21:07
Speaker 1: some point, every coach has to win games. Zach is
21:11
Speaker 1: four twenty two and one as Cincinnati's head coach. So
21:15
Speaker 1: how does he convince the players that they are headed
21:18
Speaker 1: in the right direction. We show him the tape, we
21:21
Speaker 1: show him where the mistakes are, we show him that
21:22
Speaker 1: the directions we're headed in the right way. Oftentimes this
21:26
Speaker 1: thing has come down to one play and we got
21:28
Speaker 1: we gotta find that way to make that one play
21:31
Speaker 1: at the end of the game, and we just haven't
21:32
Speaker 1: done it yet. But again, all I can say is
21:35
Speaker 1: that when you stay in front of the team at
21:37
Speaker 1: the end of the game, winner lost, and you preach
21:39
Speaker 1: those guys, you know that they're all in it together
21:43
Speaker 1: and they believe in what we're doing and they can
21:45
Speaker 1: see it because they see it every day in practice.
21:46
Speaker 1: They see it on the game tape. They know where
21:48
Speaker 1: we're close, and we're just not getting done yet. And
21:50
Speaker 1: that's our focus is keeping these guests together. That hasn't
21:54
Speaker 1: been as difficult as some might think it is, just
21:56
Speaker 1: because we're trying to build it of the right talent
21:58
Speaker 1: and character combined, and that has really helped us through
22:02
Speaker 1: these trying times. And um, you know the other part,
22:04
Speaker 1: you just you just we keep doing everything that we
22:07
Speaker 1: believe in and keep making progress. And UM, I know
22:10
Speaker 1: there's a day where we're gonna bust down this wall
22:12
Speaker 1: and there's gonna be some great times ahead. I know
22:14
Speaker 1: that right now. It's it's very difficult sometimes when you
22:17
Speaker 1: deal with these losses, but UM, I also know what
22:20
Speaker 1: our future holds for us, and we just we got
22:23
Speaker 1: to keep working towards that. And in these two years
22:26
Speaker 1: that we've endured, UM, we'll service service incredibly well in
22:30
Speaker 1: the future when we're win a lot of football games,
22:31
Speaker 1: we're playing for championships. These are times that we look
22:34
Speaker 1: back on and reflect on as almost necessary for for
22:38
Speaker 1: where we end up being. With those four wins in
22:40
Speaker 1: two years, do you feel any extra pressure personally as
22:43
Speaker 1: you get closer the end of year two. I feel
22:45
Speaker 1: pressure every single day to be urgent, um to do
22:48
Speaker 1: my job at the best I can. And it shouldn't
22:51
Speaker 1: change if if you believe in the way that you're
22:52
Speaker 1: approaching things and what your vision is UM, it shouldn't
22:55
Speaker 1: change based on based on wins or losses. You know,
22:58
Speaker 1: I'm We tell the guys we want consistent players as
23:01
Speaker 1: they walk through the building every single day. We need
23:03
Speaker 1: to know what to expect from them. I sure as
23:06
Speaker 1: heck and not going to be any different than the
23:07
Speaker 1: day I was the day I showed up on the
23:09
Speaker 1: job and believing what the staff is asking these players
23:12
Speaker 1: to do. Believe that the players have bought in and
23:14
Speaker 1: they know that this is the right way to do it.
23:16
Speaker 1: And we're not going to change just because of We're
23:19
Speaker 1: not going to change our personalities or the way we
23:21
Speaker 1: go about our business just because of the trials that
23:24
Speaker 1: we faced. Mike Brown gives coaches a chance. There's no
23:28
Speaker 1: question about that. He values continuity and a coaching staff
23:33
Speaker 1: and doesn't like to make changes unless he is absolutely
23:36
Speaker 1: forced to. David Shula started out five and eleven, three
23:39
Speaker 1: and thirteen, three and thirteen. He not only got a
23:41
Speaker 1: fourth year, he got a fifth Bruce Coslet seven and nine,
23:45
Speaker 1: three and thirteen, four and twelve, he got a year
23:47
Speaker 1: after that and then decided to quit after an oh
23:50
Speaker 1: and three starts. So having said all that, we know
23:54
Speaker 1: that ownership is patient, but do you think this coaching
23:59
Speaker 1: staff have to show them something in the final five weeks? Yeah,
24:02
Speaker 1: you would, you would think so, Dan, And uh, honestly, two,
24:06
Speaker 1: this organization doesn't like to pay two head coaches. I mean,
24:09
Speaker 1: that's that's a big part of it. If you if
24:11
Speaker 1: a head coach is under contract, you still that's guaranteed,
24:15
Speaker 1: you know, it's not it's not like there's guaranteed portion
24:17
Speaker 1: and not guaranteed portion like in standard player contracts. Coaches
24:22
Speaker 1: have to be paid if they are under contract and
24:24
Speaker 1: they're still not providing services where you still have to
24:27
Speaker 1: pay them. Uh, And then you don't want to pay
24:29
Speaker 1: necessarily two coaching staffs, two head coaches and a bunch
24:33
Speaker 1: of double paid assistant coaches. That that becomes part of
24:36
Speaker 1: the part of the equation, part of the process. But um, yeah,
24:40
Speaker 1: I mean when Zach talks about knocking the wall down,
24:43
Speaker 1: you know, a lot of fans think there's walls behind walls.
24:45
Speaker 1: You knock one wall down and then another one pops up.
24:48
Speaker 1: It's right there. You know it's it's at some point
24:50
Speaker 1: in time and everybody understands it. You know. It's it's
24:53
Speaker 1: not like you're it's not like you're developing. You're like
24:57
Speaker 1: the the D League for the NBA, you're not developing
25:01
Speaker 1: players to play at the highest level, and in wins
25:05
Speaker 1: and losses may not be as paramount as they are
25:08
Speaker 1: at the NBA level. This is the national Football It's
25:11
Speaker 1: not like minor league baseball getting guys ready for their
25:13
Speaker 1: major league career, and wins and losses are important there,
25:17
Speaker 1: but not as much as at the highest level of
25:20
Speaker 1: the Major league baseball team. There is no other team.
25:23
Speaker 1: This is it. You're competing at the highest level in
25:26
Speaker 1: the National Football League, so you're you're evaluated on wins
25:30
Speaker 1: and losses. So at some point in time, you know,
25:33
Speaker 1: you got to start winning these games where it takes
25:36
Speaker 1: one play. You got to make the play, make the play,
25:39
Speaker 1: avoid the mistake that will win you football games instead
25:42
Speaker 1: of so many of them going in the wrong column.
25:45
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth podcast is presented by Bud Light Seltzer.
25:49
Speaker 1: It's light and refreshing with a hint of fruit flavor.
25:53
Speaker 1: Now time for this week's one on one player interview.
25:56
Speaker 1: This week, I caught up with running back Trayeon Williams,
26:00
Speaker 1: a sixth round draft pick last year, who is starting
26:03
Speaker 1: to get the opportunity to show why he had such
26:05
Speaker 1: a great college career at Texas A and M Trevie
26:09
Speaker 1: had a lot of Bengals fans, myself included, have been
26:12
Speaker 1: eagerly wondering when you would get the opportunity to carry
26:15
Speaker 1: the ball, and you did recently. You got your first
26:18
Speaker 1: five regular season carries a few weeks ago against the Steelers.
26:22
Speaker 1: What did that mean to you? Man? It meant the world.
26:25
Speaker 1: It just really showed that, you know, if you have
26:29
Speaker 1: a dream and you have something that you want to achieve,
26:31
Speaker 1: and it always might not work out the way that
26:33
Speaker 1: you want it, but if you stay persistent, if you
26:36
Speaker 1: stay dedicated to it, it'll it'll come around full circle
26:39
Speaker 1: at some point. So it meant a lot. You had
26:41
Speaker 1: a thirteen yard pass reception last week. Do you think
26:45
Speaker 1: a play like that might lead to more opportunities? Oh? Yeah,
26:49
Speaker 1: for sure, I'm hoping, you know, hopefully, you know, with
26:52
Speaker 1: the game plan every everything this week hopefully I get
26:54
Speaker 1: another opportunity to go out there and just make players.
26:56
Speaker 1: You know, I just I just want to play, that's it.
26:58
Speaker 1: I just want to be able to help my team
27:00
Speaker 1: and put them be able to put my team in
27:02
Speaker 1: the best position win. Just want to be out there
27:04
Speaker 1: with my guys and just having fun to play ball.
27:06
Speaker 1: That's it. We're visiting with running back trevy On Williams.
27:09
Speaker 1: You are in a talented room with Joe Mixon, Giovanni
27:11
Speaker 1: Bernard and Sam J. P Ryan. That requires patience. Are
27:16
Speaker 1: you a patient person? Oh? Yeah, and it's crazy. First off, man,
27:21
Speaker 1: we gotta outstanding room. I don't. I don't think people
27:25
Speaker 1: believe and really understand how talented this room is. You know,
27:28
Speaker 1: all four of us are guys that can go in
27:30
Speaker 1: and make plays at any point in the game. But um,
27:34
Speaker 1: and it's crazy that you say patience because I never
27:37
Speaker 1: knew I had this much patience until I got to
27:40
Speaker 1: the NFL. Um. You know, they don't tell you this
27:42
Speaker 1: kind of stuff when you're a kid, that this is
27:44
Speaker 1: out of the NFL it might work out like this,
27:46
Speaker 1: But um, you know, throughout the time, my patience has
27:49
Speaker 1: been tested in and I've been doing pretty good so far,
27:52
Speaker 1: Trev and a couple of years ago you led the
27:54
Speaker 1: SEC in rushing for Texas A and M. That puts
27:58
Speaker 1: you on a list with names like Dre Henry mark
28:01
Speaker 1: Ingram Ammt Smith, Bo Jackson, herschel Walker and many others.
28:07
Speaker 1: What does that accomplishment mean to you? Meant a lot,
28:10
Speaker 1: meant a lot. But that's dedication to hard work, you know,
28:13
Speaker 1: that's testament to hard work. And just um, all the
28:15
Speaker 1: guys that was around me. Um, I had outstanding line
28:18
Speaker 1: at Texas and Mum, you know what we were. We're
28:20
Speaker 1: able to have one of our guys keating Southern, he's
28:23
Speaker 1: here with us. We had Jim Turner officive line coach
28:26
Speaker 1: and um, you know that was the first year with
28:27
Speaker 1: jimbo Fisher. So it was really running that pro star
28:30
Speaker 1: offense and had a fullback in front of me. It
28:32
Speaker 1: was a lot of fun. It was a lot of fun.
28:34
Speaker 1: Absolutely enjoyed it. And then it's crazy because I ran
28:37
Speaker 1: for exactly a mile. Sixty ran for exactly a mile,
28:41
Speaker 1: So I enjoyed every bit of it, enjoyed every carry
28:43
Speaker 1: and it was it meant a lot because you know,
28:45
Speaker 1: it was a be able to be a part of
28:47
Speaker 1: some great names. Like you said, do you remember the
28:50
Speaker 1: details of your last college game? Oh, I mean I
28:55
Speaker 1: remember a couple of details of it. Um, you know,
28:57
Speaker 1: NC State. I was able to play Ryan Philly and
29:01
Speaker 1: Jermaine Pratt. Jermaine Pratt didn't play. But oh man, it
29:05
Speaker 1: was so much fun. I can't explain the level of
29:07
Speaker 1: fun that game was. Playing in the Gator Bowl and
29:11
Speaker 1: enjoying those last moments with my teammates and doing all that.
29:14
Speaker 1: It was an absolute last I couldn't I couldn't change
29:17
Speaker 1: that moment for the for the world final score fifty
29:20
Speaker 1: two to thirteen Texas A and M wins. Let me
29:22
Speaker 1: give your stats. Twelve carries, two hundred and thirty six yards.
29:28
Speaker 1: I'm twelve carries. Oh jeez, dog, that's crazy that you said.
29:34
Speaker 1: I don't remember I had twelve carries. I could have.
29:36
Speaker 1: It felt like I had more, but all the running
29:39
Speaker 1: that I was doing. But man, that's a that's a
29:42
Speaker 1: that's a good game, pretty good game, including a ninety
29:45
Speaker 1: three yard touchdown run. So you showed off your wheels,
29:47
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, yeah, for sure. I had to have to,
29:49
Speaker 1: you know, get them old up and all the gas
29:51
Speaker 1: and to think to finish it off. We're chatting with
29:55
Speaker 1: trey ViOn Williams. It's obviously been a tough year for
29:57
Speaker 1: the team, including a couple of weeks ago when Joe
30:00
Speaker 1: Burrow suffered his knee injury as a young teammate hoping
30:04
Speaker 1: to play alongside him for years to come. How tough
30:08
Speaker 1: was that for you? Man? That was tough. Talk about
30:11
Speaker 1: a guy first off, with Joe Burrow, a guy that
30:12
Speaker 1: can come in immediately and gain the respect of all
30:15
Speaker 1: his teammates. So to see him go down like that,
30:18
Speaker 1: oh man, it was devastating. And if you were in
30:21
Speaker 1: the stadium, it was no fans in the stadium, so
30:23
Speaker 1: it was already quiet. But when he went down in
30:26
Speaker 1: a year to hear the whole stadium with pitch silent,
30:29
Speaker 1: and just to hear him, you know, grimace and kind
30:31
Speaker 1: of you know, being pained, it was hurting. That was
30:35
Speaker 1: that was bad and just fell for the guy because
30:38
Speaker 1: he's a great guy and guys that comes to work
30:40
Speaker 1: every single day and puts his body, in his mind
30:42
Speaker 1: and everything on the line just to put us in
30:44
Speaker 1: positions to be great. So that was tough to see
30:47
Speaker 1: him go down like that. But um, you know it's
30:49
Speaker 1: you hate to say it, but it's those are the
30:51
Speaker 1: bad things that comes with this game. But you know,
30:53
Speaker 1: we're all behind them and hopefully he gets back one
30:56
Speaker 1: hundred percent healthy and ready for the next year. Trey ViOn,
30:59
Speaker 1: You've got a very up eat personality. What keeps you
31:01
Speaker 1: grinding for the final five games of the year. Just
31:04
Speaker 1: my son, I would say, my son, and and just
31:07
Speaker 1: the guys around here. Man. We got a great group
31:09
Speaker 1: of guys. Um coach Taylor Man, he's a coach that
31:12
Speaker 1: we all love, and we all go to war for
31:14
Speaker 1: him every single every single day, every single game. And
31:17
Speaker 1: you know, we just gotta keep keep pumping. There's a
31:19
Speaker 1: lot of things that we can still achieve with the
31:21
Speaker 1: remainder of this season, So we gotta take a game
31:23
Speaker 1: by game and hopefully we can still achieve that. So
31:26
Speaker 1: your son was born in early June. What's been the
31:29
Speaker 1: best part of fatherhood so far? Oh? Man? Just um
31:33
Speaker 1: just saying that smile. It's crazy because he's turned six
31:37
Speaker 1: months in a couple of days. So just to see
31:39
Speaker 1: him every day and just see him gain so much
31:42
Speaker 1: personality day by day. Man, It's it's an absolute blessing.
31:46
Speaker 1: And just to see a little me. It's it's it's
31:48
Speaker 1: absolute blessing. I'm so blessed to have him and wouldn't
31:52
Speaker 1: change it for the world. There a little mini football
31:54
Speaker 1: in the crib. Oh yeah, most definitely coming coming. You
31:58
Speaker 1: already know there that there's a football in play. And
32:01
Speaker 1: he's very centible with his hands. He loved to use
32:05
Speaker 1: his hands and stuff. So hopefully he takes after his
32:08
Speaker 1: dad and he wants to play football. Well. As I
32:11
Speaker 1: said at the beginning of our conversation, it was great
32:13
Speaker 1: to see you get those carries against the Steelers a
32:15
Speaker 1: few weeks ago, and I think on behalf of all
32:18
Speaker 1: Bengals fans are hoping that you get a bunch of
32:19
Speaker 1: opportunities for the rest of this season. Best of luck
32:23
Speaker 1: and thanks for the time today. Oh thank you so
32:25
Speaker 1: much for having me. Hopefully the opportunity takes itself and
32:28
Speaker 1: the best of the year plays out. Thank you out
32:31
Speaker 1: time for our know the faux segment. The Miami Dolphins
32:34
Speaker 1: are seven and four. They're currently one game behind Buffalo
32:37
Speaker 1: and two games ahead of New England in the AFC East.
32:42
Speaker 1: Cameron Wolf covers the Dolphins for ESPN, and he joined
32:46
Speaker 1: lapping me on the Bengals Game Plan Show. Let's start
32:50
Speaker 1: with a quarterback situation. Cameron, as of today Wednesday of
32:54
Speaker 1: game week, what's your best guests to UH or Fitsie
32:58
Speaker 1: on Sunday. It's up in the air. I think if
33:01
Speaker 1: I had to make a choice, I would probably say tah,
33:05
Speaker 1: he's practicing. We drip talked to him about fifteen minutes
33:08
Speaker 1: ago on the media call. He said he's feeling good. Um,
33:11
Speaker 1: he left it up to the coaches and the training statum.
33:14
Speaker 1: We talked to one of his receivers, to Keim Grant,
33:16
Speaker 1: and he said he looked great to him and he
33:18
Speaker 1: was throwing it normal. So all that, to me kind
33:21
Speaker 1: of gives the indication that he's healed enough to play.
33:25
Speaker 1: But you know, ultimately it's going to be Brian Floors
33:28
Speaker 1: watching and does he feel like a ninety is better
33:32
Speaker 1: than one hundred percent fit. That's something that I don't
33:34
Speaker 1: know for sure. So I think this is something that
33:36
Speaker 1: will probably go down to maybe Friday, maybe he's in
33:38
Speaker 1: game day if they want to push it. But if
33:41
Speaker 1: I had to choose, I think it'll be TOA. Okay,
33:44
Speaker 1: besides TOA, they had six picks in the first three rounds,
33:47
Speaker 1: so five picks besides tah and all the money that
33:50
Speaker 1: they spent in free agency. They stripped the franchise down
33:53
Speaker 1: basically and had all this cap space and went out
33:56
Speaker 1: and they got all these players and all these new editions.
33:58
Speaker 1: It's a it's a very different football team and what
34:00
Speaker 1: played last season the Bengals, in the in the Dolphins.
34:04
Speaker 1: In your mind, which player or players, a player or
34:07
Speaker 1: a couple of players have made the most significant difference
34:10
Speaker 1: in terms of what they got in the drafting free
34:13
Speaker 1: agency from last year. Yeah, I think the most immediate
34:17
Speaker 1: difference has been on defense. And you got to look
34:19
Speaker 1: at you know, maybe two or three games they were
34:22
Speaker 1: able to sign in free agency. They spent a lot
34:24
Speaker 1: of money bringing Byron Jones in a cornerback, and he
34:28
Speaker 1: has really helped really all set Sabian Howard on the
34:31
Speaker 1: other side, Xabian Hollar has already been you know, their
34:34
Speaker 1: star corner for a while, but now he has a
34:36
Speaker 1: tag team partner, so teams can't avoid him anymore. And
34:39
Speaker 1: you know, now x has seven interceptions, So I think
34:41
Speaker 1: Byron Jones has been a big part of that. And
34:44
Speaker 1: then Amahuel Ogba, He's at eight sacks. They've signed him
34:47
Speaker 1: in free agency defensive end, and he's been a wrecking
34:50
Speaker 1: ball up front getting pressure every week. He's in top
34:53
Speaker 1: ten in sacks, top ten and QBE pressures. And then
34:56
Speaker 1: Kyle van Noy's their signal caller and the linebacker in
34:58
Speaker 1: the middle is another guy they signed in free agency.
35:01
Speaker 1: So they really overdid this defense completely, and they've gone
35:05
Speaker 1: from the thirty second scoring defense in twenty nineteen to
35:09
Speaker 1: the second scoring defense this year. So it's been a
35:11
Speaker 1: heck of a turnaround and I think those guys are
35:13
Speaker 1: at the center of it. That is an amazing stat
35:17
Speaker 1: we're talking to. Cameron Wolferd covers the Miami Dolphins for ESPN.
35:21
Speaker 1: Miami's defense has nineteen takeaways, third best in the NFL.
35:25
Speaker 1: They've had at least one and seventeen consecutive games. That's
35:28
Speaker 1: the longest streak in the NFL. Is there a simple
35:31
Speaker 1: explanation for why they're coming up with so many takeaways? Yeah,
35:36
Speaker 1: I think they've been super aggressive. This is a team
35:38
Speaker 1: that even last year, they like to play a lot
35:40
Speaker 1: of man the man defense, and you can have the
35:41
Speaker 1: talent to be able to hang up in those situations. Now,
35:45
Speaker 1: like I mentioned earlier, they have the talent, so it's
35:47
Speaker 1: going to present offenses for the situation where they have
35:50
Speaker 1: to make a lot of quick decisions and drest. They've
35:54
Speaker 1: been sending a lot more blitches. They've been doing a
35:56
Speaker 1: lot of pressure upfront to really confuse quarterbacks and and
36:01
Speaker 1: sort of disguise pressure. And then on the back end,
36:04
Speaker 1: they've got two really good corners who can play man
36:06
Speaker 1: and man coverage. Of those those takeaways that you mentioned,
36:09
Speaker 1: Exabian Hours got seven of them. He leads the league
36:12
Speaker 1: in interceptions, So he's a guy where if you're a
36:14
Speaker 1: little home with the pass, he's going to take it away.
36:16
Speaker 1: So I think it's a combination of there, you know,
36:19
Speaker 1: there residing scheme up front and also having guys in
36:22
Speaker 1: the bank they can make plays on it. So they
36:25
Speaker 1: draft twa with the first pick, the first first round pick.
36:29
Speaker 1: But then they then they go and they draft Austin
36:31
Speaker 1: Jackson with the other first round pick. One of the
36:34
Speaker 1: second round picks, they draft Robert Hunt. Then the fourth
36:37
Speaker 1: round they draft Kinley. So they draft three offensive linemen
36:40
Speaker 1: to protect the quarterback that they drafted. How have those
36:44
Speaker 1: rookie offensive lineman performed this year? They've been They've been
36:48
Speaker 1: prolatively solid. I won't say they've been great. They've handled
36:50
Speaker 1: up in Septon down, particularly over the last couple of weeks.
36:53
Speaker 1: But I think you look at him particularly awesome Jackson
36:56
Speaker 1: at leftop. Well, he's the guy who's been a week
36:59
Speaker 1: one starter and he's been pretty solid throughout, and he's
37:02
Speaker 1: a guy where you feel pretty comfortable that he's going
37:04
Speaker 1: to be your left Tapple for next five or ten years.
37:07
Speaker 1: And on the right side, they got two big guys
37:09
Speaker 1: like you mentioned in Solomon Kinley and Robert Hunt, and
37:12
Speaker 1: they're still trying to figure out what's the best position
37:14
Speaker 1: for rob Hunt where there's gard Tapple. But all those
37:18
Speaker 1: guys in are starting some disky games this year. When
37:20
Speaker 1: you have pretty rookie alignment who were starting in your
37:23
Speaker 1: holding uple okay on offense, that's good for your long
37:26
Speaker 1: term future team. So I think that's the way they
37:28
Speaker 1: wanted to build this team to their trenches. And you
37:31
Speaker 1: know now they've got three guys they believe in who
37:34
Speaker 1: could protect their quarterback for years to go. We're spending
37:38
Speaker 1: a few minutes with Cameron Wolf, who covers the Dolphins
37:40
Speaker 1: for ESPN. Early last year everybody said they're taking they're
37:46
Speaker 1: taking for twa they traded Menca Fitzpatrick, they traded Laramie
37:49
Speaker 1: Tunsell and Kenny Stills. They traded Kenyan Drake. Well, they
37:53
Speaker 1: got a lot of draft picks for it. They opened
37:56
Speaker 1: up a bunch of cap room, and now one year
37:58
Speaker 1: later they're seven and four and currently the number six
38:01
Speaker 1: playoffs seed in the AFC. Is it generally the feeling
38:05
Speaker 1: now that it worked. I mean, whether they were tanking
38:09
Speaker 1: or not, the strategy clearly seemed to work. Oh yeah, absolutely,
38:13
Speaker 1: It's been such a change in atmosphere. You know, I
38:16
Speaker 1: was covering this team last year and it was it
38:17
Speaker 1: was rough at times, you know, in the locker room
38:20
Speaker 1: around the facility, that's talk around, whether it's nationally or locally.
38:24
Speaker 1: And they've made it through it. So I guess they've
38:26
Speaker 1: made it through the roughest part of the storm and
38:28
Speaker 1: now they could to taste their fruits. And the other
38:30
Speaker 1: part of it is they still have two first round
38:33
Speaker 1: picks and two second round picks this year from the
38:35
Speaker 1: Houston Texans trade of Laramie Tunsels, so that even done
38:38
Speaker 1: finishing building this team. So yeah, I guess you can
38:40
Speaker 1: say it's worked to an extent. You know, you still
38:44
Speaker 1: have to figure out can you win when matters? Can
38:47
Speaker 1: you get to the playoffs? Can you win those games?
38:48
Speaker 1: But I haven't seen a turnaround like this in a
38:51
Speaker 1: long time, from being a laughing stock, you know, probably
38:54
Speaker 1: the least talented team in the league to a team
38:57
Speaker 1: that's you know, got a good chance to make the playoffs.
38:59
Speaker 1: So I definitely think that the team building deserves a
39:02
Speaker 1: lot of credit, and now they just have to finish
39:04
Speaker 1: the job and gets her playoffs. The all important third phase,
39:07
Speaker 1: special teams. Miami's outstanding I mean, Flores has a special
39:11
Speaker 1: team's background, Danny Crossman's great and unbelievable coach number one
39:16
Speaker 1: in the NFL in punt returns, number number two in
39:20
Speaker 1: the NFL covering punts, number one in the NFL covering
39:23
Speaker 1: kickoffs and then returning kickoffs down the line a bit.
39:26
Speaker 1: But I mean three out of the four phases either
39:29
Speaker 1: one or two in the National Football League. Who gets
39:32
Speaker 1: credit for it? Is it just a connglomoration of everybody,
39:36
Speaker 1: head coach, special teams, coach players. What's going on special
39:39
Speaker 1: teams wise? Yeah, I think you start got to start
39:42
Speaker 1: with the coaches, right, I think a lot of it
39:44
Speaker 1: depends on do you have a head coach that carries
39:46
Speaker 1: about special teams, And you mentioned Brian Forward having a
39:49
Speaker 1: background there. They've really put assets into that that group.
39:54
Speaker 1: You know, jackiem Grant's the best returning the league. He's
39:56
Speaker 1: already ran two touchdowns back. He's a speedy guy. They
40:00
Speaker 1: really they signed him to an astension last offseason. He's
40:02
Speaker 1: a guy who hasn't really made a name for himself
40:04
Speaker 1: as a receiver, but they spent money on him because
40:07
Speaker 1: they believe in him as a returner and they're getting
40:09
Speaker 1: that back. You know, Jason Saunders is a guy they
40:11
Speaker 1: drafted a couple of years ago. He's you know, eight
40:14
Speaker 1: for eight on kicks over fifty yards this year, and
40:16
Speaker 1: that's something that just doesn't happen in the league very often.
40:19
Speaker 1: And they even drafted a long snapper in the sixth
40:21
Speaker 1: round this year, which all of us scratch our head at.
40:24
Speaker 1: But that that, to me showed how important special teams
40:27
Speaker 1: is for them. So yeah, I think it's a It
40:29
Speaker 1: starts with the organizational and a coaching perspective that hey,
40:32
Speaker 1: we value special teams, so we're gonna put the resources
40:35
Speaker 1: in it, and it's paid off. Howe has two unlooked
40:40
Speaker 1: in the four games that he started, I'd say the
40:44
Speaker 1: best word to describe it would be efficient. He's had
40:47
Speaker 1: six touchdowns to zero interceptions, so he hasn't turned them
40:50
Speaker 1: all over like a lot of rookies done have done.
40:53
Speaker 1: But he hasn't had, you know, a superstar game yet.
40:56
Speaker 1: He hasn't thrown for four hundred yards even three hundred yards,
40:59
Speaker 1: and a lot of the the question marks around him
41:01
Speaker 1: is is he willing to take those chances down the field.
41:04
Speaker 1: So I think that you've been, you know, sort of
41:07
Speaker 1: happy with what he's done, but you want to see
41:09
Speaker 1: him take the next step. He's shown that he's mobile,
41:12
Speaker 1: he's shown that he can, you know, make plays when
41:15
Speaker 1: put into those situations. He just has to learn his
41:18
Speaker 1: personnel a little bit better. He doesn't have the receivers
41:20
Speaker 1: that he had at Bama who are streaking, goping down
41:22
Speaker 1: the field, so he's been forced to throw into tighter windows,
41:25
Speaker 1: which he's been a little headed sensive to do. So
41:28
Speaker 1: I think they're happy with the development, but he has
41:30
Speaker 1: to take that next step for him to be you
41:33
Speaker 1: know that justin Herbert types of sess that he's happening happened,
41:36
Speaker 1: so far as a rookie. Ryan Fitzpatrick was the leading
41:39
Speaker 1: rusher on the football team last year and as a
41:41
Speaker 1: team averaged three point three yards per carry, last in
41:45
Speaker 1: the league. This year, at this point in the season,
41:48
Speaker 1: three point six yards per carry dead last in the
41:50
Speaker 1: league as well. Why can't get the running game going? Yeah,
41:54
Speaker 1: that's been a Chilees heel for them for three years now,
41:57
Speaker 1: even before Brian Floors got here. I think it's a
42:00
Speaker 1: fun Like we mentioned earlier, they got a lot of
42:02
Speaker 1: young golphins, a lineman who are holding up actually a
42:05
Speaker 1: pretty well. And pass protection but they haven't really made
42:08
Speaker 1: a name for themselves yet. And run run blocking and
42:11
Speaker 1: to me as husually as the opposite. But for some reason,
42:13
Speaker 1: this group has got pass blocking earlier than run blocking.
42:17
Speaker 1: So I think they've got to grow and be able to,
42:19
Speaker 1: you know, get better in that unit. And also they
42:21
Speaker 1: just don't have a true running back that they can
42:25
Speaker 1: believe in and give the ball to and trust for
42:27
Speaker 1: to get the dirty yards. You know, They're probably gonna
42:29
Speaker 1: get Miles Gasking back this week. He's been their lead
42:32
Speaker 1: back for motional the year. But he's a guy who
42:34
Speaker 1: was a seventh round pick a year ago. Who didn't
42:37
Speaker 1: play much at all, so you sort of unheralded guy.
42:40
Speaker 1: So I think you'll see them off this offseason, really
42:43
Speaker 1: spend resources at running back and receiver and try to
42:46
Speaker 1: get more playmakers for two of going forward because they
42:49
Speaker 1: don't have them right now. My last question for Cameron Wolf,
42:53
Speaker 1: who covers the Dolphins for ESPN, I want to turn
42:56
Speaker 1: the clock back to the last game of last year
42:58
Speaker 1: because they played into England. The Dolphins really had nothing
43:01
Speaker 1: to play for. New England was playing for a first
43:04
Speaker 1: round by the Dolphins win the game in the final minute,
43:08
Speaker 1: New England is forced to play a first round playoff game,
43:10
Speaker 1: which they lose. The Chiefs jumped up to the number
43:14
Speaker 1: two seed and won the Super Bowl. How big was
43:17
Speaker 1: that win for building Miami's momentum so to speak going forward. Yeah,
43:23
Speaker 1: I think it was huge, mostly because I think it
43:25
Speaker 1: was sort of the calling card for that team to
43:27
Speaker 1: show that, you know, we aren't tanking, you know we
43:30
Speaker 1: aren't just the lasting sight that everybody was gonna do.
43:33
Speaker 1: Like you mentioned that Patriots team, that they would have
43:35
Speaker 1: won that game, they would have had a first round
43:37
Speaker 1: by so they had the lock to play for and
43:40
Speaker 1: the Dolphins had nothing to play for and they went
43:41
Speaker 1: up to New England and being so I think everybody
43:44
Speaker 1: on that roster I've talked to said that was their
43:46
Speaker 1: favorite game of the year, and I think it created
43:48
Speaker 1: some momentum. You know, I think people already started to
43:50
Speaker 1: believe in Brian Floors, but that win said hey, you
43:53
Speaker 1: know this guy can really, you know, really make make
43:56
Speaker 1: make chicken salad out a whole lot of stuff. So
43:58
Speaker 1: what happens when we get talent? So I think that
44:01
Speaker 1: helped him get free agent to come side here. A
44:04
Speaker 1: lot of people saw that and said, Okay, that's something
44:06
Speaker 1: we can believe in. And it also, like I said,
44:09
Speaker 1: sort of put a stamp on his culture and say, hey,
44:11
Speaker 1: we're not just about the talk. We're going to turn
44:14
Speaker 1: this thing around. So I think that was huge and
44:17
Speaker 1: it didn't really impact their ability to get too like
44:19
Speaker 1: a lot of fans worried at that point. So it
44:21
Speaker 1: all worked out for him. They were able to win,
44:24
Speaker 1: not to take us off the pedal stool and get
44:26
Speaker 1: two all on one del song. Final question for me, Cameron,
44:30
Speaker 1: and appreciate your time. You've given us a lot of it.
44:33
Speaker 1: It's regarding Ryan Fitzpatrick. He wasn't happy obviously when he
44:37
Speaker 1: was benched for TUA, and I guess if he was happy,
44:40
Speaker 1: it wouldn't be a good thing. Obviously he's competitive. But
44:43
Speaker 1: do you anticipate him playing after this year in the
44:46
Speaker 1: National Football League or do you think he retires, goes
44:49
Speaker 1: off from the sunset with his wife and seven children. Yeah,
44:53
Speaker 1: it's a good question. I mean, he just turned thirty
44:55
Speaker 1: eight last week. He doesn't really have anything else to accomplish.
44:59
Speaker 1: He played for every team in league. Just about UM
45:02
Speaker 1: and he But the one thing that I keep going
45:05
Speaker 1: back to is every time I talk to him about um,
45:08
Speaker 1: you know, playing and what he's gonna give it up,
45:11
Speaker 1: he says that he loves playing more than just about
45:14
Speaker 1: everything else. So I still get to feel that if
45:16
Speaker 1: there's an opportunity for him, and I think this is important,
45:19
Speaker 1: if there's an opportunity for him, a real opportunity to
45:21
Speaker 1: be a starn in twenty twenty one, then I wouldn't
45:25
Speaker 1: move out him coming back to do that. Um. I
45:27
Speaker 1: think if it's just a backup opportunity, I don't think
45:30
Speaker 1: he comes back for that. But if he really has
45:31
Speaker 1: a chance to play, UM, I don't know if he's
45:34
Speaker 1: ready to give it up. He's a guy who's played
45:36
Speaker 1: World this year even though they got too and he's
45:39
Speaker 1: starting now and is a starter. We've seen Ryan Fitzpatrick
45:43
Speaker 1: lead them to a four and three record and looked
45:45
Speaker 1: pretty solid doing it, so there's zero question that he
45:47
Speaker 1: still has the ability to do it. It's the one
45:50
Speaker 1: and I think if he has a starting job, or
45:51
Speaker 1: at least a chance to one and starting job, that
45:54
Speaker 1: might be enough for him to say, hey, I'll come
45:56
Speaker 1: back for another year. I agree, he's not gonna he's
45:58
Speaker 1: not gonna move, leave his family, or relocate his family
46:01
Speaker 1: for a backup job anywhere. I agree, he's got to
46:03
Speaker 1: start or it's over right. I think you're own the
46:06
Speaker 1: money there. Don't forget to tune into The Bengals Pep
46:09
Speaker 1: Radley Show Friday from three to six on Fox Sports
46:13
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46:16
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