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Bengals Booth Podcast: I Will Wait · Bengals Booth Podcast

0:03
Speaker 1: H I get everybody on Dan Hord and thanks for
0:05
Speaker 1: downloading The Bengals Booth Podcast the.
0:09
Speaker 2: I Will We I Will We for you audition.
0:14
Speaker 1: As we only have to go one more weekend without
0:17
Speaker 1: Bengals football. Coming up, I'll talk to the two rookies
0:20
Speaker 1: who were probably the biggest long shots to make the
0:23
Speaker 1: Bengals fifty three man roster, and my broadcast partner Dave
0:26
Speaker 1: Lapham checks in to discuss the latest Bengals news and
0:30
Speaker 1: our training camp MVPs. The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought
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Speaker 1: provider of the Bengals. Now here's a quick reminder that
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Speaker 1: you can have the latest edition of this podcast delivered
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Speaker 1: right to your phone, tablet or computer by some subscribing
1:00
Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcasts. It's the greatest thing since tailgating.
1:06
Speaker 1: I have the greatest job in the world, and thank Heavens,
1:09
Speaker 1: I was able to get into sports broadcasting because I
1:11
Speaker 1: am incapable of doing anything else. Shoot, I can barely
1:16
Speaker 1: fill my gas tank or change a light bulb. But
1:18
Speaker 1: having said that, the one downside about my job is
1:22
Speaker 1: that I can never take part in pregame tailgating. For
1:26
Speaker 1: many of you, it's one of the best parts of
1:28
Speaker 1: the football season, getting together with friends and family and
1:31
Speaker 1: getting fired up for the game, tossing a football or
1:34
Speaker 1: playing cornhole, having a sinsy light and a brat. Just
1:39
Speaker 1: know that the next time you're tailgating before a Bengals game,
1:43
Speaker 1: the bald guy in the booth wishes he could be
1:46
Speaker 1: there with you. Now, let's get to football. The Bengals
1:50
Speaker 1: single season sack record is held by a player who
1:53
Speaker 1: is not selected in the NFL draft, Coy Bacon. Since
1:57
Speaker 1: tackles became an official NFL stat and too thousand and one,
2:01
Speaker 1: the only Bengal to lead the league was another undrafted player,
2:05
Speaker 1: Bontes Perfect in twenty thirteen. This year, two undrafted rookies
2:11
Speaker 1: made the Bengals fifty three man roster, punter Ryan Rico
2:15
Speaker 1: and linebacker Muma John Meta. Muma was clearly the biggest
2:20
Speaker 1: long shot to make the team This year, and I
2:23
Speaker 1: talked to him about the achievement. When your linebackers coach
2:28
Speaker 1: James Betcher called you with the good news, you shared
2:31
Speaker 1: that you were getting a massage. So what felt better
2:34
Speaker 1: the news or the massage?
2:37
Speaker 3: The news?
2:38
Speaker 4: Now the news the news was releading. I was that
2:41
Speaker 4: was pretty awesome. It was. I saw the video.
2:45
Speaker 5: I was like, bro, I did not know that were recording,
2:46
Speaker 5: but this is hilarious, but that it was a wonderful video.
2:50
Speaker 4: Very touch on.
2:51
Speaker 1: Did you have a good feeling that you were going
2:53
Speaker 1: to make it or were you on pins and needles?
2:56
Speaker 4: No, I mean I think.
2:59
Speaker 5: I think it was one of those Okay, I feel
3:01
Speaker 5: pretty good about Honestly, it was one of those that,
3:03
Speaker 5: you know, no matter what happens, I'm happy with what
3:05
Speaker 5: I've done. You know, forget the result at this point.
3:07
Speaker 5: I feel like I put it out there and at
3:09
Speaker 5: the end of the day, that's really all you can
3:10
Speaker 5: ask for. It ended up going working out in you know,
3:14
Speaker 5: very positive outcome. You know, I love this city, I
3:16
Speaker 5: love this team, and I really wanted to be here.
3:19
Speaker 5: So uh, I felt good about what I had done,
3:22
Speaker 5: but I so needed to wait for that call. We
3:24
Speaker 5: really feel good about it and the call Cave and
3:26
Speaker 5: it was it was it was a really good day.
3:28
Speaker 1: We're visiting with moment, John Matta. You finished second in
3:31
Speaker 1: the NFL in tackles in the preseason. Did you become
3:35
Speaker 1: aware of that as the preseason was going along and
3:38
Speaker 1: did it become a goal to lead?
3:41
Speaker 5: No, I mean, honestly, like it's one of those things
3:44
Speaker 5: that reporters tell you. I'm like, oh, let's didn't know that,
3:48
Speaker 5: and so yeah, I did not. Honestly didn't really know
3:51
Speaker 5: until the second game. Like someone was like, oh, like.
3:53
Speaker 4: You're leading NFL tackles. I was like, that's crazy, you know.
3:57
Speaker 5: I think it's just a testimony to my teammates kind
4:00
Speaker 5: of the scheme that we have and coaches just putting
4:02
Speaker 5: us in the right position. Yeah, so it was awesome.
4:06
Speaker 5: It was definitely really cool. It's a fun thing. I'm
4:08
Speaker 5: telling my kids that forever. So something to brag about
4:11
Speaker 5: is a dad one day.
4:12
Speaker 1: You read All League onners a couple of years ago
4:14
Speaker 1: again at Wisconsin, and then last year with a coaching change,
4:18
Speaker 1: maybe it took a while to to fit in the defense.
4:21
Speaker 1: I don't know. You tell me what what happened last
4:23
Speaker 1: year Wisconsin yeah.
4:24
Speaker 5: I mean, I think last year was just an unfortunate
4:27
Speaker 5: cocktail of events. You know, I broke my hand early on,
4:30
Speaker 5: made a scheme change, you had a coaching change.
4:34
Speaker 4: It was just, you know, I asked me to gain
4:36
Speaker 4: a lot of weight.
4:37
Speaker 5: It was just a lot of things where you know,
4:38
Speaker 5: I found myself just not playing my best football. And
4:42
Speaker 5: then you know, there were there were times when they
4:46
Speaker 5: felt like they needed to go with a different person.
4:48
Speaker 4: But I felt like when I you know, I wasn't there,
4:50
Speaker 4: I did some of my best work.
4:53
Speaker 5: So it was it was one of those things that
4:56
Speaker 5: you you learned every lesson, every loss can be a lesson,
4:59
Speaker 5: and I think it definitely shaped my mindset coming into
5:03
Speaker 5: camp here about like, hey, this is what I want
5:05
Speaker 5: to do different. You know, this is a new opportunity
5:07
Speaker 5: and I'm gonna just do with it what I can.
5:09
Speaker 4: So last year it was just honestly crazy.
5:12
Speaker 5: Looking back, you know, your life can really change in
5:14
Speaker 5: the year, so it's a blessing to be here.
5:17
Speaker 1: You did finish strong last year, though.
5:19
Speaker 4: Yeah, no, I think so. I think it was just.
5:23
Speaker 5: You know, I was they benched me in, you know,
5:27
Speaker 5: they the coaches wanted to go in a different direction,
5:30
Speaker 5: and I'm honestly been a damn the team player.
5:32
Speaker 4: So I was captain the defense, and I found a
5:34
Speaker 4: way to lead from the.
5:35
Speaker 5: Bench, and it was just like, hey, coach, you're gonna
5:37
Speaker 5: throw me in for three four reps a game, like,
5:38
Speaker 5: I'll shoot those will be my best three or four reps.
5:41
Speaker 4: You'll see it.
5:42
Speaker 5: So and honestly just prepared me for coming to the
5:45
Speaker 5: league where you only get three or four reps as
5:47
Speaker 5: a young guy, you know, like you don't and that's
5:48
Speaker 5: your resume. So in a crazy silver lightings way like
5:52
Speaker 5: it actually last year prepared me so much for this year.
5:55
Speaker 4: It was actually a blessing kind of the way it
5:57
Speaker 4: shaped out last year.
5:59
Speaker 1: The Bengals fans great players in their history that weren't
6:01
Speaker 1: selected in the NFL Draft, and obviously you weren't. What
6:05
Speaker 1: did teams miss Why did thirty two teams that make
6:10
Speaker 1: seven rounds of draft picks and somehow miss out on you?
6:14
Speaker 3: A shrug of the shoulders.
6:16
Speaker 5: Hey, well, the story is still being written, so I
6:20
Speaker 5: can't really call it quite yet. But you know, things happen.
6:24
Speaker 5: People say what they say, and that they all love
6:27
Speaker 5: about football.
6:27
Speaker 4: As the tape speaks for itself.
6:29
Speaker 5: So that's something I always have with me and something
6:32
Speaker 5: I always mean back on. So it's not.
6:35
Speaker 1: How you get here, it's what you do when you
6:37
Speaker 1: get here. You are a spot on the fifty three. Congratulations,
6:40
Speaker 1: appreciate it, Thank you. A little later in the podcast,
6:43
Speaker 1: I'll visit with another long shot who made the club,
6:46
Speaker 1: a guy who started his college football career at Division
6:49
Speaker 1: two Shepherd University. Seventh round draft pick Dejon Anthony. But
6:55
Speaker 1: first time to discuss the roster and the latest Bengals
6:59
Speaker 1: news that broad cast partner Dave Lapham lafter Bengals fifty
7:03
Speaker 1: three man roster and sixteen man factors squad is now
7:06
Speaker 1: officially set.
7:08
Speaker 2: What if anything, stands out to you.
7:11
Speaker 6: One thing that stands out, Dan, is the youth of
7:13
Speaker 6: this football team. They're averaging under twenty six years twenty
7:17
Speaker 6: five point eight, which is less younger than last year's team,
7:21
Speaker 6: which was like, what, third youngest in the league. They've
7:24
Speaker 6: only got eight players with seven or more years of
7:27
Speaker 6: NFL experience, four defensive lineman, three offensive lineman, and a
7:31
Speaker 6: tight end. So I mean they've got fifty four. I mean, yeah,
7:36
Speaker 6: fifty four of their sixty nine players are less than
7:39
Speaker 6: five years five years or less. Thirty eight of their
7:42
Speaker 6: fifty three five years are less. I mean, it's the
7:46
Speaker 6: depth of the team falls on these second year players,
7:48
Speaker 6: in these rookies. You know, it's it is a young
7:51
Speaker 6: football team, but I think it's a very talented football
7:54
Speaker 6: team in spite of that youth. I think, you know,
7:58
Speaker 6: that's what that's what sticks out to me is they've
8:01
Speaker 6: only got one guy going into his tentier, Trent Brown
8:04
Speaker 6: at thirty one years old. Carris is going into his
8:06
Speaker 6: ninth year. Both those guys are the oldest guys in
8:08
Speaker 6: the team, just thirty one years old. I mean, it's
8:13
Speaker 6: it's young, yet it has individual and team achievements that
8:17
Speaker 6: are extraordinary by by you know, quite a few of
8:20
Speaker 6: the players. And I think it's going to be a
8:22
Speaker 6: pretty good club.
8:24
Speaker 1: It's no secret lap when you have a highly paid
8:26
Speaker 1: quarterback and the Bengals obviously do you need inexpensive depths.
8:31
Speaker 1: The Bengals kept twelve rookies, all ten of their draft picks,
8:35
Speaker 1: plus two undrafted guys. But they're not keeping them just
8:39
Speaker 1: because they're inexpensive. They really like that young group.
8:44
Speaker 6: They do. Dan and all eight rookies that made it
8:47
Speaker 6: last year have some sort of role on the sixty
8:51
Speaker 6: nine n roster this year, you know. So it's like
8:55
Speaker 6: ten draft choices this year, eight last year. Two college
8:58
Speaker 6: free agents make it again this year. The most in
9:02
Speaker 6: the National Football League by any team is three college
9:05
Speaker 6: free agents that made the team with the Kansas City Chiefs.
9:08
Speaker 6: The Bengals are amongst a few that have two. So
9:12
Speaker 6: you got to tip your cap to the you know,
9:14
Speaker 6: Duke Tobin and his personel department and unearthing a lot
9:20
Speaker 6: of these young players. And you're right, you know, you've
9:22
Speaker 6: got a a very very highly paid and rightfully sole quarterback.
9:28
Speaker 6: You have to surround him with cost effective talent, There's
9:33
Speaker 6: no question about it. And the last two years what
9:36
Speaker 6: they've done a heck of a job of it.
9:38
Speaker 2: The position group that is in flux to begin the
9:40
Speaker 2: season is the defensive line. Miles Murphy and McKinley Jackson
9:44
Speaker 2: begin the year on I are they will miss at
9:46
Speaker 2: least four weeks. So the Bengals went to the waiver
9:49
Speaker 2: wire and they found kJ Henry, a fifth round draft
9:52
Speaker 2: pick last year by Washington out of Clemson, started three
9:56
Speaker 2: games as a rookie last year for the Commanders and
9:58
Speaker 2: He was their highest graded pass rusher in the preseason,
10:01
Speaker 2: according to p f F. Do you think kJ Henry
10:04
Speaker 2: will play a meaningful role.
10:07
Speaker 3: I do.
10:07
Speaker 6: I think he's gonna, you know, like his surroundings, his
10:11
Speaker 6: defensive mind coaches there is, they're both very familiar with
10:15
Speaker 6: each other having come from Clemson. He's got teammates from
10:19
Speaker 6: that that team at Clemson on the on the football team.
10:23
Speaker 1: Uh.
10:23
Speaker 6: He's said to be a gregarious sort and uh makes
10:28
Speaker 6: relationships strong relationships with his teammates right away. I do.
10:32
Speaker 6: I mean, I think that he's got a he's got
10:34
Speaker 6: a potential to uh, you know, to make to have
10:37
Speaker 6: an impact on on the football team. He's uh, he's
10:40
Speaker 6: obviously got physical talent and they that's You're right, that
10:46
Speaker 6: position group in general, UH is probably as big a
10:50
Speaker 6: question mark assan team. I mean, he makes the fifth
10:53
Speaker 6: defensive end. They have five defensive tackles that they've settled
10:56
Speaker 6: in on, and you know, he he becomes the fifth
10:59
Speaker 6: edge guy, and like you said, grated out well as
11:03
Speaker 6: that as that edge guy. He's basically here. A big
11:08
Speaker 6: reason part of a reason why he's here is Miles
11:10
Speaker 6: Murphy's injury. You know, I mean if that didn't take place,
11:14
Speaker 6: it would be a much different dynamic. And also, I
11:19
Speaker 6: think Cedric Johnson basically has an opportunity to assume a
11:25
Speaker 6: pretty significant role, you know. I mean, now, all of
11:28
Speaker 6: a sudden, you got a young guy that I think
11:30
Speaker 6: showed that he could play in training camp, and he's
11:34
Speaker 6: going to be leaned upon to take some significant snaps,
11:38
Speaker 6: potentially in a significant role for the football team.
11:41
Speaker 1: They also picked up a couple of defensive linemen from
11:44
Speaker 1: other teams for the practice squad, three hundred and thirty
11:46
Speaker 1: five pound Justin Rodgers, who was a seventh round pick
11:48
Speaker 1: by the Cowboys this year, and defensive end Isaiah Thomas,
11:51
Speaker 1: who was a seventh round pick by the Browns a
11:53
Speaker 1: couple of years ago. Is that just a matter of
11:57
Speaker 1: these guys are a little bit better than the guys
12:00
Speaker 1: that we already had in camp or does it indicate
12:03
Speaker 1: that the Bengals are really churning through all of these
12:07
Speaker 1: rosters to try and find as much defensive line depth
12:10
Speaker 1: as they can.
12:11
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean I think that honestly, their approach is
12:15
Speaker 6: best fifty three guys that they can or actually sixty
12:18
Speaker 6: nine guys with these practice squad auditions. I think they're
12:21
Speaker 6: trying to put together the best football team that they
12:23
Speaker 6: possibly can. And Isaiah Thomas was a seventh round pick
12:27
Speaker 6: out of Oklahoma and Cleveland in twenty two and he
12:30
Speaker 6: played ten years, you know, ten games, I should say
12:34
Speaker 6: as a rookie, but justin Rodgers also, you know, defensive
12:42
Speaker 6: tackle inside from Auburn. Dallas Cowboys draft him sixty three,
12:47
Speaker 6: three hundred and thirty five pound guy. Again, pretty good
12:51
Speaker 6: football team at Dallas. You know, players, coaches, you become
12:55
Speaker 6: a sponge. You try to absorb as much knowledge as
12:57
Speaker 6: you possibly can with the environment circumstances that you're presented with,
13:01
Speaker 6: and you try to try to make yourself a better
13:03
Speaker 6: football player.
13:05
Speaker 1: They kept five tight ends, which is a little bit unusual.
13:08
Speaker 1: You've got the three veterans Mike Kasicki through Sample and
13:11
Speaker 1: Tanner Hudson and the two rookies there were draft picks
13:14
Speaker 1: this year, Eric Ball and Tanner McLaughlin. I'm guessing you
13:18
Speaker 1: won't have five active on game day. Was this a
13:21
Speaker 1: matter of not wanting to lose any of them?
13:24
Speaker 6: Yeah, I think I think you're probably right, Dan. I
13:26
Speaker 6: mean I think that you know they're they're looking at
13:28
Speaker 6: the fact that they all have some potential, some traits
13:33
Speaker 6: that you'd like to have that at the tight end position,
13:36
Speaker 6: and they can deactivate one of them on a on
13:39
Speaker 6: a weekly basis. And the other thing is with the
13:43
Speaker 6: new kickoff rule, the body types that these tight ends
13:46
Speaker 6: are are very, very valuable to Darren Simmons in terms
13:49
Speaker 6: of getting down the football field with a good sized
13:51
Speaker 6: body and separating from blocks from return teams and sustaining
13:56
Speaker 6: blocks on your return team. So, you know, I think
13:59
Speaker 6: that a position group that as the kickoff rule kind
14:03
Speaker 6: of evolves, you know, you want to make sure that
14:06
Speaker 6: you've got good sized linebackers that can run, good sized
14:09
Speaker 6: tight ends that can run. So I think all of
14:11
Speaker 6: those guys you know, fit that bill, and some will
14:15
Speaker 6: be better than others in that regard. Obviously, for for
14:18
Speaker 6: Darren Simmons, I don't think we'll see Hudson Usiki doing
14:20
Speaker 6: doing that that type of thing, but the others are
14:23
Speaker 6: all capable of doing it, and if one of them
14:26
Speaker 6: gets nipped up, you get another one on the practice
14:28
Speaker 6: squad ready to roll.
14:29
Speaker 2: There's a delicate dance for an NFL head coach during
14:32
Speaker 2: training camp between trying to make sure that your players
14:36
Speaker 2: are worked hard and ready, but also trying as much
14:39
Speaker 2: as possible to avoid injuries. All of the Bengals projected
14:43
Speaker 2: starters before training camp should be good to go for
14:46
Speaker 2: the season opener next week against New England. Are they
14:49
Speaker 2: more battle tested as well from this year's training camp?
14:53
Speaker 6: I think so, Dan, I really do. I mean I
14:56
Speaker 6: think that you know, having joint practices with with two
15:02
Speaker 6: teams back to back, one on the road, went at home,
15:04
Speaker 6: it kind of stimulated, uh, you know, to travel and
15:09
Speaker 6: getting ready to exert as much physical activity as you
15:12
Speaker 6: can uh shortly thereafter, you know, and and uh, and
15:16
Speaker 6: then having them do the same thing when they come
15:19
Speaker 6: to your place. I think all of that is important.
15:22
Speaker 6: I think all of that gets you into into like
15:25
Speaker 6: a rhythm, you know, both physically and mentally, into a rhythm.
15:28
Speaker 6: And I do think that the practices, in my mind
15:32
Speaker 6: were pretty darn and tense in terms of it was football,
15:36
Speaker 6: you know, it was it was more it was fewer
15:39
Speaker 6: individual drills, shorts and T shirts, you know, running around
15:43
Speaker 6: looking good and all that. It was. It was more
15:46
Speaker 6: team oriented, situational football and then unscripted offense against defense.
15:51
Speaker 6: You know, if you stop us, okay, we have to
15:54
Speaker 6: start over again. If if we generate a first nown,
15:57
Speaker 6: we're going to continue to sustain the drive and see
16:00
Speaker 6: if we can score. I mean, it was football, and
16:01
Speaker 6: there was a lot of it, and I think a
16:04
Speaker 6: lot of veteran players took a lot of snaps that
16:07
Speaker 6: I thought, from a practice standpoint, were probably as as
16:12
Speaker 6: intense as maybe anybody's or close to anybody's in the
16:14
Speaker 6: National Football League. Then you throw in those you know,
16:18
Speaker 6: those joint practices. I thought that was really good intensity,
16:21
Speaker 6: particularly in the in the trenches. I thought it was.
16:23
Speaker 6: And then you know, the number ones get on a
16:26
Speaker 6: twelve play seventy three yard drive to start the preseason off,
16:29
Speaker 6: and you know that was it. But that twelve play
16:33
Speaker 6: drive challenge your football party vascular a little bit. And
16:37
Speaker 6: I think I think they are. I think they're I
16:39
Speaker 6: think they're ready to put their best foot forward and
16:41
Speaker 6: get off to a good start, which is obviously the goal.
16:44
Speaker 2: Training camp is essentially in the books.
16:46
Speaker 1: Now the Bengals are preparing for Week one against the Patriots.
16:49
Speaker 2: Do you have a training camp, MVP?
16:53
Speaker 6: Yeah, this one's interesting. You know, I've got I guess
16:56
Speaker 6: a few guys that jump out at me for very
17:00
Speaker 6: since sundry reasons. But Joe Burrow and Von Bell I
17:04
Speaker 6: think had a huge impact on the offensive and defensive
17:07
Speaker 6: football team. The common denominator is they're both unbelievably quick
17:11
Speaker 6: processors and phenomenal communicators. You know, before the before the
17:15
Speaker 6: ball even snapped, they're making big impacts on their football team.
17:19
Speaker 6: And the coaches will tell you that. You know that
17:21
Speaker 6: that you know, Zach will say the feedback that they
17:25
Speaker 6: get meetings from Joe Burrow as important as anything that
17:27
Speaker 6: the coaches talk about, and and lou Anoumo just things
17:32
Speaker 6: the praises of Von Bell's ability to communicate and he's
17:34
Speaker 6: like a coach on the field. So all of that
17:37
Speaker 6: is even before the snap of the football. So I
17:39
Speaker 6: think the the two two of the Killer Bees, Burrow
17:42
Speaker 6: and Bell had had great camps. And I mean, Joe,
17:45
Speaker 6: I can remember Dan my my rookie year. I'm thinking, man,
17:50
Speaker 6: once the last time Kenny Anderson threw an incompletion, when
17:53
Speaker 6: when did the ball actually go on ground? You know
17:56
Speaker 6: that nobody came up with it. I mean it was
17:58
Speaker 6: like like three days. And that's what Joe Burrow is
18:01
Speaker 6: capable of doing. That's what he has done, you know,
18:03
Speaker 6: I mean he he completes passes, man, I mean, he's accurate.
18:09
Speaker 6: He puts it where he wants to put it. He
18:11
Speaker 6: puts it in a good spot where his receivers can
18:13
Speaker 6: make a play on it. And man to see some
18:16
Speaker 6: of those practices and how many throws he made that
18:19
Speaker 6: never hit the ground then during the course of the
18:21
Speaker 6: preseason completed like what eighty three percent. I mean, that's
18:25
Speaker 6: that's a pretty darn strong camp and that's an obvious MVP.
18:29
Speaker 6: I think Bell is an obvious MVP. And then you
18:32
Speaker 6: factor in expectations and impact on the team. You expect
18:36
Speaker 6: his high expectations for both those guys. But I thought
18:38
Speaker 6: Yosi in the slot was consistently effective on a day
18:43
Speaker 6: to day basis. I thought Yosi Vosh made a statement said,
18:47
Speaker 6: you know what, I know this slot position is available,
18:50
Speaker 6: and you know, Tyler Boyd moved on and I'm going
18:53
Speaker 6: to put the flag on the ground for this particular position.
18:56
Speaker 6: I thought he really, he really went after it. I
18:59
Speaker 6: thought we talked about Cedric Johnson. I thought, Cedric Johnson,
19:03
Speaker 6: you know, he's going to play more than expected, probably
19:06
Speaker 6: at a very important position. And so Cedric Johnson, you know,
19:10
Speaker 6: I think stepped up and showed that he belonged. I
19:14
Speaker 6: think Eric al Amon strong and he could have a
19:18
Speaker 6: real impact on the football team. I thought his training
19:21
Speaker 6: camp was effective. And then Mumah obviously is a great story.
19:25
Speaker 6: You know, you get a kid coming out of nowhere,
19:27
Speaker 6: I'm making tackles all over the football field, and he
19:30
Speaker 6: earned a role. Now that role might not have as
19:33
Speaker 6: big an impact on the football team initially the role
19:36
Speaker 6: that he's carved out, but you know, god forbid injuries
19:39
Speaker 6: or whatever else. You never know how roles might expand.
19:42
Speaker 6: But I think it's a sign that they had a
19:45
Speaker 6: very good camp and they have a pretty good football
19:47
Speaker 6: team that all these guys you can talk about man
19:51
Speaker 6: maybe having a bigger impact on the football team in
19:54
Speaker 6: some cases than you anticipated, and you know, meeting the
19:58
Speaker 6: level of expectation the impact on the foot faul team
20:00
Speaker 6: that you were hopeful of. So I think that's pretty
20:03
Speaker 6: good indicator that they might be pretty decent.
20:05
Speaker 1: All right, you mentioned a bunch of guys that had
20:07
Speaker 1: great camps, all worthy of consideration for MVP of training camp,
20:12
Speaker 1: but you did not mention mine. So this works out well.
20:16
Speaker 1: My training camp MVP is a guy who only took
20:20
Speaker 1: part in the first half of training camp in one
20:24
Speaker 1: preseason game, and that is a Marius Mims.
20:27
Speaker 2: Yeah, and here's why.
20:29
Speaker 1: If we go back to the twenty twenty one draft,
20:32
Speaker 1: we all remember the debate was going on in Cincinnati.
20:36
Speaker 1: Should you take Jamar Chase or should you take Pine Sewel.
20:41
Speaker 1: I think the Bengals now have both. If a Marius
20:45
Speaker 1: Mims is able to stay healthy, he can be Pane sewell.
20:50
Speaker 1: So it took a few years to get both, but
20:53
Speaker 1: I think based on what we saw in that first
20:56
Speaker 1: half of training camp, a Marius Mims can be that
21:00
Speaker 1: type of player had right tackle for the next decade
21:03
Speaker 1: for the Bengal That's why.
21:04
Speaker 6: I love you, Dan, you love you picked an offensive
21:08
Speaker 6: lineman his MVP.
21:10
Speaker 2: Who is only there for half of camp.
21:12
Speaker 6: Yeah, that was that was only there. But I'll tell
21:15
Speaker 6: you what as far as and I couldn't agree with
21:17
Speaker 6: you more as far as making an impact, Oh you
21:21
Speaker 6: kidding me. This guy is a genetic phenomenon, man. I
21:24
Speaker 6: mean his his physical attributes, not only his size, but
21:29
Speaker 6: the athleticism in all regards that go with that size,
21:33
Speaker 6: and in size everywhere you can have size. I mean
21:36
Speaker 6: he is big everywhere, there's no question, and strong and physical.
21:41
Speaker 6: I mean that that pectoral will heal up. I think
21:43
Speaker 6: he will have an impactful season, and I think he
21:45
Speaker 6: will have an impactful career as well. And on top
21:48
Speaker 6: of that, his intelligence football IQ and his willingness to
21:53
Speaker 6: learn and his overall personality, I mean, he is. He
21:58
Speaker 6: could be very very special. He could And I don't
22:03
Speaker 6: want to jink with any future Hall of Famer talk
22:05
Speaker 6: and all that kind of stuff, but man, he's got
22:06
Speaker 6: he's got those kind of possibilities.
22:11
Speaker 1: When he has the green light and can play again.
22:14
Speaker 1: Would you like to see them work him in for
22:17
Speaker 1: some series during the course of the game. What kind
22:19
Speaker 1: of game plan would you prescribe for Amarus Mims to
22:23
Speaker 1: get his feet wet?
22:24
Speaker 6: In the NFL it's a twofold thing house Trent Brown
22:28
Speaker 6: handling things. And how much can he can he take?
22:33
Speaker 2: Uh?
22:33
Speaker 6: And then how much do you want to go with Mems? If? If,
22:38
Speaker 6: if only, if, and only if he's ready to go,
22:41
Speaker 6: Because I did. I did have one of those, Dan,
22:43
Speaker 6: and mine was right in the belly, right in the
22:45
Speaker 6: middle of pectoral, and I remember I tried to come
22:48
Speaker 6: back too soon, and I you know, I probably tried
22:51
Speaker 6: to come back two days too soon, and I learned
22:54
Speaker 6: a lesson, and I sat out again for two more days,
22:58
Speaker 6: and when I came back that time, yep, okay, So
23:02
Speaker 6: don't rush it. And they've done a really good job
23:04
Speaker 6: in that regard. I don't think his you know, obviously
23:08
Speaker 6: no surgery or anything. So I'm not trying to sound
23:11
Speaker 6: an alarm bell. I think he's going to be fine,
23:13
Speaker 6: and I think they handled it well, even though he's
23:16
Speaker 6: a young rookie and the temptation is, man, we got
23:19
Speaker 6: to get him back out there. He needs these snaps,
23:21
Speaker 6: he needs these reps, practice, the way we're conducting training camp,
23:25
Speaker 6: one on ones, team drills, all these things are important. Eh.
23:28
Speaker 6: You got to make sure that thing does not recur.
23:32
Speaker 6: That you don't want it to be a nagging injury.
23:34
Speaker 6: So I thought they handled it very, very intelligently. And
23:38
Speaker 6: I do think that when he can, when they feel
23:42
Speaker 6: comfortable both medically and coaching staff wise and all of it,
23:47
Speaker 6: I think they will work him in there. Will they
23:50
Speaker 6: throw him out there as the starting right tackle in
23:53
Speaker 6: week one? I'm not sure about that. Have to see
23:56
Speaker 6: how much he practices this week, which is done. You know,
24:01
Speaker 6: so next week is big. He gets just the rest
24:04
Speaker 6: of this weekend off and he has a week to
24:07
Speaker 6: you know, to show that he's ready to do something.
24:10
Speaker 6: And then you make an evaluation. Okay, what can Trent
24:14
Speaker 6: Brown give us? We've got this insurance pulse and this
24:16
Speaker 6: guy's been effective. It's going to his tenth year. He's
24:19
Speaker 6: get more experienced than any other player in the team.
24:22
Speaker 6: Nobody else is going into their tenth year and he's
24:25
Speaker 6: played effective football. How do we handle this? How do
24:27
Speaker 6: we just how do we distribute the snaps between these
24:31
Speaker 6: two guys. So it's it's good that they've got options,
24:35
Speaker 6: that they got a couple of ways they can go.
24:38
Speaker 6: But you know, I guess my cautionary tale is make
24:42
Speaker 6: sure that bad boy is good, and I think they
24:45
Speaker 6: have because if it's not, and it can literally be
24:49
Speaker 6: a pain and not just a chest but other places.
24:53
Speaker 1: Lamp Enjoy your last weekend before the grind begins. Have
24:56
Speaker 1: fun with the grand kids because we are going to
24:59
Speaker 1: be working until f I'd be worried this year calling
25:01
Speaker 1: Bengals games right up to New Orleans.
25:03
Speaker 6: That sounds like a heck of a plan. Dan the Man,
25:06
Speaker 6: I'm all in Let's do it, my man.
25:09
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth podcast is brought to you by pay Corps,
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Speaker 1: proud to be the Bengals official HR software provider, by
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Speaker 1: Alta Fiber future proof Fiber Internet designed to elevate your home, business,
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Speaker 1: and community to a new level, and by Kettering Health
25:22
Speaker 1: the best care for the best fans. Kettering Health is
25:25
Speaker 1: the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. On the first
25:29
Speaker 1: day of training camp, rookie Dashawn Anthony intercepted a Jake
25:33
Speaker 1: Browning pass When I asked him after practice if he
25:36
Speaker 1: was looking forward to seeing it when the team watched
25:38
Speaker 1: video that night, he said, I really don't want to
25:41
Speaker 1: see the good plays. I want to see the bad ones,
25:44
Speaker 1: so I know what I need to get better at.
25:48
Speaker 1: That attitude is one of the reasons why the Bengals
25:51
Speaker 1: drafted the Ole Miss safety in the seventh round and
25:54
Speaker 1: helps explain why Dejon made the fifty three man roster.
26:00
Speaker 1: As it looked like you were asleep when safeties coach
26:02
Speaker 1: Jordan Kovac's called you with the good news? Did it
26:06
Speaker 1: seem like a dream.
26:09
Speaker 3: When he called me, I was like, really in the
26:11
Speaker 3: dead sleep?
26:12
Speaker 7: So I didn't It was ringing so long, didn't I
26:15
Speaker 7: didn't see who was calling me. I just answered it
26:17
Speaker 7: right quick, and I just seen coach and I'm like,
26:20
Speaker 7: like it, it didn't click until like after he said it.
26:23
Speaker 7: So it was just a blessing, man. But it definitely
26:26
Speaker 7: felt like a dream.
26:27
Speaker 1: So if you were in a deep, peaceful sleep, you
26:30
Speaker 1: must have felt pretty good about your chances of making
26:33
Speaker 1: the fifty three man roster.
26:34
Speaker 7: Yeah, I feel like you know, I got a guardian
26:38
Speaker 7: angels protecting me, and like it seemed like throughout my.
26:42
Speaker 3: Whole process, God always made away.
26:45
Speaker 7: So I just knew as long as I put in
26:48
Speaker 7: my I don't do what I needed to do on
26:50
Speaker 7: my side, then God was gonna do what he needed
26:52
Speaker 7: to do on his side.
26:54
Speaker 1: When Coach called you, he said, what was the first
26:57
Speaker 1: thing you wrote down in training camp? And you said,
27:01
Speaker 1: to make the team? That was your first goal. You're
27:03
Speaker 1: one for one.
27:04
Speaker 3: Yeah, one for one.
27:06
Speaker 7: That was the first goal, and I mean it start
27:08
Speaker 7: with that. You gotta make the team to get to
27:10
Speaker 7: the other goals. So that was just a big one
27:14
Speaker 7: of the big things that coming in, Like that was
27:16
Speaker 7: the only thing my mind was get to making the team.
27:19
Speaker 3: And now we're working on interceptions for the year and
27:22
Speaker 3: stuff like that.
27:23
Speaker 1: Are you comfortable sharing goal number two?
27:25
Speaker 3: Goal number two? Uh, it was it was carve out.
27:31
Speaker 7: A role on the team on defense, like already swept teams.
27:36
Speaker 7: We already know that, but carve out a big role
27:39
Speaker 7: on defense.
27:39
Speaker 3: And then the.
27:40
Speaker 7: Third one was, may how makeover three turnovers this year?
27:45
Speaker 7: Force over three turnovers and interceptions, force fumble, fourth down stop.
27:49
Speaker 3: But just three turnovers. That's it.
27:51
Speaker 1: We're visiting with Dejon Anthony. That's a good segue to
27:54
Speaker 1: my next question, because you had an interception on the
27:56
Speaker 1: first day of training camp, and you had three in
27:59
Speaker 1: the first of training camp. When that happened, did you
28:03
Speaker 1: start to think, you know what, I'm gonna be on
28:06
Speaker 1: this team.
28:07
Speaker 7: I started seeing it once they put the don package in,
28:10
Speaker 7: and OTA's like, they're not gonna do that, and then
28:13
Speaker 7: they continued to do it through camp.
28:16
Speaker 3: So as they kept doing that through camp, I kind
28:19
Speaker 3: of had an understanding.
28:21
Speaker 7: As long as I stayed healthy and kept getting better
28:23
Speaker 7: every day, then I felt like the coaches trusted me
28:26
Speaker 7: enough to have me on the team.
28:28
Speaker 3: So it was kind of like from day one. I
28:30
Speaker 3: seen it.
28:31
Speaker 7: Once they put the down package in, and now I
28:34
Speaker 7: just know just had to keep praying hard and just
28:37
Speaker 7: keep doing I need to do every single day.
28:39
Speaker 1: You broke your nose in the second preseason game. You've
28:42
Speaker 1: got first preseason game. You got a little bit of
28:45
Speaker 1: a scratch at the top of your nose, but it
28:48
Speaker 1: looks pretty good. Did you have you ever broken your
28:51
Speaker 1: nose before? And how are you doing?
28:53
Speaker 7: No, sir, I never broke nothing. I've never been really
28:56
Speaker 7: injured ever in my life, So do nothing to me.
29:01
Speaker 7: Like I was practice in the next day when we
29:03
Speaker 7: was right this in, they just put it. I I'm
29:05
Speaker 7: wearing a face mask regardless. Now, no matter what the
29:09
Speaker 7: face mask, the visor is on every single practice, it
29:12
Speaker 7: could be raining the advice they gonna be on because
29:15
Speaker 7: it doesn't hurt.
29:16
Speaker 3: Until somebody hit it. I guess I hit my nose
29:19
Speaker 3: that it hurt, but I don't feel it normally. I
29:21
Speaker 3: could breathe normal. I'm good.
29:23
Speaker 1: And you didn't wear the visor previously because it is
29:26
Speaker 1: a little bit harder to breathe.
29:28
Speaker 3: Is that the case? You know?
29:30
Speaker 7: When you start camp, a lot of coaches and people
29:33
Speaker 7: recommend like, don't have the visors in because you gotta
29:36
Speaker 7: get your breath back in. Uh, you start warning advisors
29:39
Speaker 7: when they get a little cold or stuff like that.
29:41
Speaker 3: That's what I usually do.
29:43
Speaker 7: So I didn't have it in the first game, and
29:45
Speaker 7: I didn't have it the whole first couple of weeks
29:48
Speaker 7: of practice.
29:49
Speaker 3: Was I regret it?
29:50
Speaker 1: Now you're a visor guy. Now you you told me
29:53
Speaker 1: in a previous interview early in training camp that everything
29:57
Speaker 1: you do you do for your family a How did
30:00
Speaker 1: they take this news that you have made the Bengals
30:03
Speaker 1: fifty three man roster.
30:06
Speaker 3: Is our rais is on Facebook right now? They all
30:09
Speaker 3: on Facebook.
30:10
Speaker 7: Monty called me krying, my dad called me krying. So
30:14
Speaker 7: they took it just like the draft day draft party.
30:18
Speaker 7: It's just a lot of emotions in there because now
30:21
Speaker 7: it's like official. So now they's just where they getting
30:25
Speaker 7: all they jersey's more jerseys now getting ready to come
30:28
Speaker 7: to the first game.
30:28
Speaker 3: First game, My birthday game. Good timing.
30:31
Speaker 7: Yeah, we play sit to my as my birthday septem
30:34
Speaker 7: a knife, So it's gonna be a good birthday celebration.
30:37
Speaker 1: The final thing for dayshon Anthony, You've come a long
30:39
Speaker 1: way from Division two Shepherd University in West Virginia. Does
30:44
Speaker 1: it seem a little surreal that you are now truly
30:48
Speaker 1: an NFL player.
30:50
Speaker 3: Yeah, it definitely does. Man.
30:51
Speaker 7: It's like I said all the time, I'll just give
30:54
Speaker 7: the glory to God, and I'm super blessing.
30:58
Speaker 3: I'm just ready to you working. I'm just ready to
31:01
Speaker 3: keep working.
31:01
Speaker 7: But it's definitely one of the biggest blessings that a
31:04
Speaker 7: lot of people lost jobs yesterday and I'm one of
31:07
Speaker 7: those guys that didn't. And I knowe is only one
31:09
Speaker 7: person that can make that happen. That's the Man above.
31:12
Speaker 1: So I'm just blessed you earn this objective number one
31:16
Speaker 1: achieved onto objective number two.
31:19
Speaker 3: Thanks. I can't wait to get to it.
31:22
Speaker 1: That's going to do it for this episode of the
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Speaker 3: Of the Bengals.
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