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Bengals Booth Podcast: Help I Need Somebody · Bengals Booth Podcast

0:03
Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody on Dan Horde and thank you for
0:05
Speaker 1: downloading the Bengals Boot podcast The help I need somebody addition,
0:13
Speaker 1: as we discuss the return of the red Rifle Andy
0:16
Speaker 1: Dalton to the Bengals starting lineup heading into Sunday's game
0:19
Speaker 1: against the four and seven New York Jets. Coming up,
0:22
Speaker 1: we'll have a very candid conversation with Andy about how
0:25
Speaker 1: he handled his benching and his hopes going forward. Then
0:29
Speaker 1: Dave Lapham and I will discuss the quarterback switch and
0:32
Speaker 1: with the three game sample size taught us about the
0:35
Speaker 1: future of Ryan Finlay. My locker room conversation this week
0:38
Speaker 1: is with Bengals cornerback Darquez Denard, and in our Know
0:42
Speaker 1: the Faux segment, we'll talk to Rich Samini, who covers
0:45
Speaker 1: the Jets for ESPN. All of that is straight ahead,
0:49
Speaker 1: but first, here's a quick reminder that you can have
0:51
Speaker 1: the latest edition of this podcast delivered as soon as
0:55
Speaker 1: it's recorded, right to your phone, tablet, or computer by
0:59
Speaker 1: subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's the greatest thing
1:03
Speaker 1: since the ability to remember names. Aren't you jealous of
1:09
Speaker 1: people who have an uncanny ability to remember names? I
1:13
Speaker 1: consider that a superpower right up there with invisibility in flying.
1:19
Speaker 1: So if we've met before and I don't remember your name,
1:24
Speaker 1: I apologize. Unfortunately I do not possess that superpower. Now,
1:30
Speaker 1: let's get to football. The last time the New York
1:33
Speaker 1: Jets came to Paul Brown Stadium back in twenty thirteen,
1:36
Speaker 1: Andy Dalton through a career high five touchdown passes. Nobody
1:41
Speaker 1: expects that this Sunday, but the Bengals hope that he
1:44
Speaker 1: plays well enough to give them a chance to win.
1:47
Speaker 1: Simply put, Ryan Finlay didn't. In three starts. The rookie
1:52
Speaker 1: completed forty seven percent of his passes and had a
1:55
Speaker 1: passer rating of sixty two point one. Nobody wants to
1:59
Speaker 1: be part of an Owen sixteen team, and it was
2:02
Speaker 1: hard to envision a Bengals victory at this stage of
2:05
Speaker 1: Finley's development. So Andy Dalton is back, and if he
2:10
Speaker 1: throws one touchdown pass on Sunday, he'll become the Bengals
2:14
Speaker 1: all time leader. He's currently tied with Kenny Anderson. Andy
2:18
Speaker 1: sat down with Dave Lapham and me to discuss his
2:21
Speaker 1: return to the starting lineup following the game on Sunday, Andy,
2:25
Speaker 1: did you wonder in the back of your head if
2:27
Speaker 1: Zach might go back to you in the starting lineup.
2:30
Speaker 1: You know, I didn't think it was going to happen.
2:33
Speaker 1: I think I've I've had so many conversations with Zach
2:36
Speaker 1: and even after the decision was made where I wasn't
2:39
Speaker 1: gonna be starting anymore. And yeah, I guess maybe in
2:44
Speaker 1: the back of my mind that there's a possibility, but
2:46
Speaker 1: I didn't. I didn't think it was going to happen.
2:48
Speaker 1: So you're a man of faith and a family man.
2:52
Speaker 1: How important of those two components to your life been
2:54
Speaker 1: in dealing with what you've been dealing with here. Yeah,
2:57
Speaker 1: it's been the biggest thing for me. You know, I think, Um,
3:03
Speaker 1: I was saying earlier when when it first happened, I
3:05
Speaker 1: was just bitter. Didn't like I was wanting to not
3:09
Speaker 1: be the same person that I've been wanting to choose
3:12
Speaker 1: to you know, uh, not help out, just sit in
3:15
Speaker 1: the meeting and get through the rest of the season
3:17
Speaker 1: and then let it go on. But it's like, that's
3:19
Speaker 1: not who I am, that's not who I'm called to be.
3:21
Speaker 1: It's um, now, I'd be choosing to be somebody that
3:24
Speaker 1: I'm not. And so you know that weighed on me
3:28
Speaker 1: heavy and um and and for then, I was just like,
3:32
Speaker 1: just be yourself. You know, God's gonna honor whatever. If
3:37
Speaker 1: you handle this the right way, God's gonna honor you.
3:39
Speaker 1: And um, you know, I felt like that's how I
3:41
Speaker 1: had to I had to be. I know, I told
3:43
Speaker 1: everybody well right when it first happened in the team meeting,
3:46
Speaker 1: like I'm gonna be the same guy I'm you know,
3:49
Speaker 1: don't don't feel awkward around me. It's gonna be It's
3:51
Speaker 1: gonna be okay. You know, I'll get through it. Um.
3:54
Speaker 1: But uh, you know, and I felt like I was
3:56
Speaker 1: that way even on game day. I felt like I
3:59
Speaker 1: was giving suggestion and trying to help right out as
4:01
Speaker 1: much as I could, and uh, you know, trying to
4:03
Speaker 1: help this team win. Yep, we're visiting with Andy Dalton.
4:06
Speaker 1: There's an old saying you don't appreciate someone or you
4:09
Speaker 1: don't appreciate something until it's gone, and you haven't been gone.
4:13
Speaker 1: But after you were taken out of the starting lineup,
4:15
Speaker 1: it seems to me there was an outpouring of appreciation
4:18
Speaker 1: and respect that I'm not sure that you got when
4:21
Speaker 1: you were leading the team to the playoffs five years
4:23
Speaker 1: on a row. Did you feel that long overdue? Yeah,
4:27
Speaker 1: you know, I have received a lot of support and so, um,
4:32
Speaker 1: you know, it's it's kind of a weird spot to
4:34
Speaker 1: be in, you know when you're uh, you know, felt like,
4:37
Speaker 1: you know, I didn't deserve to to not be playing,
4:41
Speaker 1: but you know, I guess I understood a little bit
4:44
Speaker 1: what Zach was trying to do, but I mean I
4:46
Speaker 1: didn't agree with it and all that kind of stuff.
4:48
Speaker 1: And then m yeah, a lot of people have supported
4:50
Speaker 1: me through it, and um, yeah, I think that's it's
4:54
Speaker 1: it's been cool to see, you know, there's people that
4:55
Speaker 1: gave to our foundation and in different things like that,
4:58
Speaker 1: and um, I mean will always take that and we'll
5:01
Speaker 1: be able to help so many kids and families with
5:04
Speaker 1: with that kind of stuff. But it's always nice when
5:06
Speaker 1: you have to support of the city around you. Let's
5:08
Speaker 1: get to the football game itself. Your strengths, or one strength.
5:13
Speaker 1: One of your strengths, in my opinion, is diagnosis. Confident
5:18
Speaker 1: in your diagnosis. Get it out. And Greg Williams is
5:21
Speaker 1: the master disguise. He's got every pressure package in the book.
5:25
Speaker 1: He's got players to utilize to fit his schematic M.
5:29
Speaker 1: Do you feel like you have a good plan, you
5:30
Speaker 1: feel like you're really ready to just tear this thing
5:33
Speaker 1: up on Sunday. Yeah, that's the goal, you know, I
5:35
Speaker 1: feel like and I've I've I've watched a lot of tape,
5:38
Speaker 1: a lot of film, and I mean, they are a
5:40
Speaker 1: very disguised defense, and um, you know, guys start in
5:44
Speaker 1: one spot, run out to two different areas, and so
5:47
Speaker 1: you got to be ready for it. And yeah, I
5:49
Speaker 1: feel like I've played enough football where now I understand
5:52
Speaker 1: how teams are trying to play and when what they're
5:55
Speaker 1: trying to do. And there'll be some new stuff on Sunday.
5:58
Speaker 1: I'm sure that they will get But yeah, I feel
6:00
Speaker 1: I feel confident with what we got going. The team
6:03
Speaker 1: really struggled to run the ball the first eight weeks,
6:05
Speaker 1: and over the last several weeks they've tweaked the scheme
6:07
Speaker 1: a bit. Things are going much better, averaging far above
6:11
Speaker 1: one hundred rushing yards a game over the last three games.
6:14
Speaker 1: How much do you think that can help you lead
6:18
Speaker 1: this team to a victory. Yeah, obviously we knew the
6:21
Speaker 1: run games struggled early on, and while I was playing it,
6:25
Speaker 1: it got tough of times because we had to be
6:27
Speaker 1: one demential and so you know, hopefully we can get
6:30
Speaker 1: this thing going and uh, you know, keep keep the
6:33
Speaker 1: momentum that we have running the ball because I mean,
6:35
Speaker 1: anytime you can run the ball, I mean it sets
6:37
Speaker 1: up your whole offense. There's three phases to every football game.
6:41
Speaker 1: Special teams coming into our last week's game number one
6:44
Speaker 1: in the NFL, I mean, they've really done a good
6:46
Speaker 1: job defensively, not on top of the running game, offensively
6:49
Speaker 1: for complimentary football within that phase of the game. Defensively,
6:53
Speaker 1: seventeen sixteen points. That's that's winning football, you know, on
6:56
Speaker 1: that side of the ball. So the running games improved,
6:59
Speaker 1: the defence has improved. I mean that's going to give
7:01
Speaker 1: you a lot of a lot of confidence going into
7:04
Speaker 1: this football game. I think if you look at the
7:05
Speaker 1: best teams out there, their defense is playing really well
7:08
Speaker 1: and they can run the ball, and so, um, you know,
7:11
Speaker 1: if you if you're playing well in those phases of
7:13
Speaker 1: the game, I think it you know, allows you a
7:16
Speaker 1: chance to to win each week. And so you know
7:19
Speaker 1: that's our goal this week. Hopefully we we we play
7:22
Speaker 1: the kind of way we've been playing on defense and
7:24
Speaker 1: the same as special teams, and you get the run
7:26
Speaker 1: game going real quick. I know, um, your your situation,
7:30
Speaker 1: that the conversations you have with Zach so and I
7:33
Speaker 1: know you know you weren't real happy. There was even
7:35
Speaker 1: talk about just go ahead and trade me. So in
7:37
Speaker 1: your mind right now, you're not just playing for the
7:40
Speaker 1: Cincinnati Bengals evaluation, you're playing for thirty one of the teams.
7:43
Speaker 1: To take a look at what Andy Dalton's all about.
7:45
Speaker 1: After having been sat down, come back? What's you got?
7:48
Speaker 1: I mean, what kind of what kind of intestinal for? What?
7:51
Speaker 1: What's this guy all about? All the way around? Is
7:53
Speaker 1: that pretty accurate? Yeah, I mean I understand the situation
7:56
Speaker 1: that we're in and and everything, and so you know,
7:59
Speaker 1: I'm I'm trying to put the best stuff out there
8:01
Speaker 1: that I can. You know, if if that's for here,
8:05
Speaker 1: then great, If that's for somewhere else, I mean, that's
8:07
Speaker 1: it's all to be determined to going forward. But you know,
8:11
Speaker 1: my whole goal is to win and win right now
8:13
Speaker 1: and win some of these last games. And you know,
8:17
Speaker 1: I think that's the most important thing right now. How
8:20
Speaker 1: frustrating was it because players were coming up to me
8:23
Speaker 1: and stay lab four teams and we win these last
8:26
Speaker 1: two games. How frustrating was it to you to be
8:28
Speaker 1: on the sideline thinking if I was in the football game, man,
8:32
Speaker 1: I mean, can you let that kind of enter your
8:34
Speaker 1: thoughts or do you have to kind of keep them out? Now?
8:36
Speaker 1: I think for any competitor, you want to you feel
8:40
Speaker 1: like your skill set should be able to help the team.
8:42
Speaker 1: And you know, for me, regardless of the situation, I'm
8:49
Speaker 1: going to be confident in myself and know that, Okay,
8:51
Speaker 1: there's some little things that I feel like I can
8:53
Speaker 1: do that that they can help us win. And you
8:56
Speaker 1: only get that through experience. So for Ryan, Ryan was
8:59
Speaker 1: getting great experience in those those three weeks and this
9:02
Speaker 1: stuff that he's gonna take with for the rest of
9:03
Speaker 1: his football career. And he's gonna understand like he went
9:06
Speaker 1: against some really good defenses. I mean, you go against
9:08
Speaker 1: the Ravens, the Steelers and uh you know some of
9:12
Speaker 1: the blitz stuff that that that apology can do in Oakland. Uh, So,
9:16
Speaker 1: I mean he's gonna just the best. Um, the best
9:19
Speaker 1: thing for you is experience and playing in the game.
9:21
Speaker 1: So you know, when you've played for nine years and
9:25
Speaker 1: you understand and you've seen so much. I felt like
9:28
Speaker 1: there's little things that I can do to definitely help
9:30
Speaker 1: this team and help this team win. We've kept here
9:33
Speaker 1: for one more minute than promise. This is my last question. Lap.
9:36
Speaker 1: You're not allowed to have anything. I got one more
9:39
Speaker 1: good one. I think you're tied with Kenny Anderson all
9:42
Speaker 1: time touchdown passes. I know you don't play for numbers.
9:46
Speaker 1: You're trying to win championships, but it felt to me
9:49
Speaker 1: like your Cincinnati story couldn't end the way it did.
9:53
Speaker 1: You know, having your starting spot take and being tied
9:56
Speaker 1: in the record book, there's there's a chance here for
9:59
Speaker 1: a happy ending. Yeah, you know. It was one of
10:01
Speaker 1: those things. It's like, well, am I gonna get in
10:03
Speaker 1: that last game? Let's get one more touchdown fast, just
10:05
Speaker 1: so I have bragging rights over Kenny. Yeah, but you know,
10:11
Speaker 1: who knows what's gonna happen. I think that's one thing
10:13
Speaker 1: that through these last several weeks, I truly have had
10:16
Speaker 1: to trust in God's plan for for my life, for
10:18
Speaker 1: my career, my my family and all the stuff that
10:21
Speaker 1: goes into it, and so um, you know, hopefully we
10:24
Speaker 1: can score a lot of touchdowns and uh and hopefully
10:27
Speaker 1: that record gets broken. Here we have one more quick
10:30
Speaker 1: quick yeah. No, in you're mentoring and you're a hell
10:35
Speaker 1: of a mentor. I can't think of a better mentor
10:36
Speaker 1: for young quarterback. But you're mentoring Ryan Finley and he
10:39
Speaker 1: went through some some knocks really, I mean hard lessons. Ultimately,
10:45
Speaker 1: you know, if for him to come out now and
10:48
Speaker 1: you do your thing, I know he's probably not happy.
10:51
Speaker 1: No competitors happy when it's taken away. But in the end,
10:54
Speaker 1: when he cools down in hindsight, it might be the
10:57
Speaker 1: best thing that ever happened to him, because if he
10:59
Speaker 1: goes out there and get torn apart by Greg Williams
11:01
Speaker 1: and the Jets, I mean, at some point in time, man,
11:04
Speaker 1: there's that fine line where you're breaking a young guy's
11:07
Speaker 1: confidence to the point where he'll never recover. I mean,
11:09
Speaker 1: is there something to that When you're mentoring a young
11:11
Speaker 1: guy like that, it's got to be part of it.
11:15
Speaker 1: But as a as a quarterback and in the way
11:18
Speaker 1: you have to play the game, you have to forget
11:19
Speaker 1: about what's already happened to you. You can't focus on that,
11:23
Speaker 1: and so um, you know, yeah, is there could there
11:27
Speaker 1: be a confidence issue with that? There could be. I
11:29
Speaker 1: don't think Ryan's built that way. I don't think he's
11:32
Speaker 1: He's gonna ever ever lacked confidence in himself. That's just
11:34
Speaker 1: kind of the person he is and so m But
11:38
Speaker 1: you know, it's one of those things where Zach obviously
11:41
Speaker 1: felt like I could help his out, and I'm glad
11:46
Speaker 1: he didn't. Now time for my weekly podcast visit with
11:49
Speaker 1: Lap as we cover the quarterback switch, the return of
11:52
Speaker 1: Corty Glenn, and previews Sunday's matchup against the Jets. Lap.
11:57
Speaker 1: Ryan Finley is out, Andy Dalton is back. Why did
12:01
Speaker 1: Zach Taylor go back to the red rifle? Well, as
12:03
Speaker 1: you so aptly found out in your research that Andy
12:06
Speaker 1: Dalton was getting the ball out of his hand in
12:08
Speaker 1: two point two eight seconds, second best in the NFL
12:10
Speaker 1: when he was playing, and Ryan Finley two point eight three,
12:14
Speaker 1: second worst in the NFL when he was playing. So
12:16
Speaker 1: going against the Greg Williams defense, that's going to be
12:19
Speaker 1: showing you everything under the sun in terms of pressure packages.
12:23
Speaker 1: I think you know the experience that Andy Dalton has
12:25
Speaker 1: with those kind of defenses that he's played against over
12:28
Speaker 1: the years in the division and outside of the Division,
12:31
Speaker 1: I think he just felt like got to win a
12:33
Speaker 1: football game, and he gives us the best option. The
12:36
Speaker 1: week before, he decided to play Corty Glenn left tackle
12:39
Speaker 1: is stabilize that position, and the reason was players that
12:42
Speaker 1: he talked to. Coach. You know, we know it's a
12:44
Speaker 1: tough pill maybe for some people to swallow, but we
12:47
Speaker 1: got we got to win a football game. So making
12:50
Speaker 1: the decision to go back to Andy Dalton, he gives
12:52
Speaker 1: them their best chance to win a game against teams
12:55
Speaker 1: you know that have a coordinator like like Greg Williams,
12:59
Speaker 1: I Bill Belichi at coach defense with the Patriots, and
13:02
Speaker 1: I mean they're going to change looks on a snap
13:04
Speaker 1: by on a series by series basis. So experience counts
13:08
Speaker 1: in some of these games down the stretch. Lap three
13:11
Speaker 1: games as a small sample size, But based on what
13:14
Speaker 1: we saw of Ryan Finley, what do you think his
13:15
Speaker 1: ceiling is? I think that's hard to say, hard to
13:19
Speaker 1: call right now because you know, not having the best
13:25
Speaker 1: receiving corps available to him, I think that's tough. I
13:27
Speaker 1: think it's it was tough for Andy not to have
13:29
Speaker 1: the two best receivers that the Bengals have as options
13:33
Speaker 1: out there. So I think how much more difficult. It
13:36
Speaker 1: must be for you know, a rookie quarterback. And you know,
13:39
Speaker 1: sometimes I couldn't tell if he didn't see the field
13:41
Speaker 1: or if he didn't like what he saw when he
13:44
Speaker 1: was seeing in the field. In terms of guys winning,
13:46
Speaker 1: you know, making the adjustment from the college level of
13:49
Speaker 1: the NFL level. Is the windows closed so much faster,
13:53
Speaker 1: and when you're out there in an NFL regular season game,
13:55
Speaker 1: not a preseason game where there are backups. That's more
13:58
Speaker 1: like probably what he saw in college. Now see an
14:00
Speaker 1: NFL regular season action, and man, those windows are closing,
14:03
Speaker 1: so you're you're thinking, should I cut it loose? Should
14:06
Speaker 1: I do it? Man? Is that enough? Because you're evaluating
14:09
Speaker 1: your arm strength with the window And he's smart enough
14:12
Speaker 1: maybe to think should I or shouldn't I? And you
14:14
Speaker 1: can't be in a should should I or shouldn't I?
14:17
Speaker 1: Position in the National Football League. That's that's a losing proposition.
14:21
Speaker 1: And his numbers showed that, you know, forty seven percent
14:24
Speaker 1: and didn't didn't get done when he needed to get done.
14:26
Speaker 1: So I think, I think is great at this point
14:29
Speaker 1: is incomplete um, but it's it's not It's not a
14:35
Speaker 1: passing grade at this point in time, it's incomplete. What
14:38
Speaker 1: about arms strength? Pro Football Focus had the stat were
14:42
Speaker 1: on passes thrown more than ten yards down the field
14:45
Speaker 1: and outside the hash marks, he was three for eighteen.
14:48
Speaker 1: Seemed like some of those passes were floating dangerously close
14:51
Speaker 1: to being intercepted. Would that be a huge concern in
14:55
Speaker 1: your opinion? I think that's the that's the biggest thing
14:57
Speaker 1: that uh, that you have to be starting about looking
15:01
Speaker 1: at it. Um even the touchdown pass the Tyler Boyd waffled,
15:04
Speaker 1: you know down the football field, it wasn't it wasn't
15:07
Speaker 1: a tight Uh. You never saw a frozen rope. You
15:10
Speaker 1: never saw it on a string or clothesline, which I mean,
15:13
Speaker 1: it was in there. And you know, honestly, I'm looking
15:17
Speaker 1: at Andy Dalton's arm strength and Ryan Fielding's arms strength.
15:19
Speaker 1: There's no doubt in my mind that Andy Dalton has
15:21
Speaker 1: a has more arm talent in terms of strength arm strength,
15:24
Speaker 1: you know. And so I think there have been guys
15:28
Speaker 1: though over the years, and you know, you can go
15:31
Speaker 1: back in the wayback machine and there are plenty of
15:33
Speaker 1: quarterbacks that have had successful careers in the National Football
15:36
Speaker 1: League that don't have a howitzer hanging off of their
15:38
Speaker 1: right shoulder. But they do throw, you know, with anticipation
15:42
Speaker 1: and accuracy, and that was the thing on him coming
15:45
Speaker 1: in anticipation, accuracy, pocket presence, slidestep, climb the pocket when
15:51
Speaker 1: it got the heat of the battle. A lot of
15:52
Speaker 1: that stuff was not was not there for him. Again,
15:56
Speaker 1: small sample size three games, but arm strength, you know it.
16:03
Speaker 1: Throwing the football through a wall is not the only
16:06
Speaker 1: requirement to playing quarterback in the National Football League. But
16:09
Speaker 1: if you have all the other things, that's the that's
16:12
Speaker 1: the tiebreaker, man, that's the difference maker right there. The
16:16
Speaker 1: conspiracy theorists are out. I've seen a lot of people
16:20
Speaker 1: suggest that Mike Brown was pulling the strings when Zach
16:24
Speaker 1: Taylor went back to Andy Dalton byatt No, I don't.
16:29
Speaker 1: Mike Brown, I'm sure was in full support of it.
16:32
Speaker 1: But Mike Brown realized that Andy Dalton when they were
16:35
Speaker 1: oh and eight, that he was getting beaten up and
16:37
Speaker 1: that that Zach wanted to evaluate Ryan Finley, and he didn't,
16:42
Speaker 1: you know, disallow it. I mean, he said, okay, if
16:45
Speaker 1: that's what you want to do on I'm okay, I'm
16:47
Speaker 1: with you. And when Zach, in my mind, when they
16:51
Speaker 1: met said, you know, I think we need to go
16:52
Speaker 1: back to Andy Dalton because we want to win football
16:56
Speaker 1: games here. I mean it's like you don't want to
17:00
Speaker 1: you don't want to make a statement in Courty Glenn
17:02
Speaker 1: at left tackle distasteful. I mean that's like, that's like
17:06
Speaker 1: swallowing the bitterest pill there ever is to go back
17:09
Speaker 1: to Courty Glenn with all that went down, I mean
17:12
Speaker 1: a lot of water over that, damn. So if you
17:16
Speaker 1: do that, and when you pulled players, it's like, coach,
17:20
Speaker 1: you know, we understand their issues, but we got to
17:22
Speaker 1: win a game. If he's our best left tackle, let's
17:25
Speaker 1: play him. So I'm sure that I know I was
17:28
Speaker 1: hearing it from players. Hey, we would have won that
17:31
Speaker 1: game with fourteen in there. We would have won both
17:33
Speaker 1: these games with fourteen in there. So I know I
17:35
Speaker 1: know Zach had to be hearing it if I'm hearing it,
17:37
Speaker 1: so to me, you can't send a mixed message. You
17:41
Speaker 1: can't say. What coaches look for in players is consistency
17:44
Speaker 1: in their performance, in their effort. They don't want it
17:47
Speaker 1: peaks and valleys, ups and downs. Players look for consistency
17:50
Speaker 1: from coaches too, So if you make a move to
17:53
Speaker 1: solidify your left tackle position. Quarterbacks a hell of a
17:56
Speaker 1: lot more important than that. Make the move back to
17:58
Speaker 1: solidify the quarterback position. And I think Zach realized he
18:01
Speaker 1: had to do that or he was in danger of
18:04
Speaker 1: losing team because Dan nobody wants to be on Owen sixteen.
18:08
Speaker 1: Team that stays with you forever. How about a first
18:11
Speaker 1: year head coach. Do you think he wants that to
18:14
Speaker 1: be the thing that people will remember him for. Everybody
18:17
Speaker 1: remembers the Cleveland Browns won Owen sixteen, but they want
18:19
Speaker 1: one in thirty one. They were one in fifty. Nobody
18:22
Speaker 1: thinks about the one in thirty one. It's just man
18:24
Speaker 1: Owen sixteen. That's the scarlet letter, you know, in the
18:27
Speaker 1: in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Detroit Lions, the
18:29
Speaker 1: Cleveland Browns, and that stays with you. You're always a
18:33
Speaker 1: member of that football team. Geno Atkins on Pro Football
18:38
Speaker 1: Hall of Fame possibility. Don't want that mark of Owen
18:41
Speaker 1: sixteen on your resume. You know, nobody nobody wants that
18:45
Speaker 1: that type of thing. So I'm telling you, with five
18:48
Speaker 1: games left, the pressure is going to start to mount.
18:50
Speaker 1: These guys want to and feel like they have to
18:54
Speaker 1: get a win. They do not want to join the
18:57
Speaker 1: scarlet letter club. Getting back to what you were saying
19:00
Speaker 1: about what players look for out of coaches, they want
19:02
Speaker 1: to see that consistency. How about the fact that, to me,
19:06
Speaker 1: the number one thing that a player wants from the
19:08
Speaker 1: coach is to put you in the best possible position
19:12
Speaker 1: to win, right, no doubt, absolutely no doubt. I mean,
19:15
Speaker 1: you know people are that are like, you know, all right,
19:18
Speaker 1: just just lose all the rest of your games and
19:20
Speaker 1: get the first pick of the draft. It's not fantasy football. Yeah,
19:24
Speaker 1: and it's if you're if that's your DNA, you're not
19:28
Speaker 1: going to last in the NFL. You shouldn't even be
19:30
Speaker 1: in the NFL that that can't be your DNA. So
19:33
Speaker 1: it's easy for the fans to say, because you're right,
19:35
Speaker 1: it's not fantasy football. But you know you're you're getting
19:39
Speaker 1: evaluated on game tape every week, not just by the Bengals,
19:42
Speaker 1: by all thirty one teams, because if your situation ends
19:46
Speaker 1: in Cincinnati, who's going to be looking at you all
19:50
Speaker 1: thirty one other teams? Did this guy tank when they
19:53
Speaker 1: were losing games and they're on eleven? How did he play?
19:56
Speaker 1: Oh Man? He's playing his tailoff. Let's take a look
20:00
Speaker 1: this guy. He put it neutral. He's I see seven
20:03
Speaker 1: loaves out of the out of the forty plays. Don't
20:06
Speaker 1: want that guy. So you're talking about your career, You're
20:09
Speaker 1: talking about your livelihood, you're talking about feeding your family,
20:12
Speaker 1: all those things. They're not in a mindset. Players and
20:15
Speaker 1: coaches are not in a mindset to say, let's lose
20:17
Speaker 1: them all and get the number one pick in the draft. Ludicrous.
20:20
Speaker 1: You're also playing a sport that puts your short term
20:23
Speaker 1: and long term health in jeopardy, let's face it, and
20:27
Speaker 1: people expect them to go out there and intentionally lose. Seriously,
20:31
Speaker 1: right right, I mean honestly, the people that are that
20:37
Speaker 1: think that never strapped on the equipment and went out
20:41
Speaker 1: there in a competitive environment. I mean you have to.
20:44
Speaker 1: You have to play at a high level to survive
20:47
Speaker 1: the physicality of it. I mean literally in some in
20:51
Speaker 1: some instances, it's like you went through multiple car wrecks,
20:56
Speaker 1: you know, and during a three hour time frame, you
20:59
Speaker 1: got that kind of as you get that kind of hit,
21:01
Speaker 1: you're I can remember hits where organs moved, you know,
21:05
Speaker 1: internal organs. It was like, man, that was a shot.
21:09
Speaker 1: You know, it's like, well, let me see if I
21:11
Speaker 1: can get all this stuff right now. I mean that
21:13
Speaker 1: that those things are those are crazy. I mean some
21:16
Speaker 1: of the injuries did guys sustain. Doctors say, that's that
21:20
Speaker 1: kind of thing happens in a car wreck, you know
21:24
Speaker 1: that that type of violent collision, that type of violent deal,
21:27
Speaker 1: and it can happen out in a football field. So
21:29
Speaker 1: when you're when you're susceptible to injury one hundred percent
21:33
Speaker 1: of every snap to one percent of every player, you're
21:38
Speaker 1: gonna tank and try to lose football games. You ain't
21:41
Speaker 1: gonna last long. Let's get back to Corty Glenn for
21:44
Speaker 1: a second. Is it possible to let bygones be bygones
21:48
Speaker 1: at this point? You know, the biggest the biggest problem
21:52
Speaker 1: that I see is the most important word in any
21:56
Speaker 1: relationship is trust. And I think I I think Cordy
22:00
Speaker 1: feels like trust was violated in his mind, and the
22:04
Speaker 1: Bengals feel the trust was violated in their mind. And
22:08
Speaker 1: I don't think by just a little bit. I think
22:10
Speaker 1: it's a major breach of trust. So, you know, is
22:15
Speaker 1: it a white lie? You know kind of thing can
22:17
Speaker 1: you recover from a white lie. Yeah, you can recover
22:20
Speaker 1: from a white lie, But man, did you did you
22:24
Speaker 1: put together this big plot? You know that it was
22:27
Speaker 1: more than a white lie. Can you recover from that?
22:30
Speaker 1: So that that's to be determined. But bottom line is
22:34
Speaker 1: seeing a lot of things in the National Football League
22:37
Speaker 1: that you wonder, how can they live with each other? Answer?
22:41
Speaker 1: The dude can play. If you can play, you can
22:45
Speaker 1: live with a lot of things. And if Cordy Glenn
22:47
Speaker 1: shows you can play, and you saw what it was like,
22:51
Speaker 1: you know, when they didn't have somebody out there to
22:53
Speaker 1: stabilize it the left tackle position. The biggest thing is
22:57
Speaker 1: what will Jonah Williams be like? That's the key because
23:01
Speaker 1: they were gonna move Courty Glenn into guard. If Jonah
23:04
Speaker 1: Williams is fine and he can play the left tackle position,
23:07
Speaker 1: all of a sudden that trust is a little bit
23:09
Speaker 1: more of an issue. But if you have a guy
23:11
Speaker 1: that can play it's not then it's a different kind
23:15
Speaker 1: of trust issue. Let's look at the defense. They've given
23:19
Speaker 1: up seventeen and sixteen points over their last two games,
23:22
Speaker 1: the only two this year where they've allowed fewer than twenty.
23:25
Speaker 1: Are they figuring things out under lou An Rumo or
23:28
Speaker 1: was that simply a matter of playing a couple of
23:30
Speaker 1: mediocre offenses in the Raiders and Steelers. I think it
23:33
Speaker 1: is a combination, you know. I think, you know, the
23:36
Speaker 1: talent level of those offenses wasn't. Let's face it, Lamar
23:41
Speaker 1: Jackson's killing everybody and the Bengals played him twice and
23:45
Speaker 1: still haven't figured him out. I mean, he's he has
23:48
Speaker 1: taken people apart. Look what he did to the Rams,
23:51
Speaker 1: I mean embarrassed him, embarrassed him. He's going to put
23:54
Speaker 1: up numbers that I mean, they're going to be freakish.
23:57
Speaker 1: Like John Harbaugh said to him on the sideline after
24:00
Speaker 1: during the course of one of the games, you're going
24:03
Speaker 1: to change the quarterback position. I mean, kids are going
24:05
Speaker 1: to be looking at this stuff for twenty years and thinking,
24:08
Speaker 1: what the heck. I mean, you're you're changing, You're changing
24:11
Speaker 1: everybody's definition of an NFL quarterback. I mean, it's remarkable.
24:16
Speaker 1: So I think when you play a guy like that,
24:19
Speaker 1: there's not only that game, but there's collateral damage you're
24:24
Speaker 1: trying to recover, you know, from it now. I think
24:26
Speaker 1: it I think it does set you back. And they did.
24:28
Speaker 1: They did play him, you know, twice in a pretty
24:31
Speaker 1: short time frame. But I do think you know, the
24:34
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh Steelers were hampered obviously with what they had out there.
24:37
Speaker 1: Um skilled people weren't the same Oakland Raiders, you know,
24:41
Speaker 1: they weren't. They had a really good running back, their
24:45
Speaker 1: quarterback had been playing well, but heck he get benched.
24:47
Speaker 1: I mean, Gruden didn't waste any time he benched car
24:50
Speaker 1: and when they get spanked by the Jets in the
24:52
Speaker 1: third quarter. So I think it is a combination. But
24:56
Speaker 1: it's going to be interesting. You a young quarterback that's
24:59
Speaker 1: on a little bit of a role as team scored,
25:01
Speaker 1: as team scored thirty four points three weeks in a row,
25:03
Speaker 1: and they're feeling confident. How will they handle the Jets?
25:06
Speaker 1: How will they handle Baker Mayfield and the Cleveland Browns
25:09
Speaker 1: up there. They're starting to get it figured out. They've
25:12
Speaker 1: got immense skill position talent. Will the Bengals. I think
25:16
Speaker 1: the key is will the Bengals defensive line play the
25:19
Speaker 1: rest of the season like they played the last couple
25:22
Speaker 1: of games, Because, like lou Aneruma said to us earlier
25:24
Speaker 1: in the week, it starts if the defensive lines disruptive
25:29
Speaker 1: and people are having trouble blocking them, everything else falls
25:32
Speaker 1: into place. So if the defensive line stays motivated and
25:35
Speaker 1: makes as many players as they've made in the last
25:37
Speaker 1: eight quarters down the stretch of the season, I think
25:40
Speaker 1: that defense could play pretty solidly. The Bengals host the
25:44
Speaker 1: Jets on Sunday, and if you look at their entire
25:46
Speaker 1: season stats, the Jets offense stinks. They're next to last
25:50
Speaker 1: in yards thirty if in rushing thirty first in passing.
25:54
Speaker 1: They're averaging eighteen points a game. But over the last
25:57
Speaker 1: three weeks they've scored thirty four points and each of
26:00
Speaker 1: their last three games. What has gotten into the New
26:03
Speaker 1: York Jets, I think a little bit has to do
26:06
Speaker 1: with who they played, New York Giants, Washington Redskins, and
26:09
Speaker 1: the Raiders. I mean, we saw the Raiders are vulnerable.
26:12
Speaker 1: We just couldn't take advantage. I think of Andy Dalton
26:15
Speaker 1: quarterbacking against the Raiders would have put up some points.
26:18
Speaker 1: I'm not saying thirty four necessarily, but would have put
26:20
Speaker 1: up some points. And you know, I think the thirty
26:24
Speaker 1: three nothing slacking by the Patriots when you know you
26:27
Speaker 1: have a young quarterback Sam Donald come out and say
26:30
Speaker 1: I was seeing ghosts. You know, he's being honest. And
26:33
Speaker 1: I think after that, they loose to Jacksonville by fourteen.
26:36
Speaker 1: They lose to the Dolphins by eight points, and I
26:38
Speaker 1: think at that at that point in time, was like
26:40
Speaker 1: that's enough, you know. So obviously they're they're feeling better
26:45
Speaker 1: about the way they're operating. And you know, they've they've
26:48
Speaker 1: got some players we know about Levon Bell and Anderson,
26:53
Speaker 1: this guy averaging over fifteen yards of catch, has a
26:55
Speaker 1: ninety two yard touchdown catch amongst the three touchdown receptions.
26:59
Speaker 1: That they've got some players, real good slot receiver and Crowder.
27:02
Speaker 1: So Bengals defense has been playing better. Let's see if
27:06
Speaker 1: that holds up against this Jets offense that's kind of
27:09
Speaker 1: finding their form a little bit. As the Bengals defense
27:12
Speaker 1: is finding their form, who's going to hold their form?
27:16
Speaker 1: The Bengals house the Jets this Sunday. The Jets have
27:19
Speaker 1: twenty six sacks, number nineteen in the NFL. So that's
27:22
Speaker 1: not great, but fifteen different players have at least a
27:25
Speaker 1: half of sack led by their safety Jamal Adams, who
27:28
Speaker 1: has six and a half. What does that say about
27:31
Speaker 1: defensive coordinator Greg Williams. It says that he's going to
27:34
Speaker 1: bring everybody from everywhere, you know, the kitchen, sink, the kitchen,
27:39
Speaker 1: the whole house. Everything's coming. So Adams, though, that's the
27:44
Speaker 1: interesting one. If I'm an offensive line coach, I'm saying,
27:49
Speaker 1: when Adams, when number thirty three is in the box,
27:51
Speaker 1: treat him like a linebacker. I designate him in my
27:55
Speaker 1: rules protecting from inside out depending on where he is
28:00
Speaker 1: that if he's if he's in the between the tackles,
28:04
Speaker 1: he's a linebacker to me. If he's on the outside,
28:07
Speaker 1: I'm going to count guys more dangerous, you know, closer
28:09
Speaker 1: to the quarterback. But but he I have to find
28:12
Speaker 1: thirty three. I have to find thirty three and communicate
28:15
Speaker 1: him up and down the line of scrimmage like like
28:18
Speaker 1: he's a linebacker in our protection. So six and a
28:21
Speaker 1: half sacks the most of any defensive back in the NFL,
28:24
Speaker 1: and he's in the top thirty in the NFL overall.
28:27
Speaker 1: I mean, he's got more sacks than the Bengal sack leader.
28:29
Speaker 1: He's got more sacks than a lot of sack leaders
28:31
Speaker 1: on individual teams around the National Football League. So, you know,
28:34
Speaker 1: it's interesting. They just played a safety that was a
28:38
Speaker 1: deep center fielder, you know, and all he was doing
28:40
Speaker 1: was you know, coming downhill and make plays. This guy
28:42
Speaker 1: is going to be right around the line of scrimmage
28:44
Speaker 1: a lot of times in the box more so. And
28:47
Speaker 1: they may be the two Pro Bowl safeties and the
28:49
Speaker 1: Bengals are going to have him in back to back
28:51
Speaker 1: weeks at a little bit different style of play. I'm
28:53
Speaker 1: talking about Fitzpatrick, Minka Fitzpatrick, and this this young man
28:58
Speaker 1: who is getting it done for the Jets is no,
29:00
Speaker 1: there's no question about it. He's a big time player.
29:02
Speaker 1: And their coordinator Greg Williams talk about aggressive. I mean,
29:08
Speaker 1: the first blitz will be as they get off the
29:09
Speaker 1: bus coming to the locker room. It's gonna be a blitz.
29:12
Speaker 1: Craig to the stadium. Final crucial question, what's your favorite
29:18
Speaker 1: part about the Thanksgiving feast? Oh man, I'm a I'm
29:24
Speaker 1: a dark meat guy. I do I do like I
29:27
Speaker 1: do like the dark meat. Um. I really enjoy turkey skin,
29:31
Speaker 1: which is the worst thing you can possibly eat. It
29:34
Speaker 1: is the best as long as it's cooked properly. Yeah,
29:37
Speaker 1: it has to be crispy, you know, it can't be soggy.
29:39
Speaker 1: Nothing worse than soggy, greasy turkey, you know, turkey skin,
29:43
Speaker 1: but nice crisp turkey skin, man of chev It's And
29:47
Speaker 1: I always always get the hairy eyeball when I, you know, partake. Sorry, Land, Yeah, sorry, Land,
29:52
Speaker 1: I had to do it, But I mean that dog
29:55
Speaker 1: will hunt right there. Give me some stuffing covered with
29:59
Speaker 1: a really good gravy stuffing, the stuffing that we have
30:04
Speaker 1: because I'm a corn of war, so it's got sausage
30:07
Speaker 1: and beefing. Uh yeah, are you kidding me, dude? I
30:10
Speaker 1: could make a meal just on the turkey stuffing. I
30:12
Speaker 1: mean yeah, I've got my real loose sweatpants that I
30:17
Speaker 1: throw on for Thanksgiving and I roll. Baby. I can't
30:22
Speaker 1: keep them up before I eat, but they're tight when
30:24
Speaker 1: I'm done. Something for the Lapham family to look forward to.
30:31
Speaker 1: Hopefully you enjoyed your Thanksgiving feast with a family as
30:35
Speaker 1: much as lap did. Now time for this week's locker
30:38
Speaker 1: room conversation as I visit with a Bengals veteran whose
30:41
Speaker 1: return to the lineup has provided a boost to the
30:43
Speaker 1: Bengals defense. We're in the locker room with Darquez Denard.
30:47
Speaker 1: Over the last couple of games, you've held opponents to
30:49
Speaker 1: seventeen points and sixteen points. And I don't think it's
30:52
Speaker 1: a coincidence that you have been back in there for
30:55
Speaker 1: more than ninety percent of the defensive snaps. How do
30:57
Speaker 1: you think you've helped that's the thing by communicating and
31:01
Speaker 1: you know, adding a little hedge and you know, hipping
31:04
Speaker 1: out with coverages and you know, communicating and doing my job.
31:07
Speaker 1: Give me the feeling on the defense right now? It's
31:09
Speaker 1: confidence growing based on how you've played the last few weeks. Definitely.
31:13
Speaker 1: I think, uh it has shows. It showed on Sundays
31:16
Speaker 1: as well. I think we're having great week comparatices and
31:20
Speaker 1: making turnovers and forcing turnovers and practicing and showing up
31:24
Speaker 1: in games and you know, and that's allowing us to
31:27
Speaker 1: obviously play well and whole opponents and you know, to
31:32
Speaker 1: under seventeen points and less. We're visiting the dar quest. Denard,
31:35
Speaker 1: Can you take a lot of satisfaction from a great
31:38
Speaker 1: defense performance even if the team loses? For me personally, no,
31:42
Speaker 1: not really, uh, because I feel like it's always something
31:44
Speaker 1: you can do a little bit more. Uh. You know,
31:46
Speaker 1: it was to play here and there's you know, you
31:48
Speaker 1: always had those those games and that you feel like
31:51
Speaker 1: you could have done more if you did this, if
31:54
Speaker 1: you did that. So for me personally, I feel like
31:57
Speaker 1: you can play the best game in your life. But
31:59
Speaker 1: you know, if you lose, it really don't matter. Dark
32:03
Speaker 1: Qua is one of the things that's always stood out
32:05
Speaker 1: about you since you've been here is your ability to
32:07
Speaker 1: tackle in the run game. Is that skill or will?
32:12
Speaker 1: I think it's a little bit of both, but majard
32:16
Speaker 1: is will. It just kind of just want to think that's,
32:20
Speaker 1: you know, something that's you know, it was coaching me
32:24
Speaker 1: and at Michigan State and just you know, follow me.
32:28
Speaker 1: You are a couple of lockers away from Sean Williams
32:32
Speaker 1: and you guys have been teammates your entire time here
32:34
Speaker 1: in Cincinnati. He has gutted it out this year despite
32:37
Speaker 1: a bunch of injuries. Can you describe your respect for him?
32:41
Speaker 1: You know, me and Sean uh pretty much like brothers.
32:45
Speaker 1: Uh so Uh. I know what he deals deals with,
32:49
Speaker 1: has been dealing with this year, and you know he's
32:53
Speaker 1: a one tough guy. He plays with a lot of injuries,
32:58
Speaker 1: don't complaining a lot, just you know, basically put a
33:01
Speaker 1: band aid over whatever it was hurt. If it's broken,
33:04
Speaker 1: if it's whatever it is, Uh, put a band aid
33:07
Speaker 1: over and you know, tape it out, tape it up,
33:09
Speaker 1: and you know he backed sort That was kind of
33:12
Speaker 1: guy he is. He loved the game of football and
33:14
Speaker 1: obviously shows on Sundays when you go out there and play.
33:17
Speaker 1: Got a question. Your first two years here, the Bengals
33:19
Speaker 1: were really good, including that twenty and fifteen season where
33:22
Speaker 1: you opened eight no and finished twelve and four. How
33:25
Speaker 1: difficult is it for you to be going through what
33:28
Speaker 1: the team is going through right now? It's difficult. Uh,
33:31
Speaker 1: you know, it's crazy because I you know, I kind
33:34
Speaker 1: of laughing, not really loud, but kind of just play
33:38
Speaker 1: with the younger guys. It's kind of like Tenu and
33:42
Speaker 1: you know Adam and Lee Un and you know Reggie
33:45
Speaker 1: did with me as when I was a young guy.
33:47
Speaker 1: You know they basically I was telling young guy earlier
33:50
Speaker 1: today those guys like, hey, man, ain't always like this. Uh.
33:55
Speaker 1: I always winning, you know, I was always winning games.
33:58
Speaker 1: You just got a chairs these moments and you got
34:00
Speaker 1: to really embrace him. And when you had the opportunity to,
34:03
Speaker 1: you know, make a run for a championship when you
34:05
Speaker 1: have a good team, you gotta do whatever it takes
34:07
Speaker 1: to to you know, basically do your job and get
34:10
Speaker 1: it done. And I think that kind of plays back
34:13
Speaker 1: in my head, especially the last couple of years and
34:18
Speaker 1: about what those guys said to me, and it's really
34:21
Speaker 1: hit home now. So it's just crazy. It's definitely difficult.
34:27
Speaker 1: I felt like we had a good team. Obviously, you know, injuries,
34:31
Speaker 1: of course happens, and that's the unfortunate part about this game.
34:35
Speaker 1: And he kind of switch a whole season up, so
34:38
Speaker 1: you know it. You know, it's definitely difficult. It's definitely difficult.
34:43
Speaker 1: When you talk to the younger guys, do you give
34:45
Speaker 1: them the opposite message. It's not always going to be
34:48
Speaker 1: like this. We can be good again in a short
34:51
Speaker 1: period of time. Definitely just tell them, I mean just
34:55
Speaker 1: tell them like, man, were a few plays away, ball here,
34:58
Speaker 1: ball there, Just how it rolls or you know, a
35:02
Speaker 1: game changes, just like this whole season been because we've
35:04
Speaker 1: been in games. It's not like we've been you know,
35:07
Speaker 1: been losing my fifty points every game. We've been in
35:10
Speaker 1: a lot of games, like a lot of games, and
35:12
Speaker 1: you know, we kind of just come down to the
35:14
Speaker 1: last wire and you know, the ball just don't roll
35:16
Speaker 1: all the way and just how football is kind of
35:19
Speaker 1: like the game of life. So you have your ups
35:21
Speaker 1: and downs, but you know, uh, you have more ups
35:25
Speaker 1: if you keep working on it, keep grinding and just
35:27
Speaker 1: staying patient and just trusting. A couple of questions about
35:30
Speaker 1: this week's opponent, the New York Jets. Sam Donald has
35:33
Speaker 1: been on a roll of like his last three games.
35:35
Speaker 1: He's been terrific. What stands out when you look at
35:37
Speaker 1: him on tape. You know he's a bigger quarterback and
35:41
Speaker 1: his mobile uh stays trying to move the pocket and
35:45
Speaker 1: and standing plays. Uh. He got a lot of great
35:48
Speaker 1: whippers around him. Uh, you know you got leave On,
35:50
Speaker 1: you got Robbie. Uh, you know, I got a champions,
35:54
Speaker 1: and you got Demarrius and you know you got a
35:56
Speaker 1: lot of guys just around him HIPing him. So, uh,
35:59
Speaker 1: they're doing a really good job right now. We just
36:01
Speaker 1: had to come out and you know, compete will I
36:03
Speaker 1: noticed in their game last week, Leaveon Bell was lining
36:06
Speaker 1: up a lot as a wide receiver and going down field.
36:08
Speaker 1: I mean it wasn't the type of passes he used
36:10
Speaker 1: to catch with the Steelers where he'd go three yards
36:12
Speaker 1: and turn around and then look for yards after catch.
36:15
Speaker 1: They're having him run down the field, right. It's kind
36:19
Speaker 1: of not a surprise to me. You know, me and
36:20
Speaker 1: Lebon was at Michigan State together, so I know the
36:22
Speaker 1: type of player he is. H I was able to
36:25
Speaker 1: watch up coach personal since we you know, we was
36:28
Speaker 1: in the same recruiting class, so you know, I got
36:32
Speaker 1: to watch him every day, so I know what type
36:33
Speaker 1: of player he is and what are you capable? So
36:35
Speaker 1: it's not a surprise to me at the things that
36:37
Speaker 1: you're doing now. But he's definitely a you know, a
36:42
Speaker 1: capable receiver as well as a running back, so he
36:44
Speaker 1: definitely a tart to win. You know, he's out there.
36:46
Speaker 1: Appreciate your time as always, Happy Thanksgiving, best a lot,
36:49
Speaker 1: everything's giving me as well. Thank you. Last, but not least,
36:53
Speaker 1: it's time for this week's Know the Folk Conversation is
36:56
Speaker 1: we take an in depth look at the Jets with
36:58
Speaker 1: long time beat writer Rich Samini. He joined Lapping Me
37:01
Speaker 1: this week on the Bengals Game Plan Show, and I
37:04
Speaker 1: started the interview by asking Rich the following question. If
37:08
Speaker 1: Sam Darnold had not missed several games due to mono,
37:12
Speaker 1: would the Jets be in playoff contention. That's a great question, Dan,
37:17
Speaker 1: really hard to say. You know, I would say, you know,
37:22
Speaker 1: they played I'd say no, because they played three really
37:25
Speaker 1: difficult opponents during that stretch that he was out, and
37:29
Speaker 1: they played Philly, New England, and I'm missing one game
37:35
Speaker 1: then they lost, So I don't even think they would
37:37
Speaker 1: have beat them. With Sam. It was a new offense.
37:40
Speaker 1: They were going through some growing pains anyway, and without
37:42
Speaker 1: him they were just hopeless. I mean, they couldn't get
37:46
Speaker 1: the ball in the red zone, let alone score. I've
37:48
Speaker 1: never in all my years of covering the Jets, and
37:50
Speaker 1: I've seen some really bad offenses that was as bad
37:54
Speaker 1: as I've seen early in the year with Luke Falk
37:56
Speaker 1: at quarterback. So the answer is no. But now they're
38:00
Speaker 1: playing better and they're you know, kind of make it
38:02
Speaker 1: interest interesting a little bit. Let me ask you about
38:05
Speaker 1: the defensive side of the football, my goodness, top ten
38:09
Speaker 1: in a lot of categories, top five and many significant categories,
38:12
Speaker 1: including stopping the run, number one in yards seventy eight
38:16
Speaker 1: point one per game and three yards per carry, and
38:20
Speaker 1: Greg Williams, the Master Disguiser. I watched the Dolphins tape
38:24
Speaker 1: and he was playing Cover one. The Dolphins torched it,
38:28
Speaker 1: so he went back to Tampa two and he said,
38:30
Speaker 1: all right, I'm gonna make it a job. I'm gonna
38:32
Speaker 1: make Jamal Adams's going to be a rush guy for him.
38:34
Speaker 1: He's got six and a half sacks the last four games,
38:36
Speaker 1: five tackle for loss. I mean, and he's still playing
38:39
Speaker 1: Cover two behind it. I guess if he plays Coup
38:42
Speaker 1: one against the Bengals, it'll be a true look testament
38:45
Speaker 1: how people feel about the Bengals wide outs, because he
38:48
Speaker 1: probably feels like they can't beat him. But I mean,
38:50
Speaker 1: this guy has been doing some unbelievable stuff schematically and
38:54
Speaker 1: utilizing his players to their fullest. He's unreal. Yeah, yeah,
38:58
Speaker 1: he really has done a great job. And you know,
39:01
Speaker 1: they've had so many injuries, and last week against the Raiders,
39:05
Speaker 1: of the top sixteen guys on defense based on the
39:08
Speaker 1: number of snaps in the game, seven of the guys
39:11
Speaker 1: came into the league as undrafted free agents. So he's
39:14
Speaker 1: been doing it with you know, replacement level talent. And
39:19
Speaker 1: you're exactly right about the way they've dialed back the pressure.
39:23
Speaker 1: They've been come more. But they cover two team in
39:25
Speaker 1: recent winks and a lot of that is to protect
39:28
Speaker 1: their corners. They're playing basically with two third string corners
39:31
Speaker 1: and Arthur Mallet and rookie Bless Austin, and so instead
39:36
Speaker 1: of putting those guys out on islands, they've been playing
39:38
Speaker 1: more too safety looks. But like you said, they've been
39:41
Speaker 1: using Jamal as a blitzer. That's not a weekly thing,
39:45
Speaker 1: but I think it depends on the opponents more of
39:47
Speaker 1: a game plan specific thing. But he's been racking up
39:49
Speaker 1: sacks and so they've really found an identity on defense.
39:53
Speaker 1: Rich Amini from ESPN New York is our guest. What
39:56
Speaker 1: was the reaction in New York or in the Jets
39:59
Speaker 1: locker room when they learned that Andy Dalton was coming
40:02
Speaker 1: back to be the Bengals quarterback instead of a struggling
40:05
Speaker 1: Ryan Finley. Yeah, I don't. I think they kind of
40:08
Speaker 1: expected it. I think, you know, from the reaction I
40:11
Speaker 1: got is, you know, they saw Finley struggles with turnovers,
40:16
Speaker 1: and the Bengals have actually played a pretty good defense
40:19
Speaker 1: the last couple of weeks they've been in these games,
40:22
Speaker 1: and I think the Jets, at least in terms of
40:24
Speaker 1: the coaching staff, they had a pretty good idea that
40:27
Speaker 1: it was going to be back to Dalton just because
40:30
Speaker 1: they've been in some of these games and if they
40:32
Speaker 1: could just minimize the turnovers, they could win some of
40:34
Speaker 1: these games. And also you're looking at a coach who
40:37
Speaker 1: doesn't want to go out in sixteen and wants to
40:40
Speaker 1: win some games here at the end of the year,
40:43
Speaker 1: and obviously feels that Dalton gives them the best chance.
40:47
Speaker 1: It seemed to me that Adam Gas was not really
40:50
Speaker 1: trying to hide the fact that he thought overpaid for
40:53
Speaker 1: Levon Bell. Did they Yes, they did. I mean, you know,
41:00
Speaker 1: thirteen and a half million per year for a running
41:02
Speaker 1: back is a lot, and Adam Gates has never said
41:07
Speaker 1: that publicly. By the way, just for the record, you know,
41:10
Speaker 1: I reported and other people reported at the time a
41:13
Speaker 1: free agency that Gays was not keen on the idea
41:16
Speaker 1: of spending that much for a running back. And he
41:19
Speaker 1: has nothing against Bell. I think he really respects Bells
41:22
Speaker 1: as a player. He just felt that philosophically, that was
41:26
Speaker 1: just too much for one guy. And I think we've
41:28
Speaker 1: seen that those feelings come to bear because he has
41:33
Speaker 1: not having a good year. I mean, it's not all
41:35
Speaker 1: on a labe on their offensive line has been a
41:37
Speaker 1: mess with the most part. So he has not rushed
41:40
Speaker 1: for more than seventy yards in a game this year,
41:43
Speaker 1: and frankly, to me, he looks like a half a
41:46
Speaker 1: step slower than what you guys have seen him a
41:48
Speaker 1: lot more than I have. From the division. He looks
41:51
Speaker 1: a little bit slow to me. And maybe it's the
41:53
Speaker 1: year off, you know, maybe it's the offensive line, but
41:56
Speaker 1: he just has not been the same. Lady On, we
41:59
Speaker 1: are visiting with Rich some meaning long time reporter covering
42:02
Speaker 1: the New York Jets. I mentioned this streak at the
42:04
Speaker 1: beginning of our conversation Rich, how the Jets have scored
42:07
Speaker 1: exactly thirty four and three straight games. How much is
42:09
Speaker 1: that Giants, Redskins Raiders as the opponents, and how much
42:14
Speaker 1: is that this is an offense that's finding its stride. Yeah,
42:17
Speaker 1: mostly the schedule, I think, Dan, it's I mean, they
42:22
Speaker 1: just hit it at the right time. I mean, it's
42:24
Speaker 1: amazing how they work out. So the owner, they get
42:26
Speaker 1: embarrassed by Miami. Down in Miami, they dropped to one
42:30
Speaker 1: and seven. It was as ugly a loss as I've
42:32
Speaker 1: ever covered. And so there's a lot of rumors about
42:35
Speaker 1: Gays's job security. Could he get fired in the middle
42:38
Speaker 1: of the season. The owner comes in a private meeting
42:40
Speaker 1: with the players. The owner of that week says, you know,
42:43
Speaker 1: I'm sticking with Adam. He's my guy. And it's like
42:46
Speaker 1: the old thing in baseball. You know, if you have
42:48
Speaker 1: a team meeting, make sure you do it on the
42:50
Speaker 1: day your ace is pitching. So the Jets knew that
42:53
Speaker 1: they were playing the Giants, then they were playing the Redskins,
42:56
Speaker 1: two really poor defensive teams. So they got their offense
43:00
Speaker 1: rolling a little bit, they built some confidence, and they
43:03
Speaker 1: went against the Raiders, you know who I considered more
43:06
Speaker 1: of the middle of the road team, and they really
43:08
Speaker 1: took it out on the Raiders and Raiders so now
43:11
Speaker 1: they got their mojo. Sam Darnold's as hot as any
43:15
Speaker 1: quarterback in the league not named Lamar Jackson, right, and
43:19
Speaker 1: so they're really feeling good about themselves offensively. Prior to
43:22
Speaker 1: the three game win streak, the highest score, the most
43:26
Speaker 1: points they scored against Dallas, and to me, that was
43:29
Speaker 1: one of the biggest outliers of the season. The twenty
43:31
Speaker 1: four twenty two victory over the Dallas Cowboys on October thirteenth,
43:37
Speaker 1: what led to that what was the circumstance that football
43:40
Speaker 1: game in your estimation, that's I'm still trying to figure
43:43
Speaker 1: that way, right, j went in there and four and
43:46
Speaker 1: you know, it was Sam Darnold's first game back from mono,
43:50
Speaker 1: and you were all looking at him like, you know,
43:53
Speaker 1: if he gets hit in the spleen as he get
43:55
Speaker 1: high on the field, you know, they're you know, there's
43:57
Speaker 1: a lot of people reporting that he's back too soon.
44:01
Speaker 1: And so he goes out and he played out of
44:03
Speaker 1: his mind, and I game he played a really good
44:05
Speaker 1: game and they beat him. But now let me say this,
44:08
Speaker 1: Dallas played without their two starting offensive tackles, and we
44:11
Speaker 1: know those are very good players, and they played Amari
44:14
Speaker 1: Cooper went out in the first series of the game,
44:16
Speaker 1: and I truly think that if Cooper were in there
44:18
Speaker 1: for the whole game, the Jets would have lost. But
44:21
Speaker 1: he wasn't, and they won the game. And so then
44:23
Speaker 1: you thought, Okay, they're going to start to go on
44:25
Speaker 1: a little bit of a role here. But then they
44:28
Speaker 1: just went into like a tailspin, and Sam Darnold went
44:31
Speaker 1: into a really bad tailspin, and then the season got
44:35
Speaker 1: away from them. So the the I'm seeing ghosts that
44:40
Speaker 1: was it after that Dallas game, you know, the New
44:43
Speaker 1: England game. Yep, So you know that's a that's a
44:46
Speaker 1: big deal. ESPN talk show hosts and Fox talk show
44:49
Speaker 1: hosts go crazy over that, and I know the team
44:51
Speaker 1: wasn't happy that that audio was used. To me, it
44:54
Speaker 1: was like stating the obvious. That's what a young quarterback
44:56
Speaker 1: experiences against a Bill Belichick type defense. So a really
45:00
Speaker 1: good NFL defensive team was it. Was it a big
45:04
Speaker 1: source of embarrassment for Sam Darnold or was it everybody else? Yeah,
45:10
Speaker 1: Darnold handled it really well. He didn't duck the questions.
45:14
Speaker 1: He just admitted on numerous occasions. He because I always
45:18
Speaker 1: try to be honest with my coaches when I get
45:20
Speaker 1: to the sideline, and that's what I was feeling at
45:23
Speaker 1: that moment. And he had just a horrific game. He
45:26
Speaker 1: had four interceptions in that game, and he truly was
45:29
Speaker 1: seeing goes. I mean, he didn't know what was coming
45:31
Speaker 1: at him. And unfortunately, you know, usually that's the NFL
45:36
Speaker 1: films is responsible for that stuff at the game, and
45:40
Speaker 1: usually they added out all the good stuff, and the
45:42
Speaker 1: stuff that we get on TV is the very planned
45:45
Speaker 1: soundbites from the bench and in this case, they let
45:48
Speaker 1: it go through and you know, which was great for
45:52
Speaker 1: TV viewers around the country, but bad for the Jets.
45:54
Speaker 1: And you're right there. You know, the Jets were pissed
45:58
Speaker 1: when that got out and my network aired it, you know,
46:01
Speaker 1: after it received clearance from NFL Films. And it was
46:04
Speaker 1: embarrassing for Sam because he went into Jacksonville the very
46:07
Speaker 1: next week and at the end of the game he
46:11
Speaker 1: had another bad game, three interceptions, and on the PA
46:14
Speaker 1: in the stadium, they're playing the Ghostbusters team and showing
46:19
Speaker 1: a montage of all his interceptions on the scoreboard, which
46:22
Speaker 1: I really thought was bush league by going on about
46:27
Speaker 1: two minutes left and they're playing the Ghostbusters theme and
46:30
Speaker 1: so it's something that Sam has and one other stadium
46:34
Speaker 1: played it too, I can't remember offhand, but he, you know,
46:37
Speaker 1: it's something he's had to live with. But he's playing
46:40
Speaker 1: really well for the last three games, so I think
46:42
Speaker 1: he's come out of that. That's funk. Well, I know,
46:44
Speaker 1: Ryan Finley saw a bunch of ghosts and you know
46:46
Speaker 1: it's it's all he's saying is pre snap, I'm seeing
46:48
Speaker 1: one thing post snap another, you know. I mean, yeah,
46:53
Speaker 1: he's he's being honest. Yeah, the fans when they hear that,
46:57
Speaker 1: the fact that it was Belichick too, you know, sure,
47:00
Speaker 1: and I'm sure he enjoyed a nice little smirk with
47:03
Speaker 1: them when he heard that. But no, no doubt, no doubt.
47:06
Speaker 1: Yeah they got he got validation, you know. Van Noy
47:08
Speaker 1: basically said, oh, man, that's that's validation of what we're doing.
47:11
Speaker 1: You know. I mean, it's my my final question, and
47:14
Speaker 1: thanks for carbon time for us. You're great and appreciate
47:16
Speaker 1: your patients. Frank Pollock, Uh, he had a tremendous round
47:20
Speaker 1: amount of respect in this locker room by his offensive
47:24
Speaker 1: line and other position groups. He really um made an
47:28
Speaker 1: impression on the Cincinnati Bengals locker room overall. What's it
47:32
Speaker 1: been like for Frank in New Jersey excuse me, in
47:34
Speaker 1: New York with the Jets. Yeah, that's a man. That's
47:37
Speaker 1: a weird you know. I thought he didn't do it.
47:39
Speaker 1: I thought he did a poor job at the beginning
47:41
Speaker 1: of the year. I mean, their offensive line was just
47:45
Speaker 1: which was really bad. I mean, Sam and the other
47:48
Speaker 1: quarterbacks were getting a hit on a regular basis. And
47:52
Speaker 1: they've started six different offensive line combos, so you know,
47:56
Speaker 1: injuries have played a factor. But even when they had
47:59
Speaker 1: Theirs in there, they were just missing assignments, turning guys loose,
48:05
Speaker 1: they were sliding in the wrong direction. It was just
48:09
Speaker 1: a really poorly coached unit at this part of the year.
48:12
Speaker 1: And they have calmed it down a little bit, you know,
48:16
Speaker 1: you know, and I think Pollock has done a good
48:17
Speaker 1: job of figuring out what's going on. But you know what,
48:21
Speaker 1: I think a big part of it was, you know,
48:23
Speaker 1: they signed Ryan Khalil out of retirement right before training
48:28
Speaker 1: or actually right as training camp was starting, and of
48:30
Speaker 1: course he was a five time pro bowler with the Panthers,
48:33
Speaker 1: and the thought they were getting a coupe and he
48:36
Speaker 1: just was not in shape. And he came in and
48:39
Speaker 1: I think he just disrupted all the chemistry and they
48:42
Speaker 1: really struggled with him, and when they replaced him because
48:46
Speaker 1: he went on IR. The last three weeks with Jonathan Harrison,
48:48
Speaker 1: it's been a much smoother operation. So partly because of that,
48:52
Speaker 1: and I think partly because Frank has figured out some
48:55
Speaker 1: things that they've gotten better. But it was pretty bad
48:58
Speaker 1: there for a while thanks to Rich Samite, and that's
49:01
Speaker 1: going to do it. For this episode of the podcast,
49:04
Speaker 1: if you haven't done so already, don't forget to subscribe.
49:07
Speaker 1: Comments and five star ratings are helpful and appreciated. I'm
49:12
Speaker 1: Dan Horde, Happy Thanksgiving and thanks for listening to the
49:15
Speaker 1: Bengals Boot Podcast