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Bengals Booth Podcast: You Say It's Urgent · Bengals Booth Podcast

0:03
Speaker 1: Hike and everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
0:06
Speaker 1: the Bengals Booth podcast. You say it's urgent edition as
0:13
Speaker 1: my broadcast partner Dave Lapham joins me for an emergency
0:16
Speaker 1: podcast following breaking news out of Paul Brown Stadium. We'll
0:20
Speaker 1: discuss surprises on the just announce starting offensive line, the
0:25
Speaker 1: undrafted rookie wide receiver who no longer has to worry
0:28
Speaker 1: about making the cut, and lap will also field some
0:31
Speaker 1: of your questions via Twitter. Plus two additional conversations. We'll
0:37
Speaker 1: hear from John Ross, who practiced for the first time
0:40
Speaker 1: since training camp began on Sunday, and I'll talk to
0:44
Speaker 1: a player on the roster bubble who says Thursday's final
0:48
Speaker 1: preseason game is, in his words, life changing. All of
0:54
Speaker 1: that is straight ahead, but first, here's a quick reminder
0:57
Speaker 1: that you can have the latest edition of this podcast
1:00
Speaker 1: delivered right to your phone, tablet, or computer by subscribing
1:04
Speaker 1: on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, or pod Bean. It's
1:09
Speaker 1: the greatest invention since Thermocell's patio shield mosquito repeller. There
1:17
Speaker 1: is no love on Earth that compares to the way
1:19
Speaker 1: mosquitos love me. In the summer, I am a living,
1:24
Speaker 1: breathing mosquito bite. Well, recently my wife purchased the Thermocell
1:29
Speaker 1: Patio Shield Mosquito Repeller, which claims to create a fifteen
1:34
Speaker 1: foot zone of protection on your patio or deck. It's
1:37
Speaker 1: easy to use, looks pretty cool, and there's no spray,
1:41
Speaker 1: smoke or scent. We broke it out last night and
1:45
Speaker 1: I am mosquito bite free. So as if now it
1:49
Speaker 1: qualifies as a great invention, Let's get to football. As
1:54
Speaker 1: you probably know, football coaches can be pretty evasive when
1:58
Speaker 1: it comes to sharing information. For example, a head coach
2:02
Speaker 1: might hold a news conference and answer every question with
2:06
Speaker 1: we're onto Cincinnati, But it doesn't appear that Zach Taylor
2:10
Speaker 1: will follow that formula. On Sunday, he was asked if
2:14
Speaker 1: the Bengals had decided on a starting offensive line. He
2:17
Speaker 1: said yes, and name the starters. Later, he was asked
2:21
Speaker 1: about the battle for roster spots and wide receiver and
2:24
Speaker 1: shared that undrafted rookie Damian Willis will start in the
2:29
Speaker 1: season opener at Seattle. That all qualifies as breaking news,
2:34
Speaker 1: and more or less demanded an immediate edition of the
2:37
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth podcast Lap We've called for an emergency podcast
2:42
Speaker 1: after rather extraordinary news conference from Zach Taylor on Sunday
2:45
Speaker 1: where he was as honest and as direct as an
2:49
Speaker 1: NFL head coach can be. This was very unlike Marvin
2:53
Speaker 1: Lewis for the last sixteen years, where he didn't feel
2:56
Speaker 1: comfortable in sharing a lot of the information that Zach
2:58
Speaker 1: Taylor shared on Sunday. But let's start with the offensive line.
3:02
Speaker 1: When asked if he had decided who the guys are
3:04
Speaker 1: going to be to start up front against Seattle, he
3:06
Speaker 1: not only said yes, he laid it out and here
3:10
Speaker 1: is the group. Corty Glenn left tackle, rookie Michael Jordan,
3:13
Speaker 1: left guard, Trey Hopkins center not Billy Price, John Miller,
3:18
Speaker 1: right guard, Bobby Hart right tackle. Your reaction, well, my
3:23
Speaker 1: initial reaction is hopefully Corty Glenn left tackle is in
3:27
Speaker 1: concussion protocol and what those situations, You never know it.
3:32
Speaker 1: It could be dicey, you could be up in the air.
3:34
Speaker 1: But I hope he's able to go at left tackle.
3:36
Speaker 1: If not, Andre Smith will get the knot out there
3:39
Speaker 1: at the left tackle position in Seattle. Tough place to
3:42
Speaker 1: open up as a left tackle not having a whole
3:44
Speaker 1: lot of snaps there, but that's way down the road.
3:47
Speaker 1: I guess the thing about Michael Jordan Dan, his good
3:51
Speaker 1: is very, very good. I mean when you see when
3:55
Speaker 1: you see him at his best, his upside is monstrous.
3:58
Speaker 1: Now his bad is pretty bad too. I mean it's like,
4:02
Speaker 1: you know, it's worrisome, but and there's gonna be some
4:06
Speaker 1: some ups and downs that you're gonna have to deal
4:08
Speaker 1: with with with a young player like that. But the
4:10
Speaker 1: fact is his upside is so high that I think
4:14
Speaker 1: that coach Jim Turner and everybody involved in the decision
4:17
Speaker 1: making just said, you know, we gotta, we gotta, let's
4:20
Speaker 1: roll with this guy. And he's physical, athletic. You know,
4:24
Speaker 1: this guy's massive. I mean he's big, thick, broad white,
4:27
Speaker 1: everywhere you can be big. He's big. And there's a
4:29
Speaker 1: thirty two inch vertical jump. That's some explosion. When you
4:31
Speaker 1: can get a body that size off the ground thirty
4:34
Speaker 1: two inches and that's that's impressive. So arms along on
4:38
Speaker 1: doing the one arm punch that we talked about before
4:41
Speaker 1: that Jim Turner is employing and pass protections. His arm
4:44
Speaker 1: is looks like it's got seventy inches a length to it.
4:47
Speaker 1: The way he throws that thing out there and Stymi's people,
4:50
Speaker 1: so I can understand why they're going there. Any An,
4:53
Speaker 1: He's smart, you know, it's not like it's too big
4:55
Speaker 1: for him mentally, so I think they feel good about that.
4:58
Speaker 1: And then Trey Hopkins at the center position, very intelligent himself.
5:02
Speaker 1: You know, he's been referred to as a football savant.
5:05
Speaker 1: You know, he understands why, not just what they're doing,
5:08
Speaker 1: but why they're doing what they're doing and how to
5:11
Speaker 1: do it the right way. And he's he's going to
5:13
Speaker 1: be great in terms of making calls and communicating with
5:16
Speaker 1: the young you know, rookie left tackle, not that Billy
5:19
Speaker 1: Price couldn't Billy's you know, same thing. Very smart, understands
5:23
Speaker 1: the game and all that goes along with it. But
5:25
Speaker 1: just right now, whether it's due to Billy's you know,
5:28
Speaker 1: plan of phyciis that he's battling in his foot, or
5:32
Speaker 1: it's it's due to Trey hopkins excellence or consistency, I'll
5:35
Speaker 1: put it that way, because like we said, Trey's never
5:38
Speaker 1: gonna blow your way like oh man, he's overpowering, but
5:42
Speaker 1: he's not going to screw it up either. So you
5:44
Speaker 1: know what you're gonna get. He may be the most
5:46
Speaker 1: consistent player that they've had in the organization for the
5:50
Speaker 1: you know, snaps that he's been out there. His peaks
5:53
Speaker 1: and valleys are not like, oh, what am I going
5:55
Speaker 1: to get? I know exactly what I'm going to get
5:57
Speaker 1: from him, whereas with Michael, you know, it's like, ooh,
6:00
Speaker 1: and what am I going to get? The good is
6:01
Speaker 1: going to be very good, but the bad might not
6:03
Speaker 1: be so great, obviously. So it's interesting that they get
6:07
Speaker 1: the nod and it speaks volumes to a lot of
6:10
Speaker 1: a lot of organizations, gives lip service to It's not
6:13
Speaker 1: you know how you got here, it's what you do
6:15
Speaker 1: once you get here. Here you have a fourth round
6:17
Speaker 1: pick and a college free agent entering the NFL in
6:21
Speaker 1: that manner, and they're both starting lineman in the National
6:25
Speaker 1: Football League. So it sends a message. Sends a message
6:29
Speaker 1: to not just those guys for being rewarded for their effort,
6:32
Speaker 1: but their teammates that you know, if you're out here
6:36
Speaker 1: thinking you've got a job and you're just taking it
6:39
Speaker 1: for granted and you're rolling your helmet out on the
6:41
Speaker 1: field of practice every day, you better pick it up, man,
6:43
Speaker 1: because somebody's going to replace you, especially when the undrafted
6:47
Speaker 1: guy is now starting in place of last year's first
6:49
Speaker 1: round draft pick, no question about it. And you know,
6:51
Speaker 1: it's if you have some guys that are are, you know,
6:55
Speaker 1: kind of sitting back and cruising, and it's like, yeah,
6:58
Speaker 1: I'm good, nobody's good. You got you gotta every day,
7:02
Speaker 1: you gotta go out there and compete, compete for your job.
7:05
Speaker 1: And the other side of that is, you know, Billy
7:08
Speaker 1: Price and others, compete and get your job back. You know,
7:12
Speaker 1: if the decision has been made right now that these
7:13
Speaker 1: are the guys starting the Seattle game doesn't mean it's
7:16
Speaker 1: it's locked and loaded for sixteen games. I'm not saying
7:20
Speaker 1: it's casting Jello, but I'm not saying it's casting the
7:22
Speaker 1: stone either, you know. I mean, it's I think it's like,
7:24
Speaker 1: we're gonna go this way. We feel like they've earned it,
7:27
Speaker 1: and over a long period of time of you know,
7:29
Speaker 1: OTAs and mini camps and training camp and you know,
7:33
Speaker 1: all those things, we feel like this is the way
7:35
Speaker 1: we want to go. But I mean, there's no reason
7:39
Speaker 1: to assume the fetal position and give up on the
7:41
Speaker 1: fact that you couldn't have the job at some point
7:44
Speaker 1: in time. And the thing is in this league with injury,
7:48
Speaker 1: we talked about it many times. Every play one percent
7:51
Speaker 1: injury risk to every single player. So you're doing yourself
7:55
Speaker 1: and your team at disservice if you're not ready to
7:57
Speaker 1: jump in there, whatever the case may be, if it's
7:59
Speaker 1: due to injury or inconsistent or you know, not good
8:03
Speaker 1: enough play. You get an opportunity, you better be ready
8:05
Speaker 1: yourself to take advantage of an opportunity. You're doing a
8:08
Speaker 1: disservice to everybody across the board. So I like that
8:12
Speaker 1: that message is being sent. Everybody work, everybody work to
8:17
Speaker 1: the best of your ability to work, and then let
8:19
Speaker 1: the chips fall as they may. But you know, don't
8:21
Speaker 1: take anything for granted. Don't coast, don't put it in
8:23
Speaker 1: cruise control. I've arrived. I'm the guy dangerous. They've already
8:28
Speaker 1: set the precedent, They've shown what can happen. And I'm
8:32
Speaker 1: not saying that that happened to those guys. But if
8:34
Speaker 1: you're in that mindset and you think that that you
8:36
Speaker 1: know that I'm I'm good boy in this game. Never
8:40
Speaker 1: think you're good. Always realize there's somebody you know dying
8:43
Speaker 1: to take your job, talking about taking advantage of an opportunity.
8:48
Speaker 1: Then there's Damian Willis, undrafted rookie wide receiver out of Troy,
8:53
Speaker 1: typically the kind of guy that's going to play a
8:55
Speaker 1: million snaps in the final preseason game, trying desperately to
8:59
Speaker 1: make the roster, even the practice squad. Well again being
9:02
Speaker 1: totally frank. On Sunday, Zach Taylor comes out and says
9:05
Speaker 1: he's going to get the final preseason game off. He's
9:07
Speaker 1: made the team right now, he is the starting X
9:10
Speaker 1: receiver in Week one in Seattle. And you know, all
9:14
Speaker 1: he does is he's a perfect example of what we
9:18
Speaker 1: were just talking about. Go out there, give your best effort.
9:22
Speaker 1: Don't overthink it, you know, don't assume all these variables
9:27
Speaker 1: and start talking yourself out of things or into things
9:30
Speaker 1: or whatever. Just go out perform, know what you're doing,
9:34
Speaker 1: how you're supposed to do it, and do it the
9:35
Speaker 1: best your ability and let the chips fall as they may,
9:39
Speaker 1: you know, unfortunately for the organization, but fortunately for him.
9:43
Speaker 1: Aj Green got hurt forty five minutes into the first practice.
9:46
Speaker 1: Aj Green will be the ex receiver if he wasn't injured,
9:49
Speaker 1: but he's injured, so somebody has to feel that that
9:52
Speaker 1: spot he went out and want it. God bless him.
9:56
Speaker 1: I mean, congratulations, that's one hell of a story and
10:00
Speaker 1: you know, everybody should take a look at that. John
10:02
Speaker 1: Ross basically hasn't taken us this Sunday as we're speaking
10:05
Speaker 1: at this practice. It's the first practice that John Ross
10:09
Speaker 1: is going to be involved in, so two theoretically, you know,
10:12
Speaker 1: two starters haven't even participated. So that gave him an opening,
10:16
Speaker 1: but he gave everybody else an opening too. And he's
10:19
Speaker 1: the one that rose to the top. He said, I'm
10:21
Speaker 1: going to be the cream. I'm gonna rise to the top.
10:23
Speaker 1: And you know, you hear the other receivers talking about him,
10:25
Speaker 1: like when we talk to John Ross today, Dan he said,
10:29
Speaker 1: this guy can do everything. And speaking of Damian Willis,
10:32
Speaker 1: speaking of Damian Willis that I can't believe that he's
10:36
Speaker 1: this talented and there was no buzz about him, absolutely
10:39
Speaker 1: no buzz about this this guy because he can do everything.
10:42
Speaker 1: That's from a you know, a guy in his position
10:44
Speaker 1: group that he's going to be competing against. You know
10:47
Speaker 1: now that now that Ross is back in the practice field,
10:50
Speaker 1: but he respects him. I mean he's like, wow, look
10:53
Speaker 1: at this, guys and everybody respect him, including the coaches,
10:56
Speaker 1: and they made the decision he's not gonna play against
10:59
Speaker 1: the Colts and he's gonna line up out there in
11:01
Speaker 1: Seattle and get after the Seattle defense and that crowd
11:05
Speaker 1: noise and try to make some plays and help win
11:07
Speaker 1: a football game. And that's just in conversation with him.
11:11
Speaker 1: He played quarterback earlier in his career. He's played not
11:15
Speaker 1: only quarterback with a QUE, cornerback with a C. So
11:18
Speaker 1: that's a good pedigree as a quarterback. He knows, you know,
11:22
Speaker 1: what he's trying to look at to decipher things. And
11:25
Speaker 1: then on the flip side, having played corner he knows
11:28
Speaker 1: techniques that are going to be employed against him. Now
11:30
Speaker 1: that he's a receiver and he can see read things
11:33
Speaker 1: and understand coverages, holes and coverages, he might be able
11:36
Speaker 1: to take advantage of how he can beat techniques. What
11:39
Speaker 1: guys did to him when he was playing cornerback that
11:42
Speaker 1: gave him problems in terms of releases off the line,
11:44
Speaker 1: scrunge and those kind of things. So the fact that
11:47
Speaker 1: he understands coverages because of the quarterback and cornerback play,
11:52
Speaker 1: I think has helped him immensely in his transition too
11:55
Speaker 1: wide receiver position. I said to you after Zach Taylor's
11:58
Speaker 1: news conference, these where Patriots moves to me, where it's
12:03
Speaker 1: all about the meritocracy. The most deserving guy gets the position.
12:08
Speaker 1: And I'm going to give some credit to Mike Brown
12:10
Speaker 1: and the Bengals upper management in giving Zach Taylor and
12:14
Speaker 1: his coaching staff the total green light to say, hey,
12:17
Speaker 1: you've got to coach these guys. You decide which guys
12:20
Speaker 1: are most deserving of the playing time. Absolutely, And I
12:23
Speaker 1: think I think that such a young head coach and
12:26
Speaker 1: a young coaching staff, I think they feel like, you know, what,
12:30
Speaker 1: if the young guy deserves it, let's play him. I think,
12:33
Speaker 1: you know, Marvin, being a veteran coach with the vet
12:36
Speaker 1: more veteran coaching staff, trusted veteran players, it's like, you know,
12:40
Speaker 1: I'm not sure. I remember, you know, when I first
12:42
Speaker 1: came in the league, I didn't know this. I didn't
12:43
Speaker 1: know what I didn't know. Now I know, and you know,
12:45
Speaker 1: as a coach and I know players, I don't trust
12:47
Speaker 1: rookie players. But this younger coaching staff seems to not
12:51
Speaker 1: have as big an issue with that. And you know,
12:54
Speaker 1: and that's a philosophy, that's a mindset. And I think
12:56
Speaker 1: that these young coaches adapt really well to coaching up
13:00
Speaker 1: these young players, and there's a it's all about bonding
13:05
Speaker 1: in relationships and trust and all those kind of things.
13:07
Speaker 1: And I think that that, you know, the veteran coaching
13:10
Speaker 1: staff didn't have the trust in the young players this
13:13
Speaker 1: group does. This group feels like age isn't an issue.
13:16
Speaker 1: I mean, if you're showing me that you can handle it,
13:19
Speaker 1: it's not too big for you. You're gonna play. I'm
13:21
Speaker 1: gonna play you. So I think I think the combination
13:25
Speaker 1: of these young guys coming to take advantage of opportunities
13:28
Speaker 1: and being in the right mindset, the right approach, the
13:31
Speaker 1: right philosophical approach how to handle it all, and coaches
13:35
Speaker 1: that have the right mindset and philosophical approach to coaching
13:38
Speaker 1: him to handle those things. I think that's been a
13:40
Speaker 1: one plus one equals three synergistic type thing, you know,
13:43
Speaker 1: getting those guys ready for the roles that they have
13:46
Speaker 1: to play. A. J. Green was in the locker room
13:48
Speaker 1: today for the first time in a while. He still
13:50
Speaker 1: got the boot on his ankle. He has one of
13:53
Speaker 1: those one legged scooters to get around and he didn't
13:56
Speaker 1: feel like talking to reporters yet. But what's your best
13:59
Speaker 1: guests at this point for what we're likely to see him?
14:02
Speaker 1: I would I would hope, and I guess, you know,
14:05
Speaker 1: hope's probably the key word. That it might be the
14:07
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh game Week four, Week four, the Monday night game
14:10
Speaker 1: and to September Monday Night in Pittsburgh, because you know
14:14
Speaker 1: that's going to be a tough battle. And if you
14:18
Speaker 1: can get a guy like AJ green Back for a
14:22
Speaker 1: contest like that, that's literally getting a first round draft pick,
14:27
Speaker 1: a future Hall of Famer, all these things to give
14:31
Speaker 1: you a lift as you're getting ready for that game,
14:34
Speaker 1: and an offensive playmaker that you know has has really
14:38
Speaker 1: done good things against the Pittsburgh Steelers. I think that
14:41
Speaker 1: would be unbelievable. But if it's rushing it, you know,
14:46
Speaker 1: I think I think week five that could possibly be
14:49
Speaker 1: the the target p I think it's going to be
14:52
Speaker 1: in that area week four or week five. So but
14:56
Speaker 1: Aj is a is a quick healer. I understanding he's
15:00
Speaker 1: not feeling pain, which is a good sign. Not feeling
15:04
Speaker 1: pain at this point in time, So you know that
15:06
Speaker 1: he has always been ahead of ahead of the clock
15:10
Speaker 1: in terms of his rehabilitation. I don't think this thing
15:13
Speaker 1: will be any any different. And it is. It's like
15:16
Speaker 1: he's such a such a genetic marvel and takes care
15:18
Speaker 1: of himself so well that recovery is going to be
15:23
Speaker 1: on the fast side. It's just the way he's built.
15:26
Speaker 1: Let's talk about the wide receiver position. Going into this
15:28
Speaker 1: final preseason game. There are now five locks, essentially A
15:32
Speaker 1: j Green, Tyler Boyd, John Ross, Alex Ericsson and now
15:38
Speaker 1: Damian Willis. What about Odd and Tate, Cody Core, Josh
15:43
Speaker 1: Mallow and maybe somebody else. Yeah, I mean it's how
15:47
Speaker 1: many you're gonna keep six? Seven? You know, you think
15:50
Speaker 1: they're gonna keep six? Anyway? Will it be seven? And
15:55
Speaker 1: at that point definitely number seven and potentially number six.
15:59
Speaker 1: Then not only can be competing with the other receivers,
16:01
Speaker 1: they're competing with all the other guys that are battling
16:04
Speaker 1: for the last two or three roster spots. That's going
16:06
Speaker 1: to be determined by special teams as well as what
16:09
Speaker 1: you can do your position group in terms of snaps
16:11
Speaker 1: provided to the organization, to the football team. Cody Core
16:15
Speaker 1: is probably the best special teams player of the group
16:18
Speaker 1: add and Tate is limited because of his foot speed,
16:22
Speaker 1: So I mean he'd have to do things that bigger
16:24
Speaker 1: body guys do on special teams. He's kind of a
16:27
Speaker 1: tween or special teams guy, not fast enough, but not
16:29
Speaker 1: quite big enough because you know, I mean he has speed,
16:33
Speaker 1: that's not he can't be a gunner, but you know,
16:37
Speaker 1: is he big enough to handle some of the interior
16:39
Speaker 1: things that are done on punt coverage and punt return
16:41
Speaker 1: and those kind of things. So he's kind of finds
16:43
Speaker 1: himself in a conundrum there. But his ability to make
16:47
Speaker 1: contested catches, you know, translates to third down in red zone,
16:51
Speaker 1: and those guys valuable. I mean, if you that's the money,
16:54
Speaker 1: that's those are the money areas, third downs, the money
16:56
Speaker 1: down red zones, the money zone and the football field.
17:00
Speaker 1: If you have a guy that can make serious contributions
17:02
Speaker 1: there like he can, it's it's it's a variable number
17:07
Speaker 1: of snaps. How many times are you in the red zone?
17:08
Speaker 1: You don't know, you're not gonna be guaranteed to be
17:10
Speaker 1: in the red zone three or four times every game,
17:12
Speaker 1: you hope you are. How many third down opportunities you're
17:15
Speaker 1: gonna have you hope you have quite a few, and
17:16
Speaker 1: there's snaps there for sure, But does that offset the
17:19
Speaker 1: snaps of Cody core would give you on special teams
17:21
Speaker 1: and maybe an emergency receiver due to injury and so
17:25
Speaker 1: and then Malone. You know, Malone hasn't shown himself to
17:28
Speaker 1: be a special teams guy. And he's got some raw
17:31
Speaker 1: physical ability that's different than his speed is off the charts.
17:35
Speaker 1: He's got size, he's got speed. He's been inconsistent with
17:38
Speaker 1: the catch. You know, Cody Cored will go block, Auden
17:41
Speaker 1: table go block. Malone has been a little bit more
17:43
Speaker 1: dicey in that area in terms of black So all
17:46
Speaker 1: of these things, you know, it's gonna be, it's gonna
17:49
Speaker 1: be a tough decision. It's gonna be, you know, make
17:51
Speaker 1: a list of pros and cons and when when you
17:54
Speaker 1: weigh it out, how many snaps are these pros and
17:57
Speaker 1: cons equate to? And those are the guys will probably
18:00
Speaker 1: make those roster spots. The tough thing is for Darren Simmons,
18:04
Speaker 1: there aren't as many snaps being provided to special teams
18:07
Speaker 1: from the linebacker positions there are with other teams around
18:11
Speaker 1: the league. So Roddy Anderson is going to be a
18:14
Speaker 1: potentially big special teams performer. He was going to play
18:17
Speaker 1: a lot more special teams you know, than he did
18:19
Speaker 1: last Thursday night. But he got on such a role
18:22
Speaker 1: in terms of catching, you know, run after catch. They
18:25
Speaker 1: wanted to see a little bit more of that. So Darren,
18:27
Speaker 1: I think, backed off on his special team snaps. It
18:30
Speaker 1: could be the reverse against the Colts. He may play
18:32
Speaker 1: less snaps offensively, but get a real test by Darren
18:36
Speaker 1: Simmons to see if he can be a guy because
18:38
Speaker 1: he's going to be the fourth running back, maybe even
18:40
Speaker 1: you know, he'll be the fourth running back, but he's
18:44
Speaker 1: gonna have to play a lot of special teams. I
18:46
Speaker 1: feel that fourth running back, So the fourth running back,
18:48
Speaker 1: sixth wide receiver, deifth watchers. Where are these special team STAPs?
18:52
Speaker 1: Who's fighting? That's what I mean. It's like they're not
18:55
Speaker 1: just competing with their position group. They're competing with the
18:58
Speaker 1: running back, They're competing with the the defensive back. They're
19:01
Speaker 1: competing with you know, maybe a defensive lineman that can
19:05
Speaker 1: like win, you know, whin's making the team and he's
19:07
Speaker 1: taking some special team snaps, So you're competing with all
19:10
Speaker 1: these guys for Darren Simmons, which is a big, big,
19:14
Speaker 1: you know area. It's the all important third phase. Special
19:17
Speaker 1: teams wins and loses games for you, So all those
19:19
Speaker 1: snaps are vitally important. If they wind up signing somebody
19:23
Speaker 1: that gets released by another team, what position do you
19:26
Speaker 1: think that guy will play? In my mind? Linebacker? You know,
19:31
Speaker 1: I mean I could see on marriage and you know,
19:34
Speaker 1: I'm not sure that you, you know, make the you
19:37
Speaker 1: might make the roster close to this defensively, but there's
19:41
Speaker 1: eleven defensive lineman I'd like to have on my football team.
19:44
Speaker 1: But you can't keep eleven or can't you eleven? Four linebackers?
19:49
Speaker 1: And you know you have to have more than four
19:51
Speaker 1: and ten defensive backs. That's how I do the twenty five.
19:55
Speaker 1: I'm going in a perfect world, twenty five offense, twenty
19:57
Speaker 1: five defense, and three special teams for my fifties three
20:00
Speaker 1: man roster. Right now, if I'm going on merrit only
20:03
Speaker 1: most deserving, most deserving, eleven defensive linemen, four linebackers, ten
20:08
Speaker 1: defensive backs, now that'll that'll change. I'd have my I
20:13
Speaker 1: know everybody would know that's not my final roster. You know,
20:16
Speaker 1: I'd be I'm not all my linebackers obviously on the
20:20
Speaker 1: fifty three a man roster, honoring this current roster. Potentially
20:23
Speaker 1: I'm gonna be looking for for for another one, maybe
20:26
Speaker 1: another two somewhere else. But and then make changes accordingly.
20:30
Speaker 1: You know that keep ten defensive linemen, maybe nine defensive
20:33
Speaker 1: backs or whatever, if you can find another linebacker or
20:36
Speaker 1: two that you think that Darren Simmons feels good about,
20:39
Speaker 1: you know, as well as lou Anna Rumo, because you
20:42
Speaker 1: need to have somebody that can work with. Can he
20:45
Speaker 1: play defense for the way we play it, And does
20:48
Speaker 1: Darren Simmons feel like he can play special teams? Get
20:50
Speaker 1: some special team snaps? So yeah, I mean, I think
20:53
Speaker 1: I think that linebacker position um is going to be
20:57
Speaker 1: is going to be the one because in my mind,
21:01
Speaker 1: offensive line, no third tackles are going to be let
21:04
Speaker 1: go anywhere. And maybe there a team is really loaded
21:08
Speaker 1: and they have a fourth offensive tackle that is a
21:10
Speaker 1: good player, but they try to trade. I mean, everybody wants,
21:14
Speaker 1: you know, if your number four is better than my
21:16
Speaker 1: number three. There's probably a few teams in the league
21:18
Speaker 1: that that is the case with and they try to
21:20
Speaker 1: make some sort of a trade. So I'd say that
21:23
Speaker 1: the linebacker position would probably be the one that they
21:27
Speaker 1: may be getting off the waiver wire somewhere. All right.
21:30
Speaker 1: I announced on Twitter we were going to record an
21:32
Speaker 1: emergency podcast in light of today's news breaking developments, and
21:36
Speaker 1: I asked people that had questions to send them to
21:39
Speaker 1: me via Twitter. So we will take a few Twitter
21:41
Speaker 1: questions as well. This is from Jeff, and I'm going
21:45
Speaker 1: to paraphrase slightly. With the moves announced today, with undrafted
21:50
Speaker 1: free agents starting and young guys starting, should the fan
21:54
Speaker 1: base feel optimistic about this coaching staff? You know, I guess,
21:58
Speaker 1: I guess on the raw, the raw look of oh
22:02
Speaker 1: my goodness, who are we playing? I mean, these guys,
22:06
Speaker 1: these guys don't have there's no fan fare here. You know,
22:09
Speaker 1: these guys aren't coming out of college. They weren't you know,
22:12
Speaker 1: everybody's making everybody's list. They weren't the guy as such. Well,
22:16
Speaker 1: you know, some guys slip through the cracks. A lot
22:18
Speaker 1: of guys, a lot of guys are in the Hall
22:21
Speaker 1: of Fame, like McK Tingelhoff. That's the guy that I
22:24
Speaker 1: always come back to the Minnesota Vikings. The dude was,
22:26
Speaker 1: you know, seventeenth round pick or something. You know, Jim
22:30
Speaker 1: Langer with the Miami Dolphins, another center was not a
22:33
Speaker 1: high draft pick coming out of coming out of college.
22:35
Speaker 1: It's it's guys mature and develop at different times, and
22:39
Speaker 1: sometimes you're not in the right situation being in the
22:42
Speaker 1: right place at the right time that fits your skill set.
22:45
Speaker 1: It's all. Some of it is luck and timing, and
22:49
Speaker 1: some guys, you know, an opportunity presents itself. Because in
22:53
Speaker 1: the Bengals case, where you've got these guys playing, the
22:57
Speaker 1: first round draft pick, Jonah Williams gets hurt before things
23:00
Speaker 1: even start. Aj Green gets hurt forty five minutes into
23:03
Speaker 1: the first practice of training camp. Two number one draft
23:05
Speaker 1: picks by the boards. Now you've got opportunity and the
23:09
Speaker 1: guys that seize the moment where you know later round
23:13
Speaker 1: draft picks or the undrafted guys. And it's not like
23:16
Speaker 1: Tredy Hawkins. He's been here for a while and he's
23:19
Speaker 1: proved himself. They kept him as a restricted free agent,
23:22
Speaker 1: meaning he's going to make more than three million dollars
23:24
Speaker 1: this year, So it's not like they thought, well, this
23:26
Speaker 1: guy is questionable. He's a valuable part of this team. Absolutely.
23:29
Speaker 1: I remember when he came from University of Texas as
23:32
Speaker 1: a college free agent. I saw him play at Texas.
23:34
Speaker 1: I thought, you know, hey, this guy played high school
23:36
Speaker 1: football Texas, went to University of Texas, Skins on the wall.
23:40
Speaker 1: You know, you know he can play. Paul Alexander saw
23:43
Speaker 1: something in me. Broke his leg. Paul Alexander said, we
23:46
Speaker 1: got to keep this guy around, keep learning the practice squad.
23:49
Speaker 1: You know, let's work with him. You know. Then, you know,
23:52
Speaker 1: it's like he's been through three offensive line coaches now
23:55
Speaker 1: and they all have agreed that this guy has something.
23:59
Speaker 1: And what he has is, you know exactly what you're
24:03
Speaker 1: going to get out of him. He's got consistency. With
24:06
Speaker 1: the capitol C C on his chest isn't for captain
24:09
Speaker 1: on the on the jersey, It's for consistency, mister consistency,
24:12
Speaker 1: And that's what coaches love. And he's not going to
24:15
Speaker 1: let you down. So yeah, I mean, and Willis's you know,
24:20
Speaker 1: is a great story. Now. You know, I'm not saying
24:23
Speaker 1: that Pete Carroll and the Seattle Seahawks are trembling in
24:26
Speaker 1: their boots saying, who Trey Hopkins is a starting center?
24:29
Speaker 1: Damian Willis is the starting X receiver. Who man, we're
24:33
Speaker 1: in trouble now. But you know what, these guys earned
24:36
Speaker 1: their their opportunity, earned their position. And uh, you know
24:41
Speaker 1: these guys are NFL players. Am I saying their Pro
24:45
Speaker 1: Bowl players? I am not? Am I saying they belong
24:48
Speaker 1: on the field in the National Football League? I most
24:50
Speaker 1: certainly am, because they've earned it and they deserve it.
24:54
Speaker 1: I can think of a tenth round draft pick named
24:56
Speaker 1: Tim Krumer I worked out pretty well, no question about it.
24:58
Speaker 1: I can think of twelfth round Bob Trump worked out
25:01
Speaker 1: pretty well. So I mean there's there's a lot of
25:04
Speaker 1: a lot of cases of of guys that you know,
25:07
Speaker 1: you miss on some. And I'll tell you what, getting
25:12
Speaker 1: Rodney Anderson in the sixth round that could be a
25:14
Speaker 1: nice steal for the Cincinnati Bengals organization as well. In
25:17
Speaker 1: this year's draft, Twitter question from Mark what's your level
25:20
Speaker 1: of confidence in this old line? I think this old
25:24
Speaker 1: line the one thing that it has is multiple guys
25:27
Speaker 1: can play multiple positions. So the offensive line and you know,
25:32
Speaker 1: I'm saying, okay, people are going to be thinking, oh man,
25:35
Speaker 1: he's reaching now, are you kidding me? It is a
25:39
Speaker 1: plus that this offensive line can go into a game
25:43
Speaker 1: on a forty six man roster for game day and
25:45
Speaker 1: only have seven active and not have to activate eight
25:49
Speaker 1: or nine because of the fact that the two guys
25:51
Speaker 1: that are playing that aren't in the starting lineup. If
25:54
Speaker 1: they have to, they can both play you know, three
25:59
Speaker 1: positions or more, maybe you know four or five line
26:03
Speaker 1: positions each of them. I mean, there's that position versatility,
26:07
Speaker 1: and Jim Turner has been working on that. I mean
26:10
Speaker 1: it has been a rotation in the preseason games. Every
26:13
Speaker 1: series it's another another mix and match another and he's
26:15
Speaker 1: trying to find the right chemistry. And you know, you
26:18
Speaker 1: can argue two ways. You can say a lineman, it
26:21
Speaker 1: should work together. My philosophy has always been, like an
26:24
Speaker 1: offensive line, five components, four fingers in a thumb. You
26:26
Speaker 1: make a fish. You don't think about it, It It just
26:28
Speaker 1: involuntarily happens, you know, put the four fingers down and
26:32
Speaker 1: wrap the thumb. That's offensive line play. But in today's NFL,
26:37
Speaker 1: you know, you have to be able to adapt to
26:40
Speaker 1: different guys, and different guys are going to be playing
26:42
Speaker 1: different position groups. You can't make the team now as
26:45
Speaker 1: a backup right guard, only a backup center, only a backup.
26:49
Speaker 1: You have to be. If you're a backup, you have
26:51
Speaker 1: to be a swing tackle, a swing guard being able
26:53
Speaker 1: to play them both, or a swing interior lineman being
26:56
Speaker 1: able to play center in both guards. So and they've
26:59
Speaker 1: got that. So I think in terms of that, I
27:02
Speaker 1: feel good. But I do think that this offensive line
27:07
Speaker 1: is going to be playing a lot better at the
27:11
Speaker 1: end of the month of September than in the beginning
27:13
Speaker 1: of the month of September when they go to Seattle.
27:15
Speaker 1: I mean it's a group that has not taken a
27:16
Speaker 1: lot of snaps together, loud place, silent snap count. I mean,
27:21
Speaker 1: all the things you're looking at. You say, man, this
27:23
Speaker 1: is a recipe for a boy, a bunch of false starts,
27:26
Speaker 1: a bunch of problems, and you know, or if you're
27:29
Speaker 1: laid off the ball, you know, your only advantage is gone.
27:31
Speaker 1: You're grabbing because they're already beaten you and you get
27:33
Speaker 1: holding pennys. There's all kinds of potential issues out there
27:38
Speaker 1: because it is you know, undrafted free agent center, fourth
27:43
Speaker 1: round rookie at left guard. You know, it's a Andre
27:46
Speaker 1: Smith is not taking a lot of snaps at the
27:48
Speaker 1: left tackle position. So if he had to play if
27:51
Speaker 1: he had to play it. If you Corty Glenn can't
27:54
Speaker 1: make the dance, so well, if Corty Glenn does. If
27:58
Speaker 1: I'm the offensive line coach, and I know Jimmy's probably
28:00
Speaker 1: thinking the same thing, I'm not sure I can count
28:02
Speaker 1: on them to play the entire game at Seattle. I'm
28:05
Speaker 1: not sure I can count on to play sixteen games
28:07
Speaker 1: of the season because historically he's shown that he hasn't
28:10
Speaker 1: done that. So that's where that position versatility and other
28:15
Speaker 1: guys being able to play left tackle and right guard.
28:19
Speaker 1: You know, whatever the case may be, We'll see how
28:21
Speaker 1: it unfolds. But you know, I know that as of
28:26
Speaker 1: right now, from what I've looked at, they got like
28:29
Speaker 1: three running plays in and three maybe four protections. They
28:33
Speaker 1: are as white as vanilla can be vanilla vanilla. So
28:38
Speaker 1: they're not showing anything that they're going to do it.
28:41
Speaker 1: And you know, every but everybody can say that, but
28:44
Speaker 1: this group, I think is intentionally doing that because their
28:47
Speaker 1: biggest advantage is the only year where when they go
28:51
Speaker 1: into their season opener, Pete Carroll has no idea exactly
28:56
Speaker 1: what they're gonna do. He's looking at rams tape, he's
28:59
Speaker 1: looking at my Dolphins tape. He's looking at probably Texas
29:01
Speaker 1: A and M tape where everywhere Zax coached. He's looking
29:04
Speaker 1: at offensive tape to see what you know, it's going
29:07
Speaker 1: to be a pain in the next to prepare for him.
29:09
Speaker 1: But Seattle will just run their stuff. You know, Seattle,
29:13
Speaker 1: it's not the defense that won Super Bowls for him.
29:15
Speaker 1: They're not that good. But they've got the best linebacker.
29:18
Speaker 1: Wagner is the best linebacker in football. In my opinion.
29:21
Speaker 1: That guy's is going to be somebody you really have
29:23
Speaker 1: to account for when you're blocking up front with the
29:25
Speaker 1: offensive line. He's unbelievable. But you know, we'll see. We'll
29:31
Speaker 1: see how they how they compete, We'll see what kind
29:33
Speaker 1: of a game plan they put together. We'll see. I
29:35
Speaker 1: think we're going to see things we certainly have not
29:37
Speaker 1: seen in the preseason. That's for daunt Here. We've got
29:39
Speaker 1: a bunch of Twitter questions about the wide receiver position.
29:42
Speaker 1: We covered it earlier, except for the fact than I
29:44
Speaker 1: inadvertently left out Stanley Morgan and he's not out of
29:47
Speaker 1: it yet, the fact that he was hurt last week
29:50
Speaker 1: and missed Week three of the preseason, and at this
29:53
Speaker 1: point we don't know about his status for Week four
29:54
Speaker 1: of the preseason. That obviously hurt his case. Yeah, no
29:57
Speaker 1: doubt about it. Just you know, ill timed in and
30:00
Speaker 1: that happens a lot. I mean, guys don't make the
30:04
Speaker 1: NFL because they got hurt at the wrong time and
30:06
Speaker 1: then never get a chance to work their way back
30:09
Speaker 1: into the mix with anybody. Really, it's kind of sad.
30:12
Speaker 1: I see Stanley Morgan though, as worst case scenario, practice
30:16
Speaker 1: squad guy that will work his tailoff and be probably
30:19
Speaker 1: the best practice squad wide receiver you could ask for,
30:22
Speaker 1: and who knows there may be an opportunity for him
30:25
Speaker 1: at some point in time during the season. And because
30:27
Speaker 1: they've shown that, you know, if there's injury or whatever
30:30
Speaker 1: the God forbid or whatever other case it may be,
30:33
Speaker 1: if you're showing that you should be promoted from the
30:36
Speaker 1: practice squad to the fifty three man roster based on
30:39
Speaker 1: the way you're working, Zach, and this coaching staff will
30:42
Speaker 1: do it. I mean, what they've done for this opener
30:45
Speaker 1: proves that fact. So if I'm a practice squad player
30:48
Speaker 1: with the Cincinnati Bengals, if I'm an agent that i'm evaluating,
30:51
Speaker 1: should my client go to the Bengals practice squad or
30:55
Speaker 1: the Chicago Bears practice squad. I'm saying the Bengals are
30:59
Speaker 1: giving all these guys are fair shot. I think I
31:02
Speaker 1: think my guy might might be better off than Cincinnati.
31:06
Speaker 1: Twitter question John Jerry's quality of playing. John is uh,
31:12
Speaker 1: you know, not the not the same guy in terms
31:15
Speaker 1: of his footwork as he was in the earlier stages
31:18
Speaker 1: of his career. He's a nine year player. He missed
31:21
Speaker 1: lat he sat out last year and its entirety, so
31:24
Speaker 1: you know, he's he's longer in the tooth. He's on
31:26
Speaker 1: the back nine. I don't know what hole he's potting
31:28
Speaker 1: out on, but he's on the back nine. So but
31:32
Speaker 1: but what he's got is uh experience intelligence. Uh. Jimmy
31:36
Speaker 1: Turner and and he have worked together prior to this
31:40
Speaker 1: in Miami, so he knows exactly what Jimmy wants. He
31:44
Speaker 1: can demonstrate techniques that Jimmy Turner's talking about because he's
31:48
Speaker 1: done it before. Jimmy Turner can throw up tape of
31:51
Speaker 1: him playing for the Miami Dolphins. This is exactly how
31:54
Speaker 1: we want it done. And the guy that's doing it
31:55
Speaker 1: sitting right here in the room with you. Guys. You
31:57
Speaker 1: know John Jerry, and he's shown he can play guard.
32:00
Speaker 1: He's showing me complay tackles. So he's got position versatility.
32:04
Speaker 1: Am I saying he was the player he was when
32:06
Speaker 1: he was you know, three or four years in the league. No,
32:09
Speaker 1: But can he feel a role they're asking him to fill.
32:11
Speaker 1: I think he can. We'll find out. All right, Let's
32:14
Speaker 1: cover one more topic, and that was Saturday's stunning announcement
32:17
Speaker 1: out of Indianapolis that Andrew Luck is retiring at the
32:20
Speaker 1: age of twenty nine. That really saddened me, not only
32:24
Speaker 1: because he's such a great player, but I just admire
32:28
Speaker 1: him so much personally. I admire the things he's done
32:31
Speaker 1: for children in Indianapolis, and it really made me sad
32:35
Speaker 1: that this endless run of injuries and rehab and he's
32:39
Speaker 1: healthy for a while and then he gets hurt again
32:41
Speaker 1: was just ultimately too much for him. Yeah, he's a
32:44
Speaker 1: he's a very unique guy in the era of Twitter
32:48
Speaker 1: and social media. He has a flip phone, he doesn't
32:50
Speaker 1: have Twitter, but he has a kid's book club. You know,
32:53
Speaker 1: that's him, I think in a nutshell. You know, he's
32:55
Speaker 1: extremely intelligent. Stanford Grad that he is. I mean, he's
32:59
Speaker 1: got a Baul pedigree. Oliver Luck his dad played in
33:03
Speaker 1: the National Football League. I remember playing against him when
33:05
Speaker 1: he was with the Houston Oilers as a backup quarterback
33:08
Speaker 1: down there. And you know, he's he's had a big
33:11
Speaker 1: career with NFL Europe. He was a major executive in that.
33:13
Speaker 1: He's going to be involved with the XFL. Now. Andrew Luck,
33:18
Speaker 1: you know, has traveled the world and he's going to
33:20
Speaker 1: travel it some more. You know, he was over in
33:24
Speaker 1: Europe when he's growing up, when his dad was running
33:26
Speaker 1: in NFL Europe, and soccer was you know, very very
33:30
Speaker 1: important to him as he was growing up as an athlete.
33:32
Speaker 1: So he is, he's so gifted. I mean, he's he's
33:35
Speaker 1: a big dude. I remember walking by him the first
33:37
Speaker 1: time the Bengals played him in the preseason. He's like,
33:40
Speaker 1: you know, six four plus two hundred and forty pounds plus.
33:42
Speaker 1: I'm thinking, man, defensive mandas and linebackers going to have
33:45
Speaker 1: a hard time hauling this guy down. But and it's
33:47
Speaker 1: incrediblely you look at him, you think he's almost indestructible.
33:49
Speaker 1: But like he said, for the last four years, he
33:52
Speaker 1: was in constant pain, injury, pain, rehab, injury, pain, rehab, shoulder, ankle,
33:58
Speaker 1: you know, different body parts. He was sacked, you know,
34:01
Speaker 1: more than anybody in the NFL. He's strong, more touchdown
34:06
Speaker 1: passes in his first six years of play than anybody
34:10
Speaker 1: in the league in the history of the NFL except
34:12
Speaker 1: for Dan Marino. So, I mean, this guy, and part
34:15
Speaker 1: of it was his own fault because he held the
34:17
Speaker 1: ball so long, and he didn't have a very good
34:19
Speaker 1: offensive line to begin with a lot of his career,
34:21
Speaker 1: so a lot of his pain was self inflicted by
34:24
Speaker 1: his you know, mindset and his desire to be I'm
34:27
Speaker 1: going to tough it out and show I'm going to
34:28
Speaker 1: hold it to the last second and you know, just
34:30
Speaker 1: stripe it in there and take the hit. He paid
34:34
Speaker 1: a price, so you know, nobody knows what it's like
34:38
Speaker 1: for him for the last four years of his life.
34:40
Speaker 1: And just watching him make that announcement and say, I
34:44
Speaker 1: just I just want a better quality of life than
34:46
Speaker 1: I've had the last four years, and unfortunately that can
34:49
Speaker 1: include football for me anymore. I watched him say it
34:52
Speaker 1: and the expression on his face, I mean, he was crestfallen,
34:55
Speaker 1: you know, and watching him catch his emotions more than
34:58
Speaker 1: once during the course of his retirement speech, and you know,
35:02
Speaker 1: again having a flip phone, everybody's on the side, let's say,
35:05
Speaker 1: hey man, I'm here, you're retiring. Well, he was gonna
35:07
Speaker 1: do it, He's gonna make the announcement after the Bengals
35:10
Speaker 1: preseason game, but somebody in his inner circle let it out.
35:15
Speaker 1: That's who should have been booed, no question, and that boy,
35:18
Speaker 1: he was really hurt by that one being booed that
35:21
Speaker 1: one because, like you said, Dan, I mean, he's given
35:25
Speaker 1: his heart and soul to Indianapolis. He said multiple times,
35:28
Speaker 1: this is home, Indianapolis, a great city, and you know,
35:31
Speaker 1: I've been adopted here and you know all of that,
35:34
Speaker 1: and then for him to get booed like that, and
35:36
Speaker 1: you know, it's such a knee jerk reaction. And at
35:39
Speaker 1: that point, maybe there's five thousand people left in the stands,
35:42
Speaker 1: but they were booing him and it was loud, and
35:44
Speaker 1: you know, but you can't when they have time to
35:47
Speaker 1: think about it. You know that that's not how I
35:51
Speaker 1: don't think the city of Indianapolis is gonna feel about
35:54
Speaker 1: it when they have time to digest it. All right,
35:57
Speaker 1: you're rolling. This emergency podcast is complete. I appreciate your time,
36:01
Speaker 1: my pleasure, sir. While AJ Green will definitely miss the
36:04
Speaker 1: start of the season, there is at least hope that
36:07
Speaker 1: John Ross will be back in action. He injured his
36:10
Speaker 1: hamstring in a walkthrough before the Bengals held their first
36:13
Speaker 1: training camp practice in Dayton, and finally was able to
36:17
Speaker 1: practice on Sunday. That gives John two weeks to get
36:20
Speaker 1: up to speed and two weeks for the coaching staff
36:23
Speaker 1: to determine if he can contribute in Week one against
36:26
Speaker 1: the Seahawks. My colleague Wayne box Miller, host of the
36:30
Speaker 1: Bengals pre and postgame show and the Bengals Radio Network,
36:34
Speaker 1: went one on one with Ross, had his locker on Sunday.
36:37
Speaker 1: How does John Ross stayed calm? Because I know you
36:40
Speaker 1: chomping at the bid. I saw you worked out this
36:42
Speaker 1: summer very hard. But t j Ushmizana, But how do
36:45
Speaker 1: you stay calm knowing like man, I just I just
36:47
Speaker 1: want to get going. Yeah, that's the hard part for me.
36:49
Speaker 1: Man I stay in calm. It is just because I
36:51
Speaker 1: want to be so I want to be so great.
36:53
Speaker 1: I want to I just want to do so much,
36:54
Speaker 1: you know, And I think that's why, you know, I
36:56
Speaker 1: tend to hurt myself a lot as I try to
36:58
Speaker 1: do so much. You know, you know, me being calm
37:01
Speaker 1: is the hardest thing for me. But um, you know,
37:04
Speaker 1: I just trying to stay honest about who I am, man,
37:06
Speaker 1: and trying to relax and you know, just let my
37:09
Speaker 1: game speak for yourself. Speaking of speaking for yourself, you
37:12
Speaker 1: become like a touchdown maker. I think a lot of
37:15
Speaker 1: people thought you were only speed, but they didn't realize
37:18
Speaker 1: that in the red zone, you're just as effective as
37:20
Speaker 1: if you had an open field, right right. That's just
37:23
Speaker 1: my biggest thing. I mean, you know, I had to
37:24
Speaker 1: find my you know, my position last year. You know,
37:28
Speaker 1: it was it was kind of up and down for me,
37:30
Speaker 1: you know, but once I realized that, you know, I
37:34
Speaker 1: come alive in the red zone, you know, I had
37:35
Speaker 1: to keep that alive and each and every game, you know,
37:37
Speaker 1: my main goals to getting end zone to help the
37:39
Speaker 1: team win. You do you feel a little um, I
37:42
Speaker 1: don't want to say pressure, but a little bit more
37:43
Speaker 1: responsibility with a j I don't to try to really
37:46
Speaker 1: make sure you get back and just contribute. Yeah, man,
37:49
Speaker 1: I felt, you know, not even so much of this pressure.
37:51
Speaker 1: Just I'm just so anxious I felt. I felt the
37:54
Speaker 1: same way when you know when he's here, you know, um,
37:58
Speaker 1: you know, because it's just giving where I was drafted
38:00
Speaker 1: and giving you know, the expectations. You know, I just
38:03
Speaker 1: got so much expectations for myself and I haven't been
38:05
Speaker 1: able to fulfill those jets, you know. So I'm working
38:07
Speaker 1: on that, and I'm you know, each and every day,
38:09
Speaker 1: I'm working on getting better and trying to bring something
38:11
Speaker 1: to my game that I didn't have the previous two years.
38:13
Speaker 1: And lastly, as you look at this year, you know,
38:15
Speaker 1: you get more comfortable every year, no matter what craft
38:18
Speaker 1: you're end talking about your comfort level just playing and
38:22
Speaker 1: with this offense and being in the system. Just less thinking.
38:25
Speaker 1: You know, the more comfortable you get, the less thinking.
38:28
Speaker 1: Let's thinking you do the faster you play, you know.
38:30
Speaker 1: So that's kind of just my biggest thing right now.
38:32
Speaker 1: I'm trying to just relax and half fun, you know,
38:34
Speaker 1: and not go out there and think about how to
38:37
Speaker 1: catch the ball, how to run this route, how you know,
38:39
Speaker 1: just go out there and half fun. Thanks Box. The
38:42
Speaker 1: final game of the preseason gets widely mocked because very
38:46
Speaker 1: few starters league wide we'll see action, but For players
38:50
Speaker 1: fighting for spots near the end of the roster, the
38:53
Speaker 1: final preseason game could determine if they have a job
38:56
Speaker 1: that pays six figures next week, or if a lifelong
39:01
Speaker 1: dream is coming to an end. I spoke to a
39:04
Speaker 1: Bengals player on Sunday who made it abundantly clear just
39:08
Speaker 1: how important Week four of the preseason is to him.
39:12
Speaker 1: We're in the locker room and Bengals defensive lineman Andrew Brown.
39:15
Speaker 1: Through three preseason games so far, you've had more snaps
39:18
Speaker 1: on defense than anybody else on the team. Has that
39:22
Speaker 1: been a good thing? Hey? I think so. I would
39:26
Speaker 1: like to say that, Yeah, it's a lot of work. Yeah, yeah,
39:30
Speaker 1: it's a lot of work. But you know what I'm
39:31
Speaker 1: built for. You know, I'm built the work hard, and
39:34
Speaker 1: I can honestly say, like it does feel like it's
39:38
Speaker 1: starting to payoff. So can't speak too soon, though. You know,
39:41
Speaker 1: you got one more game ahead of me, and I'm
39:44
Speaker 1: focused on the Colts right now. It's gonna keep my
39:46
Speaker 1: head down, keep grinding, and like I told you earlier,
39:49
Speaker 1: you know, I just gotta say confident and consistent. You know,
39:52
Speaker 1: how important do you feel that fourth preseason game is
39:56
Speaker 1: for you personally, I'd say it's it's life changing group.
40:03
Speaker 1: I should say, this game right here is either do
40:09
Speaker 1: or die. Man. I'm definitely looking forward to it, you know,
40:15
Speaker 1: I'm looking forward to it. We're talking to Andrew Brown.
40:18
Speaker 1: You had a sack in the preseason opener. So far,
40:20
Speaker 1: you've got seven quarterback pressures, which leads the team through
40:24
Speaker 1: three preseason games. What are your strengths as a pass rusher. Um,
40:29
Speaker 1: I would definitely say number one is my quickness. You know,
40:31
Speaker 1: I'm very quick. Uh got goospy. I'll probably say, um,
40:36
Speaker 1: my power as well. I'm quick and I'm powerful. So
40:39
Speaker 1: those are my top two attributes. How far have you
40:42
Speaker 1: come in that department from your first day in Cincinnati
40:45
Speaker 1: until now? Man, I've come so long away, so long away,
40:50
Speaker 1: and I'm only climbing, like still gotta keep climbing. O
40:54
Speaker 1: my god. But I definitely see it. I feel a
40:58
Speaker 1: huge difference in myself, you know, and I'm proud of myself.
41:04
Speaker 1: We're talking to Andrew Brown. You got a new defensive
41:07
Speaker 1: line coach this year, and nikkis and spent nine years
41:09
Speaker 1: playing in the NFL, won a Super Bowl ring with
41:12
Speaker 1: the Steelers, but still playing this decade. What impact has
41:16
Speaker 1: he had on you? Wo? Man, He's had a huge
41:19
Speaker 1: impact on me, man, you know, because the one thing
41:21
Speaker 1: that he preaches is just having honesty with one another
41:24
Speaker 1: and preaching brutal effects. And he's gonna let me know,
41:28
Speaker 1: you know, from doing good, I'm doing good. From doing bad,
41:30
Speaker 1: I'm doing base, Gonna coach me up in certain positions.
41:33
Speaker 1: But also he's like he's a player's coach, So I
41:37
Speaker 1: feel a lot looser, you know, I feel like I
41:39
Speaker 1: can really move within the defense with him, Like I'm
41:43
Speaker 1: not so much worried about messing up. I'm just so
41:46
Speaker 1: so worried about, you know, focusing on my keys like
41:48
Speaker 1: he always tells us. And I love coach. I love
41:50
Speaker 1: that course. You're a high energy guy, very enthusiastic at practice.
41:56
Speaker 1: Makes me think you love the game of football? Is
41:58
Speaker 1: that the case? And why? And that is the case.
42:00
Speaker 1: I've been playing this game so I was four years old.
42:03
Speaker 1: And how do you not like you've done something for
42:08
Speaker 1: so long in your life and you put so much
42:10
Speaker 1: time in working blood and sweat and tears into it,
42:14
Speaker 1: and when it finally comes to start paying dividends, you
42:17
Speaker 1: know you're doing something that you love to do and
42:19
Speaker 1: that you've done all your life, and hey, it's a
42:22
Speaker 1: blessing to be here. There are guys style that hang
42:25
Speaker 1: it said, it's a high paying job. I do it
42:26
Speaker 1: because it's a high paying job. You just strike me
42:29
Speaker 1: as somebody that you enjoy practice, you enjoy everything about it,
42:32
Speaker 1: and sir, absolutely and more than more than that though.
42:36
Speaker 1: It's the ground like because with the grind comes success.
42:40
Speaker 1: So if you put the work in, hey, the right way,
42:47
Speaker 1: anything can happen. Last question for Andrew Brown. You didn't
42:50
Speaker 1: get to play last year due to injury. What did
42:52
Speaker 1: you miss the most? Man? What do I miss the most?
42:57
Speaker 1: Just being out there with a group of guys that
42:59
Speaker 1: I live on four and contributing to the team, Like
43:03
Speaker 1: that's my main thing. Like it just sucks watching, you know,
43:07
Speaker 1: especially like when you're not having them with success in
43:10
Speaker 1: the game, it's like, dang, like I wish I was
43:12
Speaker 1: in there to help, you know what I'm saying. Like
43:15
Speaker 1: that's more so when I was missing the most. But
43:18
Speaker 1: now that I feel like I'm in the position of
43:20
Speaker 1: power now where I can't help my team, you know,
43:23
Speaker 1: that's that means the world. It's been a great preseason
43:26
Speaker 1: so far, best of luck against the Colts. Thank you
43:28
Speaker 1: so much. So that's Andrew Brown that's going to do
43:31
Speaker 1: it for this edition of the podcast. If you haven't
43:34
Speaker 1: done so already, don't forget to subscribe on itune, Stitcher,
43:38
Speaker 1: google Play, Spotify, or pod Bean and if you have
43:41
Speaker 1: a minute, give it a rating or leave a comment.
43:44
Speaker 1: Your feedback has been great and five star ratings help
43:47
Speaker 1: more Bengals fans find this podcast. I'm Dan Horde. Thanks
43:51
Speaker 1: for listening to the Bengals Booth podcast.