Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody on Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast. Uh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah.
Speaker 1: Audition as the Bengals look for their third road win
Speaker 1: in as many weeks as they head to New Jersey
Speaker 1: to take on the one in five New York Jets.
Speaker 1: Coming up, I'll talk to Boom Assiahsin about Joe Burrow,
Speaker 1: Jamar Chase, and a Cincinnati team it's currently the number
Speaker 1: one playoff seed in the AF Seed. One on one
Speaker 1: player interview is with Eli Apple as he returns to
Speaker 1: the place where his NFL career began, MetLife Stadium in
Speaker 1: the meadow Lands. Dave Lappham joins me to discuss the
Speaker 1: latest Bengals news and share some keys to beating New York.
Speaker 1: And finally, it's our no the Faux segment as we
Speaker 1: discussed the struggling Jets with a guy who has covered
Speaker 1: the team for more than thirty years, Rich Samine from ESPN.
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast is presented by Ultimate Goals, the
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Speaker 1: Now time for my first guest. He's one of two
Speaker 1: quarterbacks so far to take the Bengals to the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow has tied the Bengals record for most touchdown
Speaker 1: passes to the first seven games of a season with seventeen,
Speaker 1: and he now shares it with Boomer Ossias and who
Speaker 1: did that back in nineteen eighty eight when he was
Speaker 1: MVP and the Bengals went to the Super Bowl. Boomer.
Speaker 1: The Bengals are tied for first in the AFC North
Speaker 1: after stopping on Baltimore last week. Have they arrived in
Speaker 1: your opinion, Well, I mean, certainly they have arrived in
Speaker 1: and I just want to say congratulations to Joe Burrow
Speaker 1: and thank him for making me relevant in this discussion
Speaker 1: when it really should be all about them and what
Speaker 1: they've accomplished us far. But you know, they're the number
Speaker 1: one seed in the AFC right now as well, so
Speaker 1: that is quite an accomplishment. But I think every guy
Speaker 1: on that team, and every coach and everybody that's associated
Speaker 1: with the team will tell you that it's nice to
Speaker 1: be where they are. They probably expected to be here.
Speaker 1: I think they're there a little bit earlier than I
Speaker 1: thought they were going to be, But certainly, you know,
Speaker 1: there's so much more to accomplish, and this week, you know,
Speaker 1: and what would be considered a complete let down opportunity
Speaker 1: here for them. You know, really good teams don't lose
Speaker 1: the teams that they shouldn't. And they play the Jets
Speaker 1: this week, and the Jets are an awful football team,
Speaker 1: a team that is where the Bengals worth three years
Speaker 1: ago under the first year of Zach Taylor. So they
Speaker 1: got to come in and they got to stomp the
Speaker 1: Jets and come away with a big victory, and you know,
Speaker 1: then they kind of show you that they're mature and
Speaker 1: that they're understanding about their expectations truly should be, and
Speaker 1: that is to win every single time that they step
Speaker 1: out on the field. Bloom, when you traveled to Cincinnati
Speaker 1: and spent time with Joe Burrow at the beginning of
Speaker 1: training camp, did you expect him to play this well,
Speaker 1: this fast coming back from knee surgery. Well, I wasn't sure,
Speaker 1: you know, And I did ask him how he felt
Speaker 1: with the knee, and I remember meeting him in August
Speaker 1: and he was itching to get back out on the
Speaker 1: field and to start playing football again. You know. He
Speaker 1: spent the entire offseason rehabbing and then spent even more
Speaker 1: time with his private quarterback coach, Jordan Palmer, working on
Speaker 1: deep ball throwing and the strength of his arm. So
Speaker 1: that actually told me then and there that how much
Speaker 1: he really cared about the position. What I didn't know
Speaker 1: is just the type of personality that he has. He has.
Speaker 1: He's a very confident guy, let's put it that way.
Speaker 1: He may not show it outwardly outside of the Cincinnati
Speaker 1: Bengals locker room and their practice facility. But internally and
Speaker 1: especially on the NFL films clips that I have heard
Speaker 1: of him this year, you know that he's confident and
Speaker 1: you can feel it that the rest of the team
Speaker 1: is confident in him. So it's I guess my answer
Speaker 1: to you, then, Dan would be no, I'm not surprised
Speaker 1: because what I didn't know about him is that personality
Speaker 1: trait that he has, and I think the more success
Speaker 1: that the Bengals have, the more the outside world will
Speaker 1: understand who he is as a personality. He is a
Speaker 1: very big personality, and I think most of the guys
Speaker 1: on that team, if not all of them, are feeding
Speaker 1: off of that. You referred to him on TV recently
Speaker 1: as the perfect person for this franchise. Why his personality?
Speaker 1: You have to have a I believe, a dynamic personality
Speaker 1: to lead them to the next level. You know, Andy
Speaker 1: Dalton had a really great career there, so did Carson Palmer.
Speaker 1: I would say that they were more aligned personality wise.
Speaker 1: Maybe they were, you know privately, they were very common
Speaker 1: in their abilities, but they weren't outwardly impactful. I think
Speaker 1: on the entire team and Carson's time there ended much
Speaker 1: like my time there the first time, and that was
Speaker 1: on a sour note. Andy kind of just got pushed
Speaker 1: aside because they got to a certain point with he
Speaker 1: and Marvin and it was really more about Marvin than
Speaker 1: it really was about Andy. This team is about Joe Burrow.
Speaker 1: This is his team. He probably has the absolute perfect
Speaker 1: coach in Zach Taylor. And by the way, I had
Speaker 1: to remind people this past Sunday that Zach Taylor is
Speaker 1: actually the head coach at the Bengals, because I'm not
Speaker 1: sure that anybody outside of Cincinnati knows that. So, you know,
Speaker 1: this could be a match made in heaven, much like
Speaker 1: it was for me and Sam Weish. And the similarities
Speaker 1: between the eighty eight team and this particular team, you know,
Speaker 1: are significant, but more the eighty five team because that's
Speaker 1: when we drafted Eddie Brown, and Eddie Brown made our
Speaker 1: offense complete. He was the dynamic wide receiver that we
Speaker 1: need at the game changer, and I think that's exactly
Speaker 1: what Jamar Chase has brought to the Bengal offense. Well,
Speaker 1: you interviewed Jamar last week for the NFL Today, and
Speaker 1: I thought it was really interesting. You brought up the
Speaker 1: sixth sense that he seems to have with Joe Burrow
Speaker 1: going back to their days at LSU. And before you
Speaker 1: would even finished the question, this ear to ear grin
Speaker 1: appears on Jamar's face. Do you see that sixth sense
Speaker 1: when you watch those two guys? I do. There's no
Speaker 1: question about that. There's a comfort zone that he has
Speaker 1: that other wide receivers in the league do not have
Speaker 1: at this young age, and that is that he has
Speaker 1: his quarterback that he trusts. And there's no question that
Speaker 1: there is a very significant bond between the two men.
Speaker 1: And you know, I think I felt that when I
Speaker 1: talked to Joe Burrow back in August for NFL Network,
Speaker 1: and I certainly felt that when I spoke to Jamar
Speaker 1: Chase's past week. So you can see that there's a trust,
Speaker 1: that there's a respect for one another. There's probably a
Speaker 1: genuine love for each other too, to be honest with you.
Speaker 1: They have participated in many big games together. There's going
Speaker 1: to be a lot of other big games that they're
Speaker 1: going to continue to play in together, and that bond
Speaker 1: is only going to get stronger. And you can tell
Speaker 1: that that bond right there is ignited. Not only the offense,
Speaker 1: but the whole city, like, this is what the Bengal
Speaker 1: fans you know, long for all these years. And when
Speaker 1: I think about, you know, Carson Palmer and Chado Chosinko
Speaker 1: or Chad Johnson whatever he's calling himself these days. And
Speaker 1: on top of that, Andy Dalton with aj Green, this
Speaker 1: is this is this dynamic partnership that is going to
Speaker 1: basically fuel the energy for the entire team and guys
Speaker 1: like Joe Mixon and Higgins and c j Usama, all
Speaker 1: these guys are going to be feeding off of that.
Speaker 1: So it was the right draft choice. And I also
Speaker 1: found out something else that wasn't in that interview. Dan,
Speaker 1: and I'm I don't know if you know this, but
Speaker 1: Jamar told me that Joe Burrow called him the night
Speaker 1: before the draft and said, pack your bags, you're coming
Speaker 1: to Cincinnati. Well, the rest of us are out there
Speaker 1: thinking is a Penny Sewell is the Jamar Chase? What
Speaker 1: is it? Joe Burrow knew that it was going to
Speaker 1: be Jabbar Chase the night before. One more Joe Burrow
Speaker 1: question for you, does it drive you a little nutty
Speaker 1: when he doesn't slide or a run out of bounds?
Speaker 1: You know, he's a he's a real athlete. You know,
Speaker 1: he's remember he was a point guard in cole In
Speaker 1: high school, I should say, and I think at Athens
Speaker 1: High School. And when I when I heard that he
Speaker 1: was all he was a great basketball player in a
Speaker 1: point guard. Then I knew that he had a sixth
Speaker 1: sense about, you know, playing quarterback and how he could
Speaker 1: transfer that ability as a point guard into playing quarterback,
Speaker 1: because ultimately that's what we are. We are the ultimate
Speaker 1: point guards. We're the ones that are directing our entire
Speaker 1: offense and you know, giving players that we play with
Speaker 1: maybe a tip before a play, or we're talking on
Speaker 1: the sideline about redesigning a play given what we're seeing
Speaker 1: on the other side of the ball from the opposing defense.
Speaker 1: I just think that, you know, he is such a
Speaker 1: gifted and talented athlete that he has driven to maybe
Speaker 1: put himself in some bad situations. But you know, he'll
Speaker 1: learn like the rest of us had to learn the
Speaker 1: hard way. Hopefully he doesn't take any more hits to
Speaker 1: that knee. And it's smart about it, especially when he
Speaker 1: gets to the sideline. You know, one thing about young
Speaker 1: players at our position, and myself included, we put ourselves
Speaker 1: in bad situations because we don't realize just how fast
Speaker 1: the opposing defenses are. I think Joe is starting to
Speaker 1: understand that a little bit more, and that's one of
Speaker 1: the reasons why I think, like when you see the
Speaker 1: pirouette in the pocket and then the ball coming out
Speaker 1: so effortlessly, that means the game is slowing down for him.
Speaker 1: So hopefully he's smart about, you know, taking the hits
Speaker 1: when he should. But I also understand the aggressive nature
Speaker 1: of the athlete that he is. A few more questions
Speaker 1: for the great boomeris Scias and the Bengals offense has
Speaker 1: been dynamic the last couple of weeks, topping thirty points
Speaker 1: in each of their last two games, but the defense
Speaker 1: has been great for all seven, currently fifth in the
Speaker 1: league and fewest points allowed. It's a relatively small sample size,
Speaker 1: but if we reached the point where you think the
Speaker 1: Bengals have one of the better defenses in the NFL,
Speaker 1: you know, in the NFL today. Last week, prior to
Speaker 1: play in the Ravens, I got a chance to talk
Speaker 1: about the offense because I love it and I love
Speaker 1: what I see there and there's a lot of similarities
Speaker 1: to what we were able to accomplish. But coach Kauer
Speaker 1: wanted to talk about the defense. He wanted to talk
Speaker 1: about a rebuilt defense and the new faces on that defense.
Speaker 1: And I was thinking back to why did the Bengals
Speaker 1: let Carl Lawson go? Why did they let the Jets
Speaker 1: sign him in the offseason? Well, I know now it's
Speaker 1: because of injury, not because he wasn't a good player.
Speaker 1: It's because he couldn't stay on the field. And they
Speaker 1: felt like they probably needed to redo a lot of
Speaker 1: things on defense, and they did that and they brought guys,
Speaker 1: and I thought that defense a plan. By the way,
Speaker 1: last week against Lamar Jackson was unbelievable. You could see
Speaker 1: when you go back and watch the tape the All
Speaker 1: twenty two and fans should do this on game pass
Speaker 1: NFL game Pass. They can go back and you could
Speaker 1: see kind of like the umbrella way that they were
Speaker 1: trying to rush Lamar, trying to keep him in the pocket,
Speaker 1: and if he was going to escape, it was going
Speaker 1: to be up the middle, and it was going to
Speaker 1: be up the middle he was going to run into somebody.
Speaker 1: So whatever the game plan was, it was perfectly executed
Speaker 1: from a defensive standpoint, and even coach Gauer said last
Speaker 1: week before the game that the real underlying significant improvement
Speaker 1: for the Bengals is on the defensive side of the ball.
Speaker 1: So I think we all see that. And I also
Speaker 1: think their kicking game has been solid this year. So
Speaker 1: there's a lot to like, you know, halfway through the season,
Speaker 1: and hopefully they can keep it up. As you noted earlier,
Speaker 1: right now, they're the number one playoff seed in the AFC.
Speaker 1: They're one of six teams that has two losses. Is
Speaker 1: the AFC wide open or do you think one of
Speaker 1: those teams is still the most likely team to advance
Speaker 1: to the Super Bowl? You know, I do think that
Speaker 1: Buffalo and Cincinnati right now are playing the best. Their
Speaker 1: quarterbacks are playing great. You know, Buffalo was off last week,
Speaker 1: so we'll see him back in action again this week.
Speaker 1: Since then, I should win this week against the Jets,
Speaker 1: so that this should stand. I think through the weekend
Speaker 1: that the Bills have the Dolphins. You know, it would
Speaker 1: be great to see a nineteen eighty eight reunion between
Speaker 1: the Bills and the Bengals and maybe maybe even host
Speaker 1: the AFC championship game in Cincinnati. Now, I know, I'm
Speaker 1: getting ahead of myself, but I'm allowed to do that.
Speaker 1: I'm in the media now. I would never do that
Speaker 1: if I were a player, because that would be considered
Speaker 1: touching the money, and touching the money it's a form
Speaker 1: of bad luck that I would not want to get
Speaker 1: into if I were a player. But you know, do
Speaker 1: I dare to dream to think that that could be
Speaker 1: the case? I would think. So, there are a couple
Speaker 1: of teams that you got off to slow starts that
Speaker 1: are going to be pretty good teams when we get
Speaker 1: the December in January, assuming that they stay healthy. The
Speaker 1: Cults will be one of those teams. I don't know
Speaker 1: where Kansas City is going to be in this mix.
Speaker 1: This is going to be really interesting to see what
Speaker 1: happen to them. They may I'll make the playoffs. But
Speaker 1: the Chargers and the Raiders are really good teams. And
Speaker 1: I do believe if you have to play the New
Speaker 1: England Patriots later on in the season or in the
Speaker 1: beginning of the playoffs, that there would be a formidable
Speaker 1: foe as well. So it is wide open, I guess
Speaker 1: to answer your question. But the interesting thing is is
Speaker 1: that the Bengals are right there and I think most
Speaker 1: people now, at least on a national level outside of Cincinnati,
Speaker 1: are taking the Bengal seriously, which is a good thing.
Speaker 1: Last thing, Boomer, you became a grandfather last year when
Speaker 1: your daughter Sydney had a baby, and now your son,
Speaker 1: Gunner is going to be a dad. That would not
Speaker 1: have been possible if not for the work the Assassin
Speaker 1: Foundation has done about assistic fibrosis research. It is remarkable
Speaker 1: to me that being an NFL MVP and taking a
Speaker 1: team to the Super Bowl is the second most important
Speaker 1: thing you have done in your lifetime. Do you feel
Speaker 1: that your skills athletically and as a communicator were the
Speaker 1: reason you were it on this earth to try to
Speaker 1: fight that disease. There's a lot of destin and irony
Speaker 1: in Gunner's diagnosis back in nineteen ninety three, There's no
Speaker 1: question about that. I think the NFL afforded me an
Speaker 1: amazing platform, and I exploited that platform without any apology.
Speaker 1: And Gunner is living today at the age of thirty,
Speaker 1: proving that what we started some twenty seven years ago
Speaker 1: really has left an indelible mark on the cystic fibrosis community.
Speaker 1: So the fact that he's thirty years old. The fact
Speaker 1: that he's doing better now than he's ever done in
Speaker 1: his life, the fact that he's gotten his master's degree,
Speaker 1: he's gotten married, and he's going to be a father
Speaker 1: himself come this December is nothing short of a miracle.
Speaker 1: And to me, Dan, whether it was me that was chosen,
Speaker 1: or Afford that was chosen, or my friend Tommy Hughes,
Speaker 1: or Jay Crandell, or all the other dads and moms
Speaker 1: that have been a part of this fight for all
Speaker 1: these years, I think much like a quarterback. I feel
Speaker 1: very satisfied that we all did this together and that
Speaker 1: Gunner is a living, breathing miracle. And the story really
Speaker 1: truly hasn't been totally told, and hopefully it will be
Speaker 1: one of these days, because you know, I prayed to
Speaker 1: God every night that science would lead us to an answer,
Speaker 1: and God and science together has delivered me a miracle
Speaker 1: in so many ways that I can't even really talk
Speaker 1: to because that we don't have the time too. But
Speaker 1: I can just tell you that when Gunner becomes a
Speaker 1: dad in December, it's going to be one of those
Speaker 1: amazing moments that I only could have hoped and prayed
Speaker 1: that would have happened, and it's going to it's tremendous.
Speaker 1: Congratulations to you, Congratulations to Gunner, and thank you so
Speaker 1: much for your time. It's always a treat to have Vian.
Speaker 1: Thanks Dan, thanks for having me. Always great to see you.
Speaker 1: Since its inception, the Boomerasiason Foundation has raised more than
Speaker 1: one hundred and fifteen million dollars to support research towards
Speaker 1: finding a cure for cystic fibrosis, as well as programs
Speaker 1: directly benefiting the CF community. If you would like to help,
Speaker 1: go to a siasin dot org. You'll find some great
Speaker 1: team Boomer gear up. Next my one on one visit
Speaker 1: with defensive back Eli Apple, who's played a big role
Speaker 1: on one of the NFL's most dominant defenses to date.
Speaker 1: You know, my last week against Baltimore, you did not
Speaker 1: allow a catch. Two weeks ago, against Detroit, you did
Speaker 1: not allow a catch. Three weeks ago against Green Bay,
Speaker 1: you only allowed one. Are you playing the best football
Speaker 1: of your NFL career? And if so, why not? I
Speaker 1: think we're just playing really confident ball as a group
Speaker 1: right now. Everybody's clicking and communication is great, and for me,
Speaker 1: it's just about doing my job. So I'm just doing
Speaker 1: what I can put myself in position to make plays,
Speaker 1: and whenever the targets come, I want to make the play.
Speaker 1: I think this staff might surprise some people. You've played
Speaker 1: the most snaps of Annie Bengals cornerback this year, more
Speaker 1: than Chitabea Wouge, more than Mike Hilton. What does it
Speaker 1: mean to you to play such a prominent role on
Speaker 1: a defense. It's currently number five in the league and
Speaker 1: fewest points allowed. It's great. I mean this is a
Speaker 1: goal we set before the season and be top five
Speaker 1: or better, and we just want to keep striving for more.
Speaker 1: So just gonna continue to grow and get better in practice.
Speaker 1: That's what it's about. We're visiting the Eli Apple. The
Speaker 1: Bengals are off to a five and two start. You've
Speaker 1: been a starter on some really good teams in your
Speaker 1: NFL career, back to back teams in New Orleans that
Speaker 1: went thirteen and three. One of those teams made it
Speaker 1: to the NFC Championship Game. Do you see any similarities
Speaker 1: to those great teams that you were a part of
Speaker 1: and the current one that you're playing for. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: think so. I think the love and camaraderie across the
Speaker 1: board from top to bottom from everybody's been great communication
Speaker 1: and everything which is vibing the right way, communicating great
Speaker 1: out there on them off the field. So he's got
Speaker 1: to continue to build on everything we've been doing. Did
Speaker 1: you notice that here right away? Oh? Easily, from training camp,
Speaker 1: really old tiers and meetings and stuff, and then once
Speaker 1: we got on the field and making plays together. We're
Speaker 1: chatting with the ely Apple. When you signed here in
Speaker 1: free agency and March, you were reunited with a couple
Speaker 1: of people lou Anna Romo, who is your position coach
Speaker 1: with the Giants, and Von Bell has been your teammate
Speaker 1: in college and in the NFL previously. They clearly believed
Speaker 1: in you and wanted you on this team. Was that
Speaker 1: important to you? Yeah? It was. I Mean those are
Speaker 1: guys I respect a lot and played with and have
Speaker 1: won games with. So definitely respect them and excited to
Speaker 1: be a part of something great here. This is your
Speaker 1: sixth year, You've got nearly four thousand snaps under your
Speaker 1: belt in the NFL. Who are some of the best
Speaker 1: receivers you've faced. Wow, the best receivers of of course,
Speaker 1: like the Julios, Odell Beckham and practice Michael Thomas, those
Speaker 1: guys and Devantay Adams. To me, he's probably the best.
Speaker 1: Right now. You referenced Odell in practice. Now you're practicing
Speaker 1: against some great ones here in Jamar, Chase te Higgins
Speaker 1: and Tyler Boyd. Give me your thoughts on those three guys. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the great receivers who as well, especially you know of
Speaker 1: course with Jamar his breakout has been apparent, but they
Speaker 1: all have great silence and help us get better in practice.
Speaker 1: During training camp, you battled a bit of a hamstring issue.
Speaker 1: Were you concerned about the possible impact of that being
Speaker 1: with a new team. Oh, of course, you never know
Speaker 1: how some teams are with injuries, and it was fortunate.
Speaker 1: I never got hurt that early in camp, so it
Speaker 1: was something new for me. And yeah, I'm just glad
Speaker 1: to be healthy and playing right now. So the Bengals
Speaker 1: are headed to New York this week to take on
Speaker 1: the Jets. You weren't with the Jets, but you were
Speaker 1: with the Giants for two and a half years. It's
Speaker 1: the same stadium. You're going back to the meadow Lands.
Speaker 1: Does that add anything to this game for you? Yeah?
Speaker 1: It does. I mean it's gonna be great going back
Speaker 1: to Jersey, so you know, to ties their are known
Speaker 1: for being. It would be great just to see some
Speaker 1: like familiar faces round facility out there that worked there
Speaker 1: and stuff little things like that. But it's of course
Speaker 1: going in there number one to get to win. You
Speaker 1: were the defensive MVP on a national championship team not
Speaker 1: too far away from here at Ohio State, and we're
Speaker 1: the tenth pick in the NFL draft for a reason.
Speaker 1: How do you describe your NFL journey to this point.
Speaker 1: It's been wild. It's been a lot, you know, going
Speaker 1: from a lot of different teams in the last few years. Actually,
Speaker 1: it's been It's been fun, and I'm enjoying the ride,
Speaker 1: and especially the Sharon has been great and had a
Speaker 1: lot of great moments, and we just want to continue
Speaker 1: to finish. The Bengals have kind of been basking in
Speaker 1: the glow of last week's victory at Baltimore, getting a
Speaker 1: lot of positive national publicity as a result. So obviously
Speaker 1: people are wondering, all right, how do they avoid getting
Speaker 1: big headed after that game and take care of business
Speaker 1: against the Jets. How would you answer that question. We're hungry,
Speaker 1: we want more than what we already have, right now. So, yeah,
Speaker 1: we already know an Engal and we just gotta contee
Speaker 1: to work towards every day. That's the fuck this week.
Speaker 1: I appreciate your time. Thank you. Juli was not treated
Speaker 1: kindly by the New York media when he struggled early
Speaker 1: in his NFL career, so I'm sure he would love
Speaker 1: nothing more than to have a great game and a
Speaker 1: Bengals win this Sunday in the Meadowlands. The Bengals Booth
Speaker 1: podcast is presented by Ultimate Bengals, the free to play
Speaker 1: fantasy football game. Ultimate Bengals will be awarding a weekly
Speaker 1: winner during the course of the season, with tickets, autograph merchandise,
Speaker 1: and money can't buy experiences all up for grabs. Find
Speaker 1: Ultimate Bengals in the app stores. Now now time to
Speaker 1: bring him a broadcast partner Dave Lapham to discuss the
Speaker 1: latest Bengals news and look ahead to Sunday's game against
Speaker 1: the Jets. Lap In your second NFL season nineteen seventy five,
Speaker 1: the Bengals got off to an eight and one start
Speaker 1: before losing to the O and nine Cleveland Browns. The
Speaker 1: only other games you lost that year were two losses
Speaker 1: to the Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers. So this week
Speaker 1: the Bengals are going to say all the right things
Speaker 1: about being up for the one in five jets, But
Speaker 1: how hard is it to be sufficiently motivated in a
Speaker 1: game like this. I remember that loss probably as well
Speaker 1: as almost any win. You know, when you have something
Speaker 1: like that happened to you that you shouldn't happen, but
Speaker 1: it does happen. So yeah, you have to you have
Speaker 1: to buckle down. I mean, there's no question about it.
Speaker 1: As the old saying goes, it's seventeen one and all
Speaker 1: seasons is what you're trying to get done. And it's
Speaker 1: hard to do, there's no doubt about it. But we
Speaker 1: had three division losses. We were eleven and three, but
Speaker 1: we had three division losses and lost twice to Pittsburgh
Speaker 1: and they went twelve and two and won the division.
Speaker 1: We went as a wild card. But you can never
Speaker 1: take anything for granted in this league. That's one thing
Speaker 1: that I found out pretty early on as a player
Speaker 1: that it just sometimes a plus beat doesn't always equals See,
Speaker 1: there's no question about that. Does it have to come
Speaker 1: from the players this week, because we know the coaches
Speaker 1: since the invention of sports have sent the right messages
Speaker 1: in a game like this, but doesn't have to come
Speaker 1: within the locker room. Absolutely, Dan, because the coaches, I
Speaker 1: mean they can. They can give you all the verbal
Speaker 1: warnings and throw all the stats and all the stories
Speaker 1: they can tell until they're blue in the face. Sometimes
Speaker 1: it doesn't register until it's too late. You get out
Speaker 1: there and all of a sudden, Man, these guys and
Speaker 1: they don't look like they looked on film. You know,
Speaker 1: it's like, these guys are pretty good. So if you're not,
Speaker 1: if you're not ready to go and you get out
Speaker 1: there and I think you can kick it into gear,
Speaker 1: that's that's that's tough to accomplish. That's tough to get done.
Speaker 1: Um So, And when you look at the Jets on
Speaker 1: tape defensive line, they play like a wide nine technique
Speaker 1: with their defensive ends and they crash. I mean, it's
Speaker 1: it's gonna be a challenge. They're two inside defensive tackles
Speaker 1: are good. They're solid players. So it's not going to
Speaker 1: be any day off, any kind of picnic. I think
Speaker 1: the area they're struggling a little bit is at the
Speaker 1: linebacker level. They're not playing great at linebacker They've got
Speaker 1: a couple of young guys in the secondary, but I
Speaker 1: think they're solid back there. But the way the Bengals
Speaker 1: wide receiver corps is playing, I think they should be
Speaker 1: you know, should be okay. I think that in a
Speaker 1: situation like this, the constant that you're looking for in
Speaker 1: the constant they've had all year long as the defense
Speaker 1: coming out and shutting down the opponent and maybe let
Speaker 1: the offense kind of, you know, get themselves into into
Speaker 1: gear a little bit, because you know, offensively, it's it's
Speaker 1: so much more timing and coordination, defense, read and react
Speaker 1: more kind of that that scenario sou And then offensively,
Speaker 1: I mean they get speed at wide receiver, they're they're
Speaker 1: they're pretty good there. I think the offensive line it's
Speaker 1: not it's not great by any stretch, but it's it's
Speaker 1: solid enough. Of Course, you don't know what's going to happen.
Speaker 1: I mean, Mike White will be the quarterback I would
Speaker 1: think for this game, and you know it's sure exactly
Speaker 1: how he's going to play, but that's that's the thing.
Speaker 1: Then the unknown sometimes you don't know exactly if they'll
Speaker 1: game plan the same way they're they've been game planner
Speaker 1: for Zach Wilson at the quarterback position or not. So
Speaker 1: there's a lot of things you just can't take for
Speaker 1: granted in a football game like this. And New York
Speaker 1: hasn't been friendly to the Bengals. They had a nine
Speaker 1: game losing streak going to New York the last time
Speaker 1: they were there in twenty sixteen, one by a point
Speaker 1: twenty three twenty two to snap that nine game losing streak.
Speaker 1: So and again coach is going to talk all about that.
Speaker 1: That doesn't mean a hill of beans to these two teams.
Speaker 1: I mean the two it's a totally different situation. You
Speaker 1: can go into a historical perspective and speel on all
Speaker 1: you want pontificate, but like you said, the players are
Speaker 1: going to determine and decide how they come out and
Speaker 1: how they play in this football game. Period. Here's my concern,
Speaker 1: and it's not a fear, but it is a concern.
Speaker 1: They picked up Joe Flacca this week. He's not going
Speaker 1: to get there in time to play. I guess he's
Speaker 1: not even expected to report until Friday. So they're going
Speaker 1: to elevate Josh Johnson from the practice squad. We know Josh,
Speaker 1: he was the Bengals back up in twenty thirteen. He's
Speaker 1: thirty five years old. He's been with fourteen different NFL teams,
Speaker 1: if you include training camp and practice squad, etc. I
Speaker 1: could see Mike White getting off to a terrible start.
Speaker 1: Josh Johnson comes in, he's running around, he's got no fear,
Speaker 1: he makes a few plays, and they're in the game.
Speaker 1: That is my concern again, not my fear, but that
Speaker 1: is my concern. It's plausible, you know, I mean, and
Speaker 1: he's he's that kind of player. I agree, Um, you know,
Speaker 1: you know, it's it's like, wow, if he's that great,
Speaker 1: why didn't he Why isn't even a player all those years?
Speaker 1: And why is it with all those football teams? But
Speaker 1: we're talking about one specific game, one specific day, one
Speaker 1: specific day in time. I mean, it's not it's it's like,
Speaker 1: it's it can happen. Will it happen? You know, don't
Speaker 1: don't hope, hope not, don't think so. But you know,
Speaker 1: I guess the maybe the uh, the elixir for that.
Speaker 1: Maybe look at how well they played the week before
Speaker 1: against a Pro Bowl guy that has those kind of skills,
Speaker 1: you know, so hopefully there'd be some very over into
Speaker 1: how they mush rushed and all those kind of things.
Speaker 1: You know, they could make some adjustments on the fly,
Speaker 1: hopefully going back to you know, maybe some things that
Speaker 1: they implemented in a game plan to handle the most
Speaker 1: mobile and athletic guy in the league. Excellent point, all right,
Speaker 1: Jamar Chase is off to the best seven game start
Speaker 1: by a rookie receiver in NFL history. In their wildest dreams,
Speaker 1: do you think the Bengals anticipated he would have this
Speaker 1: big of an immediate impact. I can't imagine it, you know.
Speaker 1: I mean I think they realized, you know, right away,
Speaker 1: when this guy runs routes, you know, it's like you
Speaker 1: see power in so many different ways. I mean, he's
Speaker 1: got so much lower body power, and when he sinks
Speaker 1: his hips and gets in and out of cots man,
Speaker 1: it's like it's explosive, you know. And he's got the
Speaker 1: shortest space quickness. A lot of guys have short space quickness.
Speaker 1: Just like unbelievable how strong and powerfully is making his moves.
Speaker 1: He is that he'll run down the football field and
Speaker 1: jump jump at the cornerback and then go one way
Speaker 1: or the other like a like a running back will
Speaker 1: jump cut but the running back has one point on
Speaker 1: the ground when he's jumping. This guy airborne and lands
Speaker 1: and can go either way explosively, and he's, uh, he's
Speaker 1: you know, he's a strong body. Guy's well over two
Speaker 1: hundred pounds, you know. So in the end of the
Speaker 1: thing that just in my mind separates him is how
Speaker 1: calm his upper body is when he's running like I
Speaker 1: mean fast and he's tracking the ball because he's not
Speaker 1: really exerting his upper body and bob in his head.
Speaker 1: He can just track a ball like crazy when he's
Speaker 1: going full speed and he's you know, he's got that acceleration,
Speaker 1: he's top speed and he's just his upper body is
Speaker 1: so calm um. He's he is a special, special player.
Speaker 1: There's there's no doubt. And he just wonder when they're
Speaker 1: going to start tilting covers that way a little bit more.
Speaker 1: They put their best cornerback on him, but it's a
Speaker 1: rare bird indeed has the best cornerback trailing him and
Speaker 1: then puts another guy on him. I mean that that's
Speaker 1: that doesn't happen. So you wonder are they going to
Speaker 1: stay with the same formula of putting their best cornerback
Speaker 1: on him, or where they put the best cornerback on
Speaker 1: the number two receiver and double him and see how
Speaker 1: that works. So are they going to make adjustments to
Speaker 1: Jamar Chase? But he and Joe Burrow they seem to
Speaker 1: have an answer for every test man. It's there, and
Speaker 1: they started together. I mean, they're they're study partners. They're
Speaker 1: on the same page. It's unbelievable. You're common about how
Speaker 1: still his head is is interesting because your buddy Brian
Speaker 1: Baldanger I said this week you could put a Starbucks
Speaker 1: on top of his head and you wouldn't spell a drop. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Mine was you could put an egg on there and
Speaker 1: it wouldn't roll off, you know, I mean the same
Speaker 1: type of thing. That was a comment I made about
Speaker 1: watching him run. It's it's it's incredible how you know
Speaker 1: and you know how it is, Dan. I mean, you
Speaker 1: got a helmet and face mask and if you're if
Speaker 1: your head's bobbing around and you know, now the ball
Speaker 1: looks like it's uh, it's on it's in a wind tunnel.
Speaker 1: You know, it's moving around now, and you he's just
Speaker 1: smooth and his head still and he's tracking that thing
Speaker 1: and plucking it. How did he drop those passes in
Speaker 1: the preseason. I have no idea what you're talking about.
Speaker 1: All right, In their first five games this year, the
Speaker 1: Bengals did not score more than twenty four points in
Speaker 1: regulation and any in any of them in the last
Speaker 1: two thirty four points in Detroit, forty one in Baltimore.
Speaker 1: What stood out in the last couple of games to you, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I just the explosive plays, you know. I think they
Speaker 1: had eleven plays of twenty one yards and more, you know,
Speaker 1: runs then passes and uh. And when you start chunking
Speaker 1: like that boy Dutches, you get you get all kinds
Speaker 1: of confidence going and that helps the defense and the
Speaker 1: offense obviously feels a little bit more invincible and defensively
Speaker 1: when you know the offense is going out there and
Speaker 1: scoring in those big shots, boy, that gives you a
Speaker 1: jolt of energy. There's there's no question about it. But
Speaker 1: I do think that the constant has been the defense.
Speaker 1: Like we know, they're the only defense in the league
Speaker 1: that hasn't given up more than twenty five points all
Speaker 1: season and not more than twenty two in regulation all season.
Speaker 1: You know, the Green Bay game, they get three in
Speaker 1: overtime to win it. So that's been a they've been very,
Speaker 1: very consistent and constant. Offensively, it's been kind of you know,
Speaker 1: they've been lulls. They've been you know, three straight three
Speaker 1: an ounce one game, two straight, another game and the
Speaker 1: three out of four possessions and another and then and
Speaker 1: then they'll get going. The biggest constant for them offensive
Speaker 1: there's been two minutes to go on the second quarter
Speaker 1: and to start the third quarter. I mean, that's where
Speaker 1: they've they've been as dynamic as anybody in the NFL.
Speaker 1: They leave the league with thirty four points coming out
Speaker 1: of out of the locker room in the first drive
Speaker 1: of the third quarter, and with the in the final
Speaker 1: two minutes they've they're in the they're they're tied for
Speaker 1: third with thirty four points in that time frame two.
Speaker 1: So sixty eight of their eighty nine points have come
Speaker 1: in those two in those two period of time frames,
Speaker 1: which is great. But you know this thing about this team, Dan,
Speaker 1: that that is exciting me. They haven't put together four
Speaker 1: quarters of football yet. It's been they have defensively, they
Speaker 1: haven't yet quite yet offensively and defensively there's still more
Speaker 1: to get. I mean, they've played four good quarters, but
Speaker 1: they can play even better for four quarters, So they
Speaker 1: haven't they even You're not going to ever play a
Speaker 1: perfect game, There's that's impossible. But I still think there
Speaker 1: is more for them to them to generate, you know,
Speaker 1: in terms of being a complete team and uh, you know,
Speaker 1: and one unit supporting the other complimentary football. When it
Speaker 1: comes to the defense, I'm about to put you on
Speaker 1: the spot. Their fifth in the league in points allowed, sixth,
Speaker 1: in rushing yards per attempt sixth, and passing yards per
Speaker 1: pass they're tied for fifth and sacks. Here comes the
Speaker 1: question who deserves the bulk of the credit, Duke Tobin
Speaker 1: for the free agent acquisitions or defensive coordinator lou and
Speaker 1: Romo for how he's scheming these guys up. You know,
Speaker 1: that's like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Peanut butter
Speaker 1: sandwich is good, the jelly sandwich is good. Peanut butter
Speaker 1: and jelly is better to get. So it's like I
Speaker 1: think last year watching the Baltimore game again, I mean,
Speaker 1: Louke was trying to do a lot of the same
Speaker 1: things schematically to Baltimore and just didn't have the horses
Speaker 1: to do it. So, um, you know, it's it's it is.
Speaker 1: It's one of those things where if you you can,
Speaker 1: you can scheme till your heart's content. If you don't
Speaker 1: have the players, it won't really matter that much. You know,
Speaker 1: if one team has better football players, they're high percentage
Speaker 1: of the time going to win the football game. So
Speaker 1: I think that you know, Duke and his staff getting
Speaker 1: the players that they got and signing them in free
Speaker 1: agency and hitting on the ones they hit on in
Speaker 1: the draft, and trading for b J. Hill, and I
Speaker 1: mean a lot of things that they've done. Man, they
Speaker 1: put their bat on the ball. So I do think
Speaker 1: it's a you know, it is a it is a combination.
Speaker 1: I'd i'd give them. I'd give them co MVPs of that,
Speaker 1: you know, I'd give them both the same award and
Speaker 1: just cut it right in half, or him an award
Speaker 1: and let one keeping an office Monday Wednesday Friday about
Speaker 1: the other one Tuesday Thursday. We turn to the offensive line.
Speaker 1: Pro Football Focus has the offensive line pass Blocking Efficiency Rating.
Speaker 1: That's what they go with. They've got the Bengals number ten,
Speaker 1: one spot ahead of the Cleveland Browns. ESPN has its
Speaker 1: pass block Win Rate Metric. They've got the Bengals down
Speaker 1: at number twenty two, they have Cleveland number one. So
Speaker 1: this stuff is very subjective. What do you like about
Speaker 1: what you're seeing from the offensive line right now? You
Speaker 1: know what I like is again the quarterback meshing with
Speaker 1: the offensive line. The offensive line knows and I've been
Speaker 1: there that if you give Joe Burrow half a second war,
Speaker 1: it's going to be instead of an incompletion, could be
Speaker 1: a massive big play because you know that there are
Speaker 1: skill players everywhere, and it's like, man, I just gotta guy.
Speaker 1: They can do it. We have a guy that can
Speaker 1: can pitch it anywhere. So let's let's give him time
Speaker 1: to operate. And so I think that that motivates you to,
Speaker 1: you know, be a little bit more focused and tighter
Speaker 1: with everything you're doing, and then you start to feed
Speaker 1: off each other up front a little bit. Plus it
Speaker 1: with Joe when you do have a little bit of
Speaker 1: an issue. He is so good at manipulating the pocket.
Speaker 1: And he's coming back to that. He was talking about
Speaker 1: that today at his pressor that he feels like he's
Speaker 1: getting close to where he was before the tragic acl
Speaker 1: injury and the reconstruction. But that is that's gold for
Speaker 1: an offensive line. Man, when you have a quarterback that
Speaker 1: you know, it's like, here, can a little slidesteps, step up,
Speaker 1: eyes in the back of the head, you know, know
Speaker 1: exactly when to that. There they are closed in on
Speaker 1: him for the final time. After he has manipulated the
Speaker 1: pocket with slidesteps and climb steps and all that sort
Speaker 1: of thing, and then gets it down the football field,
Speaker 1: It's like, oh, man, Joe saved my butt. Man, I
Speaker 1: gotta go save his A few times that kind of
Speaker 1: stuff everybody. It gets contagious, you know, and guys start
Speaker 1: to feed off each other and you start to feel like, man,
Speaker 1: nobody can beat us. Man, you know we got we
Speaker 1: got it going out here. So I think, you know,
Speaker 1: it's interesting. Maybe maybe one of these statistical companies decide
Speaker 1: that if Joe Burrow has to climb the pocket and
Speaker 1: those kind of things, you know, that they may they
Speaker 1: may grade harsher on the offensive line when those things
Speaker 1: occur than others. I mean, like you said, it is
Speaker 1: all subjective pressure, is okay? Well, did pressure mean that
Speaker 1: he had to climb the pocket? Well, not really. If
Speaker 1: the center and guards did a good job and the
Speaker 1: tackles kept the pocket wide. It's okay if he climbs
Speaker 1: the pocket and throws the football. Some people may think
Speaker 1: anytime the quarterback moves that was pressure, you know, the
Speaker 1: defensive ends. If they're just you know, blowing up the
Speaker 1: football field, it doesn't necessarily mean that they're you know,
Speaker 1: there's jeopardy or a quarterback getting smashed. So it is.
Speaker 1: It is all very subjective, but I do think that
Speaker 1: they have a guy who can, you know, find little
Speaker 1: spaces to take advantage. Not to say that he can't
Speaker 1: get out of pocket and succeed, you know, I compare
Speaker 1: compare his skill set to Aaron Rodgers, because Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 1: is great at manipulating the pocket and then he can
Speaker 1: get out and run and people, you know, don't really
Speaker 1: give him. They underestimate his ability to pick him up
Speaker 1: and put him down. I think Joe's a little bit
Speaker 1: like that with people. I'm not saying he's Lamar Jackson
Speaker 1: or anything like that, but he's He's pretty good the
Speaker 1: way he can extend plays. Some quarterbacks can extend him
Speaker 1: out of pocket, some can extend in pocket. Very few
Speaker 1: can do both. And he's one of those guys that
Speaker 1: can can do both and that's a big That's like
Speaker 1: I said, that's solid gold for an offensive line. All right,
Speaker 1: last thing, we are off to the Meadowlands this weekend.
Speaker 1: It's obviously the home of the Jets and the Giants.
Speaker 1: When you played the Jets early in your career, those
Speaker 1: games were at Chase Stadium. I grew up a New
Speaker 1: York Mets fan, so going to Chase Sam for me
Speaker 1: as a kid was a huge thrill. But it didn't
Speaker 1: look like the best place to play NFL football? Am
Speaker 1: I correct? You are? There's a lot of dirt out there,
Speaker 1: There's no question. Yeah, it wasn't. It wasn't the greatest
Speaker 1: place in the world. But the first time that I
Speaker 1: did go to Shay Stadium, Joe Namath was playing, and man,
Speaker 1: I was like, I was like a little kid at Christmas.
Speaker 1: I'm like, I cannot believe I'm on the same football
Speaker 1: field as Joe Names. I literally honestly wished I could
Speaker 1: take an autograph book out there and get Joe name
Speaker 1: as autograph. He didn't play well that day. That was
Speaker 1: his last might have been his last gam or close
Speaker 1: to it. We had four interceptions on him that day.
Speaker 1: Kenny Riley had three of them. And I think he
Speaker 1: took one back to the house if I'm not mistaken,
Speaker 1: and it was I kind of felt bad for my hero,
Speaker 1: you know, It's like, Wow, I'm glad we were kicking
Speaker 1: their butt, but I wish Joe Joe wasn't so a big,
Speaker 1: such a big factor in it, but he was. He
Speaker 1: was definitely a guy that that I'm like, I can't
Speaker 1: believe that I'm actually in the National Football Are you
Speaker 1: go on the same fields as Joe Namath? But yeah,
Speaker 1: that was not It was not the greatest, uh the
Speaker 1: greatest field in the world. And you know, you had
Speaker 1: home plate, the pitchers mound, you had infield, you had,
Speaker 1: you had little dirt piles everywhere. You know, you had
Speaker 1: to it. I imagine it was probably a pretty good
Speaker 1: advantage for the home team, you know, to know where
Speaker 1: the pitfalls were as such. So, um, yeah, it was.
Speaker 1: It was interesting playing at Shay Stadium. I'm pretty sure
Speaker 1: Joe Namath had a zero point zero passer rating in
Speaker 1: that game. And while you may have felt bad for him,
Speaker 1: think of it this way. There's probably a pretty good
Speaker 1: chance that after that game he was in the company
Speaker 1: of a gorgeous date. Based on his track record at
Speaker 1: least one. It may have been multiple, multiple of voluptuos.
Speaker 1: Joe was the man key. Quarterback Zach Wilson isn't exactly
Speaker 1: the next Joe Namath off the field. He's a Mormon
Speaker 1: who attended BYU, but the Jets took Wilson with a
Speaker 1: second pick in this year's draft with the hope that
Speaker 1: he will eventually play like Broadway Joe. He's got a
Speaker 1: long way to go. Wilson ranks next to last and
Speaker 1: passer rating and completion percentage, and has more than twice
Speaker 1: as many interceptions nine as touchdown passes with four. Wilson
Speaker 1: won't play for the next few weeks due to a
Speaker 1: knee injury, so former Western Kentucky star Mike White gets
Speaker 1: the start lap and I discussed that and more on
Speaker 1: the Bengals Game Plan Show with Rich Sumini, who covers
Speaker 1: the Jets for ESPN. I started our conversation by asking
Speaker 1: Rich where the Jets are strongest, Partly looking at it
Speaker 1: from the Cincinnati perspective, I think the things you would
Speaker 1: have to look out for are their front four. That
Speaker 1: is the strength of their defense. They have some pretty
Speaker 1: good players of the front four, mostly Quinned Williams, John Franklins.
Speaker 1: They had a game three games ago where they actually
Speaker 1: had seven sacks in one game. So that's one area
Speaker 1: I would be concerned with. And they do have some
Speaker 1: wide receivers and they don't have a Jamar Chase, but
Speaker 1: they have some confident wide receivers. You know, Corey Davis
Speaker 1: as a proven pro team with Jamison Crowders. So they
Speaker 1: do have some players on the perimeter. But I'd say
Speaker 1: that's about it right now. You know, they're they're very
Speaker 1: devoid of talent right now. You know, I look at
Speaker 1: a little tape in that front four that you're talking about,
Speaker 1: Rich they don't play those defensive ends on a wide
Speaker 1: nine technique kind of thing, you know, really and then
Speaker 1: just angle them and just crash them inside. And I agree,
Speaker 1: I think the defensive tackle pair is strong. I mean,
Speaker 1: that's a good duo that that's that's about as good
Speaker 1: as anybody. It seems to me, though, watching Are the
Speaker 1: linebackers struggling as much as it looks on tape? Are
Speaker 1: they really having issues there? Yeah, that's a great point.
Speaker 1: They're linebacker. They will get some good news though this
Speaker 1: week because C. J. Mosley is going to play their
Speaker 1: middle linebacker. He did not play last week against New
Speaker 1: England and it was basically chaos on defense. They tried
Speaker 1: a rookie in that spot to call the defensive signals
Speaker 1: and it went just as you would expect with a
Speaker 1: rookie in there, and the players didn't even know how
Speaker 1: to get lined up. So they'll get CJ back in
Speaker 1: there and that will help them. And there's also they're
Speaker 1: fairly optimistic that Jared Davis, the former number one pick
Speaker 1: of the Detroit Lions a few years ago, will be
Speaker 1: back this week. He has not played since the preseason.
Speaker 1: He's coming off an ankle injury. He was designated for
Speaker 1: return today and he did practice, so I think there's
Speaker 1: a reasonably good chance that he will play on Sunday.
Speaker 1: So their linebacking corps will be much better than it
Speaker 1: was last week. Our guest is Rich Somini. He covers
Speaker 1: the Jets for ESPN. Let's talk about the guy that's
Speaker 1: expected to start at quarterback this week, Mike White out
Speaker 1: of Western Kentucky. I actually saw him start against the
Speaker 1: UC bearcad when he was playing for the University of
Speaker 1: South Florida. Got in last week when Zach Wilson went down.
Speaker 1: How do you think he looked? The numbers were okay,
Speaker 1: how did he look? Yeah, I mean he did okay
Speaker 1: considering it was his first NFL appearance, I mean, his
Speaker 1: first NFL froze a touchdown past to Corey Davis. So
Speaker 1: that's a pretty good way to start your career. He
Speaker 1: is a guy who you know, quite frankly, we haven't
Speaker 1: seen a lot of Dad. You've probably seen more of
Speaker 1: them than I have. He played a little bit in
Speaker 1: the preseason. He made the team as their number two quarterback.
Speaker 1: It was a kind of a big controversy in the
Speaker 1: preseason they decided not to go with a veteran backup.
Speaker 1: I was I think I wrote several columns on that,
Speaker 1: how they were making a big mistake, and I think
Speaker 1: that is going to come back to bite him right now.
Speaker 1: I think Mike White is probably a practice squad player,
Speaker 1: a third string type player. He's got a good arm,
Speaker 1: there's no doubt about that. He's got no mobility though,
Speaker 1: and of course he's you know, the inexperience is obvious.
Speaker 1: So it's going to be really tough for them on
Speaker 1: Sunday with Mike Waited quarterback, Well, it doesn't look like
Speaker 1: Joe Flacco will be much of a factor. He's not
Speaker 1: even there yet, right, he hasn't reported yet, but right
Speaker 1: the fact that he was there and he's got some
Speaker 1: kind of familiarity with you know, teammates, different system and
Speaker 1: all that, but he's been around a long time. Is
Speaker 1: he the emergency quarterback? Are they going to go in
Speaker 1: a different direction while they go with Johnson? What are
Speaker 1: they going to do? Yeah? I think Johnson, Josh Johnson
Speaker 1: will probably be the number two on Sunday. As you mentioned, Dave,
Speaker 1: you know, Flacco for some reason, they're saying it's personal reasons.
Speaker 1: He's not actually reporting to a Friday, although he did
Speaker 1: virtual meetings with them today, but he won't actually be
Speaker 1: on the practice field till Friday. So I would think,
Speaker 1: coming into a new system that it would be kind
Speaker 1: of a stretch to say he'll be their number two.
Speaker 1: I think maybe the following week he'd move into that role,
Speaker 1: But this week, I think he's probably going to be inactive.
Speaker 1: We're chatting two. We're chatting with rich to Menia covers
Speaker 1: the New York Jets for e ESPN. What are your
Speaker 1: impressions of Robert Sala to this point, well, you know,
Speaker 1: I was very much in favor of that higher. I
Speaker 1: thought it was a good hire by the Jets. I mean,
Speaker 1: he had a good resume with San Francisco, was a
Speaker 1: Super Bowl coordinator on defense, and the kind of personality, upbeat,
Speaker 1: passionate guy, leader of men that you needed in the
Speaker 1: aftermass of the Adam gayst debacle, which just really sapped
Speaker 1: all the energy out of the organization. They needed someone
Speaker 1: with some life and some energy to come in, and
Speaker 1: I think he fit that bill. Now, obviously there's there's
Speaker 1: some questions that have come up. You know, in recent weeks,
Speaker 1: the team is regressing, it's not getting better, and so
Speaker 1: that's a concern. They had a bye week to figure
Speaker 1: out how to play against the Patriots, and they went
Speaker 1: out and suffered one of their worst defeats and franchise history.
Speaker 1: They give up fifty four points. That was the most
Speaker 1: in a game in forty nine years for the Jets,
Speaker 1: so actually forty two years, but still so yeah, there's
Speaker 1: been some questions. The fan base is getting restless right now.
Speaker 1: They thought this was going to be a new era.
Speaker 1: We haven't seen the results yet, but I think you
Speaker 1: have to remember and you pointed it out right at
Speaker 1: the top game. This is an extremely young team. It's
Speaker 1: the youngest team in the league. They're playing anywhere from
Speaker 1: six to seven to eight rookies on a weekly basis.
Speaker 1: So rich in your interactions with the organization. What is
Speaker 1: the feeling that the Jets have with respect to the
Speaker 1: Cincinnati Bengals in their start this season? Well, you know,
Speaker 1: I think the Jets are I think this is going
Speaker 1: to be a tough game. I mean, they're confident. They
Speaker 1: claim that they've you know, put away last week's miserable loss.
Speaker 1: I don't know. I mean that's like a loss like
Speaker 1: that sticks with you for a while. I don't think
Speaker 1: you walk away from fifty four to thirteen that easily.
Speaker 1: I think it stays with you a little bit, especially
Speaker 1: when you're a young team and you know you're confidence
Speaker 1: is more fragile. So I think the first quarter will
Speaker 1: be very key for this Jet team on Sunday, because
Speaker 1: if they get off to another bad start, I could
Speaker 1: just see it snowballing out of control. I can't believe
Speaker 1: they haven't scored a point yet in the first quarter.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's that's remarkable. Yeah, it's quite right. I
Speaker 1: was gonna slip that at some point. Uh yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean it's historic. I mean I have I have a
Speaker 1: ton of stats on it, but I mean it's something
Speaker 1: you don't see every day. They have not literally they've
Speaker 1: been outscores forty four to nothing in the first quarter
Speaker 1: of games. And I think some of that is having
Speaker 1: a rookie quarterback. You know, it takes it took Wilson,
Speaker 1: you know, a you know, a little a few series
Speaker 1: to get and settled into the game and pick up
Speaker 1: the rhythm. I think some of that goes to the
Speaker 1: young quarterback, but some of it is just, you know,
Speaker 1: just poor communication among the offensive line. You know, they
Speaker 1: have a new offensive coordinator, Michael Floor. He's the younger
Speaker 1: brother of Matt and this is his first time as
Speaker 1: an offensive coordinator, and I think his inexperience is showing
Speaker 1: as well. Rich you've covered this team for a long
Speaker 1: time for several different outlets. What do you consider to
Speaker 1: be rock bottom? Well, last week was right there. I mean, Dan,
Speaker 1: I've covered the team. There's only the second time in
Speaker 1: thirty years covering the Jets that they allowed more than
Speaker 1: fifty points. So you know, that's something you don't see
Speaker 1: every day. And you know, there's been so many rock bottoms.
Speaker 1: We were talking about it in the press room today.
Speaker 1: I mean the butt fumble game in twenty and twelve
Speaker 1: against New England where they lost by thirty or forty
Speaker 1: points was just embarrassing from a laughing stock kind of perspective. So, Dan,
Speaker 1: I know your show is limited, and we could go
Speaker 1: on forever. There's been so many roots, there's so many
Speaker 1: rock bottom points I could pick up. I mean, look,
Speaker 1: I covered the code tight years. You know that's enough said.
Speaker 1: What more do I have to say? I guess on
Speaker 1: a more positive note, Brand boy Er, is he doing
Speaker 1: a pretty good job special teams. They're return games pretty good.
Speaker 1: I mean they're third in the NFL and punter returns
Speaker 1: fourth and kickoff returns burials. Must be the real deal. Huh. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he's a good coach. Brand Boyers a guy who's been
Speaker 1: been here through three different coaching resume, Todd Bulls, out
Speaker 1: of Gaze and now with Robert Sala. Yeah, he knows
Speaker 1: his stuff. You know they've had they had to change
Speaker 1: punters because the brad Man got injured. But they've brought
Speaker 1: in Morestead from New Orleans and he's done Okay, you're
Speaker 1: right about the return games. You know, they are pretty
Speaker 1: solid across the board. They're probably their most dangerous returners
Speaker 1: Kevin Coleman, and I don't think he's gonna play this
Speaker 1: week because of a hamstring injury, but special teams. Let's
Speaker 1: put it this way, guys, it's an area that hasn't
Speaker 1: killed him yet. So it's the only area that probably
Speaker 1: hadn't killed him yet, which probably was just like I
Speaker 1: just put the jinks on him. Something bad will happen
Speaker 1: on Sunday. Final question, Rich and appreciate your time. You
Speaker 1: carved a lot for us, and we really appreciate that.
Speaker 1: As a former offensive line and I guess I'm looking
Speaker 1: at the offensive line and I mean, is it Are
Speaker 1: they playing pretty solidly? How's the old line doing? Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's it's kind of a mixed bag back there because
Speaker 1: their pass protection is actually improved. Over the first three
Speaker 1: games they had allowed fifteen sacks. And I'm thinking about
Speaker 1: you know, I'm like, I don't think Zach Will's going
Speaker 1: to make it much longer because you're getting hit so much.
Speaker 1: But they actually improved that pass protection. But they can't
Speaker 1: run block, you know, for whatever reason. I don't. I
Speaker 1: don't know if it's a new scheme. You know, they're
Speaker 1: doing the outside zone scheme. This is basically the forty
Speaker 1: nine ers offense, and they just haven't adjusted to that yet.
Speaker 1: There's just a lack of communication that they'll be unblocked players,
Speaker 1: three runners, you know, just just breakdowns that should not
Speaker 1: be happening at this stage. And their right guard is
Speaker 1: this really struggling Greg van Rote. I imagine Sunday won't
Speaker 1: be much better for him. So their offensive line is
Speaker 1: getting a little better, but not really nearly where it
Speaker 1: should be. Thanks to Rich Samini. And here's a quick
Speaker 1: reminder to join Lap and Wayne box Miller for the
Speaker 1: Bengals pep Rally Show this Friday from three to six
Speaker 1: on ESPN fifteen thirty. That's going to do it for
Speaker 1: this episode of the Bengals Booth podcast, brought to you
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Speaker 1: find us. I'm Dan Horde, and thanks for listening to
Speaker 1: the Bengals Booth podcast.