Speaker 1: Hi, Gat everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast. The Jesse's Back in Town. Addition,
Speaker 1: as we hear from Bengal safety Jesse Bates, who has
Speaker 1: signed the franchise tag and started practicing with the team.
Speaker 1: We'll also hear from Thaddeus Moss on the Twitter firestorm
Speaker 1: that resulted from his legal block last Sunday against the Giants,
Speaker 1: and my broadcast partner Dave Lapham joins me to take
Speaker 1: an in depth look at Wednesday's joint practice with the
Speaker 1: La Rams. The Bengals Booth Podcast is presented by Ultimate Bengals.
Speaker 1: Download Ultimate Bengals ahead of the twenty twenty two season.
Speaker 1: It's free to play next level fantasy football with fantastic
Speaker 1: Bengals prizes. Get it now on the App Store and
Speaker 1: Google Play. And here's a quick reminder that you can
Speaker 1: have the latest edition of this podcast delivered right to
Speaker 1: your phone, tablet, or computer by subscribing where you get
Speaker 1: your podcasts. It's the greatest thing since getting new glasses.
Speaker 1: For the first time in six years, I visited the optometrist,
Speaker 1: shout out to doctor Jim Ellis and got the prescription
Speaker 1: updated on my eyeglasses. Note to self, don't wait six
Speaker 1: years next time. I feel like a new man, one
Speaker 1: who can read a license plate on a moving car
Speaker 1: a mile away. Okay, a slight exaggeration, perhaps, but uniform
Speaker 1: numbers from the broadcast booth should be a breeze. Now,
Speaker 1: let's get to my guests. In last Sunday's game against
Speaker 1: the New York Giants, Bengals tight end Thaddius Moss attempted
Speaker 1: to make a legal cut block on rookie defensive end
Speaker 1: Cavon Thibodeaux. It resulted in an awkward collision in Thibodeau
Speaker 1: suffered a knee injury that initially looked severe, but thankfully
Speaker 1: turned out to be an mcl sprain. However, the low
Speaker 1: block also resulted in a Twitter firestorm, with some people
Speaker 1: calling Moss dirty or even cowardly, before players around the
Speaker 1: league came to his defense. I talked to Thaddius about
Speaker 1: it on Wednesday. Were you kind of caught off guard
Speaker 1: by the national reaction to that block the other night? No?
Speaker 1: I wasn't really caught off guard. I don't I don't
Speaker 1: have social media on my phone. I'm not really into
Speaker 1: all of that stuff. So did it catch me off guard.
Speaker 1: I mean, it didn't really catch me any type of way.
Speaker 1: I mean, as soon as I got to the locker room,
Speaker 1: my teammates were already talking, you know, telling me about it.
Speaker 1: But you know, I don't I don't look into that stuff.
Speaker 1: I don't put any value into that stuff. So was
Speaker 1: I caught off guard by it? No? Watching the play,
Speaker 1: it just looked like there was kind of an awkward
Speaker 1: point where he didn't know whether you're going to go
Speaker 1: high or low. You didn't quite know whether he was
Speaker 1: going to go high and low? Is that just one
Speaker 1: of those things that happens? I mean yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: so first, first off, you know, I'm glad he's okay,
Speaker 1: and there was nothing you know, major major um. You know,
Speaker 1: I tried to reach out to him. Um, Like I said,
Speaker 1: I don't have social media, so it's kind of hard
Speaker 1: to reach out to people, you know nowadays without social media. Um.
Speaker 1: So I'm glad he's okay. First. Um. But with the play, yeah,
Speaker 1: it was it was an awkward play. Yeah, it was
Speaker 1: this awkward play. You know, the way the way that
Speaker 1: he m kind of played it and turned into it,
Speaker 1: you know, didn't didn't fully turn into it. It It just
Speaker 1: turned into an awkward play with a bad result. You
Speaker 1: know that play happens all the time. Was this a
Speaker 1: bad a bad result? For visiting the Thaddius Moss? We
Speaker 1: already know you're receiving ability that was well established before
Speaker 1: you got here. I think you're trying to show everybody
Speaker 1: that you can be a good blocker as well in
Speaker 1: the NFL. So a play like that is very important
Speaker 1: for you, I would think to make this team showing
Speaker 1: the ability to do what you have to do in
Speaker 1: the blocking game, right, Um, I mean essentially, you know,
Speaker 1: I'm fighting for my life out here. That's the reality
Speaker 1: of the situation. You know, I'm fighting for a roster spot.
Speaker 1: I'm fighting for my life out here. So anytime I
Speaker 1: step on that field in the preseason game, every play
Speaker 1: is important. You know, every play is important. You know,
Speaker 1: it doesn't matter if I'm backside of the play from
Speaker 1: front side, if it's a special team's rep, if it's
Speaker 1: you know, whatever it is. Um, you know, every play's vital.
Speaker 1: Every play is important. Um. You know, I'm I'm I'm
Speaker 1: I'm coached and told I'm coached and told to do
Speaker 1: you know, to to I'm coached and and told my
Speaker 1: job to do it. I need to go execute it,
Speaker 1: you know. So at the end of the day, that's
Speaker 1: just you know, I was coached and told to do
Speaker 1: something I wouldn't execute the play. We see that block
Speaker 1: in every NFL game. The Giants did the same block
Speaker 1: in that game the other night. But there is a
Speaker 1: little bit of a debate as to whether that block
Speaker 1: should be part of the game. Do you have any
Speaker 1: thoughts on I'm cutting guys and whether that's something that
Speaker 1: should not be part of football. No, I don't really
Speaker 1: have any thoughts of it. I mean, I know they
Speaker 1: out ruled the you know, they took out the rule
Speaker 1: of cutting on the you know, cutting on the perimeter. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, if they start up that, if if I
Speaker 1: started that debate up, you know, in regards to cutting
Speaker 1: inside the tackle box, and so be it. Um. You know,
Speaker 1: I don't really I don't really care for you know,
Speaker 1: the rules are the rules. If they change them, they
Speaker 1: change them. If they keep them, they keep them. You know,
Speaker 1: It's just a part of a game. It's a part
Speaker 1: of the game. And like you said, that play happens
Speaker 1: every single drive, you know, every single drive. Every single
Speaker 1: team does it. You know, so if they change the rules,
Speaker 1: they change the rules. But as of right now, the
Speaker 1: rules are the rules, and that happens every single drive.
Speaker 1: Your position coach, James Casey had a long NFL career
Speaker 1: primarily as a blocking tight end. That was the strength
Speaker 1: of his game. As he talked to you and said, hey,
Speaker 1: you were doing what you were supposed to do. Keep
Speaker 1: your head out. Yeah, I mean Zach, so you know,
Speaker 1: Zach Taylor. He talked to me probably a few plays
Speaker 1: after that, and he was like, you know, if it
Speaker 1: makes you feel any better, He was like, there, you know,
Speaker 1: they just ran the same exact play and they and
Speaker 1: they just did the same exact thing to our defensive
Speaker 1: and if that makes you feel any better, and then yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, yeah, James as well, position coach. He told me,
Speaker 1: he was like, you know, there's nothing egregious about it.
Speaker 1: There was nothing dirty about it. You know, you were
Speaker 1: you know, it was just what do your coach would do,
Speaker 1: is what you were told to do. There's nothing dirty
Speaker 1: about it, nothing crazy about it. You know, Football's football.
Speaker 1: Change of subject. You're practicing and then playing against the
Speaker 1: team you just competed against in a Super Bowl. How
Speaker 1: unusual is this week for you guys, I mean for
Speaker 1: the guys that played in the Super Bowl, you know,
Speaker 1: I bet it's a little weird for him and they
Speaker 1: probably feel some type of way, you know, for the
Speaker 1: guys that didn't play in a super Bowl, I mean,
Speaker 1: this is a big you know, with it being a
Speaker 1: last week anyways, a preseason you know, roster cuts, it's
Speaker 1: a big week anyways. And then on top of it,
Speaker 1: if you played in that game, you know, this is
Speaker 1: essentially four games and six days, you know, whatever whatever
Speaker 1: it adds up to be, but essentially for four games,
Speaker 1: and you know, in a week counting these two joint
Speaker 1: practices is pretty much a game. So it's gonna be
Speaker 1: fun week. You've added Hayden Hurst to your group this year.
Speaker 1: I think he's been impressive with just how fluid he
Speaker 1: is for a big athlete at your position. What have
Speaker 1: been your impressions of him from practicing with him and
Speaker 1: watching that tape on a daily basis. Well, I mean,
Speaker 1: I think that's what stands out the most is just
Speaker 1: you know how good he is moving, you know how
Speaker 1: good he is in and out of his cuts. You
Speaker 1: know how fast he is, how quick he is. I
Speaker 1: think that's you know, that's the most obvious thing, the
Speaker 1: most glaring thing. You know, not everybody can move like that.
Speaker 1: You know, he was just giving those. You know, he
Speaker 1: was kind of blessed. He was blessed with you know,
Speaker 1: how fast and how quick he is, you know, so
Speaker 1: I think that's what stands out most. But Hayden's gonna
Speaker 1: have a really, really good year, you know, really looking
Speaker 1: forward to seeing that, and you know, happy for him
Speaker 1: cause I know he's gonna have a good year in
Speaker 1: this offense. Appreciate your time, Appreciate your candor best to
Speaker 1: pluck this one flew. I appreciate it. Thank you. Patti
Speaker 1: has has four catches for forty yards in the first
Speaker 1: two preseason games, and that is the most of any
Speaker 1: Bengals tight end. Von Bell famously arrives at the stadium
Speaker 1: at the crack of dawn to work out, so imagine
Speaker 1: his surprise on Tuesday when he finished his workout, got
Speaker 1: to his locker, looked over his shoulder and saw a
Speaker 1: teammate and close friend, Jesse Bates. What was Bell's reaction.
Speaker 1: He's alive. It's following him, not seeing a ghost. But
Speaker 1: it's just love. At the end of the day, he
Speaker 1: hugging everybody, checking away. He Gladdy and makes sure everybody's okay,
Speaker 1: and everybody makes sure he's all right. So it's always
Speaker 1: just like I said, it's like a brotherhood's a family,
Speaker 1: and it's a tight knit group. So it was great
Speaker 1: to say. Bates finally signed the twelve point nine million
Speaker 1: dollar franchise tag on Tuesday and reported a training camp.
Speaker 1: Here are Chittabaya, Woo Jay and Joe Burrow on having
Speaker 1: the twenty five year old safety back in the building.
Speaker 1: It's always good to have one of your leaders, guys
Speaker 1: who went to World with especially after the season we
Speaker 1: had last year. You know God that we all trust
Speaker 1: and believe in, so this is a great feeling to
Speaker 1: happen back. Yeah, everyone loves Jesse, So when you have
Speaker 1: a guy like that, it's great in the locker room,
Speaker 1: great on the field, and is in the situation that
Speaker 1: he is. You're back as much as you can because
Speaker 1: now everyone loves Jesse. So like I said, his business
Speaker 1: is his business. I know he would have would like
Speaker 1: to get a deal done, but it didn't happen. He's
Speaker 1: here now ready to play. As you would expect, Jesse
Speaker 1: won't do much at practice for a few days, but
Speaker 1: when asked if he'll be ready for the season opener
Speaker 1: against the Steelers, he said absolutely. Bates is obviously disappointed
Speaker 1: that he wasn't able to reach an agreement on a
Speaker 1: contract extension, but he's betting out himself this year. It's
Speaker 1: a great opportunity for me to continue to present what
Speaker 1: I'm about who I am to this franchise and other
Speaker 1: teams as well. So, like I said, I'm looking at
Speaker 1: this as an opportunity to prove that I'm one of
Speaker 1: the best safeties in this league. And I'm not sure
Speaker 1: why I'm not there yet, but this is, like I said,
Speaker 1: this is a great opportunity for me to create some
Speaker 1: wealth for my family. You know, it's not a bad
Speaker 1: number at all. This franchise tag number isn't bad, So
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna be naive to that. So, like I said,
Speaker 1: I'm blessed. I'm happy to be here. While he's been gone,
Speaker 1: first round draft picked Dax Hill has gained valuable experience
Speaker 1: practicing with the first team defense, and he had an
Speaker 1: interception on Sunday night against the Giants. Then there's fifth
Speaker 1: round draft hick Tyson Anderson, who ranked second on the
Speaker 1: team and tackles in the first two preseason games. Bates
Speaker 1: says he understands why the Bengals used two of their
Speaker 1: six draft picks unsafeties. I think in any business, uh,
Speaker 1: in any negotiations, leverage is the biggest part of that.
Speaker 1: And I understand that me and Bonn are on our
Speaker 1: last year of our deals, So I mean it made
Speaker 1: sense for them to draft two safeties. M that's the
Speaker 1: uncomfortable conversations. But honestly, I don't care about the uncomfortable
Speaker 1: conversations at this point. So yeah, I expected that. UM.
Speaker 1: I had a call with coach Taylor UM I think
Speaker 1: a couple of days before the draft, and I told
Speaker 1: him I wouldn't be there at OTAs until I got
Speaker 1: a contract. So I expected them to draft safety. And
Speaker 1: like I said, I don't take it personally. UM. I
Speaker 1: look at it as an opportunity for Dax and uh
Speaker 1: Tie as well to come in and contribute to this team.
Speaker 1: It's a cycle. UM. I got drafted here second round
Speaker 1: and they cut George Iloka and I became a starter.
Speaker 1: UM I'm not sure if that was a decision from
Speaker 1: h my guy Ta, who was the defensive coordinator with
Speaker 1: the Stillers now. But he told me that we were
Speaker 1: gonna compete. He told me Sean, Sean Williams and George
Speaker 1: that we were going to compete for the starting job.
Speaker 1: And I know George was supposed to make whatever, eight
Speaker 1: million or whatever, and I was supposed to make five
Speaker 1: hundred thousand, So it made it made sense. Um. It's
Speaker 1: something that, like I said, I've paid attention to um
Speaker 1: throughout my years in this league, and I think that's
Speaker 1: what other players, young players should do as well. Jesse
Speaker 1: did not have a great regular season last year, but
Speaker 1: he was exceptional in the playoffs with a pair of
Speaker 1: interceptions and six pass deflections. If he plays like he
Speaker 1: did in those four games, he will become one of
Speaker 1: the highest paid seat in the league, whether it's in
Speaker 1: Cincinnati or elsewhere. The Bengals Booth podcast is presented by
Speaker 1: Ultimate Bengals, the free to play fantasy football game. This
Speaker 1: past season, Ultimate Bengals awarded a weekly winner during the
Speaker 1: course of the year, with tickets, autographed merchandise, and money
Speaker 1: can't buy experiences all up for grabs. Find Ultimate Bengals
Speaker 1: in the App Store and Google Play. For the most part,
Speaker 1: the Bengals starters have not seen action in the first
Speaker 1: two preseason games, but nearly all of them, including Joe Burrow.
Speaker 1: We're on the field Wednesday for the first of two
Speaker 1: joint practices against the Rams, and that's also expected to
Speaker 1: be the case on Thursday. After the Bengals and Rams
Speaker 1: walked off the field on Wednesday, I discussed that first
Speaker 1: joint practice with my broadcast partner Dave lapham Lap. The
Speaker 1: first of two joint practices against the Super Bowl champion
Speaker 1: La Rams is in the books. Give me a couple
Speaker 1: of things that stood out to you. It was good
Speaker 1: work for the office. It's because the Rams running unique
Speaker 1: style of defense dan where they play like a soft
Speaker 1: umbrella coverage and they break downhill on the football and
Speaker 1: they can do that because the pass rush is so
Speaker 1: extreme you gotta get the ball out of your hand quickly.
Speaker 1: So they're jumping routes and they're jumping routes left right.
Speaker 1: They don't worry about double moves. They don't think, you know,
Speaker 1: quarterbacks are gonna have time to execute that. So they've
Speaker 1: got a secondary of personnel that fits that scheme. They
Speaker 1: have a pass rush led by ninety nine that is
Speaker 1: uh you know, going to get to the quarterback quickly,
Speaker 1: particularly in the middle of the pocket, getting to the
Speaker 1: quarterback quickly, making them get rid of it, can't see
Speaker 1: the field as well. I mean, it's a hell of
Speaker 1: a hell of a good work to work against. And
Speaker 1: they had had some good moments, had some tough moments,
Speaker 1: and that's that's what it's all about. On the other
Speaker 1: side of it, I thought that the Bengals defense, from
Speaker 1: what I saw working against number one RAMS unit, is
Speaker 1: the Rams couldn't really run the ball that well. There
Speaker 1: was no tackling, but there wasn't much room to run
Speaker 1: the football. And two minute drills in that sequence of
Speaker 1: situational football defense got two interceptions to end both of
Speaker 1: the two minute drills. Very positive sign obviously, So I
Speaker 1: felt like, okay, working number one. They haven't really played
Speaker 1: in preseason games. The Bengals offensive line hadn't really worked
Speaker 1: together hardly at all. They took about fifty percent of
Speaker 1: the snaps. Maybe, so it stands to reason that a
Speaker 1: defense like that would be ahead of the offense, even
Speaker 1: though if both units hadn't really done all that much
Speaker 1: in terms of full speed, that the defense might be
Speaker 1: ahead of the offense, and I think that was the
Speaker 1: case on both sides of the line of scrimmage. I
Speaker 1: thought the Bengals defense won to one on one pass rills,
Speaker 1: rush drills overall. I thought the same for the Rams
Speaker 1: defensively winning against the Bengals offensive line one on one
Speaker 1: pass rush drill overall. So I do think the defense
Speaker 1: is probably a little bit ahead of the offense. And
Speaker 1: it doesn't stun me because, like I said, it's almost
Speaker 1: like the beginning stage is a training camp almost in
Speaker 1: terms of getting exposed. You're a high temple practice. But overall,
Speaker 1: I thought they got a lot of work done. I
Speaker 1: thought the temple was really good. They stayed on their feet,
Speaker 1: there was no chippiness, but they get after each other
Speaker 1: pretty well. I thought it was real good work, and
Speaker 1: let's see how they build on it, build on that tomorrow.
Speaker 1: You stood next to Aaron Donald on the sideline, up
Speaker 1: close and personal. You watched him on a lot of
Speaker 1: these snaps at practice. Today. You played against me and
Speaker 1: Joe Green, you played against Curly Coulp and other greats
Speaker 1: of your era. Is he among the greatest defensive linemen
Speaker 1: in NFL history? Yeah, when you look at him, you're
Speaker 1: not over the intimidated by his size, but then you
Speaker 1: watch his first his explosiveness is unbelievable. And honestly, I
Speaker 1: was talking to a couple of RAMS coaches after practice
Speaker 1: and they said, he wasn't giving you the full speed.
Speaker 1: He's got another gear. I said, get out of here,
Speaker 1: and they're like, no, no, he was going but not
Speaker 1: like going. And I'm like, oh, man, he's just he's
Speaker 1: got it all. He's got that first step, He's into
Speaker 1: you before you can move. He gets off the ball
Speaker 1: so quickly. His hands were a blur. I mean, he
Speaker 1: does martial arts stuff to work on his hands, and
Speaker 1: it's like you're going against the jiu jitsu king. It's like, like,
Speaker 1: you know, we're ar his hands. What's he doing? And
Speaker 1: it's all I was thinking, Okay, if I'm playing against him,
Speaker 1: would I try to jam them and get that arm extension? Nah?
Speaker 1: Not my hand down, and now he'll be at my
Speaker 1: shoulder like that. Do I keep my hands low and
Speaker 1: try to absorb them and he bulls you to death.
Speaker 1: He's a problem, man. I don't know. I think maybe
Speaker 1: the best thing is to get your hands and be patient.
Speaker 1: But then a six inch jab you know, as hard
Speaker 1: as you can and not overextend, because that's all he's
Speaker 1: looking for you to do, is overextend any way, shape
Speaker 1: or forhim. But man, this this guy is the real deal.
Speaker 1: I mean to say, so and so is going to
Speaker 1: single up on Aaron Donald. I don't care who the
Speaker 1: guy is. That's asking a lot. He is special. And
Speaker 1: that's one of the things that stood out to me today.
Speaker 1: It wasn't like cord of Olson or Alex Kappa spent
Speaker 1: the day blocking Aaron Donald. They moved him up and
Speaker 1: down the line, so at some point, every single guy
Speaker 1: on that offensive line had his crack at trying to
Speaker 1: block Aaron Donald. Aaron Donald is an equal opportunity butt
Speaker 1: whooper he wants to he doesn't want it. He wants
Speaker 1: every offensive lineman when the game is over to say, oh,
Speaker 1: not just the one poor guy that maybe won against
Speaker 1: him every snap. He wants to get a taste in
Speaker 1: the piece of everyone plus what he does. And I've
Speaker 1: seen this, you know, with other great pass rushers. This
Speaker 1: is the fish, this is the one I can utilize
Speaker 1: most of my moves against. So he goes, he explores.
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm talking about when we're in the regular
Speaker 1: season game time, he'll study tape and he'll have an idea,
Speaker 1: but then they'll get out there and move around to
Speaker 1: make sure that his idea is proper, and he'll whoever
Speaker 1: you are that gets chosen. When you're the chosen one,
Speaker 1: you don't want to be the chosen one. And then offensively,
Speaker 1: you have to make adjustments, you know, and you have
Speaker 1: to put more than one guy on him. And the
Speaker 1: one thing you do with Aaron Donald, and it's that
Speaker 1: way with every great player. You break the huddle, come
Speaker 1: to the line of scrimmage and you're looking a lot
Speaker 1: of times it might be you know, where's that safety.
Speaker 1: He's such a great plitz where you look for where's
Speaker 1: that linebacker? He can blitz from anywhere. You're going to
Speaker 1: locate him and set our past protection accordingly. You got
Speaker 1: to find ninety nine. Like you said, he's here there everywhere,
Speaker 1: so we'll be aware. You got to locate him and
Speaker 1: adjust your protections accordingly, because that is beast mode. Just
Speaker 1: follow the yellow gloves. That's how you can tell where
Speaker 1: he is on the defensive line. Let's move from Aaron
Speaker 1: Donald to Jalen Ramsey. When the two teams came out
Speaker 1: to stretch and warm up. Jesse Bates walked over to
Speaker 1: dap up Jalen Ramsey. They are both listed at six one.
Speaker 1: Jalen Ramsey's got two inches on Jesse Bates. I don't
Speaker 1: know why he's listed at six one. I'm six one.
Speaker 1: Jalen Ramsey I think is six three at least. He's huge,
Speaker 1: long wing span, obviously incredibly athletic. It's easy to understand
Speaker 1: when you see him in person why he's Jalen Ramsey.
Speaker 1: You hear all the time coaches talk about a tight
Speaker 1: end or a wide receiver of the big catch radius.
Speaker 1: Jalen Ramsey has a big catch radius. I mean, that's
Speaker 1: why he'll make plays on football. Is like, how did
Speaker 1: he do that? You know, not only closing on it,
Speaker 1: but to actually it almost looked like specter gadget. You know,
Speaker 1: it just keeps going and going, and he makes plays
Speaker 1: on the football. He's a big man, and you know,
Speaker 1: and he loves the physicality of the game. And with
Speaker 1: all of that said, to think he can't be a
Speaker 1: great one on one coverage. He's sticky man. He beats
Speaker 1: you up and rewrot you. But he had his plays.
Speaker 1: A guy named Jamar Chase had his. I mean it
Speaker 1: was a good battle, good match. There are two great
Speaker 1: players and that's what I really liked about this practice
Speaker 1: as well. Those guys getting reps against each other. That's
Speaker 1: at the highest level. I mean, you can't find a
Speaker 1: better matchup to get ready for the regular season. They
Speaker 1: have it a full practice, whether it be individual drills,
Speaker 1: teamwork against a guy like that for the offensive line
Speaker 1: and Volson and who however, against a guy like Aaron Donald.
Speaker 1: I mean, you just you can't manufacture anything better. So
Speaker 1: it is going to make it. It's good work for
Speaker 1: the regular season. And basically you look at it as
Speaker 1: not games, but back to back, high tempo you know,
Speaker 1: good football workouts against really good competition. On the other
Speaker 1: side of it, Cooper Cup amazes me, this guy. And
Speaker 1: you know when you have a quarterback like Stafford who's
Speaker 1: on the same page. They run so many option routes
Speaker 1: that they are on the exact same page at the
Speaker 1: exact same moment. He can't coach that stuff. Some guys
Speaker 1: either have it or they don't. And both of these
Speaker 1: guys have that, like esp anticipation. They are on the
Speaker 1: same page so many times when they're not. It's like,
Speaker 1: oh my god, how did that happen? You know? But
Speaker 1: man and the thing watching Cooper Cup come off the
Speaker 1: line of scrimmage. If I'm in defensive back, he's eight
Speaker 1: yards into his route and he has given no indicator
Speaker 1: as to what he's gonna do. That's a bad feeling,
Speaker 1: you know. He hasn't dipped his shoulder, he hasn't changed
Speaker 1: his game. He had no tip on if he's gonna
Speaker 1: break in, I'll go. It's like, oh my gosh, what
Speaker 1: do you do? And that's what makes him so great.
Speaker 1: He's not necessarily the fastest guy, but he is. He
Speaker 1: is so unbelievably talented route runner with just giving you
Speaker 1: the same look every single Roddy runs, starts off looking
Speaker 1: the exact same man he is, and won the Triple
Speaker 1: crown one hundred and forty five catches, almost two thousand yards,
Speaker 1: sixteen touchdowns, ridiculous stuff. And at some point he had
Speaker 1: so many more catches than anybody they're doubling in their triple.
Speaker 1: He's still those guys, I mean Stafford and Cupp. Watching
Speaker 1: those two work together, that's as high level as it
Speaker 1: gets too. So there was a lot of good work
Speaker 1: out there for sure. He also in Super Bowl MVP. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: as we remember, I didn't keep detailed stats today. I
Speaker 1: was kind of looking at the offense for a few plays.
Speaker 1: Then I turned my head and looked at the defense
Speaker 1: on the other field for a few plays. But while
Speaker 1: I was watching the offense, I think Caden Hurst had
Speaker 1: the most receptions of anybody. Joe Burrows timing and confidence
Speaker 1: in chemistry with him is growing pretty quickly. I think, yeah,
Speaker 1: And I think like everybody's thinking, even against this defense
Speaker 1: where they were playing that soft coverage and breaking, then
Speaker 1: he can hurt that. He can find spaces in there
Speaker 1: where he can hurt that. Uh, and he made some
Speaker 1: players and I think you know, in the press pressor
Speaker 1: today Joe Burrow said, yeah, when we've got three really
Speaker 1: good ones real three good wide receivers and Hayden Hurst,
Speaker 1: we expect him to get favorable matchups in him for
Speaker 1: taking to take advantage of those. And I think he's
Speaker 1: going to. I think he's gonna have a big year.
Speaker 1: He's got size speed ratio that's very good. He's got
Speaker 1: long arms, he does have a good catch radius. And
Speaker 1: I do think now that Jesse Bates is back, we
Speaker 1: talk about the three wiles, how about the three safeties.
Speaker 1: I mean that that three safety package that lou and
Speaker 1: Um was going to be messing with and messing with
Speaker 1: the minds of offensive coordinators and quarterbacks all year. That's
Speaker 1: as good as recent as there is in a league
Speaker 1: as well. So the Bengals are have got some pretty
Speaker 1: good personnel at key places that they need to have it.
Speaker 1: It's been a little bit more than a week since
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow returned. Does he look like he's close to
Speaker 1: normal to you? I think he's getting close. I think
Speaker 1: I asked him in the pressure today if Sunday were
Speaker 1: if it were a Sunday game against the Rims instead
Speaker 1: of a Saturday preseason game, could you play? He said,
Speaker 1: I could play, but I don't think I'd be playing
Speaker 1: as well as I could without the rest of training camp.
Speaker 1: There's a process in training camp that I want to continue,
Speaker 1: and and that's that's a fair answer. But for him
Speaker 1: to get up there and say I could play, I
Speaker 1: think is a huge indicator that he feels good. He's
Speaker 1: ramping up. I think he lost fifteen pounds. I bet
Speaker 1: he's got ten of it back, So I think he's
Speaker 1: getting close and he's still fearless. I mean, the guy
Speaker 1: he feels nothing. I thought it was interesting they ran
Speaker 1: a quarterback draw against the The Rams side line defenders
Speaker 1: were not happy with that call. When's that called that
Speaker 1: quarterback draw in the in the to generate a first
Speaker 1: out and try to get fifteen yards for after that
Speaker 1: another fifteen yards. Chunk played a kick a field goal,
Speaker 1: but the fact that he doesn't hesitate to do it
Speaker 1: because sometimes contact is not intentional, and you know, you
Speaker 1: start to try a quarterback drawn you're sifting through traffic.
Speaker 1: I mean, obviously they feel really good about where he is,
Speaker 1: and Joe Burrow feels really good about where he is too.
Speaker 1: In our pregame show on Sunday night, you said I'd
Speaker 1: like to see the coaches play court elvols and at
Speaker 1: left guard for the entire game, evaluate him, he needs
Speaker 1: the work, etc. That's exactly what they did. Now that
Speaker 1: you've had a chance to review it. How did he do?
Speaker 1: You know? I think he did pretty well. I thought
Speaker 1: he was pretty consistent. Um. You know, he's catching a
Speaker 1: lot of heat for this um corner nickel corner blitz
Speaker 1: that you came off the slot. He was a full
Speaker 1: scan but that was not his primary scan position. His
Speaker 1: primary scan was inside, and he wanted him make sure
Speaker 1: that you take care of that inside. Now, could he
Speaker 1: have gotten out there potentially and given a bonus pick up. Yeah,
Speaker 1: But as a rookie, it's like, what if I start
Speaker 1: out there and then a guy to label it's his
Speaker 1: inside and that's why I was supposed to block. So
Speaker 1: he's kind of like between a rock and a hard place.
Speaker 1: You know. That really wasn't his assignment, but in a
Speaker 1: perfect world, it could have been his assignment. If his
Speaker 1: guy doesn't come, you get out there and okay, so
Speaker 1: now you live and learn. But do I give him
Speaker 1: a minus for that play? Not really, because he wants
Speaker 1: to make sure that that inside blitzer doesn't blitz. He
Speaker 1: wants to take care of that assignment. The more snaps
Speaker 1: he takes in the NFL, it'll be all right. Well
Speaker 1: if he's not coming, now he's not coming, I can
Speaker 1: get out there, you know. So you can't lock on
Speaker 1: too long against a guy and live and learn. So
Speaker 1: I think I think that if that was the most
Speaker 1: egregious mistake he had, And in my mind it's not
Speaker 1: an error, it's just he didn't give you the bonus
Speaker 1: to value of the bonus points. So I think men only.
Speaker 1: He didn't have any brain farts, which is a plus,
Speaker 1: and he's still when he gets his hands on people
Speaker 1: he can finish. Was it perfect now? Far from perfect?
Speaker 1: But um, I think he showed that you can work
Speaker 1: with it. That's for darn't you. You can definitely work
Speaker 1: with it. Zach Taylor said today that the starting left
Speaker 1: guard spot has not been determined yet. Jackson Carmen is
Speaker 1: still in the running. He came back from his positive
Speaker 1: COVID diagnosis today. Uh do you buy that? Is it
Speaker 1: still up for grabs? Is Cordell Wolson significantly ahead? Where
Speaker 1: do you think that stands? Yeah? It's to me. Um,
Speaker 1: I think I think this tape of the ramps week
Speaker 1: or practice is going to be big because the one
Speaker 1: thing Wolson can do is anchor and we've seen Jackson
Speaker 1: Carmen have anchor ability issues. He gets his paddlele high.
Speaker 1: Volson doesn't really get his paddlele high that if he does,
Speaker 1: it's a it's a rarity, it's not a regular occurrence.
Speaker 1: So you know, just fundamental things like playing with that
Speaker 1: good pad level, being in a good football position to
Speaker 1: power and finish people. I mean when when Jackson Carman
Speaker 1: does it right, oh my gosh, man, it's good, but
Speaker 1: it doesn't always do it right, and it's I think
Speaker 1: it's more of a focus thing. So now it boils
Speaker 1: down to maybe, you know, cheez. While they're both they've
Speaker 1: both done some good things. Like I said before, I
Speaker 1: think Jackson's bar may be higher, but as low bar
Speaker 1: is so much lower, and Wilson's bar as high bar
Speaker 1: is not quite as high, but as low bar is
Speaker 1: nowhere near as low. So if I'm picking a guy,
Speaker 1: might trust the guy whose highs and lows are closer
Speaker 1: together than Big Peak, Big Valley. You know. So what
Speaker 1: Jackson's going to do in a hurry here is improve
Speaker 1: that consistency on a snap by snap basis. And and
Speaker 1: don't you know be at the top and Mountain versus
Speaker 1: and then the lower Death Valley. You know, you can't
Speaker 1: can't be doing those things. Jesse Bates came back a
Speaker 1: little bit sooner than I anticipated. I thought it was
Speaker 1: going to be after the final preseason game instead of
Speaker 1: the week leading up to the final preseason game. Why
Speaker 1: do you think he chose to come back when he did?
Speaker 1: I think he missed it. I think he missed his teammates.
Speaker 1: I think he probably it was conveyed to him. Look,
Speaker 1: you know, we're going to ramp you up, so we're
Speaker 1: going to give you a few days where he'd like today,
Speaker 1: all he did was a few individual things. He didn't
Speaker 1: have his helmet or anything, pads on or anything like that.
Speaker 1: He's on the commissioners example list, so there's only things
Speaker 1: that he's allowed to do, and that's for a two
Speaker 1: week timeframe, so by collective bargain agreement. As we know,
Speaker 1: when they start training camp for four days, they're not
Speaker 1: even in pads or helmets. So I don't think Zach
Speaker 1: wants to hurry him in, but for him to be
Speaker 1: on the sideline of his teammates listening to the coaches
Speaker 1: talking about what's going on with the rams and seeing
Speaker 1: what took place and the adjustments and all that. I
Speaker 1: think when he was in that suite looking at that
Speaker 1: game from that that advantage point at at pay Course Stadium,
Speaker 1: he thought, I missed this, you know, and I want
Speaker 1: to get back with my guys. I really think that's
Speaker 1: kind of what it boiled down to. And then when
Speaker 1: he was thinking, you know, he keeps himself in such
Speaker 1: great shape, he feels like he can play, and he
Speaker 1: probably could. But man, when he woke up money morning,
Speaker 1: it was just like a few days before the Steelers game,
Speaker 1: he would feel like, you know, football rigamort to set in.
Speaker 1: So now he can there's conditioning and then there's football shape.
Speaker 1: He can get himself in a little bit better football shape,
Speaker 1: anchor's pads a little bit doing some things that you know,
Speaker 1: it takes a few days to get done, and you
Speaker 1: go through the okay, what's you feel like, get through
Speaker 1: the storeness and all that, and you start to get
Speaker 1: in football shape. So I think he made a good decision,
Speaker 1: you know, to give himself a little bit of time
Speaker 1: to ramp up to it instead of like, boy and
Speaker 1: three days I got game and I'm gonna be going
Speaker 1: against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Well that's a physical football team,
Speaker 1: that's a division rival. That's going to be a banger,
Speaker 1: you know. And at least now he's got a few
Speaker 1: days to get ready for that. Were you as hot
Speaker 1: out there as I was today, dude? I was moist
Speaker 1: the whole day. I broke a lather and it never
Speaker 1: went away. I mean, you know, they study. The humidity
Speaker 1: wasn't going to be that bad, but I thought there
Speaker 1: were humans hanging from everywhere out there, Pegan Lynn, we're
Speaker 1: on our way home. We better get those showers going.
Speaker 1: No doubt I see cold shower time. Saturday's game at
Speaker 1: pay Courts Stadium starts at six our Pregame coverage on
Speaker 1: the Bengals Radio Network will begin at four thirty. That's
Speaker 1: going to do it for this episode of The Bengals
Speaker 1: Booth Podcast, presented by Ultimate Bengals. Download Ultimate Bengals ahead
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Speaker 1: I'm Dan Horde, and thanks for listening to The Bengals
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