Speaker 1: I get everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast. The Black and Yellow, Black and Yellow,
Speaker 1: Black and Yellow, Black and Yellow Audition as the Bengals
Speaker 1: look for a road win against the dreaded, hated, but
Speaker 1: always respected black and yellow wearing Pittsburgh Steelers. Coming up,
Speaker 1: i'll talk to the senior NFL reporter for Sports Illustrated's
Speaker 1: MMQB website, Albert Breer. In May, he wrote a great
Speaker 1: behind the scenes story about Joe Burrow's comeback, and we'll
Speaker 1: get his thoughts on the Bengals QB after the first
Speaker 1: two games of the season and much more. My one
Speaker 1: on one player conversation this week is actually one on two,
Speaker 1: as I talked to former NC State roommates Jermaine Pratt
Speaker 1: and b J Hill about being reunited in Cincinnati. Dave
Speaker 1: Lapham joins me to discuss the latest Bengals news and
Speaker 1: share some keys to beating Pittsburgh. And finally, it's our
Speaker 1: no the faux segment, as we discussed the Steelers with
Speaker 1: a guy who has the team for more than three decades,
Speaker 1: Ed Bouchett. The Bengals Booth Podcast is presented by bud Light,
Speaker 1: Seltzer refreshed the game. And here's a quick reminder that
Speaker 1: you can have the latest edition of this podcast delivered
Speaker 1: right to your phone, tablet, or computer by subscribing on iTunes, Stitcher,
Speaker 1: Google Play, Spotify, or pod Bean. It's the greatest thing
Speaker 1: since the Bengals fans who regularly turn out for our
Speaker 1: radio shows. Dave Lappleman I host the Bengals Game Plan
Speaker 1: Show at a different Cincinnati area sports bar every Wednesday
Speaker 1: night from six to eight, and there are quite a
Speaker 1: few loyal fans who never miss a show. Of course,
Speaker 1: it helps that we're usually joined by former Bengal standouts
Speaker 1: and have giveaways during the commercial breaks. But regardless of
Speaker 1: the location, or the weather or how the team played
Speaker 1: the previous week, we know that our loyal crew will
Speaker 1: be there. Having said that, the More the Merrier will
Speaker 1: be at the Holy Grail across from Great American Ballpark
Speaker 1: next Wednesday night, and expect to be joined by Kenny
Speaker 1: Anderson one night before he enters the Bengals Ring of Honor.
Speaker 1: Now let's get to my guests, beginning with Albert Brier
Speaker 1: from Sports Illustrated and it's MMQB website Albert. You have
Speaker 1: written a lot about Joe Burrow in the last couple
Speaker 1: of years, including a great behind the scenes look at
Speaker 1: his comeback from knee surgery. As you talked to Joe
Speaker 1: and his parents and Bengals coaches for that story, what
Speaker 1: stood out the most of you. I think it was
Speaker 1: sort of how he attacked the rehab and you know
Speaker 1: how aggressive he was about it. And you know that
Speaker 1: first offseason for a lot of guys coming into the
Speaker 1: NFL is sort of one where you decompress, you know,
Speaker 1: and you think about the way guys come into the
Speaker 1: league and you go from your final college season, then
Speaker 1: usually to a college All Star game, then usually to
Speaker 1: the Combine. Then you have your visits, your your interviews,
Speaker 1: you have all of that different stuff leading into the draft,
Speaker 1: and you get drafted. Then you go to OTAs, then
Speaker 1: you go to mini camp, then you have a little
Speaker 1: bit of a break there, then you come back for
Speaker 1: training camp and it's onto the season and really what
Speaker 1: it winds up atting up to his eighteen months, you
Speaker 1: know where you're just sort of in this meat grinder,
Speaker 1: and you know, I think the fact that Joe was
Speaker 1: so aggressive and attacking this being on the back end
Speaker 1: of that period as a player, I think sort of
Speaker 1: shows how motivated he was to get back. The fact
Speaker 1: that he stayed in Cincinnati and worked with his trainer
Speaker 1: there exclusively, didn't take vacations really, I mean, he went
Speaker 1: to Florida with his parents for a little while, I
Speaker 1: think for a week or so or whatever it was.
Speaker 1: But you know, even that, like he was taking his
Speaker 1: work with him, and so I think, you know, as
Speaker 1: much as anything else, Dan, it was the sort of
Speaker 1: I think, constant focus on I need to get myself back.
Speaker 1: And I even think that that played into some of
Speaker 1: the struggles early in camp because I know, you know,
Speaker 1: just having talked to him, he wanted to go through
Speaker 1: the whole process of feeling comfortable with people around his
Speaker 1: legs before he saw it in game action, and I
Speaker 1: think that was sort of why things were interpreted as, oh,
Speaker 1: you know, he hit a real roadblock like here in
Speaker 1: the first or set week at camp, whereas he was
Speaker 1: really trying to just just generate and fast track generate
Speaker 1: situations in fast track his recovery. So you know, I've
Speaker 1: just sort of been impressed with the think intention, attention
Speaker 1: to detail, and also like how he's really stayed on
Speaker 1: it as much as anything else. You know, at a
Speaker 1: period of time when most guys that age coming into
Speaker 1: the NFL are pretty worn out and need a break.
Speaker 1: So Joe was tremendous in Week one against the Vikings,
Speaker 1: had a tougher time obviously last week against the Bears.
Speaker 1: How do you think he looks through two games? Great
Speaker 1: and week one? Not as good in Week two? And
Speaker 1: I think that's part of it too. You know, there's
Speaker 1: gonna be the back and forth, I think a little bit.
Speaker 1: I mean, look, they need to play better in front
Speaker 1: of upfront. Two. Um, you know, I think with the
Speaker 1: defense looking a little better through two weeks, that's really
Speaker 1: going to be the story of the season. It's what
Speaker 1: the offensive line looks like. Not that I need to
Speaker 1: tell you that, because I know you guys have been
Speaker 1: talking about that for over a year now. So you know,
Speaker 1: I think the things around him were better and we
Speaker 1: one than they were in Week two, and that played
Speaker 1: into it, you know. But I did like the way
Speaker 1: that you know, he kind of kept swinging at the
Speaker 1: end and the Bengals had a chance there. Now, obviously
Speaker 1: the Bears plows him out in the end, but they're
Speaker 1: able to take advantage of the turnover and he throws
Speaker 1: a touchdown passed so quickly to Tea. I think a
Speaker 1: couple of plays after that, you know. I like the
Speaker 1: resiliency in week two and then the overall game operation
Speaker 1: in week one, and you know what he was able
Speaker 1: to do down the stretch in that game, and you know,
Speaker 1: changing the play in overtime and getting the ball to
Speaker 1: CJ and um, you know, sort of his command overall
Speaker 1: of the offense. I think it's really impressive for a
Speaker 1: guy in his second year. And again, there are going
Speaker 1: to be some ups and down still because he's only
Speaker 1: in his second year, you know, but I think right
Speaker 1: now he's got the Bengals in a chance, in a
Speaker 1: position to be competitive every week. And I think he
Speaker 1: even saw it last week in a game where you know,
Speaker 1: quite honestly, like most quarterbacks play like that, yere out
Speaker 1: of the game and they're able to put him in
Speaker 1: a position to to to kind of compete in the end.
Speaker 1: And so it was encouraging to me the way he
Speaker 1: kept swinging in that game. And I think you see
Speaker 1: too some of the belief that the other players and
Speaker 1: the team having him and that they were in that
Speaker 1: situation at the end of the game, even though it
Speaker 1: was as sloppy as it had been for three hours
Speaker 1: out there. Our guest is Albert Breer. You can follow
Speaker 1: him on Twitter at Albert Breer. You made a trip
Speaker 1: to Cincinnati for training camp in early August. Aside from
Speaker 1: watching Joe Burrow, What were some of the things that
Speaker 1: caught your eye. I think one of the things that
Speaker 1: sort of come up big for the Bengals early in
Speaker 1: the season. This is something that actually Joe point out
Speaker 1: to me, you know, last week was just and this
Speaker 1: is something the coaches talked about back in the summer
Speaker 1: too when I was there, is sort of how the
Speaker 1: secondary is having an effect on the entire team and
Speaker 1: how they focused in the offseason. I'm bringing in and
Speaker 1: guys from winning programs, and so you know, you gotta
Speaker 1: at Adobie Woozy who's coming over from Dallas. You have
Speaker 1: a Mike Hilton who's coming over from Pittsburgh. You know,
Speaker 1: you have a Von Bell who played in New Orleans.
Speaker 1: Trey Hendrickson, of course he's not in the secondary, but
Speaker 1: he played in New Orleans as well. And so you've
Speaker 1: got all of these guys now on the roster, who've
Speaker 1: been in winning programs, who've been in playoff games, and
Speaker 1: you know, I think the way the secondary is sort
Speaker 1: of coming together now and the way you're seeing the
Speaker 1: experience that they've injected in the secondary, you know, through
Speaker 1: being aggressive in free agency, the way that that's sort
Speaker 1: of paying dividends. That's one of the things that's really
Speaker 1: stuck out to me. And I think when you look
Speaker 1: at some of the things that the coaches are a
Speaker 1: staff are talking about over the summer, and then through
Speaker 1: two weeks you see those things sort of coming to life.
Speaker 1: It's an encouraging sign. At least the vision that they
Speaker 1: have for the team is working, you know. And so
Speaker 1: I think, you know, having guys like you know, again
Speaker 1: like Cheeto, like Mike Hilton in the building, you know,
Speaker 1: like Avon Bell in the building, and I know he
Speaker 1: was acquired a couple of years ago, not this offseason.
Speaker 1: You know, I think you're actually seeing some of the
Speaker 1: beliefs that they're able to inject into the program. And
Speaker 1: you know, I think the communication on defense has been
Speaker 1: better on a micro level of the communication on defense
Speaker 1: has been better. This is a result of having those
Speaker 1: veteran players in the equation. But I think overall, just
Speaker 1: as far as you know, trying to, you know, make
Speaker 1: the team believe that that that they've got a chance
Speaker 1: in every game and that they can be a playoff contender.
Speaker 1: I think bringing in all these guys from winning programs
Speaker 1: has really helped for a team that hasn't been in
Speaker 1: the playoffs the last five years. Albert Breer from Sports
Speaker 1: Illustrated is our guest, what does success look like for
Speaker 1: the Bengals this year in your opinion, being in the
Speaker 1: running until the end, you know, and in December having
Speaker 1: a chance entering that month with you know, an opportunity
Speaker 1: to compete for a playoff spot. And then I think
Speaker 1: player developments the other big part of it, you know.
Speaker 1: So do these players look like they're ascending at the
Speaker 1: end of the year. Does Joe Burrow look like he's
Speaker 1: ascending at the end of the year. Do Jamar Chase
Speaker 1: and Tee Higgins look like they're ascending at the end
Speaker 1: of the year. How's Jonah Williams holding up at left tackle?
Speaker 1: You know? On the defensive side, you know, how have
Speaker 1: the veteran players come together and maybe elevated some of
Speaker 1: the young guys They have on the roster there. I
Speaker 1: think this year in a lot of different ways, is
Speaker 1: going to be about, you know, taking another step in
Speaker 1: Zach Taylor's third year and competing for a playoff spot.
Speaker 1: But I also look at like the players they've invested
Speaker 1: in and young players they've invested in in the draft,
Speaker 1: and I think so much of it's going to kind
Speaker 1: of come down to what this looks like when we
Speaker 1: get to the end of the year and whether or not,
Speaker 1: you know, you're in December and you're saying, God, these
Speaker 1: guys like this Jonah Williams, this Jamar Chase, this Tee Higgins,
Speaker 1: this Joe Burrow, like these guys look really good now,
Speaker 1: but man, what are they going to be in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty two? Like that, to me is going to have
Speaker 1: to be a big part of the success of this
Speaker 1: season is that, from you know, a player development standpoint,
Speaker 1: they're getting back to where they were in like twenty
Speaker 1: eleven and twenty and twelve, when you started to see
Speaker 1: some young players in the who had been in the
Speaker 1: pipeline for a while starting to turn corners. The Bengals
Speaker 1: and Steelers renew their rivalry this weekend. Pittsburgh got off
Speaker 1: to a great start with a win at Buffalo in
Speaker 1: Week one, then lost at home to the Raiders last week.
Speaker 1: What's your take on Pittsburgh this year? It's like a
Speaker 1: lot of teams. You know, you read a lot into
Speaker 1: Week one and then you find out maybe week one
Speaker 1: didn't mean as much as as you thought it did. Uh.
Speaker 1: It feels like halfsolute. I mean, it feels like like
Speaker 1: I don't know what the count is, but it feels
Speaker 1: like there are a lot of one and one teams
Speaker 1: right now, So you know, I think you know, my
Speaker 1: overall feeling on the Steelers is actually sort of mirrors
Speaker 1: what we've just been talking about with the Bengals, which
Speaker 1: is that the offensive line it's going to dictate a
Speaker 1: lot as far as how far the team can go. Defensively,
Speaker 1: I think they'd be really good. Now that's pending t J.
Speaker 1: Watt's injury and um, you know how quickly they can
Speaker 1: get them back and all of that. But defensively, I
Speaker 1: think against Buffalo you saw what they're capable of, and
Speaker 1: I think they have a front that's capable of being
Speaker 1: the best in football. And if you start there and
Speaker 1: you're better in the secondary, and I think they believe
Speaker 1: they're better in their second than the secondary than they
Speaker 1: have been. Like now, all of a sudden, you know,
Speaker 1: I think you're talking about a defense that maybe you
Speaker 1: can get back to the level that they were at,
Speaker 1: you know, ten fifteen years ago with the Troy Palomalos
Speaker 1: and the James Ferriers and the James Harrisons and the
Speaker 1: Lamar Woodleys. So like, I think the defense is capable
Speaker 1: of being at that level of TJ's, you know, if
Speaker 1: he's healthy and right. And I think for a little
Speaker 1: while at least, that defense is going to have to
Speaker 1: carry the offense because they are going to be figuring
Speaker 1: out some things now. Naji Harris looks like he's a
Speaker 1: real player, and they've got a couple of rookies starting
Speaker 1: on their offensive line, and so I think, you know,
Speaker 1: their ability to kind of develop an identity offensively over
Speaker 1: the next i'd say two months is I think going
Speaker 1: to dictate how far they can go, And so much
Speaker 1: of that is gonna ride on how an offensive line
Speaker 1: plays and a group that lost all at once. Now
Speaker 1: Alandro Villanueva, David de Castro, and Marquis Pouncy, who have
Speaker 1: been foundation pieces for them for quite some time, So
Speaker 1: I'd tell you right now, Dan, you know, I think
Speaker 1: a team is capable as long as t J. Watt
Speaker 1: is healthy of being elite on defense, a team and
Speaker 1: it's got good skill and a team ultimately that's going
Speaker 1: to you know, a lot is going to ride on
Speaker 1: their ability to develop that offensive line and bring that
Speaker 1: offensive line along. Well. As for t J. Watt, I
Speaker 1: think he needs to think big picture and take a
Speaker 1: week off. That's just me, but I think that that
Speaker 1: would be good for his long term prognosis. Final question
Speaker 1: for Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer, Am I correct in thinking
Speaker 1: that you are a big fan of the Bengals new uniforms.
Speaker 1: I love them? Yeah, I mean I thought the last
Speaker 1: I had, the last set like had a little too
Speaker 1: much going on, you know. And I mean, I don't know,
Speaker 1: I'm old school, so I guess you'd call me minimalist,
Speaker 1: right like where I think less is more and uh yeah,
Speaker 1: so I think like the fact that they're just and
Speaker 1: I don't know, I'm like, I mean, like, look at
Speaker 1: how I'm dressed right now. I don't know if if
Speaker 1: anybody should be taking fashion advice for me, but m
Speaker 1: I H yeah, I mean I like the fact they
Speaker 1: look cleaner to me, and I like the fact that
Speaker 1: they're a little simpler. And I actually made this comment
Speaker 1: a couple of years ago, like, I thought their color
Speaker 1: Rush uniforms were awesome, and these feel like kind of
Speaker 1: like a I would say, uh like, kind of like
Speaker 1: a continuation of those. Now. The one thing I would
Speaker 1: have done differently, I would have gone with a I'm
Speaker 1: a big fan of the block letters. I think block letters,
Speaker 1: like are the block numbers like the block numbers I
Speaker 1: think look great on football uniforms. But other than that,
Speaker 1: I think they did. They did a really nice job.
Speaker 1: It's a much much cleaner look. And that's I think
Speaker 1: about as much fashionate analysis as anybody wants from me.
Speaker 1: By the way, Albert is a proud Ohio State grad,
Speaker 1: and if you see him on TV or YouTube while
Speaker 1: he's being interviewed from home, you'll notice an Ohio State
Speaker 1: helmet over his shoulder. It's game used and belong to
Speaker 1: current Bengal Eli Apple when he was a Buckeye. The
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth podcast is presented by Bud Light Seltzer. It's
Speaker 1: light and refreshing with a hint of fruit flavor. When
Speaker 1: the Bengals traded Billy Price for b J. Hill just
Speaker 1: before the start of the season. They not only acquired
Speaker 1: a solid defensive tackle, they added one of Jermaine Pratt's
Speaker 1: closest friends. I sat down with the two of them
Speaker 1: this week. They have been reunited in Cincinnati, four years
Speaker 1: after they were roommates at NC State linebacker Jermaine Pratt
Speaker 1: and defensive lineman b J. Hill. Jermaine, how did you
Speaker 1: two guys wind up rooming together in college? They sep
Speaker 1: their roommates. We was early in rodies, so I guess
Speaker 1: they put us together. You know, I don't know. I
Speaker 1: don't know why. I really don't DJ. Did you two
Speaker 1: hit it off right off the bat? He was kind
Speaker 1: of to hisself at first, being a little a little awkward,
Speaker 1: But then we all, you know, that close. So you
Speaker 1: two guys are too young to remember the TV show
Speaker 1: The Odd Couple, But when I was a kid, there
Speaker 1: was a show about these two roommates. Oscar was a
Speaker 1: total slob, Felix was a neat freak. Jermaine, does that
Speaker 1: describe you two guys living together in college? Pretty much?
Speaker 1: I'm neat for you? He told us, law I would
Speaker 1: like but I think for the most part, the house
Speaker 1: is clean. It'sill like we had like game the season started,
Speaker 1: get hited, you know, it started being like a lot
Speaker 1: of decent stuff, but it was covering my other roommate.
Speaker 1: He was just terrible. It's terrible. We did this is
Speaker 1: and stuff. He always out to play with other days,
Speaker 1: but it was my other roommate, So BJ. I've been
Speaker 1: out of college for more than thirty years now, but
Speaker 1: I still talk to my roommate every few days or
Speaker 1: text him every few days. Have you guys stayed in
Speaker 1: regular contact while you were playing for the Giants and
Speaker 1: he was playing for the Bengals. Oh? Yeah, we talked
Speaker 1: perby every other day every day. We always shooting till
Speaker 1: the text message, FaceTime or some Instagram, So we always talking.
Speaker 1: And we also lived near each other during the offseason.
Speaker 1: So yeah, he can't get away from both North Carolina guys.
Speaker 1: We're talking to Jermaine Pratt and BJ Hill. So this year,
Speaker 1: just before the start of the regular season, the Bengals
Speaker 1: pull off a trade. They send Billy Price to the
Speaker 1: Giants for BJ Hill and now you guys are reunited. Germaine.
Speaker 1: What was your reaction to that? Trade from like a player.
Speaker 1: At standpoint, I was like inside of you know, getting
Speaker 1: a new addition on the defensive line. You know what
Speaker 1: kind of player he is, you know, hard, hard working
Speaker 1: and like take take home blocks to keep the linebackers free.
Speaker 1: So I thought it was a great opportunity for him
Speaker 1: to come play and be better, and then as a
Speaker 1: friend being a friend with him, it's a new new
Speaker 1: start for him, you know, new challenges in the NFL,
Speaker 1: new opportunity for him to showcase his talent, and whatever
Speaker 1: happens after this happens. BJ. When the trade went down,
Speaker 1: was your friendship with Germaine? One of the first things
Speaker 1: you thought of, Oh, yeah, that's the first person I
Speaker 1: called crazy little story. Um, I called him. I knew
Speaker 1: that Sunday I was gonna get traded. I called him like,
Speaker 1: I'm coming to sense. He was like, now you just playing.
Speaker 1: Then the day later I called him back, I would
Speaker 1: saying I'm really come to sense, and he's like, man,
Speaker 1: why are you playing? Did he call coach or whatever
Speaker 1: and ask him? I was like, I told him coming.
Speaker 1: So it was I was excited just knowing that he's here. Um.
Speaker 1: He made it easy on that, you know, just coming
Speaker 1: over here and making you know me field. We're talking
Speaker 1: to Jermaine Pratt and b J Hill. So in your
Speaker 1: first NFL game as teammates, you forced the fumble and
Speaker 1: then recovered the fumble in overtime that led to the
Speaker 1: game winning field goal. BJ had two sacks of Kirk
Speaker 1: Cousins in that win. I want each of you guys
Speaker 1: to describe the other one as a football player and
Speaker 1: as a person and what you admire and respect about him.
Speaker 1: So Jermaine, you go first talking about your friend b
Speaker 1: J Hill. I would say I forgot the question. I
Speaker 1: was stuck out. To be honest, I would say, like,
Speaker 1: he just a hard nosed player. You know, a guy
Speaker 1: that get outrever, he athletic, three tait and eat whatever.
Speaker 1: He could play all over the the line. So he
Speaker 1: was athletic, big, strong, physical guy they can thinking is
Speaker 1: not bagging dead, getting the rusting and like create hit
Speaker 1: in bedfield. And as a person. As a person, he's
Speaker 1: a chill, laid back guy, goofy guy. I say, like,
Speaker 1: but here, cool guy. All right, BJ, here's your chance
Speaker 1: to talk about Jermaine Pratt as a linebacker and as
Speaker 1: a friend. Uh a line becker he knows what he's doing,
Speaker 1: um all the time. He knows what play's about to come,
Speaker 1: he knows what the formations, the they're about to line up.
Speaker 1: He just he just you know, think ahead. And he's
Speaker 1: very smart as a friend, you know, one of my
Speaker 1: best friends. Uh routerda No matter what, by you do
Speaker 1: it all all right. So your two games into the season,
Speaker 1: the defense has played extremely well so far this year.
Speaker 1: You got the Steelers coming up on Sunday, Jermaine, Let's
Speaker 1: start with stopping the run, because you guys have done
Speaker 1: a great job against Dalvin Cook and David Montgomery in
Speaker 1: the first couple of weeks. Three and a half yards
Speaker 1: to carry for those guys. What is the biggest key
Speaker 1: to playing great Runde defense. Everybody just doing their job.
Speaker 1: You know, everybody had that mentality stopping the run, trying
Speaker 1: to eliminate exposal plays and everybody just doing their job
Speaker 1: and trying to eliminate trying to one dimension on offense.
Speaker 1: It's hard for a team to really attack you if
Speaker 1: you didn't stop the run game. You know, the ring
Speaker 1: games started. They got to start throwing the ball or
Speaker 1: spreading out, you know what they're doing. And then now
Speaker 1: that you got d line ask head that you got
Speaker 1: interior guys that can get to them to the quarterback,
Speaker 1: yet outside the guys can't get the ball. So it's
Speaker 1: really showing showcasing what we brought here over the last
Speaker 1: year or so, showing how elite we working and trying
Speaker 1: to come together and trying to be that top defense
Speaker 1: in the NFL. And BJ, you guys have been getting
Speaker 1: after the quarterback. Six sacks in the first couple of games.
Speaker 1: What do you think the front four has shown teams
Speaker 1: so far this year? Just playing physical, playing tough, and
Speaker 1: stopping to run. It's the most important part. I'm sitting
Speaker 1: down the run. Didn't have some fun third down or
Speaker 1: whenever they throw the ball, and there was our goal
Speaker 1: the first two games. It's gonna be our goal this
Speaker 1: week two well, playing physical, getting not back, use hands
Speaker 1: and get to the running back and then get into
Speaker 1: the quiabit. Germaine has been great to have you on
Speaker 1: the team for three years. BJ. It's great to have
Speaker 1: you reunited with your former teammate. I appreciate your time.
Speaker 1: Best of luck this week. By the way, Pro Football
Speaker 1: Focus currently has BJ Hill graded as the fourth best
Speaker 1: interior defensive lineman in the NFL. Josh Tupo is ninth
Speaker 1: and DJ Reader is eleventh. Impressive stuff by the guys
Speaker 1: in the middle of the Bengals defense. Now time to
Speaker 1: discuss some of the key storylines heading into the Pittsburgh
Speaker 1: game with my broadcast partner Dave Lapham. Lap I want
Speaker 1: to start with the Bengals offensive line. According to ESPN's
Speaker 1: pass block win Rate stat the Bengals are seventh best
Speaker 1: in the NFL. According to Pro Football Focuses pass blocking
Speaker 1: efficiency rankings, the Bengals are nineteenth in the NFL. So,
Speaker 1: according to Dave Lappham, are they top ten? Are they
Speaker 1: middle of the pack? Are they lower than that so far? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I wouldn't. I would not say that they're much above
Speaker 1: middle of the pack. But I think, honestly a lot
Speaker 1: of it has to do with who they're playing against too.
Speaker 1: I mean, they're playing against some pretty good defensive fronts.
Speaker 1: And I know you can say, oh, you know, that's
Speaker 1: an excuse that's real in Pittsburgh, even though you don't
Speaker 1: know exactly who's going to be out there. If T J. Wat,
Speaker 1: for example, can't be out there, you know, obviously that's
Speaker 1: a that's a huge factor. But man, don't count Melvin
Speaker 1: Ingram Short watching him on tape, Bengals had trouble blocking
Speaker 1: him last year. And that guy, that guy's a definite,
Speaker 1: definite threat. And they still have Cam Hayward. I mean all,
Speaker 1: he's got his thirty three sacks in the last four
Speaker 1: years as an interior pass rusher. And and to me,
Speaker 1: you know, I guess he's win rate. Everything's subjective. All
Speaker 1: I know is too many times space is an issue,
Speaker 1: not necessarily time and times an issue quite quite regularly
Speaker 1: as well. But even when there's time there, it's closing
Speaker 1: in on them. They're not given enough space. And you know,
Speaker 1: I remember from the very beginning, you know, Tiger Johnson saying, man,
Speaker 1: you know it's not just given the quarterback time. Man,
Speaker 1: we got to give him some room, some space. He's
Speaker 1: got to see the football field. You know, we can't
Speaker 1: we can't be crowding his crowding his space. And uh,
Speaker 1: he's right. Joe Burrows stats were far worse in game
Speaker 1: two than they were in Game one, but he told
Speaker 1: reporters today actually felt more comfortable in game two than
Speaker 1: he did in game one. How comfortable does he look?
Speaker 1: You know, I think I think that repetition breeds comfort level,
Speaker 1: you know. I think just just the raw repetition factor
Speaker 1: is probably a contributing factor to that. Uh, it's going
Speaker 1: to be interesting how long it takes them to design
Speaker 1: moving the pocket and that sort of thing getting him
Speaker 1: out of pocket, because if you are getting consistent pressure,
Speaker 1: the best way to combat it is moved the pocket
Speaker 1: a little bit, not give the defensive front a stationary target.
Speaker 1: They know, like you know, if he's in the gun,
Speaker 1: exactly where he's going to be, if he's under center,
Speaker 1: depending on three step five, step seven drop. They have
Speaker 1: aiming points, they have targets there. So if you can
Speaker 1: disrupt that, you know, and change the launch point, that
Speaker 1: could be a factor. And they haven't done that much yet.
Speaker 1: They have done it with him in the past, haven't
Speaker 1: done it yet that I can recall by design all
Speaker 1: that much. So that's that's something that they can do.
Speaker 1: And I think as they feel that he's more comfortable,
Speaker 1: and as they become more comfortable seeing he's more comfortable,
Speaker 1: I think those things may may eventually occur. But I
Speaker 1: do think we talked about the final box that needed
Speaker 1: to be checked was having that that push in your face,
Speaker 1: and that was his mental block at training camp for
Speaker 1: a period of time until it happens live bullets. That's
Speaker 1: something that you're you know, you haven't done yet. You know,
Speaker 1: it's sure if that's the final box to check, He's
Speaker 1: checked that box. You know, it's been checked many times unfortunately,
Speaker 1: and I think he's getting more and more comfortable, you know,
Speaker 1: having to deal with that. The Steelers drafted some offensive linemen,
Speaker 1: none of them in the first round. Two are starting,
Speaker 1: one at left tackle, one at center. The Bengals drafted
Speaker 1: three offensive linemen, none of them are starting yet. Here's
Speaker 1: my question in the modern NFL, when they don't hit
Speaker 1: that much during the week, once the season begins, really
Speaker 1: in training camp too, but especially once the season begins,
Speaker 1: how does a guy like Jackson Carmen get better to
Speaker 1: the point where he can slide into the starting lineup. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's a good point in I mean, I think I
Speaker 1: think that they're not is concerned with him his physical
Speaker 1: components as much as can he handle all the exotic
Speaker 1: Mike Zimmer Sabant on third down, all these exotic pressure packages.
Speaker 1: Can he decipher and handle it all in the in
Speaker 1: the heated battle? Can he accept communication and pass on
Speaker 1: communication and then at the snap of the balls, be
Speaker 1: able to apply that communication to full speed action in
Speaker 1: front of them and all those kind of things. So
Speaker 1: they're they're in that in that, like we talked about before,
Speaker 1: that decision making part of Well, I've got veteran players
Speaker 1: that I feel like I can trust. They've played a
Speaker 1: lot of football, They've seen a lot of NFL snaps,
Speaker 1: They've seen a lot of blitz packages, they've seen seen
Speaker 1: seen all this kind of stuff. I feel comfortable with
Speaker 1: them mentally, but physically the young bucks may be better,
Speaker 1: but mentally we're gonna have to take our lumps. They're
Speaker 1: gonna have to take their lumps, and we're gonna have
Speaker 1: to take him as well. And you know, it's like,
Speaker 1: as as an offensive line coach, I'd be like with
Speaker 1: some young guys not I think Deante Smith to me,
Speaker 1: it looked like he kind of caught onto things a
Speaker 1: little bit faster, you know, in terms of trans positioning,
Speaker 1: and you know, maybe maybe that gap is being closed.
Speaker 1: Obviously Smith's been down and Carmen hasn't been if you
Speaker 1: activated so, but if I'm an offensive line coach, I'm like, ah,
Speaker 1: I know a Rex coming. I just hope it's a
Speaker 1: fender bender. I don't want I don't want the car totaled.
Speaker 1: I just just make it a little fendom mender, you know.
Speaker 1: And Joe Barrow's probably thinking the same thing. So those
Speaker 1: are the kind of things that you have to sift
Speaker 1: through and sort through a little bit. So A hot
Speaker 1: topic this week is throwing deep especially after Jamar Chase
Speaker 1: said after the Bears game that the Bengals should have
Speaker 1: been doing it earlier in that game. Is that valid?
Speaker 1: You know? To me, it's a lot easier to say
Speaker 1: after the fact, but you know, you hear you hear
Speaker 1: Jamar Chase saying in press conferences, Yeah, I knew it.
Speaker 1: He knew it, Joe knew it. We were all talking
Speaker 1: about it. Well, if you guys were all talking about it,
Speaker 1: did you talk to the coaches about it? And if
Speaker 1: you talk to the coaches about it, how come it
Speaker 1: didn't happen? And I do think there were some instances
Speaker 1: where the deep ball opportunities were there. T didn't handle
Speaker 1: a deep ball, Joe didn't throw it. If Joe could
Speaker 1: have had that throw over again, he wouldn't have thrown
Speaker 1: He would have thrown more to the middle of the
Speaker 1: field than the hash mark because the corner had outside
Speaker 1: technique and they were playing outside technique. Was safety helped
Speaker 1: the whole day, and he took it back to the
Speaker 1: corner more than to the middle of the football field.
Speaker 1: So where the ball was thrown, you know, the spot
Speaker 1: that it was thrown too, could have been better, but
Speaker 1: t could have still could have made a catch on it,
Speaker 1: and he didn't. You know, another one was thrown out
Speaker 1: of bounds. I mean other times, obviously things might have
Speaker 1: happened that took it away, including pressure and not being
Speaker 1: able to see things. But you know, it's during the
Speaker 1: whole in the second half, I kept saying to myself,
Speaker 1: oh man, where's the double move? The double move? Let's
Speaker 1: they're so prime for the double move because they're breaking
Speaker 1: on everything they're doing. There's you know, they're squat and
Speaker 1: sitting whatever you want to say, and they're just breaking
Speaker 1: on these routes. So you know, confidently make them pay.
Speaker 1: You know, just a hook and go or a outnup
Speaker 1: or whatever. Just a double move takes a little bit
Speaker 1: of time. And then even you know, like like they
Speaker 1: hit Chicago hit a couple of crossers. You know, they
Speaker 1: missed one and hit one for about thirty yards. Those
Speaker 1: take a little time too, and it's like, where are
Speaker 1: the crossers? Where are this? Where are that? And it
Speaker 1: just seemed like the Bengals almost almost game plan against them.
Speaker 1: Cells a little bit. They gave Chicago credit, which they deserved,
Speaker 1: but maybe too much credit because they eliminated a lot
Speaker 1: of things. You know, I went empty and said, we're
Speaker 1: getting out quickly. We're gonna hit our slants, our quicks,
Speaker 1: you know, intermediate and short field range passes. And in Chicago, man,
Speaker 1: they just they jumped them and they had confidence in
Speaker 1: their pass rush. And the thing that probably disappointed me
Speaker 1: as a former lineman the most though, is when they're
Speaker 1: doing that, they're not loading the box, and they still
Speaker 1: didn't run the ball well enough against a box that
Speaker 1: wasn't jammed up at that point. You know, you got
Speaker 1: to win more of those battles. And that's that's where
Speaker 1: I think Chicago really kind of, you know, stuck it
Speaker 1: in their face, like, you know, we're not only going
Speaker 1: to pass Russia, You're not even gonna be able to
Speaker 1: run the ball against us. When when we're not stacking
Speaker 1: the box, you know, and we're going to take that
Speaker 1: away from you as well, because the game in the
Speaker 1: first half it was, you know, anybody's football game, and
Speaker 1: it was until you know, the interceptions, the turnovers in
Speaker 1: the third quarter, and then they had their furious comeback.
Speaker 1: And in that time frame, it's like I wish I
Speaker 1: saw saw more carryover of the momentum they established in
Speaker 1: the Minnesota game run the ball, particularly when the box
Speaker 1: wasn't that full. So it sounds like Trey Wayne's is
Speaker 1: getting closer to coming back. I don't know if it'll
Speaker 1: be this week or not too soon to say. Do
Speaker 1: you think he's going to have a big impact when
Speaker 1: he returns. I think he will. I think he will,
Speaker 1: you know. But the danger now is you can't panic
Speaker 1: and say come back too soon and then all of
Speaker 1: a sudden, man, you know, it's not quite one hundred percent,
Speaker 1: and then you read tweak it and now you're out
Speaker 1: another you know, a month plus, and those things can
Speaker 1: be they can nag like that. So you know, the
Speaker 1: experiences that I had with with guys that had hamstring.
Speaker 1: I never pulled a hamstring in my life. I don't
Speaker 1: think I've got one, but you or it wasn't that
Speaker 1: that finally tuned where I was going to be pulling it?
Speaker 1: I had I had the hamstring of a of a
Speaker 1: plow horse, as opposed to Isaac having the hamstring of
Speaker 1: a thoroughbread um. But with with Isaac he would always say,
Speaker 1: I feel pretty good. One more week, do that extra week.
Speaker 1: That amster week makes a huge difference. So if trades
Speaker 1: practicing this week and getting close, it would not shock
Speaker 1: me if they decide, you know, one more week and
Speaker 1: uh and get it even even better and reduced the
Speaker 1: chance of oh man, it was almost there and then
Speaker 1: retweaked it all right. So let's talk about the Steelers
Speaker 1: a little bit. They started last year eleven and oh.
Speaker 1: They ended the regular season one and four. They got
Speaker 1: blown out in their playoff game at home by Cleveland.
Speaker 1: Started this year with a great win at Buffalo, then
Speaker 1: lost at home to the Raiders. So if he didn't
Speaker 1: just quickly do the math at six losses in their
Speaker 1: last eight games going back to last year, how good
Speaker 1: are the Steelers. It's an interesting question because you look
Speaker 1: at it. They didn't run the ball worth the darn
Speaker 1: last year, I mean at all. They were just they
Speaker 1: threw the ball three to one, you know, in play selection.
Speaker 1: This year in the first couple of games is still
Speaker 1: two to one. So they're still wanting to throw the football.
Speaker 1: And Ben, you know, got the ball out of his
Speaker 1: hand last year in two point two two point three seconds,
Speaker 1: the fastest in the league. He's doing the same thing
Speaker 1: this year. He's quick draw mc graw back there. Man,
Speaker 1: he's getting it out. And if you know, I think
Speaker 1: he's gonna play obviously, you know, I'd be stunned if
Speaker 1: he doesn't. But you wonder they haven't gotten their running
Speaker 1: game going yet either this year. I mean, they're dead
Speaker 1: last in the NFL in the yards per carry. So
Speaker 1: they drafted rookie running back in the first round, Naji Harris,
Speaker 1: thinking they may strike lightning twice with the Harris name,
Speaker 1: you know, Hall of Famer and Franco and they haven't
Speaker 1: gotten them going. And you have a quarterback that's maybe
Speaker 1: wounded a little bit, you know, you have young offensive line.
Speaker 1: The best thing to do is get the running game established.
Speaker 1: At home. I think they're probably going to try to
Speaker 1: run it a little bit more than they have. We'll see,
Speaker 1: but yeah, it's that the offense is it looks to
Speaker 1: me they're still running duo. They're still running some things.
Speaker 1: They're running a little more counter, a little more misdirection
Speaker 1: counter than they've run in the past, but a lot
Speaker 1: of it. Even though they have a new offensive coordinator
Speaker 1: who this is the first year he's ever done it,
Speaker 1: I do see some carry over, some similarity from my
Speaker 1: Randy Fittner's offense. How about that offensive line. They've lost
Speaker 1: three Pro Bowlers Polac dicstro Villa Nueva I mentioned earlier.
Speaker 1: They've got two rookies starting. There's just one returning guy
Speaker 1: back from last year. Are these guys any good? They're
Speaker 1: not as good as last year, and last year they
Speaker 1: had trouble, you know, running the football. But I don't
Speaker 1: think they're as good as last year. And you know,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna get on my soapbox again about Trey Turner.
Speaker 1: We get ejected for spitting in today's NFL with all
Speaker 1: the protocols in the NFL has for COVID, and you're spitting,
Speaker 1: you know, and I know if you were spent on first,
Speaker 1: you know, natural instincts is to retaliate and spit back.
Speaker 1: But the guy who responds always gets caught. And you
Speaker 1: don't act like a couple of five year olds out
Speaker 1: there spitting on each other in that is so stupid. So,
Speaker 1: you know, Turner get kicked out, it looks like that's
Speaker 1: going to be the end of it. Kicked out in
Speaker 1: the fine and all that sort of thing. But yeah,
Speaker 1: I've seen him on tape before. He's you know, he
Speaker 1: can play the right side of their offensive line. They
Speaker 1: probably have more confidence in than the left side of
Speaker 1: their offensive line at this point in time, but you know,
Speaker 1: they're still obviously young. I think the way the Bengals
Speaker 1: defensive line is playing, I give the edge to the
Speaker 1: Bengals defensive line, and then I give the edge even
Speaker 1: though you don't know who's exactly going to be playing
Speaker 1: for the Steelers. I give the edge to the Steelers
Speaker 1: defensive line in front seven stopping the Bengals running game
Speaker 1: as well. So to me, that's going to be a
Speaker 1: big key in the game, which offensive line establishes themselves
Speaker 1: enough to be quasi balanced, some modicum of balanced, and
Speaker 1: not having to just drop back and chuck it all
Speaker 1: the time. As we've learned from Davel Appham over the years,
Speaker 1: a loose groin is a happy growing well. Right now,
Speaker 1: we've got some unhappy groins in Pittsburgh. Yeah, t J. Watt,
Speaker 1: Devin Bush, Joe Hayden. Bush and Hayden didn't play last week.
Speaker 1: Watt had to exit the game. If those guys don't go,
Speaker 1: is the Steelers defense all that formidable? I mean it's
Speaker 1: it's incredible. High Smith is on the four groins. Man,
Speaker 1: They're not happy in that training room over there at all.
Speaker 1: There's a bunch of unhappy, miserable groins over there. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Hayden has had it all through training camps, and that's
Speaker 1: what I'm talking about. You try to come back a little,
Speaker 1: he said, it's I yanked it again. You know, it's
Speaker 1: still kind of it, jazz me. So I have to
Speaker 1: I have to get out of the out of the
Speaker 1: football game. I don't think obviously, if if if a
Speaker 1: handful of those guys, there's a handful of those guys,
Speaker 1: if a couple of them don't play, it could have
Speaker 1: a factor. There's there's no doubt. 'allo 'ALLU how'd you
Speaker 1: like to be him? He turned down a lucrative deal
Speaker 1: from Jacksonville stay with the Steelers and then breaks his ankle.
Speaker 1: He's on injury reserve. I mean that that that's a
Speaker 1: blow right there. Like I said, though, I do think
Speaker 1: Ingram is a guy that can they can pressure or
Speaker 1: pressure the quarterback. I think that he would still provide
Speaker 1: some edge rush. But if all these guys play, the
Speaker 1: fact is they're impaired, so they're not as explosive. They
Speaker 1: can't be if they if they try to be as explosive,
Speaker 1: they may yank there you know, the injury and uh
Speaker 1: and not be able to play at all. So in
Speaker 1: your mind you think I can go. Can I go
Speaker 1: one hundred percent? Now? Can I go at least seventy five?
Speaker 1: Can I try eighty five? This one? Now that starts
Speaker 1: to play with your head. You know, as a player,
Speaker 1: you want to say, look, I'm either going to go
Speaker 1: one hundred percent or I'm not going to play well
Speaker 1: if if any of these guys, maybe none of them
Speaker 1: will be one hundred percent, They're all not gonna sit.
Speaker 1: Some of them I think are gonna play, you know,
Speaker 1: hurt play and paired a little bit, and that'll diminish
Speaker 1: potentially you know how well they can perform out there.
Speaker 1: I do think that it's very important for T. J.
Speaker 1: Watt to think big picture and give it another week
Speaker 1: I just for his sake, I really think that's important. Agree,
Speaker 1: how about three sacks and two forced fumbles already unbelievable.
Speaker 1: I mean, over the last three years, the Pittsburgh Steelers
Speaker 1: have more sacks than anybody, and they had fifty fifty
Speaker 1: whatever it was last year and twenty seven turnovers as
Speaker 1: a result of those sacks. They led the league in
Speaker 1: sacks and I think we're third and turnovers. It's It's
Speaker 1: a disruptive bunch of guys, There's no question about it.
Speaker 1: And Keith Butler does a good job of taking the
Speaker 1: talent and putting it together and concocting, you know, configurations
Speaker 1: that are are problematic. He he emphasizes their strengths as
Speaker 1: what he does is what's what every good coach does. Sees, Boy,
Speaker 1: this guy can really do this. I'm going to make
Speaker 1: sure that I have a package where that's going to be,
Speaker 1: you know, first and foremost. He's going to be front
Speaker 1: and center with that stuff. I think that Butler takes
Speaker 1: his scheme and matches it with his personnel, and I
Speaker 1: think I think the Steelers organization as an organization does
Speaker 1: that better than anybody. They'll be in the draft and
Speaker 1: they'll instead of having three hundred guys, they'll have fifty
Speaker 1: guys that their Steelers because they fit what we do.
Speaker 1: We don't give a damn what Dallas thinks about this
Speaker 1: guy that guy. These guys that the physical requirements of
Speaker 1: what we asked our guy to do, whatever position you're
Speaker 1: talking about, and they hit on them. You know, they
Speaker 1: draft those kind of guys to fit their scheme and
Speaker 1: then develop them. And Pittsburgh has done that over the
Speaker 1: years as well or better than anybody. I really respect
Speaker 1: him for that last thing. Tom Brady is forty four,
Speaker 1: looks like he's twenty four, playing like he's twenty four.
Speaker 1: Ben Roethlisberger's thirty nine. What age does he appear to
Speaker 1: be physically and in terms of his play? Sometimes he
Speaker 1: looks at least, you know, at least that age. You know,
Speaker 1: it looks like he's pushing forty. I'll tell you though,
Speaker 1: that guy man. I mean, he's as we all know,
Speaker 1: he played at Minami, Ohio when he ran the table there,
Speaker 1: and every time he comes to Cincinnati or Cleveland seems
Speaker 1: like he wins. His record in Ohio is crazy, um,
Speaker 1: and you know he's sure fire Hall of Famer. He's
Speaker 1: not what he was obviously, but he's he's he's very intelligent. Um,
Speaker 1: but he I honestly think this is a swan song.
Speaker 1: I think he came back for one more year and uh,
Speaker 1: and he took a five million dollar pay cut. Other
Speaker 1: guys signed you know, friendly deals to stay and try
Speaker 1: to make it one more time. This this is the
Speaker 1: swan song, the final attempt for Ben Roethlisber and Juju Smith.
Speaker 1: Schuster ended up signing a one year deal when there
Speaker 1: weren't big things out there, and now he's signing a
Speaker 1: proved deal and hoping to have a big deal with
Speaker 1: Ben Roethlisberger. So it all kind of centered around centers
Speaker 1: around the quarterback. And he's still very capable, but he's
Speaker 1: not like he was where it was almost like he
Speaker 1: stood in the pocket like the Empire State Building, and
Speaker 1: you'd hit him and roll off and bounce off and
Speaker 1: it was like, gosh, he was like an impenetrable force,
Speaker 1: you know. And then and then he'd he'd be on
Speaker 1: the right hash mark and throw it all the way
Speaker 1: back to the left sideline on a rope, you know,
Speaker 1: and it's like, oh, they just don't make those roles
Speaker 1: in the NFL. Guys just don't do that Ben did
Speaker 1: and his prime Ben was uniquely special. And I still
Speaker 1: think he's very effective, very efficient, but he's not playing
Speaker 1: at the Hall of Fame level he once did last
Speaker 1: but not Lee. He's time to take a closer look
Speaker 1: at the reigning champs in the AFC North, the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Speaker 1: They opened the season with the seven point win at
Speaker 1: Buffalo before losing at home by nine to the Raiders.
Speaker 1: Ed Bouchet from The Athletic has been covering the team
Speaker 1: for more than thirty years, and when he joined Lapping
Speaker 1: Me this week on the Bengals Game Plan Show, I
Speaker 1: started our conversation by asking Ed how good he thinks
Speaker 1: the Steelers are? Probably thing in Pittsburgh right now seems
Speaker 1: to be How bad are they? You know that that
Speaker 1: loss at home to the Rangers was was kind of
Speaker 1: disappointing for everybody involved. Um, you know, after the after
Speaker 1: the big winning in Buffalo against a team that you
Speaker 1: know it was considered maybe an AFC contender this year,
Speaker 1: not maybe they were considered an AFC contender this year,
Speaker 1: you go up there and beat them, boom, but you
Speaker 1: know they have a ton of injuries now, their offensive
Speaker 1: line is terrible, Ben Roethlisberger is not getting any time
Speaker 1: to throw in. The running game is going nowhere. Other
Speaker 1: than that, they look pretty good. So let me ask
Speaker 1: you about Matt Canada first time offensive coordinator and Adrian Clem.
Speaker 1: You mentioned the offensive line, he's the offensive line coach.
Speaker 1: There was a shake up in the staff, and what
Speaker 1: is the take from the players that you've talked to
Speaker 1: or had a chance to inquire their thoughts on these coaches?
Speaker 1: Where are they? Where are the players with these new
Speaker 1: coaches offensively? Yeah, Dave, I have to tell you, in
Speaker 1: this age of COVID, it's hard to talk to anybody.
Speaker 1: You know, you don't get the time to talk to
Speaker 1: them anymore. They bring them out for mass interviews and
Speaker 1: that's it. So it's hard to judge. Ben Roethlisberger seemed
Speaker 1: to be a little not happy with Matt Canada after
Speaker 1: the game. He talked about not having as a no
Speaker 1: huddle offense. He said, we don't have a no huddle
Speaker 1: offense and that was his bread and butter through the years.
Speaker 1: So there seems to be maybe some some disconnect there.
Speaker 1: You know, their offensive line, it doesn't matter who's coaching them,
Speaker 1: right now, Um, they're they're just not very good, and
Speaker 1: they're they're young. They're hoping they develop, but there's a
Speaker 1: lot of hope there because they have two rookie starting,
Speaker 1: a second year guy starting, and it's just not not
Speaker 1: not working out. I mean, Ben was knocked down ten
Speaker 1: or he was hit ten times on Sunday Fox Life.
Speaker 1: They can't run. I'm drafted naj Harris in the first
Speaker 1: run on first round. Sorry and Art Ernie, the Steelers president,
Speaker 1: proclaimed that they needed to be better at the running
Speaker 1: game and they're worse. Um, and now they have all
Speaker 1: these injuries on defense, so it's it's not a very
Speaker 1: good spot where they're in. Right now, we're talking to
Speaker 1: Ed Buchet, who covers the Steelers for the Athletic. Let's
Speaker 1: talk about those injuries. T J. Watt, Devin Bush, Joe
Speaker 1: Hayden and others. I guess they all practiced in subway
Speaker 1: shape or form today. But do you think those guys
Speaker 1: answer the bell? And even if they do, are they
Speaker 1: going to be the t J. Watt, Devin Bush, and
Speaker 1: Joe Hayden that were accustomed to see? Yeah, they have
Speaker 1: groin injuries and what's unbelievable is there's like for them.
Speaker 1: They have groin injuries. I've never seen so much at
Speaker 1: one time since I've been covering them, and those are
Speaker 1: things it's hard to tell. I mean, they can feel
Speaker 1: one good one day and then go out and you know,
Speaker 1: do a few things and bang, it's it's back. T J.
Speaker 1: Watt was limited in practice today. I'm Devin Busch who
Speaker 1: missed the game totally because he injured his groin and
Speaker 1: practice this last Friday. It was a full practice guy today.
Speaker 1: So if it's Wednesday, that's a good sign. Um. Joe
Speaker 1: Hayden was limited in practice. He also missed the game,
Speaker 1: and they had added another linebacker, Alex Highsmith to their
Speaker 1: groin injury list UM after the game, and he didn't
Speaker 1: practiced today. So it's it's really guys, it's really up
Speaker 1: in the air of who is going to play and
Speaker 1: what effectiveness if they do play, they're going to have. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I've got a little slogan for you about the groin
Speaker 1: that you want to use. Feel free. Just tell the
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh Steeler players that a loose groin is a happy groin,
Speaker 1: and right now they don't have many happy groins over there.
Speaker 1: It doesn't doesn't sound like so um that is. It's
Speaker 1: it's amazing how there seems to be an outbreak and
Speaker 1: an injury. You know, if there's if there's hamstring injuries,
Speaker 1: there's like three or four groin injuries. It's almost like
Speaker 1: a contagious thing. What about Ben rothters Burger's left pectoral?
Speaker 1: You know in Cincinnati everybody kids about him being a
Speaker 1: diva with respect to injury. He wants to be John
Speaker 1: Wayne and save the day. Is the left pectoral legit
Speaker 1: or is it just Ben being Ben David's not just
Speaker 1: Cincinnati that jokes about that. They joke about it Pittsburgh too,
Speaker 1: and all over the league. It's his left pectoral and
Speaker 1: he's right handed. They do have these things called pain killers.
Speaker 1: So I think he's gonna be okay. He didn't practice today,
Speaker 1: never practices on Wednesday, but they did list that as
Speaker 1: the reason. Usually they left conscious decisions. But I expect
Speaker 1: him to be okay. But if that offends the line
Speaker 1: can't block any better than they did the first two games,
Speaker 1: How long he's gonna be okay? Yeah, he's thirty nine
Speaker 1: years old. When he was twenty nine, he could avoid
Speaker 1: the rush a little better. He did a good job
Speaker 1: actually of avoiding some hit Sunday and getting rid of
Speaker 1: the ball. He was sacked twice, but you know that's
Speaker 1: not going to work much longer if that continues to happen.
Speaker 1: You said, he got hit ten times and he gets
Speaker 1: the ball out like two point two seconds. What's he
Speaker 1: gonna have to get down to one point eight? I
Speaker 1: mean to get out without getting hit. It's crazy. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, I don't know how they keep those the
Speaker 1: clock on it. I guess that's an average, but I
Speaker 1: mean he was running around at times where it was
Speaker 1: much longer than that, and it was like that in
Speaker 1: Buffalo as well. You know, he came back to win
Speaker 1: a super Bowl. That's his only reason to come back,
Speaker 1: and that is after watching the first two games. That's
Speaker 1: so far away right now. I mean, if they don't
Speaker 1: get this offensive line six. I can't emphasize enough how
Speaker 1: they've been. You know, he's not going to make it
Speaker 1: through half the season. And here's my final question. Is
Speaker 1: the Steelers opening day quarterback for next year currently on
Speaker 1: the roster? You know, that's the question We've been asked
Speaker 1: for a long time. Really, that was a popular question here, Dan,
Speaker 1: I don't know I really don't know. I thought that
Speaker 1: it Ben played well this year, he could even try
Speaker 1: and come back next year. But that is soot the
Speaker 1: question a moment. Dwayne Haskins, we have not been enough
Speaker 1: of him. Mason Rudolph, I don't know that. Um, you
Speaker 1: know they did it send him another year, so I
Speaker 1: would I don't know. I can't answer that question. I
Speaker 1: really can't. Ben took a pay cut, Hallo Hallo, turned
Speaker 1: down less money or turned down more money with Jacksonville
Speaker 1: to come back and try to make this last run.
Speaker 1: You know, with Ben, um, you you almost like wow.
Speaker 1: In the early stages here it's too bad, too bad
Speaker 1: with some of these guys. But Pittsburgh Smith one year right,
Speaker 1: took the one year deal and expected to come back
Speaker 1: right right. So, and Mike Tomlins never had a losing season,
Speaker 1: you know, fourteen years into his fifteenth. So it's funny
Speaker 1: in my mind, haven't seen this stealer organization for so
Speaker 1: many years. Just when it looks it's bleakest, they just
Speaker 1: they just come after you somehow. I mean, I'm never
Speaker 1: going to count them out until all seventeen games are over,
Speaker 1: but man, it sounds like they've they've got a few problems,
Speaker 1: these injury problems in your mind. You know, I guess
Speaker 1: I don't think you have an injury crystal Ball. But
Speaker 1: do you think every almost every one of those players
Speaker 1: are going to try to play or do you think,
Speaker 1: like you were talking about, you can't come back too
Speaker 1: soon and you know, reinjure the growing er, exacerbate the
Speaker 1: groin injury or whatever the injury may be. Do you
Speaker 1: think most of these guys are gonna play or do
Speaker 1: you think, yeah, maybe half of them won't. You know? Uh,
Speaker 1: injuries are so funny. Um, I would think t J
Speaker 1: is going to play. The fact he practiced on Wednesday,
Speaker 1: even in limited form that I would think he's gonna play.
Speaker 1: I think Joe Hayden's gonna play. Um, I'm not sure
Speaker 1: about Alex Highsmith. But you know they've lost two thirds
Speaker 1: of their starting defensive line as well. I mean Stefan
Speaker 1: to It and all Oallu um And and Cam Hayward
Speaker 1: were their starters and they Cam's the only long standing
Speaker 1: right now, and that was a pretty good offense defensive line.
Speaker 1: So even if those two guys are not going to play,
Speaker 1: Lullu and Stefan to it, So you know it's Mike
Speaker 1: Thomas said a long time ago when he was hired.
Speaker 1: It's a game of attrition and they're losing the attrition
Speaker 1: war right now. If I'm an offensive lineman looking like
Speaker 1: you said, 'allo 'allo out with a broken ankle, to
Speaker 1: it on injury reserve bud Dupree, you know, with it
Speaker 1: with another team with Tennessee now it's it's a much
Speaker 1: different look out front. But I don't know. Man Ingram,
Speaker 1: don't don't sleep on Ingram. I've seen that. Look good
Speaker 1: Ingram looks good. Ingram look really looks good. The problem
Speaker 1: is they have three outside linebackers and they want to
Speaker 1: rotate them to give them breaks, make them fresh. DJ
Speaker 1: want Ingram and Alex Heismith. And when they're all healthy,
Speaker 1: that first game they were unbelievable. Now and the second
Speaker 1: game they lost Watt and now Heismith has a growing injury,
Speaker 1: so it's all, you know, it all will depend on that. Otherwise,
Speaker 1: they were getting a pass rush on four man rush
Speaker 1: in Buffalo, like I think they blitzed twice and it
Speaker 1: really worked for them. But with all these guys out,
Speaker 1: that's not working. So I don't know how they're going
Speaker 1: to do it thorough, you know, if they're going to
Speaker 1: try and flit them a little more than they've been
Speaker 1: doing or what. When it comes to learning about the Steelers,
Speaker 1: there's no better guests than Ed Boushell. It's been covering
Speaker 1: the team for decades. We really appreciate you coming on
Speaker 1: the show tonight. Ed. Thank you, good being with you guys.
Speaker 1: Thank Just a quick reminder to join lapping me for
Speaker 1: the Bengals pep Rally show this Friday from three to
Speaker 1: six on ESPN fifteen thirty. That's going to do it
Speaker 1: for this episode of the Bengals Booth Podcast, brought to
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Speaker 1: Horde and thank you for listening to The Bengals Booth
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