Latest / Bengals Booth Podcast / Bengals Booth Podcast: Doctor Doctor

Transcript

Bengals Booth Podcast: Doctor Doctor · Bengals Booth Podcast

0:03
Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Hord and thanks for downloading
0:06
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast. The Doc to Doc do give
0:11
Speaker 1: it the news edition as we all wait to see
0:15
Speaker 1: if Joe Burrow will be able to play on Monday
0:17
Speaker 1: Night against the Rams. Coming up, we'll hear from Burrow,
0:20
Speaker 1: Zach Taylor, and t Higgins on the topic, and also
0:24
Speaker 1: here from the guy who will start in Burrow's place
0:26
Speaker 1: if he can't play on Monday, Jake Browning. Plus I'll
0:31
Speaker 1: go one on one with Nick Scott, who played for
0:33
Speaker 1: the Rams for the last four years and shares his
0:36
Speaker 1: thoughts on Matthew Stafford, Aaron Donald and others. ESPN is
0:41
Speaker 1: the home of Monday Night Football, and I'll talk to
0:43
Speaker 1: this week's sideline reporter Laura Rutledge, and in our Know
0:47
Speaker 1: the Faux segment, we'll get the latest done this week's
0:49
Speaker 1: opponent from the host of the Believe In Rams podcast,
0:53
Speaker 1: Jake Ellenbogan. The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you
0:57
Speaker 1: by Alta Fiber, future proof fiber internet capable of delivering
1:01
Speaker 1: multi gigabit speeds designed to take your home, business and
1:04
Speaker 1: community to a new level. Elevate your connection with Alta fiber.
1:09
Speaker 1: Now here's a quick reminder that you can have the
1:11
Speaker 1: latest edition of this podcast delivered write to your phone, tablet,
1:15
Speaker 1: or computer by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's
1:19
Speaker 1: the greatest thing since Live Theater. My wife and I
1:24
Speaker 1: went to a play on Thursday night called What the
1:27
Speaker 1: Constitution Means to Me. It's currently running at the Ensemble
1:30
Speaker 1: Theater in downtown Cincinnati after running on Broadway a few
1:34
Speaker 1: years ago. It earned a Tony Award nomination for Best Play,
1:38
Speaker 1: as well as being a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize
1:41
Speaker 1: for Drama. It's a thought provoking look at the strengths
1:44
Speaker 1: and weaknesses of the US Constitution. In the interest of
1:48
Speaker 1: full disclosure, the lead actress, Conan Morrissey is a family
1:52
Speaker 1: friend and she is fantastic in the role. So if
1:57
Speaker 1: you like theater and want to support the arts, check
2:00
Speaker 1: out What the Constitution Means to Me. You've got about
2:03
Speaker 1: a week left. The final performance is on Sunday, October First, now,
2:09
Speaker 1: let's get to Joe Burrow. For the final two and
2:12
Speaker 1: a half quarters of last Sunday's loss to the Ravens,
2:14
Speaker 1: he looked like Joe Burrow empty backfield for Burrow. The
2:19
Speaker 1: Ravens showing pressure. Burrow ready catches the shotgun snap he's
2:24
Speaker 1: in trouble, throws off his back foot.
2:26
Speaker 2: Higgins makes the catch touchdown Bengals. Burrow retreating to avoid
2:33
Speaker 2: the rush and he made a great throw off his
2:36
Speaker 2: back foot to T Higgins for the touchdown.
2:40
Speaker 1: On Cincinnati's final five drives, Joe threw for two hundred
2:44
Speaker 1: nine yards and two touchdowns. If not for a red
2:47
Speaker 1: zone interception, the Bengals would have scored on four of
2:50
Speaker 1: their last five possessions. How did Joe look, to his
2:53
Speaker 1: head coach.
2:54
Speaker 3: Really good in that last game. Aside from the interception,
3:00
Speaker 3: me one bad ball placement, you're not going to so
3:03
Speaker 3: he I thought he performed really well.
3:05
Speaker 1: Unfortunately, on his next to last snap against the Ravens,
3:09
Speaker 1: Joe tweaked his calf injury, making him questionable for Monday
3:13
Speaker 1: night's game against the Rams. When the team held its
3:16
Speaker 1: first practice of the week on Thursday, Burrow was present
3:19
Speaker 1: but did not take part in any drills.
3:22
Speaker 3: Soreness is an issue right now, and so giving him
3:26
Speaker 3: some time his best and so this week we're forward
3:29
Speaker 3: to nextra day, which is a positive and we'll just
3:32
Speaker 3: we'll see how the practice go.
3:33
Speaker 1: So does Joe need to practice this week to be
3:37
Speaker 1: able to play on Monday.
3:38
Speaker 4: You gotta practice one day, maybe not full, but you
3:41
Speaker 4: got to be out there running around throwing the ball.
3:44
Speaker 4: You just got to feel confident in your ability to
3:46
Speaker 4: go out and do the job.
3:48
Speaker 5: I don't.
3:49
Speaker 6: I don't know yet.
3:49
Speaker 4: We'll see, We'll see how we feel the next couple
3:52
Speaker 4: of days.
3:54
Speaker 7: I don't really have an answer for you there.
3:56
Speaker 1: Last week, Burrow was only sacked once and rarely pressured.
4:00
Speaker 1: But Aaron Donald is coming to town on Monday. In
4:03
Speaker 1: the second half of Super Bowl fifty six, the Rams
4:06
Speaker 1: had six sacks and eleven pressures. The quarterback will need
4:11
Speaker 1: the ability to move.
4:13
Speaker 4: You need it in every game. You're not gonna be
4:15
Speaker 4: able to just stand back there. And that's part of
4:17
Speaker 4: my game is moving around and making plays. And you know,
4:21
Speaker 4: I think for the most part last Sunday I was
4:23
Speaker 4: I was doing a really good job of that. Like
4:25
Speaker 4: you said, the offensive line played great, the pocket was firm,
4:29
Speaker 4: but when I had to move.
4:30
Speaker 7: I felt good about it.
4:31
Speaker 1: The Bengals have tried to adjust the offense to limit
4:34
Speaker 1: burrows movement, with mixed results. I discussed that this week
4:38
Speaker 1: with Dave Lapham.
4:40
Speaker 6: All I know is you get in a game and
4:44
Speaker 6: Joe being competitive, jumping over guys.
4:46
Speaker 8: You know, it's like, oh my gosh.
4:48
Speaker 6: It's like, you know, you can't you can't say if
4:52
Speaker 6: I'm out there playing, I'm gonna play. I'm not gonna
4:55
Speaker 6: be out there and say, oh I can't do this,
4:57
Speaker 6: I can't do that. You can't play that way in
4:59
Speaker 6: the Nashville foot these guys are too good, they're too fast.
5:03
Speaker 1: Last week, the offensive line did an incredible job. He
5:06
Speaker 1: didn't have to move that much. Last week. They're facing
5:09
Speaker 1: Aaron Donald on Monday night and he might not get sacked,
5:13
Speaker 1: but you are not going to go through a game
5:15
Speaker 1: without having to move away from Aaron Donald.
5:18
Speaker 6: And this rookie, Byron Young has a sack and a half.
5:22
Speaker 6: And Aaron Donald is a disruptor. Young Young is on
5:25
Speaker 6: the on the edge. He's an edge guy. There's there's
5:30
Speaker 6: a lot to digest, a lot to think about. You know,
5:34
Speaker 6: do you have them out there at practice and limit
5:38
Speaker 6: yourself physically. That's not a good way to practice. That's
5:41
Speaker 6: not a good way for the receivers to practice with them.
5:44
Speaker 6: It's like, you know, we're not gonna throw this run.
5:46
Speaker 6: We're not gonna do this. We're not gonna we're gonna
5:48
Speaker 6: take it easy here. We're gonna that. You're not you're
5:50
Speaker 6: not getting get you're not getting reps. You're not getting
5:52
Speaker 6: full speed reps. You're not right now. There a problem
5:55
Speaker 6: is they're not in any kind of rhythm. They're on
5:57
Speaker 6: a sink, you know. And if you are practicing and
6:02
Speaker 6: then game planning to medically protect your guy, it's tough.
6:08
Speaker 8: It's tough.
6:09
Speaker 1: It's very tough. If they were played, I don't think
6:15
Speaker 1: so too, and oh two division wins agree.
6:18
Speaker 8: I don't think so.
6:19
Speaker 1: But I don't know that they can If if the
6:20
Speaker 1: doctor says he can play without risk of seriously injuring this,
6:25
Speaker 1: I don't know that they can set them.
6:26
Speaker 6: That's that's the thing with these casts. It's like, all right,
6:31
Speaker 6: every injury is different. Every body is different that gets injured.
6:35
Speaker 6: Every recovery is different because everybody and every injury is different.
6:40
Speaker 6: There's no like cookie Cutter. This is exactly like so
6:43
Speaker 6: and so is. You know, everything is a little bit different.
6:47
Speaker 6: Now you can put him in categories. This is like
6:49
Speaker 6: this guy had this, like that guy had or whatever.
6:52
Speaker 6: But you just you just don't know. And the worst
6:55
Speaker 6: thing in the world, God forbid, I don't even want
6:57
Speaker 6: to say it, but it's like, you don't want it
7:01
Speaker 6: to be a right now we're talking strained. You don't
7:05
Speaker 6: want it to be anything more than that because you
7:08
Speaker 6: try to do too much too soon. Or and again
7:11
Speaker 6: because Joe so damn tough. You know, he's not gonna
7:15
Speaker 6: say I can't go, I can't He's not gonna. He
7:21
Speaker 6: is competitive, he thinks the world of his teammates. He
7:24
Speaker 6: wants to do everything he can to be successful for
7:27
Speaker 6: his teammates. It's a it's a tough dynamic, it really is, man,
7:32
Speaker 6: you know. And then if you do sit him, how
7:35
Speaker 6: long will that be? Will it be until the bye week?
7:39
Speaker 6: I mean at that point in time, who the hell knows.
7:41
Speaker 8: Where they are? And that that that's drastic.
7:45
Speaker 6: But you know, because I don't think the they're tweaking
7:48
Speaker 6: of the calf, you know, merits that kind of time off.
7:53
Speaker 6: But if he tweaks it again or again, and and
7:57
Speaker 6: I've talked to guys are like, man, I felt like, Okay,
8:00
Speaker 6: my calf feels better than it did before I had
8:03
Speaker 6: the problem. And I go out there and halfway through
8:05
Speaker 6: the game, you know I'm really feeling good and I'm
8:08
Speaker 6: doing my thing.
8:10
Speaker 8: It just reaches right up and grabs me, and it's
8:12
Speaker 8: like son of a gunman.
8:14
Speaker 6: I'm set back to to where I was, or even
8:16
Speaker 6: worse than before. And that's the scary part of these
8:20
Speaker 6: calf injuries. Man, they are tricky.
8:24
Speaker 1: The Bengals are zero and two and Joe desperately wants
8:27
Speaker 1: to play.
8:28
Speaker 7: It's in my head, for sure, I'm thinking about it.
8:31
Speaker 1: But how does he balance getting that first win versus
8:35
Speaker 1: giving his calf the time to heal. No matter how
8:38
Speaker 1: long it takes.
8:39
Speaker 7: That may not be my decision to make. My job
8:42
Speaker 7: is to go out and play. That's that's what I'm
8:45
Speaker 7: preparing to do.
8:46
Speaker 1: The Bengals are not going to jeopardize his long term health,
8:49
Speaker 1: so if Burrow can't play on Monday, Jake Browning will
8:52
Speaker 1: start in his place. The former University of Washington star
8:56
Speaker 1: made his NFL debut at the end of the Cleveland
8:59
Speaker 1: game in Week one after spending the last four years
9:03
Speaker 1: on NFL practice squads.
9:05
Speaker 9: I take a lot of pride in I came in
9:06
Speaker 9: this league as an undrafted guy, and you know, there's
9:10
Speaker 9: not very many handouts that are given there. It took
9:12
Speaker 9: me four years and damn your life sentence on practice
9:16
Speaker 9: squad to really take four years of doubling down on hey,
9:20
Speaker 9: at some point we get an opportunity.
9:22
Speaker 7: Whether that's a year or whatever.
9:25
Speaker 9: Actually, the best advice I got year one is an
9:27
Speaker 9: undrafted rookie was Kirk Cousins said, Hey, you gotta have
9:29
Speaker 9: a ten year time horizon and keep whenever that time comes, like,
9:34
Speaker 9: at some point you're gonna get your opportunity. And so
9:37
Speaker 9: I kind of took that as every off season really
9:40
Speaker 9: doubling down and make investing, you know, whether it's money
9:43
Speaker 9: or time or whatever into becoming a better player and
9:46
Speaker 9: trying to get access to the best information, the best
9:49
Speaker 9: you know, off seasons I can have to try and
9:51
Speaker 9: put myself in a position to play well, and so
9:53
Speaker 9: you know, whether that opportunity is Monday or or next
9:57
Speaker 9: year or whenever, you know, I'm ready.
10:00
Speaker 1: When Burrow hurt his calf on the second day of
10:02
Speaker 1: training camp, Browning spent the next five weeks competing for
10:06
Speaker 1: the backup job with Trevor Simeon. They alternated with a
10:09
Speaker 1: first string offense, meaning that Browning was working with the
10:12
Speaker 1: starting offensive line and throwing to Chase Higgins and Boyd.
10:16
Speaker 9: I don't think there's many quarterbacks in the NFL. It
10:18
Speaker 9: took more reps in the month of August than I did,
10:20
Speaker 9: and so you know, I'm at this point the season.
10:23
Speaker 9: I've probably played as much.
10:24
Speaker 7: Football as everybody else has this year. So obviously there's
10:28
Speaker 7: a little the.
10:29
Speaker 9: Higher stakes for a regular season game. But I feel
10:32
Speaker 9: like I've taken a lot of reps and I'm ready.
10:34
Speaker 1: Browning led the Bengals on an eight play eighty yard
10:36
Speaker 1: touchdown drive to end their second preseason game, then opened
10:40
Speaker 1: their final preseason game with a ten play sixty one
10:44
Speaker 1: yard drive that he finished with a touchdown pass to
10:47
Speaker 1: andre Yosi Vash. He impressed t Higgins.
10:50
Speaker 10: Got Riisling. You know, he's he made good reads. He's
10:55
Speaker 10: just he's a baller, you know what I'm saying. So
10:57
Speaker 10: just got that that goes out there and doesn't.
10:59
Speaker 7: Job to He developed some trust with you guys over
11:03
Speaker 7: that period, or if he was called, I doesn't feel
11:06
Speaker 7: like he did, you know what I'm saying. He's way
11:09
Speaker 7: more confident in offense.
11:10
Speaker 10: You know, you could tell that he's during that time
11:12
Speaker 10: he was out there, He's been a vocal leader as
11:14
Speaker 10: he should be as he should you know what I'm saying.
11:16
Speaker 10: So you know, definitely Bills built built some confidence.
11:20
Speaker 1: And you know just the last time the Bengals played
11:23
Speaker 1: a Monday night game without their starting quarterback was in
11:25
Speaker 1: Burrows rookie year, when Ryan Finley led the team to
11:29
Speaker 1: a ten point win over the eleven and two Steelers.
11:32
Speaker 1: He only completed seven passes in that game, but he
11:36
Speaker 1: ran for forty seven yards, including a twenty three yard touchdown.
11:40
Speaker 1: Browning showed he can move in the preseason and if
11:43
Speaker 1: he has to start, Zach Taylor will adjust the game
11:46
Speaker 1: plan to fit his skill set.
11:47
Speaker 3: You need to have great conversation with all quarterbacks. Anytime
11:52
Speaker 3: a quarterbacks plan, you got to make sure you connect
11:54
Speaker 3: with them and they understand the intent of the plan
11:57
Speaker 3: and why we're doing things and what they feel comfortable
11:58
Speaker 3: with backup quarterback you've ever had, whether it's the full
12:03
Speaker 3: game plan or a scale down plan, you want to
12:05
Speaker 3: make sure they're comfortable. So those conversations always take place.
12:10
Speaker 3: We always ask Jake his opinions the night before games
12:12
Speaker 3: on these situations, what plays would you want? We're always
12:15
Speaker 3: connected that way. And it's on the call sheet, and
12:17
Speaker 3: this week is no different.
12:19
Speaker 1: But it could turn out to be very different. For Browning, it's.
12:22
Speaker 9: My job to be prepared if Joe goes down. And
12:26
Speaker 9: so really for me, of the week is no different.
12:29
Speaker 9: Even when I was on Pea squad, I knew there
12:31
Speaker 9: was zero chance to be playing, but I was fully prepared,
12:33
Speaker 9: and you know, I would go through the whole game
12:35
Speaker 9: plan like I was gonna be the backup and like
12:38
Speaker 9: I had a chance of playing. And so it's kind
12:41
Speaker 9: of my job to be ready if Joe goes down.
12:43
Speaker 9: And so that's going into my third week of doing that.
12:47
Speaker 1: There was an additional twist to the quarterback quandary after
12:50
Speaker 1: practice on Thursday, as the Patriots grabbed Will Grier off
12:54
Speaker 1: the Bengals practice squad and added him to their fifty
12:56
Speaker 1: three man roster. The Pats have been cycling through candidates
13:00
Speaker 1: back up Mac Jones over the past several weeks. That
13:03
Speaker 1: temporarily leaves the Bengals without a third string quarterback, although
13:07
Speaker 1: I'm guessing they'll have one by the time you listen
13:10
Speaker 1: to this podcast. Bringing back Simeon or Reed Sinnet, who
13:15
Speaker 1: were with the team during training camp, seem like the
13:17
Speaker 1: most likely options. The Bengals Booth podcast is brought to
13:20
Speaker 1: you by Bengals Picks and Ultimate Bengals. They're free to
13:23
Speaker 1: play with tickets and signed merchandise up for grabs. Find
13:27
Speaker 1: both inside the Bengals app. Monday's game is a rematch
13:31
Speaker 1: of Super Bowl fifty six, and there's a player with
13:33
Speaker 1: a Rams Super Bowl ring in the Bengals locker room,
13:36
Speaker 1: safety Neck Scott, who signed with the Bengals in the
13:39
Speaker 1: off season after spending his first four NFL seasons in LA.
13:44
Speaker 1: I talked to Nick on Thursday. Nick, you played for
13:48
Speaker 1: the Rams as recently as last year, but they've got
13:50
Speaker 1: fifteen rookies on the roster. There are four veterans who
13:53
Speaker 1: weren't there last year. When you put on the tape,
13:56
Speaker 1: do you even recognize these guys?
13:57
Speaker 11: Yeah, it looks like a totally new team from you know,
14:00
Speaker 11: when I was there.
14:01
Speaker 7: Obviously I spent the last four years there.
14:03
Speaker 11: There's a lot of turnover in this league, but yeah,
14:05
Speaker 11: see some familiar faces of those guys that have been
14:08
Speaker 11: doing good. Thanks for him for a while, and they
14:10
Speaker 11: got some new guys that've been showing up on him.
14:12
Speaker 1: One of the familiar faces is the quarterback Matt Stafford.
14:15
Speaker 1: He looks rejuvenated. He looks younger than me. I think
14:19
Speaker 1: he's lost some weight or something like that. Does he
14:21
Speaker 1: look as good as ever when you watch him?
14:23
Speaker 11: Yeah, I mean anytime he's on the field, you gotta
14:26
Speaker 11: respect him and what he's done in this league. And
14:28
Speaker 11: he's still got a rocket of an arm and very
14:30
Speaker 11: confident in his throat. So that makes it a tremendous
14:33
Speaker 11: challenge for any defender. You know, I'm blessed. I've had
14:36
Speaker 11: the opportunity to go against him for a couple of
14:38
Speaker 11: years now, so it's gonna be a good challenge and
14:41
Speaker 11: I'm excited about the matchup.
14:42
Speaker 1: We're chatting with Nick Scott. Their offense is off to
14:44
Speaker 1: a great start. I think they're first in the league
14:47
Speaker 1: in first downs per game, second in yards per game.
14:50
Speaker 1: Watching a little of their game last week, there's motion
14:53
Speaker 1: on every snap, and it's mass motion, jet motion. What
14:56
Speaker 1: are some of the challenges that their offense presents.
14:59
Speaker 11: Yeah, yeah, I think a big part of mcveigh's offense
15:03
Speaker 11: is just trying to catch the defense with their pants
15:04
Speaker 11: down right and getting getting up to the line fast
15:07
Speaker 11: snapping it. They got all types of jets, emotions going
15:10
Speaker 11: all over the place, So it's really to challenge the
15:12
Speaker 11: defense's eyes and get guys reading the wrong keys. But
15:15
Speaker 11: we got a veteran group and guys stay sound in
15:18
Speaker 11: their keys, and that comes down to trust in one another.
15:20
Speaker 11: So I think we should be good.
15:22
Speaker 1: Rookie Pooka natuah nakua excuse me, leads the NFL and
15:25
Speaker 1: receptions two two at wells in the top ten and
15:28
Speaker 1: receiving yards. Describe those two and what you've seen on tape.
15:33
Speaker 7: Yeah, I don't know much about this Pooka kid.
15:35
Speaker 11: You know, obviously you take your hat off to him
15:38
Speaker 11: coming in and being a new guy and having that
15:39
Speaker 11: kind of impact already in that offense.
15:42
Speaker 7: So credit to him.
15:43
Speaker 11: We're going to do whatever we can to challenge him
15:46
Speaker 11: and make sure that any ball throwing his way is contested.
15:49
Speaker 7: And then two two at well. As a guy just
15:51
Speaker 7: being with him, he can always tear the top off
15:53
Speaker 7: of the defense.
15:54
Speaker 11: So he's a guy that you definitely want to keep
15:56
Speaker 11: in front of you because once it becomes a race,
15:58
Speaker 11: it can be tough.
16:00
Speaker 7: So you know, like I.
16:02
Speaker 11: Said, I've been over there for a while, seeing a
16:04
Speaker 11: lot of those guys, and you know, it's exciting, you
16:07
Speaker 11: know as a friend seeing what they're doing. But it's
16:09
Speaker 11: my job to make sure that it's a bad day
16:11
Speaker 11: for him when they come here.
16:13
Speaker 1: We're talking to Nick Scott. You spent the last four
16:15
Speaker 1: years playing with Aaron Donald on defense. He is a
16:18
Speaker 1: future first ballot Hall of Famer. Do you have a
16:22
Speaker 1: favorite Aaron Donald's story or memory, whether it's on the
16:26
Speaker 1: field or off.
16:27
Speaker 11: Oh Man, just probably every day in the facility. I
16:30
Speaker 11: used to bully him and take his lunch money, stuff
16:33
Speaker 11: him in lockers and everything like that, you know, because
16:36
Speaker 11: that's like my little brother. Nah, he's a good dude.
16:39
Speaker 7: We had a good relationship over there.
16:41
Speaker 11: We had a lot of fun just joking around. So
16:43
Speaker 11: I got a pleathant of memories with him. He's a
16:46
Speaker 11: good dude, and you know, obviously he's a big part
16:49
Speaker 11: of that team's success.
16:50
Speaker 1: If you were stuffing him in lockers, you are a
16:52
Speaker 1: lot stronger than here.
16:55
Speaker 7: Yeah, he's gonna love that. I said that. He gets
16:57
Speaker 7: catches winto that.
16:59
Speaker 1: So every NFL loss hits hard. You guys put so
17:03
Speaker 1: much into it every week physically and emotionally.
17:06
Speaker 7: How do you process a loss?
17:08
Speaker 11: I'm big on just you know, moving on after you
17:12
Speaker 11: look at your mistakes and everything like that.
17:15
Speaker 7: You know, win, lose, or draw.
17:16
Speaker 11: I think you take the same approach in terms of
17:19
Speaker 11: trying to get better the next week.
17:21
Speaker 7: Just focus on your individual job and everything like that.
17:24
Speaker 11: Media and outsiders will get into pointing fingers, but you know,
17:29
Speaker 11: I don't think anybody in this locker room is big
17:31
Speaker 11: on that. We focus on our mistakes and where we
17:33
Speaker 11: can get better and try to improve that next week.
17:35
Speaker 1: I won't use the expression must win in week three,
17:38
Speaker 1: there's too much of the season left, but obviously at
17:41
Speaker 1: zero and two you could really use a win. Yeah,
17:44
Speaker 1: what is the player's approach where that's concerned this week?
17:47
Speaker 7: Yeah, it's the next week, so for everybody's a must win.
17:50
Speaker 11: Like you say, you try not to get in too
17:53
Speaker 11: deep of looking at a big picture in terms of.
17:56
Speaker 7: The entire season, entire schedule.
17:59
Speaker 11: You know, the way I was brought up being with
18:01
Speaker 11: coach Franklin at Penn State is every weekend you try
18:04
Speaker 11: to go one to oh and that's the only game
18:05
Speaker 11: that matters. So we're not looking behind, we're not looking ahead.
18:08
Speaker 11: We're looking at the rams and the goals. To come
18:10
Speaker 11: out one of those.
18:11
Speaker 1: This week. It's Monday Night Football. The jungle is going
18:14
Speaker 1: to be rocking. You've played more than seventy NFL games,
18:17
Speaker 1: You've played in the Super Bowl. Does your pulse pick
18:20
Speaker 1: up a little bit for a prime time game at
18:22
Speaker 1: this point or is it just another game?
18:25
Speaker 11: I think there's definitely a little added aura like excitement
18:30
Speaker 11: around the game, and there's just nothing like playing at
18:34
Speaker 11: night in a full stadium. Yeah, you could say, and
18:37
Speaker 11: some guys, including myself, it turns you up a little bit.
18:42
Speaker 11: Being in that atmosphere is super exciting, and it just
18:45
Speaker 11: before the game.
18:46
Speaker 7: I just usually feel an overwhelming sense of.
18:49
Speaker 11: Just being blessed to have this opportunity to be playing
18:51
Speaker 11: in such a cool environment and it be something that's
18:55
Speaker 11: normal for me.
18:56
Speaker 1: Appreciate your time, good luck against the Rams.
18:58
Speaker 7: Appreciate you.
19:00
Speaker 1: Bengles Booth podcast is brought to you by Kettering Health,
19:02
Speaker 1: the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. With more than
19:05
Speaker 1: one hundred and twenty care facilities and fifteen hundred care providers,
19:09
Speaker 1: Kettering Health is committed to guiding you to your best health.
19:13
Speaker 1: Visit ketteringhealth dot org to learn more. Monday's game is
19:18
Speaker 1: one of two Monday Night games next week. Philly faces
19:22
Speaker 1: Tampa Bay at seven point fifteen and the Bengals Rams
19:25
Speaker 1: game kicks off at eight fifteen. It'll be televised by ESPN,
19:30
Speaker 1: and I spoke to a member of the broadcast crew
19:32
Speaker 1: this week. ESPN is coming to town on Monday night
19:37
Speaker 1: for Monday Night Football, and the leader of NFL Live
19:39
Speaker 1: will be on the sideline for the telecast, Laura Rutledge. Laura,
19:44
Speaker 1: just like last year, the Bengals are off to an
19:46
Speaker 1: zero to two start. What do you and your ESPN
19:49
Speaker 1: colleagues make of it?
19:50
Speaker 12: Yeah, I mean, look, Dan, we specifically me not thrilled
19:55
Speaker 12: with it because I picked the Bengals to be in
19:57
Speaker 12: the Super Bowl. So I still think it's gonna happ
20:00
Speaker 12: and I'm going to stick to that. But they got
20:02
Speaker 12: to get things turned around here quick, and maybe Monday
20:04
Speaker 12: Night Football is the stage for all that to happen
20:07
Speaker 12: on But the one thing I would point out is
20:09
Speaker 12: we feel like the first game, because of the rain
20:11
Speaker 12: and just bad weather, you almost throw that one out
20:14
Speaker 12: last week. I think they played a lot better than
20:18
Speaker 12: it looked like and a lot better than maybe the
20:21
Speaker 12: box score would show. And I know that sounds sort
20:23
Speaker 12: of typical of oh, there's more to it than just
20:26
Speaker 12: the box score, but I think specifically when it comes
20:28
Speaker 12: to this Bengals team, you're seeing a lot more signs
20:31
Speaker 12: of life offensively, and a lot more signs that Joe
20:34
Speaker 12: Burrow is getting more comfortable than maybe it appeared based
20:37
Speaker 12: on the points. My biggest concern is whether or not
20:40
Speaker 12: Burrow is going to play. I know you guys are
20:42
Speaker 12: following that closely as well, but I think he needs
20:45
Speaker 12: to if it's at all possible. He needs to play
20:48
Speaker 12: in this game against the Rams.
20:50
Speaker 1: The offense, as you noted, did start to click last week.
20:53
Speaker 1: They could have scored on four of their last five
20:55
Speaker 1: drives if Joe didn't get picked off in the red zone.
20:57
Speaker 1: Did it look normal to you?
21:00
Speaker 12: It did? I think you know what we've seen from
21:02
Speaker 12: Joe Burrow, and this has happened these last handful of seasons,
21:05
Speaker 12: is that he doesn't get to play a lot during
21:07
Speaker 12: the off season for a variety of different reasons right
21:10
Speaker 12: every time, certainly the calf this year, but even last
21:14
Speaker 12: season coming in they didn't look great early on either
21:17
Speaker 12: because he had had to take so much time off,
21:19
Speaker 12: and this game is really hard, and I think that
21:22
Speaker 12: gets lost sometimes in all of this. I think the
21:25
Speaker 12: offensive line is better than what we you know, may
21:29
Speaker 12: may think based on, you know, the way that it
21:31
Speaker 12: looked like he got hit early on this season. I
21:34
Speaker 12: think they're doing better than we thought. And I do
21:37
Speaker 12: think that, you know, we're seeing this start to click
21:39
Speaker 12: a little bit. You know. The interesting thing to me
21:41
Speaker 12: is how can we get Jamar Chase a little bit
21:43
Speaker 12: more involved? Because t Higgins has kind of been the
21:46
Speaker 12: go to guy here early on, which makes sense. I mean,
21:49
Speaker 12: he's an ultra talented receiver. But when you have Jamar
21:52
Speaker 12: on your team and he can do so much, I
21:54
Speaker 12: just think there's some more creative ways that he could
21:56
Speaker 12: be used. I'll be curious to see if they try
21:58
Speaker 12: to do that, because obvious everyone knows they've got to
22:01
Speaker 12: cover Jamar Chase, So what can happen to make him
22:04
Speaker 12: more open? I think using him and maybe a more
22:06
Speaker 12: unexpected less of a Hey, here's our guy who can
22:09
Speaker 12: you know, run a deeper route and catch any ball
22:11
Speaker 12: that's thrown his way. Let's try to mix him in
22:13
Speaker 12: in other ways to get him going and to get
22:16
Speaker 12: that rhythm with Burrow and Jamar going a little bit more.
22:20
Speaker 1: We are visiting with Laura Rutledge from ESPN. I am
22:22
Speaker 1: admittedly biased, but I feel like the Bengals defense doesn't
22:26
Speaker 1: get the attention it deserves. Do you agree?
22:30
Speaker 12: I do. I will say on NFL Live, we love
22:33
Speaker 12: the Bengals defense, and we love lou An Arumo at
22:35
Speaker 12: their defensive coordinator. I think he is and the numbers
22:39
Speaker 12: back this up. As a defensive coordinator and as a
22:41
Speaker 12: defense as a whole, they are one of the absolute
22:44
Speaker 12: best when it comes to second half adjustments. And you know,
22:47
Speaker 12: I don't know if people realize, but halftimes in the
22:49
Speaker 12: NFL are not that long, and they're able to very
22:53
Speaker 12: quickly identify things. I mean, this game, you know, you
22:56
Speaker 12: see so many offenses able to do things and the
22:58
Speaker 12: defense has to adjust and it's kind of the way
23:00
Speaker 12: it's going to go. They are able to adjust better
23:03
Speaker 12: than any other team, and I just think that's such
23:05
Speaker 12: a valuable trait to have as a defense. And it
23:08
Speaker 12: all starts with lou aenn Arumo. So I agree. I
23:11
Speaker 12: think this defense probably doesn't get enough credit. And you
23:14
Speaker 12: know they're gonna be Listen, this Rams offense is playing
23:17
Speaker 12: really well. Right now, and Matthew Stafford might be playing
23:20
Speaker 12: the best at the quarterback position of anybody so far
23:22
Speaker 12: this season, So they're gonna have their work cut out
23:25
Speaker 12: for them. But I believe they will give the Rams
23:29
Speaker 12: far more difficult game than any of their opponents have
23:31
Speaker 12: given them thus far this season. And I just think
23:34
Speaker 12: most offenses say, we really don't want to face that
23:36
Speaker 12: Bengals defense, which is probably the biggest compliment you could
23:39
Speaker 12: actually get in the NFL.
23:41
Speaker 1: Laura, we are two weeks into the season. There are
23:43
Speaker 1: two undefeated teams left in the AFC, Miami in Baltimore.
23:47
Speaker 1: That's it. What do you make of the other fourteen
23:50
Speaker 1: having at least one loss?
23:52
Speaker 12: I tell you what, the AFC is just tough sledding.
23:55
Speaker 12: And you know, that's one of the reasons why I
23:58
Speaker 12: do think this game this week is so for the Bengals,
24:00
Speaker 12: because you just can't be having three losses, you know,
24:04
Speaker 12: this early in the season. And there I still believe
24:07
Speaker 12: there's such a talented team, there's so much still left
24:10
Speaker 12: for them, and so I want them to go ahead
24:13
Speaker 12: and start winning here because I think I think they
24:15
Speaker 12: have the ability to potentially make it all the way.
24:18
Speaker 12: It's just a matter of how do you get past
24:20
Speaker 12: some of these ridiculously talented teams. And you know, I
24:24
Speaker 12: think what we're seeing is you look over to the
24:28
Speaker 12: NFC side and you say, well, yeah, you know, teams
24:30
Speaker 12: probably afford a few more losses here and there because
24:33
Speaker 12: there's still going to be a shot there down the stretch.
24:35
Speaker 12: That's just not the case with this the strength of
24:37
Speaker 12: the AFC, and it's going to be fascinating to see
24:41
Speaker 12: who comes out on top as the AFC representative in
24:43
Speaker 12: the super Bowl. But even when it comes to the playoffs,
24:46
Speaker 12: you know, you look around and I don't know by
24:48
Speaker 12: that point, you know, I think Miami and I do
24:50
Speaker 12: think Baltimore will still be really good. But I don't
24:53
Speaker 12: know that we'd be saying like, oh yeah, remember when
24:55
Speaker 12: those were the only two teams that didn't have a
24:57
Speaker 12: loss in this side of the league. It just seems
25:00
Speaker 12: like somebody, so one of these teams, or a few
25:02
Speaker 12: of these teams are gonna end up staying healthy long
25:05
Speaker 12: enough to where they'll end up being the contenders. Because
25:07
Speaker 12: as far as just stacked rosters and talent goes, the
25:11
Speaker 12: AFC is a behemoth at this point.
25:14
Speaker 1: So for people who have not watched the Rams so far.
25:17
Speaker 1: They dominated Seattle on the road. In week one, they
25:20
Speaker 1: outgained the forty nine ers, but lost by seven in
25:23
Speaker 1: week two. Here's the question, who the heck is Pouoka
25:27
Speaker 1: Nakua and why can't anybody cover the guy?
25:31
Speaker 12: Yeah, I'm glad you asked about Pooka Nakua because I mean,
25:34
Speaker 12: what a story man so far this season. He's already
25:37
Speaker 12: set in records. You know, he's doing all these things
25:39
Speaker 12: that you just don't expect to see out of rookies
25:41
Speaker 12: in general. But for a guy that was just so unheralded,
25:45
Speaker 12: it's it's fascinating to see. And you know, it's all
25:48
Speaker 12: a product of different things, right, So, the fact that
25:51
Speaker 12: Cooper Cup hasn't been available, they've had to work their
25:54
Speaker 12: offense in different ways, and Van Jefferson, for whatever reason,
25:58
Speaker 12: hasn't been targeted as much. And I'm not sure that
26:00
Speaker 12: they really trust him, maybe as much as as you
26:03
Speaker 12: would think considering how long he's been in that offense.
26:06
Speaker 12: But Kuka Nakua, you know, everything you throw at him,
26:09
Speaker 12: he catches it, and he figures out a way to
26:12
Speaker 12: sort of like barrel forward. He's such a sturdy player
26:15
Speaker 12: that may sound weird, but it's just like, you know,
26:18
Speaker 12: he's not gonna vow you size wise or traits wise,
26:21
Speaker 12: but he just makes things happen. And I expect more
26:24
Speaker 12: of the same out of him. I think lou An
26:26
Speaker 12: Aroumo probably have some things cooked up for him. Like
26:28
Speaker 12: I said, I do think this Bengals defense gives a
26:31
Speaker 12: far more challenging outlook for this Rams offense than the
26:34
Speaker 12: two opponents they've already faced. But what a story. I'll
26:37
Speaker 12: tell you this really fast is interesting. We were talking
26:40
Speaker 12: about him, you know, with Lewis Riddick, who's on the
26:43
Speaker 12: broadcast with us, and of course Lewis is heavily involved
26:46
Speaker 12: in the NFL Draft, and we were talking about him
26:48
Speaker 12: with our producer who also produces the NFL Draft, the
26:51
Speaker 12: producer of our Monday Night Football game as an NFL
26:54
Speaker 12: Draft producer, and they were talking about Nakua and they
26:56
Speaker 12: said that when they got to him, they're not even
26:59
Speaker 12: sure that they showed his highlights at the draft because
27:02
Speaker 12: they're like, ah, you know, I don't know if it's
27:05
Speaker 12: like really that compelling. And then look at this guy,
27:07
Speaker 12: he's burst on. He's one of the best stories, you know,
27:09
Speaker 12: early on in the NFL season, So it's just it's amazing,
27:13
Speaker 12: and I think, you know, I think everyone's taking him
27:16
Speaker 12: seriously at this point.
27:18
Speaker 1: So pocus new Aaron Donald is not. He's thirty two.
27:22
Speaker 1: He is presumably nearing the end of his Hall of
27:24
Speaker 1: Fame career. When it's done. What will football people say
27:27
Speaker 1: about Aaron Donald.
27:29
Speaker 12: I think he's the standard for that position. And when
27:32
Speaker 12: you think about just fearce, tenacious defensive linemen, guys that
27:38
Speaker 12: quarterbacks have nightmares about, that would be Aaron Donald. And
27:42
Speaker 12: I think if you're somebody in that position, that's exactly
27:44
Speaker 12: how you want to be thought of and remembered when
27:47
Speaker 12: it's all said and done. And you know, the athleticism
27:50
Speaker 12: with which he plays the position is impressive, and the
27:53
Speaker 12: skill set is there obviously, the size, all the things,
27:56
Speaker 12: But I think it's it's his mentality. It's his laser
28:00
Speaker 12: focus on the quarterback that no matter what, he's going
28:03
Speaker 12: to get there and no out of the opponent. You know,
28:05
Speaker 12: he's been able to do that. He's just such a
28:07
Speaker 12: force and it's really been I think fun. It's been
28:10
Speaker 12: a pleasure, you know, if you like defense, it's been
28:13
Speaker 12: a pleasure to watch him play, and you know, he
28:15
Speaker 12: talked about actually hanging it up relatively recently and then
28:18
Speaker 12: decided to keep going. And we'll see, if you know,
28:21
Speaker 12: he ends up being able to win another championship or
28:24
Speaker 12: something before he hangs it up. But I think he's
28:26
Speaker 12: already accomplished so incredibly much, you know, in his career,
28:29
Speaker 12: and it'll be one that we all look back on
28:32
Speaker 12: and say, Okay, that's a name that you associate with
28:35
Speaker 12: one of the best at the d line position.
28:37
Speaker 1: Tell your producer on Monday night to go easy on
28:40
Speaker 1: the video of him getting to Burrow and then pointing
28:42
Speaker 1: to the ring finger at the end of the Super Bowl.
28:45
Speaker 1: We've seen that highlight enough here in Cincinnati. So Monday
28:48
Speaker 1: Night's going to be special. The Bengals will be wearing
28:50
Speaker 1: their white Bengal uniforms, The Ring of Honor ceremony is
28:53
Speaker 1: coming up at halftime. The jungle is going to be rocking.
28:56
Speaker 1: What are some of the keys to the Bengals and
28:58
Speaker 1: Rams on Monday night?
28:59
Speaker 12: Yeah, we can't wait. By the way, I mean, what
29:02
Speaker 12: a pleasure to be in that environment, to be able to,
29:05
Speaker 12: you know, see some of these Bengals fans in person.
29:07
Speaker 12: But I think it's relatively obvious, but specific to this game.
29:12
Speaker 12: Got to protect Joe Burrow and I'm hoping he plays right,
29:15
Speaker 12: so you got to protect him. You got to limit
29:17
Speaker 12: Poka Nakua on the other side and force Matthew Stafford
29:20
Speaker 12: in a situation to where they really have to make
29:23
Speaker 12: something happen. In the past game, you know he can
29:25
Speaker 12: do that, but they they do rely a lot on
29:27
Speaker 12: the run game, so you know, try to limit that,
29:29
Speaker 12: try to get him feeling some pressure that may not
29:31
Speaker 12: even be there, which I think Anna Rumo has a
29:33
Speaker 12: lot of things cooked up his sleeve where he should
29:36
Speaker 12: be able to do that. And then you know, I
29:38
Speaker 12: would just say, I think this one's going to be
29:40
Speaker 12: back and forth throughout. I think we're going to see
29:41
Speaker 12: a lot of offense, so it may really be like
29:43
Speaker 12: who gets the last laugh there, and that's where you've
29:47
Speaker 12: just got to score in the red zone. So I
29:48
Speaker 12: sound like a football coach because I'm like, okay, so protection,
29:52
Speaker 12: limit turnovers, make sure you score in the red zone.
29:55
Speaker 12: But truly, in this game, I think those are the keys.
30:00
Speaker 1: We are really looking forward to having ESPN in town
30:02
Speaker 1: and we appreciate your time today.
30:04
Speaker 6: Thank you.
30:04
Speaker 7: Laura.
30:05
Speaker 12: Thanks Dan, I appreciate you guys.
30:08
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you by pay Corps.
30:11
Speaker 1: More than twenty nine thousand customers trust Paycorp to help
30:14
Speaker 1: them recruit, pay, engage, and retain employees. Learn more at
30:20
Speaker 1: paycorp dot com. Now time for this week's Know the
30:24
Speaker 1: Faux segment. Jake Ellenbogan co hosts the Believe In Rams
30:28
Speaker 1: podcast on the Believe Podcast Network and joined lappin Me
30:32
Speaker 1: on the Bengals Game Plan Show this week. Our first
30:35
Speaker 1: topic rookie wide receiver Pouka Niakua, who leads the NFL
30:39
Speaker 1: in receptions with twenty five and ranks second in receiving
30:43
Speaker 1: yards behind Justin Jefferson.
30:47
Speaker 5: Poka Naka is a fifth round rookie who wasn't even
30:51
Speaker 5: drafted with the first pick that the Rams had in
30:54
Speaker 5: the fifth round. He was drafted with the fourth they
30:57
Speaker 5: had four, and he was drafted with the last one.
31:00
Speaker 5: He's somebody that's filling in for Cooper Cup and doing
31:02
Speaker 5: a very good job of it, breaking records that seems
31:06
Speaker 5: like every which way, while also he was nursing in
31:09
Speaker 5: oblique injury. To believe they're not.
31:13
Speaker 8: That's quite amazing.
31:14
Speaker 7: It really is.
31:16
Speaker 6: A lot of people are not part of the Rams organization,
31:20
Speaker 6: recognizable names, No Bobby Wagner, no Leonard Floyd, no Jalen Ramsey,
31:26
Speaker 6: but still have a guy named Matthew Stafford offensively and
31:30
Speaker 6: Aaron Donald defensively. And people were saying it's not a rebuild,
31:34
Speaker 6: it's a remodel, and the way the Rams are playing
31:37
Speaker 6: it looks more like a remodel instead of a rebuild.
31:40
Speaker 6: Are you surprised at all that they got out of
31:43
Speaker 6: the gate as well as they did?
31:44
Speaker 5: Well, I'm not surprised except for Puka Naku. I don't
31:48
Speaker 5: think anyone who thinks that they saw that coming, And
31:51
Speaker 5: I know the Rams talk about it, but you know,
31:54
Speaker 5: obviously if you thought that was going to come from
31:56
Speaker 5: a receiver, you wouldn't have drafted him with your seventh
31:59
Speaker 5: pick out of court. So I wouldn't say the Rams
32:02
Speaker 5: have surprised me because I've been pretty high on them
32:04
Speaker 5: coming in the season. I've said, pump the brakes on
32:07
Speaker 5: Caleb Williams just a sec I don't think they're going
32:10
Speaker 5: to be anywhere near that sweet stakes. I have them
32:12
Speaker 5: making the playoffs, winning ten games this year. I just
32:16
Speaker 5: think The one thing that's really surprised me is how
32:19
Speaker 5: well that back end of the secondary has held up
32:21
Speaker 5: against the likes of DK Metcalf. You talk about Jackson
32:25
Speaker 5: Smith and Jigba, Tyler Lockett, Deebo, Samuel Brandon, Ayuk, I
32:29
Speaker 5: would give them credit in that regard. I wasn't expecting
32:32
Speaker 5: to look this good. And Kuka Niku, I just I
32:35
Speaker 5: was not expecting what we've seen for him so far.
32:39
Speaker 1: We are visiting with Jake ellen Bogan. He is the
32:41
Speaker 1: co host of the Belief in Rams podcast. You can
32:44
Speaker 1: follow him on Twitter at JK Bogan bog e N.
32:49
Speaker 1: I watched their game against the forty nine Ers earlier today.
32:52
Speaker 1: The offense to me, looked fantastic. There's motion on every play.
32:58
Speaker 1: Matthew Stafford looks as good as ever. They scored on
33:02
Speaker 1: eight consecutive drives between the opener against Seattle and last
33:07
Speaker 1: week against San Francisco. What stands out to you, Jake,
33:10
Speaker 1: when you watch this offense through two weeks.
33:13
Speaker 5: Well, I think the first single stand out to you
33:15
Speaker 5: is that offensive line is not last year's offensive climb.
33:19
Speaker 5: They had sixteen different offensive line combinations last year, and
33:23
Speaker 5: you're not gonna win football games when you're down to
33:25
Speaker 5: your third and fourth string, you're definitely not gonna win
33:28
Speaker 5: football games when you're starting a guy at left tackle
33:30
Speaker 5: who was on your practice squad in twenty twelve. So
33:34
Speaker 5: when you look at what they've done so far, you
33:36
Speaker 5: know it's been really good just seeing what they've gotten
33:39
Speaker 5: out of udfa Alric Jackson becoming that you know, left
33:43
Speaker 5: tackle hopefully in the future for them. And then you
33:45
Speaker 5: look at going out and getting Steve Avila in the
33:47
Speaker 5: second round. He's been a plug and play Darling Colton, Colton, Shelton,
33:52
Speaker 5: excuse me at center has looked really good. Joe Nobum,
33:56
Speaker 5: who was supposed to be the left tackle of the
33:58
Speaker 5: future they paid big bucks to look really good at
34:01
Speaker 5: right guard before going down with an injury, looks like
34:04
Speaker 5: he'll be ready to go this week. And Rob Hadnstein
34:06
Speaker 5: has really just solidified that right side. But another thing
34:10
Speaker 5: you'll notice is, like you said, a lot of motions,
34:13
Speaker 5: and you know what we're seeing is to two out well,
34:15
Speaker 5: the emergence of at Well, a twenty twenty one second
34:18
Speaker 5: rounder who missed that entire season, didn't even get a
34:21
Speaker 5: chance to shoot up to that Super Bowl, missed the
34:24
Speaker 5: entire season after an injury that you know suffered there.
34:28
Speaker 5: He got an opportunity this year.
34:29
Speaker 8: To start right out of the gate.
34:31
Speaker 5: And while Kukakua has been turning heads, we can't discount
34:34
Speaker 5: to to out well. Both of them combined are by
34:38
Speaker 5: the way, that duo is leading the league in the
34:41
Speaker 5: NFL in receiving, which is pretty crazy when you think
34:44
Speaker 5: about it like that. No Cooper cups, no problem, not really,
34:48
Speaker 5: but they've looked really good and the motion like you
34:51
Speaker 5: brought up with two two out well is creating so
34:54
Speaker 5: much space underneath for guys like Chakua, guys like Van
34:58
Speaker 5: Jefferson and Tyler Higbee and new starting running back Hyan Williams.
35:03
Speaker 5: It's been a breath of fresh air if you're watching
35:05
Speaker 5: the Rams offense this year as opposed to last year.
35:08
Speaker 5: And a big reason for that is they're adopting a
35:11
Speaker 5: lot of what the Miami Dolphins do with Tyreek Hill
35:14
Speaker 5: into Chiuatwa.
35:16
Speaker 6: Interesting comparison. There a lot of coaching changes on the
35:22
Speaker 6: coaching staff, I mean the last couple of years, McVeigh
35:26
Speaker 6: has flirted with broadcast opportunities. He told coaches, look if
35:31
Speaker 6: you want, if you've got an opportunity to go somewhere else,
35:33
Speaker 6: feel free and all that sort of thing. Some guys
35:36
Speaker 6: I guess took them up on it. But I mean
35:37
Speaker 6: there as many as nine new coaches. Of those new coaches,
35:42
Speaker 6: which one has impressed you or which coaches have impressed you?
35:46
Speaker 8: Or has the entire staff impressed you? And jailed early?
35:50
Speaker 5: Well, that's a tough question.
35:52
Speaker 12: You know.
35:52
Speaker 5: There are definitely some huge guys, and I'd be crazy
35:56
Speaker 5: not to bring up a guy who came in as
35:57
Speaker 5: a consultant for the offensive line, Mike Munchak, one of
36:01
Speaker 5: the best in the business, you know, behind Ryan Wendel,
36:05
Speaker 5: who I think has done a really good job former
36:07
Speaker 5: offensive linemans in the New England Patriots. But I would
36:10
Speaker 5: have to say Michael Floor when he's done in all
36:14
Speaker 5: of the fire that he had, you know, thrown his
36:17
Speaker 5: way last year with the Jets, and how that thing
36:20
Speaker 5: kind of blew up in his space and the whole
36:22
Speaker 5: Elijah Moore debacle. I'm really impressed with Michaelaflor. This offense
36:29
Speaker 5: just seems night and day different than last year, and
36:32
Speaker 5: it's taken on almost like a new type of feel.
36:36
Speaker 5: They really rebuilt this offense from the ground up. It
36:39
Speaker 5: started with Stafford. He definitely got lighter, he lost some weight,
36:43
Speaker 5: he's more mobile. But also you can see more balance
36:47
Speaker 5: in the run game. And obviously if you saw last week,
36:50
Speaker 5: which you know you said you watched the forty nine
36:53
Speaker 5: Ers game, you can see them kind of abandon the run,
36:55
Speaker 5: but it was more because of the situation they were
36:58
Speaker 5: in against the team that you just have such a
37:00
Speaker 5: small window of opportunity to beat and when you're down
37:04
Speaker 5: in that game, you're gonna.
37:05
Speaker 7: Have to pass.
37:06
Speaker 5: So but all in all, they've really, you know, they
37:09
Speaker 5: haven't abandoned the run like they have in the pass.
37:11
Speaker 5: That's been one of Sean mcvain's that Philly Fields is
37:14
Speaker 5: trying to manage the run and pass. And I think
37:17
Speaker 5: since the floors come in with more of the gaps
37:19
Speaker 5: teams that we've seen, the more gaps scheme runs, we've
37:22
Speaker 5: definitely seen a better balance.
37:25
Speaker 1: A couple more questions for Rams podcaster Jake ellen Bogan.
37:28
Speaker 1: We just heard the news on a Sports Update before
37:31
Speaker 1: you joined us on the show that Cam Akers has
37:33
Speaker 1: been traded to the Minnesota Vikings. He was very good
37:36
Speaker 1: against the Bengals in the Super Bowl. He finished last
37:39
Speaker 1: year with a flourish. He had one hundred yards each
37:41
Speaker 1: of the last three games last year. What went wrong
37:44
Speaker 1: between Cam Akers and the Rams.
37:46
Speaker 5: Yeah, you know, it's unfortunate. Anytime you draft a guy
37:50
Speaker 5: in the second round to be your running back, you
37:51
Speaker 5: would think you're getting the running back of the future.
37:53
Speaker 8: A lot of people thought.
37:57
Speaker 5: Most two is good, if not better. I never really thought,
38:00
Speaker 5: but when Akers took over, it looked like they had something. Well, unfortunately,
38:05
Speaker 5: there's been there's been talent there. There's been Darryl Henderson,
38:08
Speaker 5: who who was huge in that Super Bowl. You know,
38:11
Speaker 5: There's been Sony Michelle, There's been now Hiram Williams. And
38:15
Speaker 5: I think Cam is not somebody that wants to share
38:18
Speaker 5: the worklace. He's just not somebody that works in today's
38:22
Speaker 5: you know, committee backfield like NFL that we see. And
38:25
Speaker 5: so what we saw at the end of last year
38:27
Speaker 5: is Cam forced himself in force Darryl Henderson out the door,
38:32
Speaker 5: and we saw that emergence in the backfield. However, they
38:35
Speaker 5: have changed their offense since he's not quite a fit
38:39
Speaker 5: and since they don't trust him in pass protection, they
38:41
Speaker 5: didn't trust him in the receiving game. The way they
38:43
Speaker 5: did with Tyra Williams. What you found is that first game,
38:46
Speaker 5: it was a rude awakening. He's not gonna be a
38:48
Speaker 5: fit for this offense. When he was on the field,
38:51
Speaker 5: twenty eight snaps to Tyra Williams fifty three twenty one
38:55
Speaker 5: out of those twenty eight. Excuse me, he is running
38:59
Speaker 5: the football. Defenses know exactly what's coming with number three's
39:03
Speaker 5: in there, and so now with number twenty three in there,
39:05
Speaker 5: Hiram Williams, the Rams feel like they have the perfect
39:08
Speaker 5: back for their offense.
39:10
Speaker 7: Yeah.
39:11
Speaker 6: Well he's put up some numbers, no question about it.
39:14
Speaker 6: They have to feel really good about their draft. Fourteen
39:18
Speaker 6: draft choices twelve made the football team, five on offense,
39:23
Speaker 6: six on defense, and one on special teams, A punter,
39:27
Speaker 6: a couple of offensive rookies Nakua Avila, and then one
39:31
Speaker 6: defensive Byron Young, I mean making contributions other guys involved
39:35
Speaker 6: in rotation. How pleased are they with the youth of
39:39
Speaker 6: their football team?
39:41
Speaker 8: Oh, they're very pleased.
39:42
Speaker 5: I think when you look first off, Steve Avila looks
39:45
Speaker 5: like a potential All Pro down the road.
39:48
Speaker 8: I know, you know.
39:49
Speaker 5: Brian Baldinger has been raving about his tape and it's
39:52
Speaker 5: hard not to when you watch it. Just this guy
39:55
Speaker 5: is just so beyond his years. He's a natural center,
39:58
Speaker 5: and they wanted to play him guard because he played
40:01
Speaker 5: that one season, uh, moving over to guard when they
40:04
Speaker 5: went to the national title game in TCU. Then you
40:06
Speaker 5: look at fire and Young and this guy has an
40:08
Speaker 5: incredible story from you know, bagging groceries and you know,
40:12
Speaker 5: not getting essentially not even having a season because of COVID.
40:18
Speaker 5: So then his practices, which his team was still practicing,
40:21
Speaker 5: gets out. There is Juco school and Tennessee's calling, and
40:25
Speaker 5: so you know, he ends up killing it at Tennessee.
40:28
Speaker 5: And this guy's very athletic and he's starting to really
40:31
Speaker 5: turn it on in the first two games. I mean,
40:33
Speaker 5: we saw one preseason game and Teums said, all right,
40:35
Speaker 5: we don't need to see any more of that. We're
40:37
Speaker 5: going to make sure you're ready for week one. And
40:39
Speaker 5: then Kobe Turner, who some people saw it was a
40:42
Speaker 5: little bit of a reach there, has really, you know,
40:44
Speaker 5: done a nice job the third round pick in the
40:46
Speaker 5: in the interior, he continues to get better and that's
40:49
Speaker 5: not even talking like like you said, Pukkua. And then
40:52
Speaker 5: of course you mentioned you know, special teamer Ethan Evans
40:57
Speaker 5: is just absolutely bombing punts. It's kind of incredible when
41:01
Speaker 5: you think about it, that they the way they found him.
41:04
Speaker 5: You know, Chase Blackburn, the special teams coordinator, went out
41:07
Speaker 5: and set to him in Carolina. But yeah, it's been
41:11
Speaker 5: a really good draft, as good as to be in
41:14
Speaker 5: the first two games. Obviously we know about the long
41:17
Speaker 5: haul and you know, obviously we were talking and not
41:20
Speaker 5: that long ago how great cam Akers could be. So
41:23
Speaker 5: things can definitely change. The Rams act to feel really
41:25
Speaker 5: good about their class moving forwards.
41:29
Speaker 1: Bred at the Rams for finding good players in the
41:31
Speaker 1: draft despite not having a first round pick for the
41:34
Speaker 1: last seven years. Before I wrap things up, here's an
41:38
Speaker 1: invitation to join lappin me for the Bengals pep Rally
41:41
Speaker 1: Show on Friday from three to six at Wings and
41:44
Speaker 1: Rings in Oakley. Our special guest in the final hour
41:48
Speaker 1: will be Money Mack place kicker Evin McPherson. That's going
41:52
Speaker 1: to do it for this episode of the Bengals Booth podcast,
41:54
Speaker 1: brought to you by Bengals Picks and Ultimate Bengals. They're
41:57
Speaker 1: free to play with tickets and signed merchandise for grabs
42:01
Speaker 1: by paycre the official HR software provider of the Bengals,
42:04
Speaker 1: by Alta Fiber future Proof Fiber Internet elevate your connection
42:09
Speaker 1: with Alta Fiber, and by Kettering Health, the official healthcare
42:13
Speaker 1: provider of the Bengals. If you haven't done so already,
42:16
Speaker 1: please subscribe to this podcast and if you have a minute,
42:19
Speaker 1: give it a rating or share a comment that helps
42:22
Speaker 1: more Bengals fans find us. I'm Dan Horde and thanks
42:26
Speaker 1: for listening to the Bengals Booth podcast