Speaker 1: Hi again everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: the Bengals Booth Podcast. The Just when they think they've
Speaker 1: got you game said match, here comes the comeback. Addition
Speaker 1: is Joe Burrow and offensive line coach Frank Pollock return
Speaker 1: to Paul Brown Stadium. Coming up, Dave Lapham joins me
Speaker 1: for a thirty minute conversation as we discuss those comebacks
Speaker 1: and answer the ask lap questions that you submitted on Twitter. Plus,
Speaker 1: we'll talk to Special Teams coordinator and assistant head coach
Speaker 1: Darren Simmons. The Bengals Booth Podcast is presented by bud
Speaker 1: Light Seltzer. Refresh the game, and here's a quick reminder
Speaker 1: that you can add the latest edition of this podcast
Speaker 1: delivered right to your phone, tablet, or computer by subscribing
Speaker 1: on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, or odd Bean. It's
Speaker 1: the greatest thing since a new toothbrush. I went to
Speaker 1: the dentist last week shout out to doctor Eric Lenz,
Speaker 1: and as is always the case, I left his office
Speaker 1: with a little goodie bag, including a new toothbrush, and
Speaker 1: the first time I brushed my teeth with it, I
Speaker 1: was reminded of how good it feels to use a
Speaker 1: brand new one. According to the American Dental Association, a
Speaker 1: toothbrush is typically in good working order for about three
Speaker 1: to four months. So if it's been longer than that
Speaker 1: and the brushes are frayed and pointing every which way,
Speaker 1: by yourself a new toothbrush, it'll put a smile on
Speaker 1: your face, hopefully an even brighter one. Now time for
Speaker 1: Dave Lapham to answer my questions and yours. Lap Let's
Speaker 1: start with the return of Joe Burrow to Cincinnati. He'll
Speaker 1: be rehabbing five days a week at Paul Brown Stadium,
Speaker 1: and he did a zoom call with reporters on Tuesday.
Speaker 1: What stood out to you in that zoom call? I
Speaker 1: think his positive attitude about the rehab. You know, I
Speaker 1: think that he feels like he's a quick healer. The
Speaker 1: the torn ro trator cuff that he had surgery on
Speaker 1: and the quick healing process that he's gone through already
Speaker 1: from a rehab standpoint, I think is an indicator. You
Speaker 1: know that that's that's how his body type is, which
Speaker 1: is which is encouraging. And you know the thing about
Speaker 1: him is every grind is a challenge and this might
Speaker 1: be the biggest grind slash challenge of his of his
Speaker 1: career obviously, but I think he's up to it. I
Speaker 1: think in his mind he wants to be have the
Speaker 1: training staff and the rehab people say he's the best
Speaker 1: we ever had. Joe Burrow wants to be number one
Speaker 1: and everything, and that's that's the way he approaches it.
Speaker 1: And uh, and I think that's a that's a good thing. Obviously.
Speaker 1: I liked how he acknowledged the need to be better
Speaker 1: on the deep ball. I think sometimes athletes will kind
Speaker 1: of dan it's around something that was a weakness or
Speaker 1: a problem, and he addressed that head on, even saying
Speaker 1: that he needs to get bigger and stronger. Yeah. I
Speaker 1: think that that. Uh. You know, sometimes guys, players, really
Speaker 1: good players, are the last ones to realize they still
Speaker 1: have things they need to get better at. You know,
Speaker 1: they quote think they've arrived. As such. I don't think
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow is the kind of guy that'll ever think
Speaker 1: he's arrived. I think he's one of those guys that
Speaker 1: is always gonna, you know, strive to be better, find
Speaker 1: a weakness, build on that, and then and then take
Speaker 1: a positive and make that even better. You know. I
Speaker 1: think he just across the board. He's always never going
Speaker 1: to be satisfied, always going to want to strive to
Speaker 1: be better, and that's what makes the good ones great.
Speaker 1: He said something else that caught my ear, and this
Speaker 1: also gets back to something he said in his interview
Speaker 1: with Colin Cowherd last week. When Coward talked to him
Speaker 1: about what he can improve on from his rookie year
Speaker 1: or what lessons he learned, he specifically brought up the
Speaker 1: Colts game and said he learned that when it's twenty
Speaker 1: one nothing in the NFL, you cannot take your foot
Speaker 1: off the gas pedal. Yeah, there's there's no doubt. I mean,
Speaker 1: today's offense is the way people can attack the excellence
Speaker 1: at the quarterback position. No lead is safe, There's no
Speaker 1: question about it. That's why you know, in the Pittsburgh
Speaker 1: Cleveland game, when they jumped out to that twenty one
Speaker 1: nothing lead, I thought, well, yeah, that's a good that's
Speaker 1: a good indicator that this game could turn out well
Speaker 1: for them tonight. But is certainly not over. And you know,
Speaker 1: even Chris and all we're talking about when they in
Speaker 1: the second and the third quarter, there's still a two
Speaker 1: score game plus, so They're like, this football game is
Speaker 1: not over and that's just life in the National Football League,
Speaker 1: there's no question about it. And that's something that you
Speaker 1: know you have to adjust to for sure. So Burrow
Speaker 1: hopes to be throwing in mid February, twelve weeks after surgery,
Speaker 1: and he seems confident that he'll be ready to go
Speaker 1: in time for Week one of the regular season next year.
Speaker 1: Do you have any concern about him pushing too hard?
Speaker 1: I think that's always a concern with the guy of
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow's makeup. You know, Joe, Joe is h He's
Speaker 1: a very self motivated guy. You don't have to light
Speaker 1: a firecracker under Joe's but to get him going. Man,
Speaker 1: you know, he wakes up ready to roll every single day.
Speaker 1: Um So I think, honestly, yeah. The thing that you
Speaker 1: have to think about if you're directing his rehab, like
Speaker 1: Nick Cosgrey is gonna Nick. Nick is excellent. Nick's as
Speaker 1: good as there is in the in the world. Really
Speaker 1: in doing what he does, is you're gonna have to
Speaker 1: put a harness on him and continue to pull him back.
Speaker 1: You don't have to worry about pushing him. He's gonna
Speaker 1: push himself but you know, if you feel like boy,
Speaker 1: you know, my experience tells me, even though he might
Speaker 1: be able to do it at this stage, might be
Speaker 1: doing a little too much. I'm gonna pull him back,
Speaker 1: pull the reins a little bit, and uh, you know,
Speaker 1: try to tame this wild bronkin buck right now. Um,
Speaker 1: I think I think that's kind of that's kind of
Speaker 1: the mindset that everybody's gonna have to approach you with.
Speaker 1: And Joe's gonna have to realize that these guys, know,
Speaker 1: you know, it's not it's not anything personal. It's not
Speaker 1: like they're trying to, you know, retard your rehab process
Speaker 1: or anything like that. But you have to have trust
Speaker 1: and faith in your rehab people to make sure that
Speaker 1: you don't become your own worst enemy. You know, you
Speaker 1: don't do too much because there are going to be setbacks,
Speaker 1: and you don't want there to be self impost setbacks.
Speaker 1: Those are the worst setbacks to have when you do
Speaker 1: it to yourself. All right, let's move on to the
Speaker 1: return of Frank Pollock as the offensive line coach. Were
Speaker 1: you at all surprised the Bengals were able to lure
Speaker 1: him back, considering that Zach didn't try to keep him
Speaker 1: in the first place, when Frank was still under contract
Speaker 1: a couple of years ago. Yeah, that that was an
Speaker 1: interesting situation. I think it shows that both men aren't small,
Speaker 1: you know. I mean it was a situation where, all right,
Speaker 1: Zach had made a commitment that he was going to
Speaker 1: go with Jim Turner, and I think, I mean, there's
Speaker 1: no doubt in my mind that Mike Brown would have
Speaker 1: liked Zach to interview. You know, Frank can see what
Speaker 1: he thought. But at that point, I think through the
Speaker 1: grapevine or whatever, I think he knew that you know,
Speaker 1: Zach was was had his guy, had his guy, Jim Turner.
Speaker 1: So I think I'm going to credit Mike Brown on this. Obviously,
Speaker 1: Frank asked Mike Brown probably to say, look, would you
Speaker 1: please just let me go because I have opportunities out there.
Speaker 1: Don't don't don't make it a situation where you might
Speaker 1: want me to hang around an interview with a guy
Speaker 1: that I know has already made his mind up. Can
Speaker 1: I go somewhere else and take advantage of an opportunity
Speaker 1: that might present itself. So bottom line is, no bridges
Speaker 1: were burned anywhere. You know, I think there was a
Speaker 1: healthy ghost through respect everywhere. Frank said right away that
Speaker 1: he appreciated the way that he was treated by the
Speaker 1: Brown family upon his return. So it tells me that
Speaker 1: not only whe he was treated while he was here,
Speaker 1: but when he exited, he was treated with respect. So
Speaker 1: I think the fact that that that's the way they
Speaker 1: parted ways, I think led to coming back together again.
Speaker 1: And and and I think the run game coordinator, even
Speaker 1: though you know it's just a title, how much responsibility
Speaker 1: would come with that title. I think there will be some.
Speaker 1: And I think that you know, in the in the
Speaker 1: progression of Frank Pollock's career to have that title in
Speaker 1: addition to offensive line coach, and it probably economically was
Speaker 1: a benefit as well to have that title. Then you
Speaker 1: come back and put things back together again, and I
Speaker 1: see them working well together. And the good thing is
Speaker 1: the players that were here when Frank was here the
Speaker 1: first time are excited about his return, and that's always
Speaker 1: a big plus. Joe Mixon among them. Joe Burrow told
Speaker 1: us in that Zoom interview yesterday that Joe Mixon called
Speaker 1: him up after Frank Pollock was announced and was quote
Speaker 1: hooting and hollering, why do you think Frank is so
Speaker 1: popular among players. I think it's his whole approach to
Speaker 1: the game of football. You know, some guys talk about
Speaker 1: their love of the game. Frank doesn't have to talk
Speaker 1: about it. He just shows it all the time. It
Speaker 1: oozes out of his pores, you know. And he played,
Speaker 1: you know, he played nine years in the NFL as
Speaker 1: a player, so he understands a lot of what the
Speaker 1: guys are thinking, what they're going through, you know, from
Speaker 1: from firsthand experience. And I think that's always a plus.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think he feels like he can relate
Speaker 1: to the locker room because he did as a player,
Speaker 1: and he knows, he knows the type of coach that
Speaker 1: he respected as a player, so he wants to be
Speaker 1: that type of coach and make sure that he builds
Speaker 1: those kind of relationships. So I think all of that
Speaker 1: is a part of the equation. Plus, you know, he's
Speaker 1: damn good at what he does. I mean, he's really
Speaker 1: a good He teaches not only schematic not only does
Speaker 1: he teach a good scheme that you can believe in,
Speaker 1: And that's very important. Are you buying, honestly buying what
Speaker 1: your coach is selling. And I think with Frank, Guys
Speaker 1: really do consume and buy everything he's selling in terms
Speaker 1: of his schematic, this technique. And he doesn't just teach technique.
Speaker 1: He teaches you know, how to do, how to how
Speaker 1: to I execute the technique. Here's what I want you
Speaker 1: to do, and here's why I want you to do it.
Speaker 1: And when you have those questions answered, you know, it's
Speaker 1: much easier to digest, you know. And and I think
Speaker 1: he also is as a former player. I think he
Speaker 1: felt like, when I come off the field, if I
Speaker 1: have something to say to my coach, I hope my
Speaker 1: coach listens to it, you know, and appreciates it a
Speaker 1: little bit. So I think he realizes he knows that
Speaker 1: Hopkins is smart. He knows Bobby Hart's smart. He knows
Speaker 1: there are some smart guys intelligence football IQ guys and
Speaker 1: that and that upfront. If they come off the field
Speaker 1: and say something, you know, it's I don't know if
Speaker 1: I can believe that. I think he there's there's a
Speaker 1: trust there, you know, that develops between the line coach
Speaker 1: and the lineman, and I think that's a that's a
Speaker 1: big factor. I've always always said that when the coach
Speaker 1: has both they both respect and like, I mean that
Speaker 1: that's and you don't necessarily have to like them, but
Speaker 1: when that does happen, when you have both, man, there's
Speaker 1: a synergistic effect there. And I've said before and I
Speaker 1: still maintain that the guys that I saw that the
Speaker 1: best example of that I've ever seen as Dick Lebal.
Speaker 1: I don't think there's one ex player of Dick Lebal,
Speaker 1: whether it's quote disgruntled about lack of playing time or whatever,
Speaker 1: that does not love and respect Dick Lebo as a coach.
Speaker 1: That's hard to do. And I think Frank because of,
Speaker 1: you know, his experience as a player. Dick was a
Speaker 1: Hall of Fame player as well as a Hall of
Speaker 1: Fame coach. Frank was played a long time in the
Speaker 1: National Football League. That's hard to do, and I think
Speaker 1: players both respect, you know, and like Frank as well.
Speaker 1: The use of the word center just Dick has just
Speaker 1: elevated the intelligence level of this podcast, So thank you
Speaker 1: very much. Billy Price is another guy who very publicly
Speaker 1: came out in support of this move. He clearly looks
Speaker 1: at it like a new lease on life. Do you
Speaker 1: think Billy or anybody else in particular benefits from the
Speaker 1: return of Frank Pollock. I think that the thing that
Speaker 1: you have to go into it with, and I think
Speaker 1: Frank is doing it as well. It's kind of it's
Speaker 1: a clean slate, you know. I'm going to start by
Speaker 1: examining tape and see what I see with my own
Speaker 1: eyes in terms of what talent is available to me
Speaker 1: on the current roster, who's approaching free agency, who's back
Speaker 1: for sure, all those kind of things. Can they play.
Speaker 1: But you know, Billy had a great relationship with Franky
Speaker 1: were when they were first together, so you would expect
Speaker 1: that to continue, and Billy is looking for a fresh start, obviously,
Speaker 1: a new lease on life is such. The thing that
Speaker 1: Billy has to do is continued to try to improve
Speaker 1: on the areas where he's had problems. And in my mind,
Speaker 1: his big thing is balance. Because of his arms being
Speaker 1: a little bit short, he's out of balance a lot.
Speaker 1: You know, he's over extended his chins over his skis
Speaker 1: and you know he's on the ground some. So that
Speaker 1: that's the biggest thing. I don't care who the coach
Speaker 1: is if they can't figure out, together with the player,
Speaker 1: how to keep that player in balance and let him,
Speaker 1: you know, stay on his feet and finish plays. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, it doesn't really matter. But you know, maybe
Speaker 1: Frank has has some ideas to help Billy with that.
Speaker 1: You know that Jim didn't, and maybe Billy can respond
Speaker 1: to that and make an adjustment. And it's all about,
Speaker 1: you know, adjustments, and sometimes sometimes a coaching change is
Speaker 1: just what a player needs. People say, oh, he went
Speaker 1: to a he got a fresh start, new location, you know,
Speaker 1: new environment. You can get that internally instead of not
Speaker 1: necessarily a new place, but a new environment. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's it's the guy you deal with every single day
Speaker 1: of practice, your coach. When that changes, everything changes. So
Speaker 1: offensive line coaches filled Troy Walters is reportedly being promoted
Speaker 1: to become the wide receivers coach, They still have vacancies
Speaker 1: a defensive line coach and running backs coach as far
Speaker 1: as we know at least any thoughts on what they
Speaker 1: should be looking for there. If I'm the head coach,
Speaker 1: get together with the rest of my position coaches on
Speaker 1: offense and say who have you coached with that you
Speaker 1: really think is that I was standing running back? Give
Speaker 1: me your guy's input. Who do you think would mesh well,
Speaker 1: you know, with with the rest of these coaches, who
Speaker 1: do you think would mesh well with the type of
Speaker 1: personalities we have, you know, players that they're going to
Speaker 1: be coaching um and and there's always uh some you know,
Speaker 1: a list can be made up of that, because then
Speaker 1: then the mesh would be easier because there'd be some
Speaker 1: familiarity a little bit. And the same with defense. I
Speaker 1: would I would sit down, uh you know, if I'm
Speaker 1: lou Anna Rumo or Zach you know, I'd sit down
Speaker 1: with lou and offense, sit down with Brian Callahan and say, no,
Speaker 1: make a list based on what your assistants are saying,
Speaker 1: and you make me a list of guys that you
Speaker 1: feel would would uh, would mesh well marry well with
Speaker 1: the rest of our coaching staff, and let's target then
Speaker 1: instead of doing this big you know, bulls eye target,
Speaker 1: this big target, why don't we bulls eye it a
Speaker 1: little bit and see if we can come up with
Speaker 1: somebody that would would fit in philosophically, what we're trying
Speaker 1: to do, how we're trying to teach it, all those
Speaker 1: kind of things. All right, I am putting you in
Speaker 1: the shoes of Duke Tobin. Yeah, give me your top
Speaker 1: three priorities in order you're talking about from a position standpoint, Yes, sir,
Speaker 1: I would talk about initially both lines of scrimmage DAN
Speaker 1: one and two. You know, however, you want to do
Speaker 1: it one and one. A doesn't because even in this
Speaker 1: era of all kinds of formations, all kinds of personnel groupings,
Speaker 1: window dressing, motion jes see, follow this crap. Who advanced
Speaker 1: in the playoffs, the teams that won the line of
Speaker 1: scrimmage period, the teams that won the line of scrimmage.
Speaker 1: Cleveland beat Pittsburgh up up front on both sides of
Speaker 1: the ball. I was very surprised about it, but I
Speaker 1: guess I shouldn't have been because Cleveland Pro Football Focus
Speaker 1: has the Cleveland Browns number one rated run team, run
Speaker 1: game old line and pass protection old line, and they
Speaker 1: played that way. So I think that I think it
Speaker 1: starts there. It starts there. I think you have to
Speaker 1: find out who's who you're going to be able to
Speaker 1: make sure you don't lose anything in free agency, obviously,
Speaker 1: and what you might be able to retain in free agency,
Speaker 1: and then go to the draft and approach it accordingly
Speaker 1: based on what happened in free agency. First and foremost,
Speaker 1: But then I would address both lines of scrimmage. Initially
Speaker 1: I would. I'm a firm believer in you know, I
Speaker 1: think whenever guys have big games, guys up front played
Speaker 1: well as well and gave an opportunity. You know, you
Speaker 1: can have very talented players and they can look very
Speaker 1: average if the offensive line is getting overwhelmed by the
Speaker 1: defensive line, and vice versa. So if O line and
Speaker 1: D line are one and two in either order, do
Speaker 1: you have a third priority? You know, I would, depending
Speaker 1: on what happens on the back end. I just think,
Speaker 1: you know, if I've got my defense line address and
Speaker 1: my offensive line addressed, I'm looking at, uh, you know,
Speaker 1: somebody to cover people on the back end. I do
Speaker 1: think it's a it's a you know, it's a passing league. Still,
Speaker 1: even though teams that are running the football did well
Speaker 1: in the in the playoffs, Uh, Cleveland ran it well, obviously, Baltimore, Well,
Speaker 1: we know that the AFC northall other than Pittsburgh now,
Speaker 1: which is crazy for me to even think to say
Speaker 1: and then say it, they can't run the football. That's amazing.
Speaker 1: But um yeah, I think I think having a cover
Speaker 1: guy back there. But still in my mind, Dan, you
Speaker 1: can you can still get away with not having top
Speaker 1: notch cover people if you have an outstanding pass rush.
Speaker 1: If you have no pass rush, you have to address
Speaker 1: the back end. But even even with that, you can't
Speaker 1: cover people forever back there. It's impossible. The athletes are
Speaker 1: too good. So if you pass rush and coverage go
Speaker 1: hand in hand, Jing and Yang, But I would still
Speaker 1: try to improve both of those errors in that side
Speaker 1: of the football, all right. I threw out an invitation
Speaker 1: on Twitter for ask lap questions. They came pouring in
Speaker 1: this week. Many about the draft will start with Sam
Speaker 1: and basically many people ask the same question with different wording.
Speaker 1: Did the performance of Alabama wide receiver Davante Smith in
Speaker 1: the National Championship Game? Make you rethink what the Bengals
Speaker 1: should do with the fifth pick? And JT put it
Speaker 1: this way, If Piney Sewell, Jamar Chase, and Davante Smith
Speaker 1: are all there at number five, who do you think
Speaker 1: the Bengal should take. I'm like falling along what I
Speaker 1: talked about just a little bit ago. I'm a suol
Speaker 1: guy at that point. I think all those guys are
Speaker 1: phenomenal players, great weapons. But you know, T Higgins, Tyler
Speaker 1: Boyd still have guys. If you don't have people up
Speaker 1: front that are giving your quarterback an opportunity to not
Speaker 1: be affected by what he the first stage of it is,
Speaker 1: oh my god, I want to get I don't want
Speaker 1: to be watching the pass rush and being concerned there.
Speaker 1: I get to get my eyes down field the coverage.
Speaker 1: And if you're getting hit quarterbacks, I mean they don't
Speaker 1: get their eyes downfield as quickly as they should, you know,
Speaker 1: And and there's a whole and then and then it
Speaker 1: just kind of unfolds on unravels from there. But um,
Speaker 1: as I've seen, I've seen great skill people wasted because
Speaker 1: they weren't given an opportunity to perform. But if if
Speaker 1: if honestly, if Stool's gone, for example, at number five,
Speaker 1: and I think he might go as high as number two.
Speaker 1: I think the Jets might take him at number two.
Speaker 1: So if he and you know, and try to develop
Speaker 1: Donald and that tackle would help develop him, they have
Speaker 1: one and maybe try to get the book in tackling
Speaker 1: and see if Donald can develop. But if if Seol
Speaker 1: is gone and the next tackle is you know on
Speaker 1: my board is down there at you know, ten or
Speaker 1: eleven and I'm picking at five, and I've got these
Speaker 1: receivers that would would be closer to the top five,
Speaker 1: I'd stay true to my board, you know, I would.
Speaker 1: I would think about it at that point in time.
Speaker 1: I still would always if it's close, I would. I
Speaker 1: would draft by need if it's not a huge disparity
Speaker 1: and where I have them ranked on my board. But
Speaker 1: if there's a pretty good disparity there, if you know
Speaker 1: you're dropping out of the top five with a guy
Speaker 1: you're picking a fifth, and you're dropping out of the
Speaker 1: top five and you're maybe barely staying in the top
Speaker 1: ten with a position of need, I might stay true
Speaker 1: to my board and see if I can get it
Speaker 1: done early in the second round with the bigger need.
Speaker 1: A related question to that from Joe Joe Jammer. If
Speaker 1: you trade down, how far are you willing to go?
Speaker 1: If I'm if I'm trading down, I've got to have
Speaker 1: at least two guys in mind that i'd be comfortable with.
Speaker 1: So if I'm trading down to say number twelve, and
Speaker 1: I don't think one of the two guys that I'm
Speaker 1: comfortable with trading back, I think there's no way that
Speaker 1: both of them are going to be gone, I'd trade back,
Speaker 1: but my mind is dicey if both of them might
Speaker 1: be gone, I wouldn't trade back that far, you know,
Speaker 1: I'd always I would never trade back thinking I have
Speaker 1: this guy in mind, and that's the guy that's going
Speaker 1: to you never know. You have to have a plan B.
Speaker 1: You can't. You can in my mind, you can never
Speaker 1: trade back if you don't have two people that you
Speaker 1: know on your board. Aren't There's not a big disparity
Speaker 1: with them on the board. They're about the same spot
Speaker 1: on the board, maybe a couple of different positions, but
Speaker 1: on the same spot on the board that you'd be
Speaker 1: good with. If you trade it back and then getting
Speaker 1: the additional pick, you might be able to address the
Speaker 1: other need that you had of the two options, you know,
Speaker 1: with that extra pick or your fifth pick in the
Speaker 1: second round. But I would never trade back for one
Speaker 1: specific guy thinking oh, I'm going to get him. Man
Speaker 1: the draft pickle, telling you you'll get slapped right across
Speaker 1: the face and doing that from three kid TAXI. Great title,
Speaker 1: by the way, And this is related to the possibility
Speaker 1: of potentially drafting DeVante Smith. Is there a fear of
Speaker 1: drafting players from Alabama, it seems like they have injury
Speaker 1: issues once they're selected. Yeah, that's uh, that's very interesting
Speaker 1: because particularly at the running back position, because Nick Saban
Speaker 1: works those horses. I mean, he runs those horses. He
Speaker 1: doesn't he doesn't walk them around the track man. They're
Speaker 1: always running and and and his practices are pretty physical.
Speaker 1: So there has been, you know, a very pretty long
Speaker 1: history of running backs that have been injured when they're
Speaker 1: at Alabama either that or come out and or injured
Speaker 1: pretty quickly early in their career. Because you know, it
Speaker 1: does in my mind, it does make a ton of sense.
Speaker 1: You only have so many carries in that body, you know,
Speaker 1: physical carries, and if you're burning them up early, you know,
Speaker 1: that's a that's a little bit of a consideration. But
Speaker 1: to me, the the trend was so dynamic that it was.
Speaker 1: It wasn't just oh that's a coincidence. You know, there
Speaker 1: has to be a little bit more to it than that.
Speaker 1: But at the receiver position, I'm not really sure. I mean,
Speaker 1: the thing obviously, the thing about Smith that is going
Speaker 1: to concern people one hundred and seventy seven pounds. You know,
Speaker 1: he was a buck sixty six when he was a
Speaker 1: freshman at uh at Alabama and they beat him up
Speaker 1: unbelievable eleven pounds. You know, but he's wiry, he's still strong.
Speaker 1: But in the SEC, in the in the playoffs, those
Speaker 1: are good players. But the NFL is a cut above.
Speaker 1: I mean the NFL the corners run faster linebacker. When
Speaker 1: he when he beat the OHIU State linebacker. Um, I'm
Speaker 1: not saying he's not going to be the linebacker in
Speaker 1: the NFL, but it might be a better match than
Speaker 1: it wasn't that college game. They hit hard, they're they're bigger, faster, stronger,
Speaker 1: and can run. That means there's going to be bigger impact.
Speaker 1: And you know, you're always you're always worried about a
Speaker 1: guy at that size, you know, with that kind of
Speaker 1: impact coming across the middle of the football field for
Speaker 1: example of what have you so? Um, yeah, it's that
Speaker 1: that I guess that's something that you have to think
Speaker 1: about these He's all, we're coming at every level and
Speaker 1: when guys overcome it to the because the level that
Speaker 1: he has in terms of the best, he came out
Speaker 1: of nowhere and this guy he wasn't even he wasn't
Speaker 1: even the number one receiver at Alabama going into the
Speaker 1: season until there was injury, broke an ankle, and you
Speaker 1: got to you gotta give him a ton of respect.
Speaker 1: But um, it's a it's a small sample size, but
Speaker 1: it's a hilacious sample size. There's no doubt about it.
Speaker 1: From Bengals, Bobby, did you respond better in your playing
Speaker 1: days to a gym turner coaching style or a Frank
Speaker 1: Pollock coaching style? Back when I played, there was it
Speaker 1: was more universally a gym turner coaching style, and so
Speaker 1: you didn't really experience, uh, you know the other I'm
Speaker 1: not saying it didn't happen, and I'm not saying I
Speaker 1: didn't have coaches, a ligne coaches, a couple that weren't
Speaker 1: more like the Frank Pollock coaching style. And I think
Speaker 1: the Frank Pollock coaching style in today's NFL works better
Speaker 1: because players, I mean, it's not that we didn't want
Speaker 1: to ask why, but you just didn't. It just that
Speaker 1: was the that was the culture. What a coach said
Speaker 1: was gospel, and whether you believe that or not, you
Speaker 1: better change your beliefs because it's gospel today. And I
Speaker 1: believe I think this has improved the game today. Everybody
Speaker 1: says why why, coach, Just tell me why, just so
Speaker 1: I can understand if I think that you have to
Speaker 1: you have to change with the times. I think coaches
Speaker 1: have to adapt and I think, you know, personality and
Speaker 1: being able to deal with different players. Nobody's the exact
Speaker 1: same physically. And that's that's where I think frank Um
Speaker 1: basically excels is he's got his techniques Stan but it's
Speaker 1: not like one size fits all. Well, we may have
Speaker 1: to modify this technique because you've got short arms. You
Speaker 1: have a long trunk, but shorter arms, And you can
Speaker 1: do this because you have long arms and a shorter trunk.
Speaker 1: Not everybody's the same physically. So he does a good
Speaker 1: job of, you know, being malleable with his technic to
Speaker 1: be able to you know, be inn amiva, you know,
Speaker 1: and adjust to all the different body types. Saying with
Speaker 1: the personalities, I mean, no, nobody's the exact same personality wise.
Speaker 1: So if you're going to just how you do things
Speaker 1: from a technique standpoint, and I think they're much better
Speaker 1: doing that these days. Mind coaches are in the NFL.
Speaker 1: Back in the day, it was more like this is
Speaker 1: what we're doing it, boys, and this is how we're
Speaker 1: doing it, and no questions asked. Yes, they're a coach,
Speaker 1: and now it's much different. You know, here's here's what
Speaker 1: I want done. But if your body doesn't really quite
Speaker 1: able to handle that, let's figure out a way to
Speaker 1: adjust that technique a little bit. And the same thing
Speaker 1: with input on on you know, how to block a
Speaker 1: certain configuration or whatever the case may be. I think
Speaker 1: it's uh. I think you do have to have a
Speaker 1: different working relationship with players. And I'm not saying the
Speaker 1: thing about Frank that I respect dan is um. He
Speaker 1: does listen, but he's the decision maker. It's I'm a democracy,
Speaker 1: it's not a dictatorship. But and he'll listen, but he's
Speaker 1: still the decision maker. They're not going to make the
Speaker 1: decision for him, but he's going to listen and get feedback,
Speaker 1: you know, and decide. And I think I think that's
Speaker 1: all valuable. I think players appreciate it. All right. I'm
Speaker 1: going to combine questions from Tim and Ryan. Tim asked,
Speaker 1: do you think the Bengals will sign a couple of
Speaker 1: veteran offensive linemen in the free agent market? Ryan asked
Speaker 1: which free agent offensive lineman would you target? And he
Speaker 1: listed these names, Joe Tuoney, Brandon Schurf, John Miller, Alejandro Villaneuava,
Speaker 1: and Austin Blythe I'll throw in a couple of others
Speaker 1: that are out there, Trent Williams and Taylor Moton. So
Speaker 1: will they sign veteran offensive lineman And is there anybody
Speaker 1: that would especially excite you? Yeah, I haven't looked at
Speaker 1: at that much tape of a lot of these guys
Speaker 1: to see how they're playing currently. The one thing that
Speaker 1: I would not do is sign somebody based on reputation.
Speaker 1: You know. It's because I'm telling you, we see that
Speaker 1: some player get to a certain stage of their career
Speaker 1: and they fall off a cliff. Other players don't, and
Speaker 1: you never know where that cliff is, and you never
Speaker 1: know when that fall is starting. So from one year
Speaker 1: to the next, the level of play of a guy
Speaker 1: may be dramatically different. And if you give a guy
Speaker 1: a ton of money based on how he performed, you know,
Speaker 1: over the last three years, but that last year it
Speaker 1: wasn't really as good as the other two, you know,
Speaker 1: I wouldn't want to get caught in that trap. All
Speaker 1: those guys are really good football players? Are they or
Speaker 1: they have been? I would not give a lot of
Speaker 1: money to villain a Wave at this stage of his career.
Speaker 1: I think he's definitely on the back nine. And you know,
Speaker 1: if Pittsburgh wants to pay him for being a great
Speaker 1: player for them all those years, great, But if I'm
Speaker 1: the Bengals, I'm not going to pay him to be
Speaker 1: a great Steeler. I want to be a great Bengal.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm not interested what you did with the
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh Steelers. And it's that way with everybody. And sometimes
Speaker 1: when guys do it is it is strange. When guys
Speaker 1: do change locations. Sometimes their level of play changes too,
Speaker 1: whether it be they really had a fit with an
Speaker 1: offensive line coach there with for six years in their
Speaker 1: career and then they go somewhere else and it's a
Speaker 1: different line coach with different techniques like we're talking about,
Speaker 1: and damn it, we're doing it this way. I don't
Speaker 1: care that's the way you used to do it. We're
Speaker 1: doing it this way. All of a sudden, he's a
Speaker 1: different player, you know. It's it's weird how some of
Speaker 1: that stuff unfold. So I can understand why some teams
Speaker 1: have the philosophy and mindset of in a perfect world.
Speaker 1: We want to keep our coaching staff in tact for continuity,
Speaker 1: and we want to build through the draft and let
Speaker 1: that marriage happen. Let the same guys develop those players.
Speaker 1: You know, if it's working, obviously, if it's not working,
Speaker 1: you gotta make adjustments. So there's no you know, there's
Speaker 1: no one hundred percent given truism, you know, on free
Speaker 1: agency or really anything else. I mean, if it were
Speaker 1: that exact the science, everybody would win every game. And
Speaker 1: that's impossible, but I would I would think about I
Speaker 1: think they've got plenty of options inside Dan. I think
Speaker 1: the veteran players are proven. At the end of the season.
Speaker 1: They got you know, Sue Philo knows what he's doing.
Speaker 1: There's there's no question about it. And they've got players
Speaker 1: veteran players have played multiple positions and definitely can play guard.
Speaker 1: If people play tacky, you can play guard in the
Speaker 1: National Football League. You know, if you've develop big Fred,
Speaker 1: I mean all those things. That's what Frank's doing now,
Speaker 1: is he's trying to see how these guys play. Looking
Speaker 1: at their body mechanics on tape. Does that fit the techniques?
Speaker 1: Time that that kind of fits the techniques I'm going
Speaker 1: to try to teach here and then go out in
Speaker 1: free agency of the guys that are available, is that
Speaker 1: a better option? Then? Look at this guy's body time,
Speaker 1: that's perfect for what I want done, that's perfect for
Speaker 1: how I want it done. All of that has to
Speaker 1: take place, But I do think if they could they
Speaker 1: could find an improvement on the edge. That's where that's
Speaker 1: where the rubber meets the road. I think in free agency,
Speaker 1: if they can get it done from Marty, what will
Speaker 1: the Bengals do about a backup quarterback? Well, that's a
Speaker 1: great question. You know. The one thing that you can't
Speaker 1: just worry about economics. But the thing about Finley he's
Speaker 1: still on a rookie contract as well, so you know,
Speaker 1: can you do you look at him as is he
Speaker 1: a guy that can get you through a game or
Speaker 1: a boy? Do you need to make sure you have
Speaker 1: a guy like what happened this year? A guy that
Speaker 1: is going to have to get you through a handful
Speaker 1: of football games? Is that Ryan Finley? You know? And okay, okay,
Speaker 1: the attracting this is still on a rookie contract but
Speaker 1: still very very inexperienced you want a big game for
Speaker 1: you with a very creative game plan, you got to
Speaker 1: go out and get something else. In my opinion, how
Speaker 1: much money do you spend on that backup quarterback? How
Speaker 1: much salary capitoon do you try to uh you try
Speaker 1: to uh, you know, take up in that regard that
Speaker 1: Brandon Allen do enough. You talked about a road coaster.
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, quarterback rating within the one twenties
Speaker 1: over seventy five percent completion percentage and then the following
Speaker 1: week down to a squardus a big goose egg. So
Speaker 1: that's a that's a meteoric, that's a heck of a
Speaker 1: rise and a big fall. Man that's that's a bigger
Speaker 1: deal than the beast that's Peaks and Valley is bigger
Speaker 1: than the beast up at King's Island. So yeah, do
Speaker 1: you decide. I do think though they like them, I
Speaker 1: do think they like them. And I do think that
Speaker 1: his performances were based on who he was playing against,
Speaker 1: and you have to factor that in. But overall, do
Speaker 1: you think you can get through multiple games with with
Speaker 1: that type of player? And they did, you know, and
Speaker 1: and and it was it was not h it was competitive.
Speaker 1: I mean it looked like an NFL operation out there
Speaker 1: to meet with him at a quarterback. So I think
Speaker 1: you have to definitely evaluate him and then see what
Speaker 1: else is out there and how much how much does
Speaker 1: it cost? Last one from Daniel? Would you resign Carl
Speaker 1: Lawson or Will Jackson if you could only keep one? Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's uh, that's the big if. And I probably make
Speaker 1: sure that I kept lossing because you don't have any
Speaker 1: pass rush's. He's the only guy that gave you consistent
Speaker 1: pass rush. Now Hubbard was injured and he came back
Speaker 1: to play Sam. Sam is empty the effort, you know,
Speaker 1: bucket every snap. But even you know, even a guy
Speaker 1: like Sam physically you're only allowed. Your body's only saying
Speaker 1: you can do so much with that bad elbow. So
Speaker 1: he was, you know, trying to do stuff with one arm,
Speaker 1: you know, and did it well. But I think he's
Speaker 1: going to be fine. That gives you a second option.
Speaker 1: But to me, you paid all this money for Trey
Speaker 1: Wayne's never gonna snap out of him. I'm saying, all right,
Speaker 1: if I lose Carl Lawson, what do I have upfront?
Speaker 1: If I lose will, at least I have Trey Wayne's
Speaker 1: and I thought he was one of the best in
Speaker 1: the league. I gave him a ton of money, you know,
Speaker 1: and at least i'd have somebody else there. Who's my guy?
Speaker 1: If I don't sign Carl Lawson and then you can
Speaker 1: address you know, the position group in the draft. You know,
Speaker 1: it's like if I keep Carl Lawson and addressing the draft,
Speaker 1: or keep Carl Awston and lose Will Like we were
Speaker 1: talking about cornerback as a need, you know, maybe you
Speaker 1: have to move that that position up up even a
Speaker 1: little bit in terms of needs. So free agency dictates draft.
Speaker 1: It always hasn't It always will to ge and yang
Speaker 1: of that. But I don't know which is easier to
Speaker 1: find in the draft. A real significant, meaningful pass rusher
Speaker 1: that translates well to the National Football League or a
Speaker 1: cover guy that's a that's a that's a good question.
Speaker 1: That's a hell of a question. And what this particular draft,
Speaker 1: you know, if if you're if you're trying to decide
Speaker 1: who to sign a free agency what's out there and
Speaker 1: free agency? If I lose my guy, what's in the draft?
Speaker 1: If I lose my guy at either one of those positions,
Speaker 1: which one can I afford lose because there's more depth
Speaker 1: to build that in other free agency we could sign
Speaker 1: and the draft potentially, or we can double down. So
Speaker 1: I think there's some, you know, a lot of a
Speaker 1: lot of thinking that goes into it. But in my mind,
Speaker 1: I still maintain if you can affect the quarterback right
Speaker 1: away with a good pass rusher, it's easier to cover
Speaker 1: back there. And I'm not saying you get anybody, you know,
Speaker 1: any any joe off the street to do it. It's
Speaker 1: not like that. But if I had my choice, which
Speaker 1: would you rather have? Would you rather have a pass
Speaker 1: rush that gives the quarterback less than three seconds the
Speaker 1: snaps or a secondary that has, you know, two really
Speaker 1: good corners, I'd take that pass rush. The other thing
Speaker 1: about Carl Lawson Dan is he affected the run game
Speaker 1: better this year. So if you're if I'm building a defense,
Speaker 1: I want to make sure I can stop the run
Speaker 1: and rush the passer with that's starts up front, and
Speaker 1: then the back end is the second. Okay, compliment that
Speaker 1: pass rushing with good coverage. Now you have to have
Speaker 1: guys that'll, you know, set an answer in tacle the corner,
Speaker 1: but you have to have guys that can affect the
Speaker 1: run the end of the the pass, and Carl Lawson showed
Speaker 1: he's not a one trick pony. He showed himself against
Speaker 1: the run a little bit, so to me stop the run,
Speaker 1: put him in must passing situations. Have a pass rusher
Speaker 1: that can affect the quarterback and then have Trey Wayne's
Speaker 1: back there. If you lose Will Jackson. If you have
Speaker 1: them both, that's even better. But if I had to
Speaker 1: pick one, I'd probably go with Carl Lawson. I guess
Speaker 1: all right. People are always asking me wins Lap, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna get a Twitter account. I tell him it's never
Speaker 1: gonna happen. But this is the next best thing. You
Speaker 1: have answered their ask lap questions. Appreciate it, and you're
Speaker 1: exactly right. I think never's a long time, but not
Speaker 1: that long. The Bengals Booth podcast is presented by Bud
Speaker 1: Light Seltzer. It's and refreshing with a hint of fruit flavor.
Speaker 1: Despite a final record of four to eleven and one,
Speaker 1: there was a unit that performed well for the Bengals
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty, the special teams. According to Football Outsiders,
Speaker 1: the Bengals graded out ninth best in the NFL and
Speaker 1: overall special teams play and second in the AFC North
Speaker 1: behind Baltimore. Recently, special teams coordinator Darren Simmons joined Lapping
Speaker 1: Me to discuss the play of his group. Darren, what
Speaker 1: were the bright spots for you in twenty twenty? Well,
Speaker 1: you know, I think as a unit overall, anytime you
Speaker 1: don't give up a lot of explosive play, block kicks,
Speaker 1: returns for touchdowns, that that's one positive. You know. I
Speaker 1: think the fact that we were able to pull together
Speaker 1: some guys really stepped up this year when we lost
Speaker 1: a couple of players, you know, one of which there
Speaker 1: were coal foundations what we do, like Clayton FEDLND. I
Speaker 1: thought we had some veteran guys really step up and
Speaker 1: play well and do a lot for us. You know,
Speaker 1: there's a couple of guys that really come to mind,
Speaker 1: you know, early in the year, whenever Sean Williams is hurt,
Speaker 1: Giovanni Bernard really stepped up and fulfilled a couple roles
Speaker 1: until Sean I could kind of get back after a
Speaker 1: belie it was a hamstring or calf whatever he had
Speaker 1: there early on, and then Sean really played his tail
Speaker 1: off and it was really a big part of what
Speaker 1: we did throughout the season. So I think, you know,
Speaker 1: being able for him to transition a little bit from
Speaker 1: his role on our team from being in a starting
Speaker 1: safety to being a really a core special teams player
Speaker 1: was a really bright spot for me, something that I'm
Speaker 1: personally very proud of him of. Um. You know, I
Speaker 1: thought our punt team, in terms of phase work, I
Speaker 1: thought our punt team does a nice job really the
Speaker 1: whole year, with exception to maybe one play against Pittsburgh
Speaker 1: they gave up a forty yard return to McLeod. Otherwise,
Speaker 1: I thought we covered pretty well there. You know, I
Speaker 1: thought the relative to the number of kicks we were
Speaker 1: getting to return, and I thought our kickoff return team
Speaker 1: was was solid. Um. You know, we had an opportunity
Speaker 1: to even make a couple more plays. But I thought
Speaker 1: Brandon Wilson's play um in that regard, after he came
Speaker 1: back after an injury, or even before his injury then
Speaker 1: came back, I thought was good. So, Um, there were
Speaker 1: a couple there were some bright spots. Obviously, we uh um,
Speaker 1: I always want more, um, And you know, anytime we
Speaker 1: set out in this thing, our goals to to be
Speaker 1: the best, to be the best in the league, and
Speaker 1: we were feel a little short of that, but um,
Speaker 1: you know him, I was pretty proud of the way
Speaker 1: we played football. Outsiders always rate your your your special
Speaker 1: teams amongst the best in the NFL, and rightfully so.
Speaker 1: And uh. In terms of actual kicking the football, Kevin
Speaker 1: Huber went into the last game seventh in the NFL
Speaker 1: and average in sixth and net and UH. And then
Speaker 1: you obviously were evaluating Cyber uh and over Randy Bullock
Speaker 1: uh down the stretch of the season. Where do you
Speaker 1: stand with respect to the seasons those guys had and
Speaker 1: what you anticipate for training camp in twenty twenty one. Well,
Speaker 1: I'll start with Evan first. Obviously, it was an important
Speaker 1: year for Kevin. He's a he's an undrestricted free agent,
Speaker 1: so it was important for him to punt well. And
Speaker 1: I think he answered the bell as he has you
Speaker 1: know the last cheval years. UM. I thought he got
Speaker 1: off to a really good start. It punted well up
Speaker 1: until probably the last couple of games of the year. UM,
Speaker 1: but he had some some issues that UH. I know
Speaker 1: he probably didn't finish as strongly as he wanted to.
Speaker 1: But and it's not gonna that's not gonna show up
Speaker 1: a lot statistically, Um, But but I know he wanted
Speaker 1: to punt a little better down the stretch. You know.
Speaker 1: Obviously it would have been unbelievable if we could have
Speaker 1: made the play on the on the seventy whatever it was,
Speaker 1: two yard punt yesterday would have been unbelievable play to
Speaker 1: kind of helped cap his season off. Um. But but
Speaker 1: all in all, I've been pleased with with him, you
Speaker 1: know it. Uh, it's such a weight off my shoulders.
Speaker 1: To have somebody that I know and somebody that I trust,
Speaker 1: and somebody who knows exactly what I want out of
Speaker 1: each play and how to manage that, whether it's plenty
Speaker 1: or holding, is a big deal to me. And he's
Speaker 1: continued to do that at a high level, I think, Um,
Speaker 1: you know, and I think probably the last two years
Speaker 1: has been two of his better years statistically in his career.
Speaker 1: So that's pretty unique. He's kind of getting He's really
Speaker 1: been able to hold his line of production, you know,
Speaker 1: over time and actually improved in some areas you know,
Speaker 1: in terms of the kicking situation. Um, it's something that
Speaker 1: we've got to talk about as a staff. And then
Speaker 1: his organizations to what we do going forward. Obviously, Austin
Speaker 1: Cybery is somebody that is under contract and he's still
Speaker 1: under his rookie contract because we claimed him from from Cleveland,
Speaker 1: so he's stilling his rookie contract, so he's still, you know,
Speaker 1: again under contract with us. UM. You know, our discussion
Speaker 1: with Randy Bullick will take place here, you know, over
Speaker 1: the course of the coming time as to where we
Speaker 1: want to go. Randy's a free agent also, UM, and
Speaker 1: how we want to approach that if we want to
Speaker 1: have him back and have a competition for that spot
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty one. Again, it's still very early, you know,
Speaker 1: I don't have a concrete answer for that yet, unfortunately,
Speaker 1: but we certainly will the coming days. But again it's
Speaker 1: obviously a position that we've we've got to get better
Speaker 1: production out of. We're visiting with Special Teams coordinator Darren Simmons. Darren,
Speaker 1: after you resigned this past season, prior to this year,
Speaker 1: we had a long conversation and you talked about your
Speaker 1: burning desire to win again. Obviously, you know, you do
Speaker 1: this because at your job partly, and you've got a
Speaker 1: family to support and all of that. But you've been
Speaker 1: in the league long enough where the ring is the thing.
Speaker 1: You're trying to win a Super Bowl title. How difficult
Speaker 1: have the last couple have been last couple of years
Speaker 1: been for you personally? Well, it's really been a struggle
Speaker 1: for me personally. You know. It's like I told our
Speaker 1: players on our Saturday Night Zoom, our last real meeting
Speaker 1: special teams will be you know, I wrapped it up.
Speaker 1: I think a couple of our captains and really everybody
Speaker 1: in general. I've got such a special group of guys
Speaker 1: that man, every time I asked something of them, they
Speaker 1: answered the bell. They never blinked. Everybody knew the the landscape,
Speaker 1: the situation we're in with with the pandemic, and how
Speaker 1: different things were, and and uh uh, you know, I
Speaker 1: really appreciated their efforts this year because it is it
Speaker 1: is tough, you know, when you're not winning games, even
Speaker 1: though we may be doing some things and trying to
Speaker 1: contribute as much as we can in the kicking game,
Speaker 1: when you're not winning games, you don't feel the culmination
Speaker 1: of your work. You don't feel the positive side of that,
Speaker 1: that that that it affects enough. And you know, I
Speaker 1: told our players and I firmly believe this, I said, I,
Speaker 1: you know, I really I play and I coach. I'll play.
Speaker 1: I coach this game for for two things, and for
Speaker 1: two goals. And number one it's to win the super Bowl.
Speaker 1: I mean you, that's the ultimate goal, um that I have,
Speaker 1: is to win the super Bowl. We've obviously fallen short
Speaker 1: of that my time here. I said in the second one.
Speaker 1: The one thing I can't control is we do it
Speaker 1: for respect, and I think you do it for respect
Speaker 1: of your peers and more importantly respect of your opponents.
Speaker 1: And so the one thing that you can grasp mat
Speaker 1: is is every time I go across the fields in
Speaker 1: the game to shake the other guy's hand, you know,
Speaker 1: I want to feel like I've earned his respect. And
Speaker 1: that's the one silver lining that I've been able to
Speaker 1: get out of it. But again, it has been I'll
Speaker 1: be lying if I said otherwise. It's been very difficult, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, to not win. And that's something obviously we
Speaker 1: got to try to work to improve on. Just as
Speaker 1: a team in general, certainly estimate kicking game two. We
Speaker 1: all have a hand in it. We all have hand
Speaker 1: in and everybody has a hand and when things don't
Speaker 1: go right. You just want to have You just want
Speaker 1: to make sure you have a hand in when you're
Speaker 1: succeeding too, And we got to get more of that
Speaker 1: for sure. But it's really been a struggle. You're not
Speaker 1: going anywhere. You're the best in the business, and the
Speaker 1: Bengals have you under contract and you're an assistant head coach.
Speaker 1: You are a resource that if I were a head coach,
Speaker 1: I'd be tapping into. You've been here a long time.
Speaker 1: You've been hearing successful times. You've been here in times
Speaker 1: that have not been quite as successful. You have a vast,
Speaker 1: huge knowledge of your encyclopedia basically of almost two decades
Speaker 1: of what's gone on here in Cincinnati. Do you feel
Speaker 1: like your opinions are gonna be sought after and if
Speaker 1: they're not, will you give them unsolicited? Well? I wanted
Speaker 1: to be certainly be a collaborative thing. You know, I
Speaker 1: really appreciate I did feel like, after if you want
Speaker 1: to call it, gaining that title this past offseason, zach
Speaker 1: Um did come to me with a lot of things,
Speaker 1: and that's something that I certainly appreciate. You know that
Speaker 1: that he entrusted my opinions, what my thoughts were when
Speaker 1: he asked for him. Um, there's some things that I
Speaker 1: will give him that if I feel that can help
Speaker 1: affect things or help things in some manner, I'm certainly
Speaker 1: going to give him my thoughts UM that way. But
Speaker 1: but in the end, ultimate it's his team and he wants,
Speaker 1: and he'll put the stamp on it that he wants,
Speaker 1: and he'll push the direction on it that he wants,
Speaker 1: whatever that may be. But but again, I do feel
Speaker 1: like I'm a very big part of that. I do
Speaker 1: feel like my voice or my opinion matters to him.
Speaker 1: I think he certainly listens to it, Um, you know.
Speaker 1: And again, like I said, collaboratively, we've got to be
Speaker 1: we got to put a plan in place that that
Speaker 1: gets us to turn the corner here, that gets us
Speaker 1: to get back to the team that you know, we've
Speaker 1: been in the past, and then really push us over
Speaker 1: to the top. It certainly felt short of that. I
Speaker 1: don't think that's any secret, Um, but you know, it's
Speaker 1: I hope going forward here, after me having a year
Speaker 1: under my belt of being really in this role for
Speaker 1: the first time in my career, that I can help
Speaker 1: him even more than what I have done in the past,
Speaker 1: and h you know, we can help or I can
Speaker 1: help push things that I think would help us improve,
Speaker 1: or or maybe we should think about doing it this way,
Speaker 1: because it is I've been here a long time, I've
Speaker 1: been in this league a long time. I've um you know,
Speaker 1: I have knowledge of how you know what my opinion
Speaker 1: may be, or how I see other teams do things,
Speaker 1: and and hope it help. That's going to do it.
Speaker 1: For this episode of the Bengals Booth Podcast, brought to
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