Latest / Bengals Booth Podcast / Bengals Booth Podcast: Better Place

Transcript

Bengals Booth Podcast: Better Place · Bengals Booth Podcast

0:03
Speaker 1: Hi again everybody on dan Hoard and thanks for downloading
0:06
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth podcast the just let Me take You
0:10
Speaker 1: to a Better place. Addition, his NFL analyst and podcaster
0:17
Speaker 1: Sam Monson shares his thoughts on the Bengals being a
0:20
Speaker 1: Super Bowl contender. Then we'll hear some rather bold comments
0:25
Speaker 1: from Joe Burrow, followed by my one on one visit
0:28
Speaker 1: with Jordan Battle, who has given new meaning to the
0:30
Speaker 1: nickname Air Jordan. The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to
0:34
Speaker 1: you by pay Corps, proud to be the Bengals official
0:38
Speaker 1: HR software provider, by Alta Fiber future proof fiber Internet
0:43
Speaker 1: designed to elevate your home, business and community to a
0:46
Speaker 1: new level, and by Kettering Health the best care for
0:49
Speaker 1: the best fans. Kettering Health is the official healthcare provider
0:53
Speaker 1: of the Bengals. Now here's a quick reminder that you
0:56
Speaker 1: can have the latest edition of this podcast delivered write
1:00
Speaker 1: to your phone, tablet or computer by subscribing wherever you
1:04
Speaker 1: get your podcasts. It's the greatest thing since Bengal. Jim's
1:09
Speaker 1: Memorabilia Minutes. Bengal superfan Jim Foster has an incredible collection
1:15
Speaker 1: of Bengal's memorabilia, and since mid May, he's been posting
1:19
Speaker 1: videos on social media where he shows some of his
1:22
Speaker 1: most unique pieces and shares the stories behind them. The
1:26
Speaker 1: videos are extremely well done and in addition to seeing
1:30
Speaker 1: some cool stuff, you'll also learn some Bengal's history. So
1:35
Speaker 1: look for Bengal Jim on Instagram or Facebook and check
1:38
Speaker 1: out his memorabilia minute. As he says at the end
1:42
Speaker 1: of each video, every piece has a story. Now let's
1:47
Speaker 1: get to my first guest. For years, Sam Monson has
1:50
Speaker 1: been one of my favorite NFL analysts. He worked for
1:53
Speaker 1: Pro Football Focus for many years before moving to the
1:56
Speaker 1: thirty third teen dot com, where he co hosts to
2:00
Speaker 1: Check the Mic podcast with another former PFF analyst, Steve Palazzolo.
2:05
Speaker 1: After listening to them have an in depth discussion about
2:09
Speaker 1: the Bengals on their pod last week, I reached out
2:12
Speaker 1: to Sam to get him online. Sam, last week on
2:17
Speaker 1: the Check the Mic podcast that you and Steve Palozzolo do,
2:21
Speaker 1: the first thirty minutes or so became a discussion about
2:24
Speaker 1: the Cincinnati Bengals after he included Cincinnati in his list
2:29
Speaker 1: of the top five rosters in the NFL. Were you
2:32
Speaker 1: surprised that he had the Bengals that high and what
2:35
Speaker 1: do you think?
2:37
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I was definitely surprised. But you can
2:41
Speaker 2: see why depending on how you wait things right, Like,
2:45
Speaker 2: when you're ranking a roster, ultimately, there's no there's no
2:49
Speaker 2: formula for that, there's no define.
2:52
Speaker 3: This is the way you rank a roster.
2:54
Speaker 2: You have to decide, you know, how much weight do
2:56
Speaker 2: you give for the quarterback, how much weight do you
2:58
Speaker 2: give to everybody else in the roster, or how much
3:00
Speaker 2: weight do you give to anything. It's all kind of
3:02
Speaker 2: arbitrary and made up effectively. You know, when we talk
3:07
Speaker 2: about ranking rosters, I think you have to give some
3:11
Speaker 2: weight to you know, two through fifty three on the roster,
3:15
Speaker 2: or a bigger amount of weight then maybe they deserve.
3:19
Speaker 3: We know how important quarterbacks are. But equally, if you're.
3:23
Speaker 2: Using data and a model, the way Steve is to
3:27
Speaker 2: sort of plot out who we're going to be the
3:29
Speaker 2: best teams overall based on their roster strength, well then
3:33
Speaker 2: you have to rate the quarterback a lot more. You
3:36
Speaker 2: have to weight the number one wide receiver a lot
3:39
Speaker 2: more than some other positions. And when you kind of
3:43
Speaker 2: assign a weighting to those positions by how important they are.
3:47
Speaker 2: The Bengals have all those positions. You know, they've got
3:49
Speaker 2: the important strengths in the right areas, and so if
3:53
Speaker 2: that's your methodology, you can see why this roster would
3:57
Speaker 2: look a lot better than maybe people expected to You two.
4:00
Speaker 1: Guys had four of the same teams in your top fives,
4:05
Speaker 1: the Rams, the Seahawks, the Texans, and the Eagles. As
4:07
Speaker 1: I mentioned, he had the Bengals at number five. Denver
4:10
Speaker 1: was your other top five team. How close was Cincinnati
4:14
Speaker 1: for you?
4:16
Speaker 3: Yeah?
4:16
Speaker 2: I don't to be honest, I don't really know, because
4:19
Speaker 2: I didn't go much beyond the top five once I
4:21
Speaker 2: had them set, and I'm like, all right, none of
4:23
Speaker 2: the rest of the teams are making the top five,
4:26
Speaker 2: So I didn't sit down to work out, well, is
4:28
Speaker 2: this team seven or are they seventeen? You know, Denver,
4:32
Speaker 2: I think versus Cincinnati is a good example of that,
4:35
Speaker 2: you know, how you wait things. I think Denver's sort
4:39
Speaker 2: of two through fifty three is a lot stronger than Cincinnati's.
4:43
Speaker 2: But obviously Joe Burrow is significantly better and you feel
4:46
Speaker 2: a lot better about him, more proven than Bo Nicks,
4:50
Speaker 2: who's still a question mark and maybe could get to
4:52
Speaker 2: an elite level at some point, but it's definitely not
4:54
Speaker 2: there yet and yet. So if you want to rank
4:59
Speaker 2: the rest of the roster really highly, you're gonna have denver.
5:02
Speaker 2: If you want to say, well, the waiting is important
5:04
Speaker 2: and the quarterback is the most important thing, well then
5:06
Speaker 2: you're going to lean towards Cincinnati.
5:09
Speaker 3: Sam.
5:09
Speaker 1: Let's talk about Dexter Lawrence. Last year, he did not
5:12
Speaker 1: have a great year. Statistically. He had a half a
5:15
Speaker 1: sack and eight quarterback hits. His career highs in those
5:18
Speaker 1: categories are nine sacks and twenty eight quarterback hits. He's
5:22
Speaker 1: twenty eight years old. It's going to be his eighth
5:24
Speaker 1: NFL season. What do you think the Bengals are getting
5:27
Speaker 1: in Dexter Lawrence at this stage of his career.
5:31
Speaker 2: I think it's still very much TBD. You're right, last
5:34
Speaker 2: year wasn't great, and the year before that wasn't great either,
5:37
Speaker 2: for a different reason. A couple of things I would
5:40
Speaker 2: say about that. Number one, even the downturn.
5:43
Speaker 3: Years were pretty good, right, So.
5:46
Speaker 2: He said the bar so high that when you come
5:49
Speaker 2: down from that, you're still talking about a really good player.
5:52
Speaker 2: So I would say the minimum that the Cincinnati Bengals
5:55
Speaker 2: are getting out of Dexter. Lawrence is a very good
5:57
Speaker 2: impact defensive tackle, he said. He's still only twenty eight,
6:01
Speaker 2: and I don't see a reason why he can't bounce
6:03
Speaker 2: back to the player he was before that. And the
6:06
Speaker 2: player he was before that is, you know, one of one,
6:10
Speaker 2: a unique player in the NFL and one of the
6:13
Speaker 2: most impactful defensive linemen we've seen in the league for years,
6:18
Speaker 2: because we're talking about this guy who is specifically a
6:22
Speaker 2: nose tackle or has been specifically a nose tackle.
6:25
Speaker 3: For him to put up the.
6:26
Speaker 2: Kind of production that he put up, whether it's sacks, hits, pressures,
6:31
Speaker 2: however you want to measure it, for him to have
6:33
Speaker 2: that kind of production from a nose tackle alignment, I mean,
6:37
Speaker 2: he was an order of magnitude higher than any other
6:40
Speaker 2: player in the NFL in those sorts of production terms
6:43
Speaker 2: from that nose tackle alignment.
6:45
Speaker 3: We genuinely haven't seen anything like.
6:48
Speaker 2: That in the kind of era where people were recording
6:51
Speaker 2: those types of statistics. Right, I'm not going to pretend
6:54
Speaker 2: any of us know, you know, what kind of nose
6:57
Speaker 2: tackle production guys had back in the night nineteen sixties,
7:01
Speaker 2: But for as long as people have been counting pressures
7:03
Speaker 2: and those types of things. We've never seen anybody produce
7:06
Speaker 2: the way Dexter Lawrence did from that nose tackle alignment.
7:09
Speaker 2: If he goes back to being that player this year,
7:13
Speaker 2: and even if it only lasts a year before he
7:16
Speaker 2: comes back to the table and starts talking about a
7:18
Speaker 2: new contract again, and then the Bengals have to deal
7:20
Speaker 2: with that. You know, if you get one year out
7:22
Speaker 2: of that player, you are talking about adding one of
7:25
Speaker 2: the best players in the game to this roster at
7:28
Speaker 2: a position of need, so potentially an absolute game changing
7:33
Speaker 2: addition to this Bengals team.
7:35
Speaker 3: Did you have.
7:36
Speaker 1: Any qualms about trading away the tenth pick in the
7:39
Speaker 1: draft to get.
7:39
Speaker 2: Them No, I think you know, if you're comfortable that
7:42
Speaker 2: he's a healthy player, you know that he's not sort
7:45
Speaker 2: of a chronic injury problem. Like, if you're comfortable with
7:49
Speaker 2: the player that you're getting, you're not going to do
7:51
Speaker 2: better than the tenth overall pick, or with the tenth overall.
7:54
Speaker 3: Pick than Dexter Lawrence.
7:56
Speaker 2: And the way that they kind of did his contract,
8:00
Speaker 2: it's not even expensive, he's not even a highly You're
8:03
Speaker 2: not making him now the best paid defensive player in
8:05
Speaker 2: the NFL, and you know, coughing up forty million dollars
8:08
Speaker 2: a year to do this, you're getting potentially one of
8:12
Speaker 2: the best players in the game, had a relatively reasonable deal,
8:15
Speaker 2: and Okay, whatever you're paying him in contract terms is
8:19
Speaker 2: offset by the extra degree of certainty you have that
8:22
Speaker 2: he's so much better than whoever you're going to pick
8:24
Speaker 2: with the tenth overall pick, right, And I think everybody
8:27
Speaker 2: kind of assumed that they were going to go defense
8:29
Speaker 2: with that pick, and you know, maybe he didn't like
8:31
Speaker 2: what they thought the options were going to be.
8:34
Speaker 3: As the draft unfolded.
8:36
Speaker 2: Actually, they ended up with a pretty sort of good
8:38
Speaker 2: selection of players they could have taken. They could have
8:40
Speaker 2: taken Reuben Bain, they could have taken Caleb Downs. Even
8:44
Speaker 2: you know, at the high end of optimistic expectations for
8:48
Speaker 2: those two guys who maybe two of the best players
8:50
Speaker 2: in this entire draft, they probably weren't going to be
8:52
Speaker 2: as good as Extra Laurence.
8:54
Speaker 3: So I had no problem whatsoever with the trade.
8:56
Speaker 2: I think that's absolutely the type of gamble that I
9:00
Speaker 2: think is worth taking.
9:01
Speaker 1: NFL analyst Sam Monson is our guest. He is the
9:04
Speaker 1: co host of the Check the Mic podcast Dexter Lawrence
9:07
Speaker 1: came into trade. The Bengals also added boy A mafe,
9:09
Speaker 1: Brian Cook, Jonathan Allen, and Kyle Dugger in free agency.
9:14
Speaker 1: What'd you think of that group as a whole, and
9:16
Speaker 1: which of those additions do.
9:18
Speaker 3: You like the most.
9:19
Speaker 2: Yeah, obviously a significantly kind of overhauled defense top to bottom.
9:25
Speaker 2: Still a couple of areas it will be question marks
9:27
Speaker 2: heading in the year. But you know, they needed a
9:29
Speaker 2: lot to add to this team, and they added a
9:31
Speaker 2: lot to this team. So I think overall, I liked
9:34
Speaker 2: the collection of guys that they added. Boy A Mafi,
9:37
Speaker 2: I think is a really solid player now and a
9:40
Speaker 2: guy that they can rely on both against the run
9:43
Speaker 2: and as a pass rusher. But to give them that
9:45
Speaker 2: consistent source of pressure, and now we'll see what they
9:48
Speaker 2: can get out of the young guys on the other
9:50
Speaker 2: side of him, you know, Shamar Stewart.
9:51
Speaker 3: Obviously after last year, Cash has hell as well.
9:54
Speaker 2: In the draft this year, boy A Mafy is probably
9:56
Speaker 2: my favorite edition that they brought in. But I think
9:59
Speaker 2: as a collect if, they definitely added a decent amount
10:02
Speaker 2: of talent to this group.
10:04
Speaker 1: You reference the Bengals top draft pick a little earlier
10:07
Speaker 1: number forty one overall edge defender Casius Howell. What do
10:11
Speaker 1: you think of a player and what do you think
10:12
Speaker 1: of the fit?
10:14
Speaker 3: I love Cassius Howell.
10:15
Speaker 2: He was a guy actually, interestingly, when you were watching
10:18
Speaker 2: Shamar Stewart taped the year before, Cassius Howell I think
10:21
Speaker 2: was pretty clearly the best player on that defensive line.
10:24
Speaker 2: You know, they sent multiple players to the NFL that year,
10:27
Speaker 2: and no matter which one you were watching, I think
10:29
Speaker 2: Cassius Howell was the guy you came away with impressed by.
10:32
Speaker 2: I always think there's some power to that when you're
10:34
Speaker 2: watching tape and somebody you're not supposed to be watching
10:37
Speaker 2: is the guy that keeps popping from the tape. So
10:39
Speaker 2: that was always kind of in the back of my
10:41
Speaker 2: mind watching him this year, and then I just think
10:44
Speaker 2: he's he's a.
10:45
Speaker 3: Really good player.
10:45
Speaker 2: He's dynamic, he's explosive, he's got the bend, the change
10:48
Speaker 2: of direction, and his big thing is the arm length right,
10:52
Speaker 2: and even ruben Bain got dinged a lot for that,
10:56
Speaker 2: and there was a ton of press obviously surrounding him.
11:00
Speaker 2: I mean, Cassius Howell is not just an outlier, but
11:03
Speaker 2: historical outlier. I mean literally the lowest arm length that
11:07
Speaker 2: has been measured at that position. I mean, this is
11:11
Speaker 2: the biggest anomaly are going to find from a sort
11:13
Speaker 2: of physical Do you check the box at the standpoint?
11:17
Speaker 2: You know, he's more of a pass rusher obviously than
11:20
Speaker 2: he is a run defender. I don't think he can't
11:22
Speaker 2: defend the run, though I was kind of impressed by
11:24
Speaker 2: some of his plays.
11:25
Speaker 3: Against the run.
11:26
Speaker 2: I think he does it in a different way than
11:29
Speaker 2: some people want to see when they're looking at run defense.
11:32
Speaker 2: I think he defends the run, you know, by penetration,
11:35
Speaker 2: by getting into the bankfield, by messing up plays in
11:37
Speaker 2: the bank field, rather than by holding the edge and
11:40
Speaker 2: you know too gapping and trying to trying.
11:42
Speaker 3: To set a wall.
11:44
Speaker 2: So you know, you need to understand that about his
11:46
Speaker 2: game and sort of deploy him in that way against
11:48
Speaker 2: the run. But I think he can be a good player.
11:52
Speaker 2: It's the right area to draft him right the second round.
11:55
Speaker 2: I would I would say he's a first round caliber player.
11:58
Speaker 2: He's got first round talent, but you have to at
12:00
Speaker 2: least acknowledge that for him to succeed at the next
12:03
Speaker 2: level with arm lengk like that would make him an
12:07
Speaker 2: extremely rare outlier, and I think that's worth you know,
12:10
Speaker 2: dropping him around for so Yeah, I think it was
12:13
Speaker 2: a good addition. There's probably something to this idea of
12:17
Speaker 2: assembling a whole collection of different types of players on
12:21
Speaker 2: the defensive line as well. Steve Palozolo is big on that,
12:24
Speaker 2: the body type buffet that he calls it. You know,
12:27
Speaker 2: there's probably power to throwing a different type of guy
12:30
Speaker 2: at offenses on a consistent basis, and the Bengals have
12:33
Speaker 2: done a good job, whether intentional or not, of assembling
12:37
Speaker 2: a whole bunch of different body types on that line.
12:39
Speaker 1: Now, Sam Monson's our guest. You can follow him on
12:42
Speaker 1: x at sam Monson NFL. The bengals other six draft
12:46
Speaker 1: picks this year were Tokario Davis, Connor, Lou Bryan Parker, Coleby, Young,
12:51
Speaker 1: Jack Endres, and Landon Robinson. Did you have a favorite
12:54
Speaker 1: among those guys and if so, why, Well?
12:57
Speaker 2: Lennon Rumson's Dephanie fun as a player who you know
13:01
Speaker 2: is is going to draw some interest in comps because
13:04
Speaker 2: of his body type, how undersized he is.
13:07
Speaker 3: But like that guy is a.
13:08
Speaker 2: Dynamic, you know, ball of energy and the type of
13:11
Speaker 2: player you want to see succeed. The fact that he's
13:14
Speaker 2: from a service academy as well. I think those are
13:16
Speaker 2: always sort of fun additions to wanting to root for
13:19
Speaker 2: a guy and wanting him to have success. Seeing Aaron
13:22
Speaker 2: Donald coach him up a little bit as well as
13:25
Speaker 2: you know, as one small guy to another, it all
13:28
Speaker 2: that's good, right. So it's a he's a low round addition,
13:32
Speaker 2: he's a guy that's got a you know, the odds
13:35
Speaker 2: are against him to succeed, but I think there's a
13:37
Speaker 2: lot of reasons he could. So I'd be excited to
13:40
Speaker 2: see Landon Robinson in preseason see what kind of noise
13:43
Speaker 2: he can make. I also think, for as much as
13:45
Speaker 2: they added, you know, they've got a ton of bodies
13:47
Speaker 2: now a defensive tackle, I think there's a role to
13:50
Speaker 2: be had there. Like if he does show up and
13:53
Speaker 2: dominate in training camp and dominate in preseason, like he
13:56
Speaker 2: could quickly vault himself up that depth chart at defensive
13:59
Speaker 2: tackle and really carve himself a role going into the
14:01
Speaker 2: regular season. Obviously he's going to show he's capable of that,
14:05
Speaker 2: but if he does, you know, the pathway I think
14:07
Speaker 2: is potentially less cluttered than maybe it looks on paper
14:12
Speaker 2: given the players they have there, So I guess he's
14:13
Speaker 2: the guy that I would definitely be keeping an eye
14:16
Speaker 2: out the most.
14:17
Speaker 1: You have joined me on many radio shows and or
14:19
Speaker 1: podcasts over the years. I know we have never gone
14:22
Speaker 1: this long without discussing the offensive line. How would you
14:26
Speaker 1: discuss or how would you describe the Bengals offensive line
14:29
Speaker 1: going into twenty twenty six.
14:31
Speaker 3: I think it's solid.
14:33
Speaker 2: You know, it's right in that middle ground of like
14:35
Speaker 2: they've achieved the thing we preach for years, which is
14:38
Speaker 2: creep back toward average on the offensive line. You don't
14:40
Speaker 2: need a good offensive line. You don't need a great
14:42
Speaker 2: offensive line. You just need to not be terrible on
14:45
Speaker 2: the offensive line. Like the better you're lying, the better.
14:48
Speaker 2: But the goal is to just not have it be
14:51
Speaker 2: the reason you're losing games, right, not have it be
14:53
Speaker 2: the reason that you're out standing quarterback can't function, or
14:57
Speaker 2: that your run game, your running back can't have success
15:00
Speaker 2: because the offensive.
15:01
Speaker 3: Line is so banded.
15:02
Speaker 2: Once you removed it as a roadblock, well then everything
15:05
Speaker 2: above that is gravy. And they've they've achieved that. Now,
15:09
Speaker 2: now the kind of caveat or the risk maybe in
15:12
Speaker 2: that approach is if you deliberately, you know, try and
15:16
Speaker 2: assemble sort of five average offensive linemen, then you run
15:20
Speaker 2: the risk of, well, what if those five guys who
15:23
Speaker 2: individually in any given year or average, what if they
15:26
Speaker 2: all hit the low end of their range of outcomes
15:29
Speaker 2: in any given year and suddenly you've got five guys
15:31
Speaker 2: that are below average, just because that's the way it
15:35
Speaker 2: went that year, Right, that can happen. I think the
15:38
Speaker 2: Bills that happened to them a few years ago, where
15:40
Speaker 2: they assembled sort of five average offensive linemen and most
15:43
Speaker 2: of the time that's pretty good, and then all five
15:45
Speaker 2: of them just had like a rough year together and
15:47
Speaker 2: suddenly their offensive line kind of fell apart. Didn't didn't
15:50
Speaker 2: quite become terrible, but it was definitely a lot worse
15:52
Speaker 2: than like the five starting guys on paper should have been.
15:56
Speaker 2: That's the risk with this Bengals offensive line. In most years,
15:59
Speaker 2: it's you'ld be absolutely fine, and fine is all we're
16:02
Speaker 2: shooting for here. But if all five of those guys
16:05
Speaker 2: just have a bad year at the office, a bad
16:07
Speaker 2: day at the office in a given season, that's where
16:10
Speaker 2: it becomes a problem. But I think overall they've rebuilt
16:14
Speaker 2: that offensive line a good way.
16:16
Speaker 1: Does that notion of you don't have to be great,
16:20
Speaker 1: but you can't be brutal apply to linebacker, because obviously
16:24
Speaker 1: the Bengals second year duo of Barrett Carter and Demetrius
16:28
Speaker 1: Knight had their problems as rookies. If they're solid this year,
16:33
Speaker 1: is that good enough?
16:35
Speaker 3: Yeah? Absolutely.
16:36
Speaker 2: I mean I think it's a slightly different dynamic because
16:39
Speaker 2: you know, you can still do an awful lot with
16:41
Speaker 2: if you find one spectacular linebacker. I mean Fred Warner,
16:45
Speaker 2: you know, for the forty nine Ers completely transforms that
16:47
Speaker 2: defense single handedly. Having an impact high end linebacker is
16:52
Speaker 2: still incredibly valuable in a way. I don't think that
16:55
Speaker 2: finding one really good offensive lineman necessarily is, but I
17:00
Speaker 2: think that the same is true on the reverse end.
17:02
Speaker 2: That Yeah, Like the goal I think for most positions
17:05
Speaker 2: really in the NFL is to just avoid being terrible
17:08
Speaker 2: at that spot. There are some other positions where I
17:11
Speaker 2: think that's that's not true. Your goal should be loftier.
17:14
Speaker 2: It should be to try and find impact play makers
17:16
Speaker 2: as much as possible. But there's definitely a lot of
17:19
Speaker 2: positions I think where you're just trying to eliminate the
17:22
Speaker 2: weak link and trying to avoid it being the reason
17:24
Speaker 2: that you're terrible. You know, obviously they haven't done a
17:28
Speaker 2: ton to upgrade that linebacker unit except upgrade everything around it, right,
17:32
Speaker 2: and that that does have a power that shouldn't be dismissed.
17:36
Speaker 2: It shouldn't be overlooked linebackers. You know, you hear it
17:40
Speaker 2: less these days than you used to in the past,
17:42
Speaker 2: But you used to hear about you know, three four
17:44
Speaker 2: defensive linemen, like the role they had was just to
17:48
Speaker 2: occupy space right and let the linebackers make plays. And
17:52
Speaker 2: you know, even in a four to three, the defensive
17:54
Speaker 2: lines role was to clear up the traffic for the
17:59
Speaker 2: linebackers make the plays behind.
18:01
Speaker 3: You know, fundamentally, there's still a lot of truth to that.
18:03
Speaker 2: So if a guy like Dexter Lawrence comes back and
18:06
Speaker 2: plays at his best level, sure he's going to make
18:09
Speaker 2: a ton of plays by himself, but it's also going
18:11
Speaker 2: to make life a ton easier for the likes of
18:13
Speaker 2: Barrett Carter.
18:14
Speaker 3: Demetrious Knight behind him. I mean, it does.
18:16
Speaker 2: It has a huge impact, and I don't know that
18:18
Speaker 2: we've done a great job collectively of quantifying the kind
18:22
Speaker 2: of impact that that can make. But I definitely wouldn't
18:26
Speaker 2: dismiss it as a significant boost for those guys' fortunes
18:31
Speaker 2: going into this year.
18:33
Speaker 1: The Bengals made news recently when they restructured Joe Burrow's
18:36
Speaker 1: contract to free up cap space. How significant was that
18:40
Speaker 1: in your opinion?
18:42
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's funny because on the one hand, it's completely insignificant.
18:45
Speaker 2: It's the type of move that it's happening, you know,
18:48
Speaker 2: every week in the offseason throughout the NFL, to the
18:51
Speaker 2: point where it's barely even newsworthy, Right, It's just somebody's
18:55
Speaker 2: contractors retructured.
18:56
Speaker 3: Okay, fair enough.
18:58
Speaker 2: It's only news because it's basically unprecedented for the Bengals specifically,
19:04
Speaker 2: and because of that, I think it is news, and
19:06
Speaker 2: it's it's just another one of these things that have
19:10
Speaker 2: happened in the last you know, five six years basically
19:13
Speaker 2: since Joe Burrow arrived this team, this franchise. It is modernizing,
19:19
Speaker 2: it is changing, it is doing things that they have
19:22
Speaker 2: never done in the past. And you, I think have
19:25
Speaker 2: to see Joe Burrow as a significant driving force and
19:28
Speaker 2: factor behind all that. The investment that they made in
19:32
Speaker 2: the practice facility in the stadium, in bringing back both
19:37
Speaker 2: of his top receivers on you know, top dollar contracts,
19:41
Speaker 2: and then this restructuring his contract in a way that
19:45
Speaker 2: they had never done before. So it's, you know, it's
19:49
Speaker 2: as a move, it's fairly inconsequential, but the fact that
19:52
Speaker 2: they have done it finally, right, I think is pretty significant,
19:56
Speaker 2: not necessarily because of what that move means, but because
19:59
Speaker 2: it's signals this you know, broad modernization of the franchise
20:03
Speaker 2: that has been happening in the last half dozen seasons.
20:06
Speaker 1: Now, the Bengals will be a Super Bowl contender in
20:10
Speaker 1: twenty twenty six if what.
20:16
Speaker 3: I guess two things. If Burrough stays healthy, it would
20:19
Speaker 3: be the first one.
20:20
Speaker 2: And then if the defense is just okay, you know,
20:22
Speaker 2: if the defense is not terrible. I think we saw
20:25
Speaker 2: that last year. This offense is capable of cooking with
20:28
Speaker 2: the best offenses in the NFL, and sometimes it didn't
20:31
Speaker 2: matter because the defense was going to give up one
20:33
Speaker 2: more point, it was going to give up one more yard,
20:35
Speaker 2: then the offense was able to make on their side.
20:37
Speaker 3: So if the defense is just okay, if it's just.
20:41
Speaker 2: Not a disaster this year, I think that offense has
20:44
Speaker 2: got so much talent it can hang with any team
20:47
Speaker 2: in the NFL. And maybe they won't be, you know,
20:49
Speaker 2: the most dominant team in the NFL, but they'd be
20:51
Speaker 2: able to beat the most dominant team in the NFL
20:53
Speaker 2: on any given Sunday.
20:54
Speaker 3: And that's that's how you become a Super Bowl contender.
20:58
Speaker 1: I look at the personnel now I defense and think
21:02
Speaker 1: they should be decent. Yeah, maybe not top five, but
21:06
Speaker 1: certainly not bottom five anymore.
21:08
Speaker 3: Agreed.
21:08
Speaker 2: I don't think it should ever have been as bad
21:10
Speaker 2: as it was in the first place. I think with
21:12
Speaker 2: just running it bank, with the personnel they had, it
21:14
Speaker 2: shouldn't have been as bad as it was. So with
21:17
Speaker 2: all the additions that they made, I agree, I think
21:20
Speaker 2: it You know, we don't know how good it'll be.
21:21
Speaker 3: We don't know how big.
21:22
Speaker 2: Of a step in the right direction it will take,
21:24
Speaker 2: but it should be a pretty significant one.
21:27
Speaker 1: Sam, the first time I had you on a radio show,
21:29
Speaker 1: I think you were living in Dublin and working for
21:32
Speaker 1: Pro Football Focus. Back then you moved to Cincinnati when
21:35
Speaker 1: Chris said Collinsworth owned the company for a while there,
21:38
Speaker 1: Are you a Cincinnatian at this point?
21:41
Speaker 3: I am.
21:42
Speaker 2: Whatever we are, We're like ten days away from officially
21:45
Speaker 2: being a US citizen. So I guess at that point
21:47
Speaker 2: I officially become one.
21:49
Speaker 1: Right, congratulations, do you have to pass? Did you have
21:53
Speaker 1: to pass the quiz?
21:54
Speaker 3: Like?
21:55
Speaker 2: Yeah, but the quiz was we wasn't a challenging quiz.
21:57
Speaker 2: It turns out it was pretty easy. The bigger the
22:00
Speaker 2: bigger issue was after so you do the interview, you
22:03
Speaker 2: do the quiz, thing, you show you can write, and
22:05
Speaker 2: then they said, okay, we'll put it. We're recommending you
22:09
Speaker 2: for approval, and your ceremony thing will be you know,
22:14
Speaker 2: scheduled the next week or so. My wife did that
22:17
Speaker 2: and twenty four hours later she had a date and
22:20
Speaker 2: it was a few weeks down the line. Mine disappeared
22:22
Speaker 2: into a black hole for like nine months and nobody
22:24
Speaker 2: said a word until it eventually resurfaced again.
22:27
Speaker 3: So that was a far bigger issue.
22:29
Speaker 1: Somebody from immigration didn't like what you said on a
22:32
Speaker 1: podcast apparently and put you in the back of the line.
22:35
Speaker 2: There was I mean, you know, in this world right now,
22:38
Speaker 2: there was apparently basically the day after or the day
22:41
Speaker 2: before I did mine, they changed the criterion. They started
22:45
Speaker 2: sort of going back and checking you know, more advanced
22:48
Speaker 2: background checks, including social media accounts and I'm like, I
22:53
Speaker 2: don't know what, but there's definitely something at my social media.
22:56
Speaker 2: But you know, in the last fifteen years that would
22:58
Speaker 2: probably be preclusive of me the end of the country,
23:01
Speaker 2: so that was definitely a worry at one point.
23:04
Speaker 1: I'm glad you survived your social media posts in the
23:07
Speaker 1: past and you will be a US citizen soon. Congrats
23:10
Speaker 1: on that. Thanks so much for your time. It's always
23:12
Speaker 1: a treat to pick your.
23:13
Speaker 3: Brain, no problem. Thanks for having me up.
23:15
Speaker 1: Next, some bold comments from Joe Burrow. But first, here's
23:19
Speaker 1: a quick reminder that the Bengals Booth podcast is brought
23:22
Speaker 1: to you by pay Corps, proud to be the Bengals
23:24
Speaker 1: official HR software provider by Alta Fiber future proof fiber
23:30
Speaker 1: Internet designed to elevate your home, business and community to
23:33
Speaker 1: a new level, and by Kettering Health the best care
23:36
Speaker 1: for the best fans. Kettering Health is the official healthcare
23:40
Speaker 1: provider of the Bengals. The Bengals wrapped up their mandatory
23:44
Speaker 1: mini camp this week, meaning the players will be off
23:46
Speaker 1: for roughly five weeks before training camp begins in late July.
23:51
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow met with the media on Wednesday and made
23:54
Speaker 1: his feelings abundantly clear he thinks this year's team is
24:00
Speaker 1: legitimate Super Bowl A lot of urgency this year.
24:04
Speaker 4: Certainly we have everything we need. Put pressure on guys.
24:10
Speaker 4: I love it, I thrive in it. We'll find out
24:13
Speaker 4: who else does. I know that we have the kind
24:16
Speaker 4: of people that want to be in that spot.
24:21
Speaker 5: I want.
24:21
Speaker 4: I want everybody talking about the Bengals. I want everybody
24:24
Speaker 4: talking about what I'm saying in my press conferences.
24:27
Speaker 3: You know, you go back.
24:28
Speaker 6: And watch what I said before twenty nineteen season at LSU.
24:32
Speaker 6: You know, I feel very similarly about this team. You know,
24:36
Speaker 6: I'm so excited to get started and get moving, and
24:40
Speaker 6: I wish we would ramp this right into training camp
24:42
Speaker 6: so we can continue to improve because I feel like,
24:46
Speaker 6: you know, there's so much greatness.
24:47
Speaker 4: That we're going to be able to achieve. We're going
24:51
Speaker 4: and expecting to win every game that we step foot
24:54
Speaker 4: on the field. Obviously, you know you want to win
24:57
Speaker 4: a Super Bowl, and that's certainly plan, but if you
25:01
Speaker 4: got to take it one day to time, one week
25:02
Speaker 4: at a time, I'm excited for the journey.
25:05
Speaker 1: One thing that was striking to me about Joe's comments
25:08
Speaker 1: was when he said, if you go back and watch
25:10
Speaker 1: what I said before the twenty nineteen season at LSU,
25:14
Speaker 1: I feel very similarly about this team. Well, that's exactly
25:19
Speaker 1: what I did. I went back and watched Joe talking
25:22
Speaker 1: to reporters at the Manning Passing Academy in late June
25:26
Speaker 1: of twenty nineteen, when he made a comment that got
25:30
Speaker 1: a lot of attention.
25:31
Speaker 7: I think we're going to score a lot of points,
25:33
Speaker 7: and I don't think a lot of people are used
25:34
Speaker 7: to LSU scoring forty to fifty sixty points a game,
25:38
Speaker 7: and I think we have that capability. I think if
25:41
Speaker 7: we do, we need to do up to fall camp
25:44
Speaker 7: and then continue our hard work in fall camp, we
25:46
Speaker 7: can be one of the best offenses in the country.
25:48
Speaker 1: Joe was mocked at the time for saying that LSU
25:51
Speaker 1: would score forty to fifty sixty points, but that year
25:55
Speaker 1: the Tigers went fifteen to zero, won the national championship,
25:59
Speaker 1: and top forty points twelve times, topped fifty seven times,
26:04
Speaker 1: and top sixty three times, including in the national semifinal
26:09
Speaker 1: game against Oklahoma. Joe hasn't said anything quite as bold
26:13
Speaker 1: as forty to fifty sixty about the Bengals, but he
26:17
Speaker 1: clearly thinks that this year's team has a chance to
26:20
Speaker 1: be special. Finally, we turned a fourth year, safety, Jordan Battle,
26:25
Speaker 1: who gave new meaning to the nickname Air Jordan last
26:28
Speaker 1: week when he got to take a ride with the
26:30
Speaker 1: Blue Angels, the official flight demonstration squadron of the US
26:35
Speaker 1: Navy and Marine Corps. There's a great video of Jordan's
26:39
Speaker 1: adventure on bengals dot com, and he joined me this
26:42
Speaker 1: week to share some of the details. Jordan, did you
26:47
Speaker 1: know that you were being considered to go up in
26:50
Speaker 1: that flight? Or was it a total surprise? Uh?
26:54
Speaker 8: I mean before I was chosen, I didn't know at all,
26:57
Speaker 8: or didn't know I was even considered, but h.
27:00
Speaker 5: Yeah, it was.
27:01
Speaker 8: It was basically a surprise when I found out, and
27:05
Speaker 8: clearly became like a big thing, you know, And I
27:09
Speaker 8: didn't know how it would go. But it went very well,
27:12
Speaker 8: very fun. Probably won't do it again, you know, just
27:16
Speaker 8: because I probably won't have the opportunity to.
27:19
Speaker 5: I mean, maybe I will.
27:20
Speaker 8: I mean I did get uh, I did get in
27:23
Speaker 8: contact with the with lieutenant, so maybe we'll see.
27:26
Speaker 1: I went skydiving once and immediately afterward I would have
27:30
Speaker 1: done it again. Now that the years have gone by,
27:32
Speaker 1: I don't really have much of a desire to do
27:34
Speaker 1: it again, but I was kind of proud of myself
27:36
Speaker 1: for doing it once. Do you have similar feelings that,
27:39
Speaker 1: you know, you had the guts to go up and
27:41
Speaker 1: do that.
27:41
Speaker 5: Yeah, for sure, And that was pretty gutsy of me.
27:44
Speaker 8: Uh, you know, because you know, anytime anytime you go
27:48
Speaker 8: up there, you know, in the in the plane, you
27:50
Speaker 8: know you have to have there there's precautions, you know,
27:53
Speaker 8: and I felt very safe with Lieutenant you know, flying
27:56
Speaker 8: a plane very quickly, you.
27:58
Speaker 5: Know, we got in the air.
27:59
Speaker 8: Uh, he was constantly checking up on me consistently, you know,
28:02
Speaker 8: making sure I was.
28:03
Speaker 5: Good, and it was It was fun. It was a
28:06
Speaker 5: good experience, and.
28:07
Speaker 8: He treated me basically like I was his partner the
28:10
Speaker 8: whole entire time was in the air, and we were
28:13
Speaker 8: doing different maneuvers, you know, like we were in training
28:16
Speaker 8: for combat.
28:17
Speaker 5: So that was fun as well.
28:19
Speaker 1: How are you with heights.
28:21
Speaker 5: I'm pretty I'm pretty cool with heights.
28:23
Speaker 8: I love roller coaster, so I'm pretty cool with heights.
28:26
Speaker 8: I like like being in tall buildings and everything, so
28:29
Speaker 8: I'm pretty cool when it comes to heights.
28:31
Speaker 5: You know, just try not to look down as much.
28:34
Speaker 1: We're chatting with Jordan Battle. In the video that was
28:37
Speaker 1: posted on the Bengals website, we see the instructor discussing
28:40
Speaker 1: breathing technique. Was that so you wouldn't pass out?
28:44
Speaker 8: Yeah, for sure if you didn't know how to breathe
28:47
Speaker 8: or the right training to brief, you ain't have the
28:49
Speaker 8: right training to breathe. I think for sure you would
28:52
Speaker 8: definitely pass out because there are times like when I'm
28:55
Speaker 8: in the air, I have to remember, I have to
28:58
Speaker 8: remember what I was taught, like right before I got
29:00
Speaker 8: on the plane, and it really helped me throughout the
29:03
Speaker 8: whole entire time. If you watching the video, you can
29:05
Speaker 8: see me like and his first initial takeoff, you can
29:08
Speaker 8: see me kind of like bracing, but a look like
29:10
Speaker 8: I'm like scared, but I'm not. It's like I'm holding
29:13
Speaker 8: it in and then bringing it out then. So I
29:15
Speaker 8: see my lips moving a little bit in the video,
29:17
Speaker 8: so I'm like trying to do the right breathing technique,
29:20
Speaker 8: which is like hold for three seconds, let out quick,
29:23
Speaker 8: and then hell quick, hold for three seconds.
29:25
Speaker 5: So it was it was cool, real cool.
29:27
Speaker 1: I hope people watch the video because it's awesome. We
29:30
Speaker 1: see the plane sore straight up vertically. It looks like
29:33
Speaker 1: you did rolls. It looked like there was a period
29:36
Speaker 1: where the plane was upside down. Was there something that
29:39
Speaker 1: you consider to be the coolest part.
29:42
Speaker 5: Uh, Yeah, for sure.
29:44
Speaker 8: One of the maneuvers were in combat, like trying to
29:48
Speaker 8: we're getting chased, and he was just finding openings through
29:51
Speaker 8: the clouds and just basically like kind of surfing the
29:54
Speaker 8: clouds through the top gun. Yeah, basically like top gun,
29:57
Speaker 8: you know, just surfing the clouds through the air. And
29:59
Speaker 8: then he had did a defense mechanism where you roll over,
30:05
Speaker 8: you go, you hit the collus, hurt the collegs, roll over,
30:08
Speaker 8: and now you've become the basically offense.
30:11
Speaker 5: Like now you're on the attack, which is.
30:13
Speaker 8: A pretty cool probably pull about six g's just doing
30:16
Speaker 8: that quick.
30:17
Speaker 5: Roll, and it was crazy. It was crazy.
30:20
Speaker 1: It was an Fa eighteen super Hornet. The cruising speed
30:24
Speaker 1: is six hundred and fifty to seven hundred miles an hour.
30:27
Speaker 1: The max speed is twelve hundred excuse me, twelve hundred
30:30
Speaker 1: miles an hour. You were at seven and a half
30:33
Speaker 1: gee's gravitational force. Did it feel like Dexter Lawrence was
30:37
Speaker 1: like sitting on top of you with those seven and
30:40
Speaker 1: a half geese.
30:41
Speaker 5: It felt like maybe three dexamorses. It was crazy. You know.
30:46
Speaker 8: It's like it's hard to explain because I feel like
30:50
Speaker 8: you have to be in it to like really experience
30:53
Speaker 8: it and really like fill it.
30:55
Speaker 5: But yeah, it was just crazy.
30:57
Speaker 8: Like just feeling how your body like feels when you're
31:00
Speaker 8: shooting up.
31:01
Speaker 5: That that high, that fast, that vertical. It was the thing.
31:06
Speaker 5: I think. It's something you got.
31:07
Speaker 8: To just experience, you know, to feel where I'm coming
31:10
Speaker 8: from when I say, like she's going against it. It's
31:13
Speaker 8: very hard to breathe, like super hard to breathe, which
31:15
Speaker 8: is why the reason technique was so serious, you know
31:18
Speaker 8: going into it. And I'm just happy I was, you know,
31:21
Speaker 8: able to have a good time and you know, not
31:23
Speaker 8: be able to not throw up, you know, not.
31:25
Speaker 5: Have a and I feel nauseous after. So that was
31:28
Speaker 5: that was awesome.
31:29
Speaker 1: It's funny you should say that because I shared before
31:31
Speaker 1: we started that my wife used to be in TV
31:33
Speaker 1: news and she went up in some jets like that,
31:35
Speaker 1: and one of the things she's most proud of is
31:38
Speaker 1: that she didn't throw up.
31:39
Speaker 5: Yeah.
31:39
Speaker 8: Yeah, because I mean they tell you like ninety five
31:41
Speaker 8: percent of the people that go up there is they
31:43
Speaker 8: throw up. So I'm glad me and her are part of.
31:45
Speaker 3: The five percent.
31:47
Speaker 1: I'll have to put you two good together to discuss
31:49
Speaker 1: what it's like. Do you look at military pilots differently? Oh?
31:52
Speaker 5: Yeah, for sure.
31:53
Speaker 8: You know we were we were having conversations the marrow
31:56
Speaker 8: up there. You know, you were talking about how you
31:59
Speaker 8: respect everything we do, you know, as football players, and
32:03
Speaker 8: how it relates to to military. You know, you have
32:06
Speaker 8: to be a team. You have to be on you know,
32:08
Speaker 8: one cadence. You know, you have to be uh, be together.
32:11
Speaker 8: And as we're in the area, you know, he's just
32:13
Speaker 8: as we're going through different maneuvers, you know, he's checking
32:16
Speaker 8: up on me, make sure how the energy, you know,
32:18
Speaker 8: my energy's up there to do the next maneuver, you know,
32:21
Speaker 8: and I have the confidence do the next maneuver as well.
32:24
Speaker 2: Uh.
32:24
Speaker 5: And then he was just.
32:25
Speaker 8: Like just going through the mechanics of everything, you know,
32:29
Speaker 8: and given given the countdowns and everything right before we
32:32
Speaker 8: did any maneuver, you.
32:34
Speaker 5: Know, so I'll be ready to work my breathing and technique.
32:37
Speaker 2: Uh.
32:37
Speaker 8: He just he just said he just admired you know,
32:40
Speaker 8: how how open I was with them, you know, and
32:43
Speaker 8: how entertaining I was, which we talked about it, which
32:47
Speaker 8: was probably like his his favorite you know, one of
32:49
Speaker 8: his favorite, uh, his fly his fly throughs that day
32:53
Speaker 8: or fly throughs you know in this in this year,
32:55
Speaker 8: you know, which is very cool to hear because I
32:59
Speaker 8: feel like, you know, just me as a person, that's
33:02
Speaker 8: why I try to do every day, you know, just
33:04
Speaker 8: maybe get to get the best out of someone or
33:07
Speaker 8: you know, just put a smile on somebody's face, which
33:09
Speaker 8: is you know, uh heart woman for me and obviously
33:12
Speaker 8: for the other person as well.
33:13
Speaker 5: So that was cool to hear. You're coachable, Yeah, yeah,
33:17
Speaker 5: very coachable.
33:18
Speaker 3: M h.
33:19
Speaker 8: I mean I had a dad that was the coach
33:20
Speaker 8: my whole life, so pretty I kind of have no
33:23
Speaker 8: no choice but.
33:23
Speaker 5: To be coachable.
33:25
Speaker 1: How did it compare to the excitement of running out
33:27
Speaker 1: of the tunnel for an NFL game?
33:29
Speaker 5: Uh, I mean I wouldn't.
33:32
Speaker 8: I mean, it's it's comparable, but you know, there's no
33:34
Speaker 8: there's no feeling like running out of the tunnel, you know,
33:36
Speaker 8: being bested with the chance to you know hit the
33:38
Speaker 8: field you know anytime you can. So, uh, this is
33:42
Speaker 8: a little comparable, I know it I know, it's very
33:44
Speaker 8: comparable for lieutenant, for Lieutenant Ronnie.
33:46
Speaker 5: But for me, I feel like running out of that tunnel.
33:49
Speaker 1: There's no feeling like a few football questions for Jordan Battle,
33:52
Speaker 1: then I'll let you go. Since the end of last year,
33:54
Speaker 1: Al Golden has been highly complimentary about you and your
33:58
Speaker 1: importance to the team. I assume that you've heard or
34:01
Speaker 1: read some of his comments. What was your reaction.
34:04
Speaker 8: Yeah, just, you know, it's I know, I know he
34:08
Speaker 8: has a confidence in me. You know, we've talked, you know,
34:11
Speaker 8: numerous amount of times. You know, so I'm gonna say
34:14
Speaker 8: I'm surprised, you know, by by the way he speaks
34:16
Speaker 8: of how highly he speaks of me.
34:18
Speaker 5: You know.
34:18
Speaker 8: But I just you know, I have to you know,
34:20
Speaker 8: live up to that, you know, I have to be
34:21
Speaker 8: a leader, more of a leader, more have more of
34:23
Speaker 8: a voice, you know, on defense, you know, make sure
34:26
Speaker 8: guys are you know, on the same page, you know,
34:28
Speaker 8: make sure guys are building that relationships you know in
34:30
Speaker 8: the building, you know, and outside of the building as well,
34:33
Speaker 8: you know, just keeping the team together, you know, and
34:36
Speaker 8: having the confidence to go out on the field and
34:38
Speaker 8: just dominate you know, every day.
34:39
Speaker 5: And then uh, starts in practice.
34:41
Speaker 8: You know, I feel like we've been we've been good
34:43
Speaker 8: throughout these OTAs, you know, being consistent you know, and
34:46
Speaker 8: uh and challenging the offense.
34:48
Speaker 5: And it's been you know, back and forth.
34:50
Speaker 8: And that's that's how it's supposed to be on this
34:52
Speaker 8: when there's a when there's a great team, you know,
34:54
Speaker 8: building So uh, I feel like I.
34:56
Speaker 5: Just love the consistency.
34:57
Speaker 8: Where we're going going through with you know, right now,
35:00
Speaker 8: and you got to keep building off of it.
35:02
Speaker 1: You let the team in tackles, you led the team
35:04
Speaker 1: in interceptions. Was year three of your NFL career a
35:08
Speaker 1: turning point or a big step forward for you?
35:12
Speaker 3: Uh?
35:12
Speaker 8: Yeah, I mean that was that was you know, that
35:15
Speaker 8: was good to see. You know, haven't that many tackles,
35:18
Speaker 8: but uh, you know, I also understand to say you're not.
35:21
Speaker 5: Supposed to have that many tackles, you know what I mean.
35:23
Speaker 8: That's something that's something we gotta gotta work on as
35:26
Speaker 8: a defense, you know. And but for sure, stepping stone,
35:29
Speaker 8: you know, first first year being a full full time starter,
35:33
Speaker 8: you know, I feel like I still got much more
35:35
Speaker 8: to build on, you know, and obviously having that season,
35:39
Speaker 8: you know, and going back and looking at the tape,
35:41
Speaker 8: you know, and seeing all the things I did wrong,
35:44
Speaker 8: you know, before the things I did right, you know,
35:45
Speaker 8: so I correct those and then you know, have less mistakes,
35:48
Speaker 8: you know, I have less miss tackles. Uh, not too many,
35:52
Speaker 8: not too many mental areas on tape, you know, but
35:56
Speaker 8: just correcting every little thing I can, you know, so
35:58
Speaker 8: I can be even better player, you know, going into
36:01
Speaker 8: my fourth year, you know, it's a it's a big year,
36:04
Speaker 8: you know, and we've got the guys that the pieces
36:07
Speaker 8: to the puzzle and we got to just go out
36:09
Speaker 8: there and you just got to execute, you know. You know,
36:11
Speaker 8: we got the guys up front. You know, we got
36:14
Speaker 8: two linebackers coming back who's very comfortable with the playbook now,
36:17
Speaker 8: who's been building their building the confidence up together, you
36:21
Speaker 8: know this off season, and uh it's gonna be a
36:23
Speaker 8: big season for them as well. And just having guys
36:26
Speaker 8: like uh DA's come back, DJ come back, and then
36:29
Speaker 8: adding be cooked.
36:31
Speaker 5: You know, it's a big, big, big, big plug for us.
36:34
Speaker 8: And also Doug as well, you know, just a veteran
36:36
Speaker 8: guy who's been in the game for a long time
36:39
Speaker 8: for a while, who can you know, give us some experience,
36:41
Speaker 8: Uh we'll do we'll do great things for us and
36:45
Speaker 8: we're happy for the season.
36:46
Speaker 5: Man, We're happy for the season coming up.
36:48
Speaker 1: Let me follow up on Brian Cook. I got to
36:50
Speaker 1: know him well when he played at you see. What
36:52
Speaker 1: are your impressions of him so far?
36:53
Speaker 8: Yeah, very very quiet at first, but you see how
36:57
Speaker 8: he's trying to kind of you know, fit in his
36:59
Speaker 8: own Now you know, he's being more open, you know,
37:02
Speaker 8: talking to us, you know, showing his personality a little
37:05
Speaker 8: more obviously on the field. A playmaker, you know, a
37:10
Speaker 8: guy who wants to get better every day. You know,
37:12
Speaker 8: he's trying to find, you know, find ways, you know,
37:14
Speaker 8: within the defense to make it easier for us, you know,
37:16
Speaker 8: and always asking questions, you know, to the coaches to
37:19
Speaker 8: you know, see if there's things we can implement, you know,
37:22
Speaker 8: to make things a little a little more more easier
37:24
Speaker 8: and have more confidence on going on to the field.
37:27
Speaker 8: You know, where that's you know, changing a little a
37:29
Speaker 8: bunch of calls that call, you know, just the little things.
37:32
Speaker 8: You know, So just as intentional his intent on getting better,
37:35
Speaker 8: it is just through the roof.
37:37
Speaker 1: I had andre Yo c Vosh on this podcast recently.
37:40
Speaker 1: A member of your twenty twenty three draft class. I
37:43
Speaker 1: look at that class, Miles Murphy, DJ Turner, you, Andre,
37:48
Speaker 1: Chase Brown, Charlie Jones, DJ Ivy. It's really an impressive group.
37:53
Speaker 1: Is there a bond among you guys?
37:55
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, for sure.
37:57
Speaker 8: I feel like that's probably the most together class I've
38:02
Speaker 8: seen since I've been here. Our class, I feel like
38:06
Speaker 8: we're like, we're very in tune with each other, you know,
38:09
Speaker 8: and we speak. You know, obviously some of us on
38:13
Speaker 8: different sides of the ball, but you know, you wouldn't
38:15
Speaker 8: even notice because you know, outside of the facility, you know,
38:17
Speaker 8: we're hanging out, or you know, inside of the facility,
38:20
Speaker 8: we're sitting next to each other at the lockers, you know,
38:22
Speaker 8: just having a conversation, you know, about life, you know.
38:25
Speaker 8: And I feel like this is the This is definitely
38:28
Speaker 8: the most together unit or unit or class you know,
38:32
Speaker 8: that I've seen, you know, since I've been there.
38:34
Speaker 1: The beinglest you won a national championship at Alabama, you
38:38
Speaker 1: have not been able to play in a playoff game
38:40
Speaker 1: yet in three years in Cincinnati. Does that stick under
38:43
Speaker 1: your craw heading in the year four?
38:45
Speaker 5: For sure, we we gotta, I mean, I have to
38:49
Speaker 5: play it.
38:49
Speaker 8: I obviously have to play in the playoff game, you know,
38:52
Speaker 8: and uh like this is the year to do it,
38:55
Speaker 8: and not just a playoff game.
38:57
Speaker 5: You know, I got to play.
38:57
Speaker 8: I want to play an indivisional you know, the conf
39:00
Speaker 8: incident in Super Bowl as well, So you know, those
39:02
Speaker 8: are big goals for me, you know. Obviously, you get
39:05
Speaker 8: to the playoffs is first, you know, and then finished
39:07
Speaker 8: from there.
39:08
Speaker 1: Appreciate your time and enjoy your time off and we'll
39:10
Speaker 1: see at the start of training camp. Sir, Thank you, Dan,
39:14
Speaker 1: that's going to do it for this episode of the
39:15
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth podcast, brought to you by pay Core. Proud
39:19
Speaker 1: to be the Bengals official hr software provider by Alta
39:23
Speaker 1: Fiber future proof fiber Internet designed to elevate your home,
39:27
Speaker 1: business and community to a new level, and by Kettering
39:30
Speaker 1: Health the best care for the best fans. Kettering Health
39:34
Speaker 1: is the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. If you
39:38
Speaker 1: haven't done so already, please subscribe to this podcast and
39:41
Speaker 1: if you have a minute, give it a rating or
39:43
Speaker 1: share a comment that helps more Bengals fans find us.
39:48
Speaker 1: I'm Dan Horde and thanks for listening to The Bengals
39:52
Speaker 1: Booth podcast
40:01
Speaker 6: Ska