Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody on Dan Hoard and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast. The Oh Oh's the Clue. Addition,
Speaker 1: as the Bengals reached long term contract extensions with Jamar
Speaker 1: Chase and t Higgins coming up, we'll hear from the
Speaker 1: NFL's best receiving duo. Then Dave Lappham joins me to
Speaker 1: discuss that news and answer your ask Lap questions. After that,
Speaker 1: it's my conversation with a newcomer who has played in
Speaker 1: the last two Super Bowls, linebacker Orren Burks. The Bengals
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Speaker 1: quick reminder that you can have the latest edition of
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Speaker 1: by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's the greatest
Speaker 1: thing since John Gruden Opening Boxes. The former NFL coach
Speaker 1: is working as a content creator for Barstool Sports these days,
Speaker 1: and in recent weeks, he's been posting videos that show
Speaker 1: him opening boxes of swag that he's been getting in
Speaker 1: the mail from college and pro teams. Now that in
Speaker 1: and of itself doesn't sound that compelling, but Gruden turns
Speaker 1: each box opening into a little history lesson as he
Speaker 1: rattles off the names of his favorite players and coaches
Speaker 1: from each team and often shares personal anecdotes. For example,
Speaker 1: when John got a box of gear from the University
Speaker 1: of Indiana football team, we learned how he used to
Speaker 1: be a ball boy for Bobby Knight when his dad
Speaker 1: coached the running backs there. I am under the impression
Speaker 1: that Coach Gruden could be ripping open a Bengal box
Speaker 1: sometime soon, and if so, it'll be fun to hear
Speaker 1: him riff on some of his all time favorite Bengals. Now,
Speaker 1: let's get to Jamar and T. When the Bengals franchise
Speaker 1: tag T Higgins. Prior to last season, I'll admit that
Speaker 1: I thought it would be his final year in the
Speaker 1: Bengals uniform, and that remained my opinion for the first
Speaker 1: three months of the season, but that changed on Monday
Speaker 1: Night December ninth, after the Bengals beat the Cowboys on
Speaker 1: Monday Night Football. That was the only game all year
Speaker 1: where the Bengals really got lucky, as a Cowboys blunder
Speaker 1: and a block punt set up a game winning Burrow
Speaker 1: to Chase touchdown pass with sixty one seconds to go.
Speaker 1: Prior to that game, Burrow, Chase, and Higgins walked out
Speaker 1: together for the coin toss for the first time ever,
Speaker 1: and after the game, Burrow was asked about savoring moments
Speaker 1: like that, with the implication being that Tea would not
Speaker 1: be his teammate much longer.
Speaker 2: You know, those discussions are ongoing, and I'm confident that
Speaker 2: I think we're going to be able to do what
Speaker 2: it takes to bring Tea back. You know, I know
Speaker 2: that I'm going to do what it takes to get
Speaker 2: him back, and so is he. We've had those talks,
Speaker 2: so you know, those are those are going to be
Speaker 2: off season discussions. But I think we're excited about that opportunity.
Speaker 1: I can tell you that the reporters in that room,
Speaker 1: myself included, we're saying, did Joe really just say what
Speaker 1: I think he said? I think most of us always
Speaker 1: assume that the Bengals would find a way to keep
Speaker 1: Jamar Chase, but that seemingly out of nowhere comment from
Speaker 1: Joe about t changed the narrative about the possibility of
Speaker 1: reaching a long term extension with both.
Speaker 3: A few days.
Speaker 1: Later, Burrow made the case for keeping Tea.
Speaker 3: It's very important.
Speaker 2: I think you just look at Simon just his production,
Speaker 2: it's his presence, It's Howry comes to work every day.
Speaker 2: It's how the defenses have to play us when he's
Speaker 2: out there. You know, he plays such a big part
Speaker 2: in what we do here and has for for five
Speaker 2: years now that I don't think you can quite put
Speaker 2: a value on that.
Speaker 4: I would say, if the final office has been able
Speaker 4: to make that work, would you be disappointed in him?
Speaker 3: I'd be very disappointed in that.
Speaker 2: Yet, we'll see after the season and talk have those
Speaker 2: discussions about, you know, what we feel needs to happen
Speaker 2: and the things everybody has to do to to do
Speaker 2: what we want, keep the guys around that we need
Speaker 2: and bringing the guys that we to fill some holes
Speaker 2: that we need. So those discussions will will be had,
Speaker 2: you know, at the end of the year.
Speaker 1: Need, Yes, nobody wants to win more than Joe Burrow.
Speaker 1: He didn't advocate for keeping Jamar and Tea because there
Speaker 1: is buddies or he wants to put up numbers. He
Speaker 1: did it because he believes it's the best path to
Speaker 1: winning a Super Bowl ring. It basically guarantees that the
Speaker 1: Bengals going to be one of the top scoring teams
Speaker 1: in the league. Now they have to build the defense
Speaker 1: through the draft, player development, and shrewd free agent acquisitions.
Speaker 1: Here are Tea and Jamar on the wisdom of trying
Speaker 1: to build a Super Bowl champ by spending heavily on
Speaker 1: two great wide receivers.
Speaker 3: We believe, That's all I can say. We believe we
Speaker 3: can get it done.
Speaker 5: And I mean anybody that you know that has doubts,
Speaker 5: we're gonna try to you know, you know, flip they
Speaker 5: mind and believe in us just how just how we
Speaker 5: believe in ourselves.
Speaker 6: I mean, honestly, that's the whole goal behind signing this
Speaker 6: at the end of the day, you know, signing both
Speaker 6: of us together, that's the whole goal for us to
Speaker 6: push this team, push each other, you know, as far
Speaker 6: as we could go. And you know that one goal
Speaker 6: is to be the best in AFC. First that's going
Speaker 6: to give us the easiest shots to get to the
Speaker 6: super Bowl, and if we win that first, then we're
Speaker 6: going to take the next step.
Speaker 1: Jamar got a four year, one hundred and sixty one
Speaker 1: million dollar extension that's forty point two five Mili a
Speaker 1: year and it kicks in after this season, so he's
Speaker 1: actually under contract for five more years. T got a
Speaker 1: four year, one hundred and fifteen million dollar deal that's
Speaker 1: twenty eight point seven to five milli a year, And
Speaker 1: while the Bengals have been criticized for not getting a
Speaker 1: deal done with Te earlier by tagging him last year
Speaker 1: and extending him this year, they do wind up having
Speaker 1: him for an additional season. T is twenty six years old,
Speaker 1: Jamar is twenty five, and they will be spending their
Speaker 1: primes in Bengals stripes.
Speaker 3: Man.
Speaker 5: I grew up a Bengals fan, and to have the
Speaker 5: opportunity to sign a four year deal with my favorite
Speaker 5: team that I grew up watching is I mean, that's
Speaker 5: a that's a dream come true, you know what I mean?
Speaker 5: And then you know, once I guess the announcment was out.
Speaker 5: My favorite player I grew up watching, Congratu laying and
Speaker 5: congratulating me on that is it's even more crazy. So
Speaker 5: I couldn't be at a better place for me.
Speaker 6: I like Cincinnati because it gives me the opportunity to
Speaker 6: come here and focus. You know, I'm not distracted out here.
Speaker 6: It's not too much too many things to get me,
Speaker 6: you know, off pace out here, you know, and it's
Speaker 6: strictly what I'm focused on. That's really tunnel vision for
Speaker 6: me to play football. So I mean, at the end
Speaker 6: of the day, the food's not the best. We could
Speaker 6: work on that. But the Orleans I'm not used to
Speaker 6: the food yet. But you know, overall, I mean, honestly,
Speaker 6: I just I just think that's the biggest picture for me,
Speaker 6: is that is, you know, I don't have no distractions
Speaker 6: here and I can just play football in my quarterbacks
Speaker 6: here here.
Speaker 1: If Jamar needs to run down on great Cincinnati restaurants,
Speaker 1: I can take care of it. For more on Today's
Speaker 1: news and to answer the questions you submitted on X,
Speaker 1: it's time to bring in my broadcast partner, Dave Lapham.
Speaker 1: I want to start with something simple that I think
Speaker 1: is not being emphasized enough. Joe Burrow, Jamar Chase, and
Speaker 1: t Higgins want to be here. Sure, they got paid,
Speaker 1: but they like playing in Cincinnati. They believe they can
Speaker 1: win a super Bowl here. These guys are telling everybody
Speaker 1: around the NFL that, at least to them, Cincinnati is
Speaker 1: a great place to play. How important is that message
Speaker 1: in your opinion, I think.
Speaker 7: It's very important. You know, I do think that. You know,
Speaker 7: individual performance is rewarded by money, but money does not
Speaker 7: win championships. And these guys understand that it is a business.
Speaker 7: So when you perform at the level that they perform,
Speaker 7: the expectation is you're going to get compensated. And they
Speaker 7: have been handsomely and the Bengals have realized that they
Speaker 7: needed to do that. But the fact that they did
Speaker 7: keep them all intact states that not only do you
Speaker 7: expect to win a champion I mean or hope to
Speaker 7: win a championship, the expectation is you're gonna win a championship.
Speaker 7: I mean, they've been to the Super Bowl. It didn't
Speaker 7: quite get it done, but they got a taste of it.
Speaker 7: And we talked about this before, Dan, you know, I mean,
Speaker 7: the money's great, the money will take care of their
Speaker 7: families for generations. But the big reason they're playing the
Speaker 7: football game is to win championships and to you know,
Speaker 7: be part of maybe a record breaking trio. And they're
Speaker 7: they're already already that in terms of Bengals history in
Speaker 7: NFL history, but they that elusive ring is what they're
Speaker 7: what they're looking for right now. And I agree with you.
Speaker 7: I think that they feel like, you know, the city
Speaker 7: of Cincinnati fits them, all three of them fits. Their
Speaker 7: lifestyle fits the you know, the the big city distractions
Speaker 7: and all that stuff is not what these guys are about.
Speaker 7: They're about focusing going out and uh and getting the
Speaker 7: job done and winning football games, I think. And they
Speaker 7: really do like each other, you know. I mean it's
Speaker 7: it's it sounds corny, and but not not only are
Speaker 7: they do they like each other's performances on a football field,
Speaker 7: they like each other as human beings off the football field.
Speaker 7: And that that's that's powerful. That can be uh, that
Speaker 7: can be a synergistic thing, you know, and what all
Speaker 7: is said and done, And I know it sounds cornball,
Speaker 7: but you know, you're looking for a legacy, and guys
Speaker 7: play to win championships and maybe when they're done now
Speaker 7: they can look back and say, ah, man, remember when
Speaker 7: we signed those deals twenty five, twenty six, twenty seven, twenty.
Speaker 4: Eight, did we kick some tailor?
Speaker 1: What?
Speaker 4: Man?
Speaker 7: Did we get it done? Look what we did and
Speaker 7: look what the team did. The individual stuff is great,
Speaker 7: and again you're gonna get compstated based on that. But man,
Speaker 7: the team, folks, winning that championship is what it's really
Speaker 7: all about.
Speaker 1: Let's turn the clock back to December ninth, after the
Speaker 1: Dallas game. That was the first time that Joe, Jamar
Speaker 1: and T walked out together for the coin toss and
Speaker 1: when Joe was asked about it after the game and
Speaker 1: how it felt to, you know, savor a moment like that,
Speaker 1: he made headlines by saying that he thought that they
Speaker 1: would be able to retain Tea. He was confident that
Speaker 1: T would be back, and then a few days later
Speaker 1: he said that T was in need. Did that twenty
Speaker 1: second comment after the Dallas game change everything?
Speaker 7: I think it was the beginning, I really do you know,
Speaker 7: I mean, I think, uh put it out there, geez,
Speaker 7: I wonder what Joe's thinking about this. Joe put it
Speaker 7: out there. Joe left no doubt what Joe was thinking
Speaker 7: about this. And when you look at it, that Trio
Speaker 7: is is so much fun to watch, you know.
Speaker 4: I mean when you when you.
Speaker 7: Watch a a ballet that's the top of its top
Speaker 7: of its profession and you look at those people performing,
Speaker 7: it's like, oh my gosh, man, these there's they're the
Speaker 7: best in the world. That's what these guys are. These
Speaker 7: three guys are really the best in the world at
Speaker 7: what they do. And they compment each other so well.
Speaker 7: You know, T Higgins skill set Jamar Chase the skill
Speaker 7: set is different. They're both different, but they're both equally effective.
Speaker 7: And man, they feed off each other so perfectly.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 7: It's like, man, it's you couldn't go out and and
Speaker 7: and and find a pair that compliments each other. It's
Speaker 7: like peanut butter and jelly. I mean, separately they're good,
Speaker 7: but together, man, they're really good. They're better together. And
Speaker 7: and that's what that's what Jamar Chase and t Higgins are.
Speaker 7: They're they're the peanut butter and Jelly in the NFL.
Speaker 1: I guess since the news broke that the Bengals were
Speaker 1: able to get this deal done, I found some of
Speaker 1: the commentary coming from the national media to be laughable.
Speaker 1: But it's not unfair to ask if it's wise for
Speaker 1: a team to spend that much money on two wide receivers.
Speaker 1: What is your response to that argument.
Speaker 7: You know, when the three of them have been healthy
Speaker 7: since they've been in the league together, what are they
Speaker 7: like thirty four and eighteen, I think it is or
Speaker 7: something like that. It's almost two wins for every defeat
Speaker 7: when all three of them are on the field together.
Speaker 7: They are a dynamic force. You know, there's no question
Speaker 7: about it. And right now, you know, I feel like
Speaker 7: with Brown and p Ryan in the backfield, you know,
Speaker 7: I feel like they've got they've got other weapons. And
Speaker 7: let's not let's not forget about Mike is Sticky, kind
Speaker 7: of like the youngsung hero of this whole thing.
Speaker 4: He was key.
Speaker 7: I mean, Joe mentioned him too, that Mike is Sticky
Speaker 7: is an important part of what they're what they're getting done,
Speaker 7: and he is and and they I think Mike Gisiki
Speaker 7: probably took a little bit of a hometown discount. I
Speaker 7: think t Higgins took a bit of a hometown discount.
Speaker 7: I think guys basically said, look, I will leave money
Speaker 7: on the table as such for the for the the
Speaker 7: the right and the pleasure of playing with each other.
Speaker 7: You know, we want to get back and do what
Speaker 7: we did last year. Run it back, and run it
Speaker 7: back to even a higher level. I mean, Kasiki is is.
Speaker 7: He's a talented dude. I mean he's he's long, tall,
Speaker 7: He's got long arms.
Speaker 4: Uh.
Speaker 7: With that, with that long body, he can sink his hips,
Speaker 7: get in and out of cuts like a guy much smaller,
Speaker 7: like a guy under six feet tall, and he's almost
Speaker 7: sixty six. He can separate when he gets in and
Speaker 7: out of cuts and gets some separation, he can make
Speaker 7: the contested catch because of his his height and uh
Speaker 7: you know, his his length in his hands like t Higgins.
Speaker 7: I mean they have two of the better contested catch
Speaker 7: guys on the same football team. And then of course
Speaker 7: Jamar Chase's strength is see you later. You know, I'm
Speaker 7: after the catch. When i have the ball in my hands,
Speaker 7: I'm a running back man, I'm gonna get yards after catch,
Speaker 7: yards after contact.
Speaker 4: You know, he led the league as we know catches,
Speaker 4: yards and touchdowns.
Speaker 7: The fourth area was yards after catch seven hundred and
Speaker 7: eighty seven yards after catch. There are receivers in the
Speaker 7: NFL would love to have seven hundred and eight seven
Speaker 7: yards receiving and he got that after the catch of
Speaker 7: the football man and as a result, you know, since
Speaker 7: he's been in the NFL, the big play eighteen touchdowns
Speaker 7: are forty yards of more thirteen or fifty yards of more,
Speaker 7: twelve or sixty yards of more.
Speaker 4: Are you kidding me? That's freakishly good.
Speaker 1: Yeah, those are some crazy numbers. My feeling on this
Speaker 1: subject has evolved and changed. I don't think it's ideal
Speaker 1: to spend that much on two wide receivers, but the
Speaker 1: bottom line is keeping your best players. Yeah, Jamar is
Speaker 1: the second best player on the team, behind behind Joe Burrow.
Speaker 1: T is probably in the top four or five certainly,
Speaker 1: so you have to go cheaper somewhere else. But that's
Speaker 1: kind of how it always works, isn't it. I mean,
Speaker 1: if you are paying a cornerback, say twenty five million
Speaker 1: dollars a year, then you probably can't pay a second
Speaker 1: wide receiver that much. So it's all about keeping your
Speaker 1: best guys and figuring out the rest. I mean, that's
Speaker 1: kind of the way I've come to feel about this.
Speaker 7: Yeah, I agree with you, Dan, In a perfect world,
Speaker 7: would you love to have you know, like it may
Speaker 7: be a little bit more balanced from a position group
Speaker 7: where your best players exist. But if your best players
Speaker 7: to have them exist at the same position group in
Speaker 7: today's NFL, you got to pay them both. I mean,
Speaker 7: that's the bottom line. Let's face it. The list I saw,
Speaker 7: T Higgins was the number one free agent a wide receiver.
Speaker 7: Mike Kasiki was the number one guy at tight end
Speaker 7: on a few lists that I saw. Uh. BJ Hill
Speaker 7: was the number one interior defensive lineman on some lists
Speaker 7: that I saw, never lower than number three. So now
Speaker 7: you know, the Bengals have always had, you know, developed
Speaker 7: and and retain, you know, draft, develop and retain your
Speaker 7: your own. And these players, they weren't all drafted by
Speaker 7: the Cincinnati Bengals. BJ Hill and get sick he weren't.
Speaker 7: But you know they they developed with the Cincinnati Bengals
Speaker 7: to another level. And when you've done that, keep them.
Speaker 7: If you can keep them. I mean, they're they're amongst
Speaker 7: the best players in the National Football League and free agency,
Speaker 7: and uh, go ahead and sign them.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 7: I think the other thing Dan that strikes me about
Speaker 7: all these guys, you know that the Bengals have resigned
Speaker 7: the resigning their own before worrying about other people's players.
Speaker 7: They do that. And then also the second component is
Speaker 7: the versatility. All these guys play more than one position.
Speaker 7: You know, they're capable of doing multiple things for you.
Speaker 7: Jamar Chase can line up anywhere and run any route
Speaker 7: and not make mistakes and decipher coverage is just on
Speaker 7: the same page as Joe Burrow. T. Higgins can line
Speaker 7: up multiple places. Mike Kasiki can line up at the
Speaker 7: end of the line of scrimmage or in the in
Speaker 7: the detached or in the slot or in a bunch
Speaker 7: formation as a receiver. He gives you all that versatility.
Speaker 7: Bj Hill can line up as a three technique, you
Speaker 7: can line up as a nose guard. He can kick
Speaker 7: out as a defensive end and a pinch. They signed
Speaker 7: Cody Ford, you know, another guy who can play all
Speaker 7: five of the offensive line positions as well as be
Speaker 7: a big tight end for sure, arnage goal line. So
Speaker 7: it's a combination of are they not only they're not
Speaker 7: only retaining their own but the versatility that their own
Speaker 7: provide for them, I think is a valuable commodity in
Speaker 7: this era of free agency.
Speaker 1: No doubt about it. You know, it's kind of an
Speaker 1: odd twist to this whole thing, and the Bengals retaining
Speaker 1: T Higgins. If you are thrilled about that, you love te,
Speaker 1: you're excited that he's going to be a Bengal for
Speaker 1: at least four more years. You should probably thank Jermaine
Speaker 1: Burton for being immature as a rookie, because if he
Speaker 1: came in last year and was a total pro and
Speaker 1: looked like he was the guy that was going to
Speaker 1: be able to replace t in twenty twenty five, this
Speaker 1: deal probably doesn't get done.
Speaker 3: Right.
Speaker 7: That's a value, that's a valid point, There's no question
Speaker 7: about that. I think that you'd have to put Jermaine
Speaker 7: Burton's performance in the disappointment category, you know, as far
Speaker 7: as the organization is concerned. You know, not to say
Speaker 7: that hopefully he finds himself both as a football player
Speaker 7: and continues to mature and develop as a player as
Speaker 7: a person, not only a player, because the guy.
Speaker 4: Does have a skill set.
Speaker 7: But yeah, there's no way that they could they could
Speaker 7: justify to the fan base in their own minds, to
Speaker 7: anybody that this wasn't the way to go, you know
Speaker 7: T Higgins. And the thing is, both guys went out
Speaker 7: and proved it. Both guys went out and had seasons
Speaker 7: that Okay, franchise tagged me.
Speaker 4: Yeah, all right, I'm gonna put up numbers.
Speaker 7: And you know, the numbers combined from these two guys
Speaker 7: are ridiculous. Two hundred catches, two six hundred and nineteen yards,
Speaker 7: twenty seven touchdowns. I mean, that's that's crazy, it really is.
Speaker 7: And he's eighty nine yards short of a thousand and
Speaker 7: missed five games. And that's that's the thing with Tea. Now,
Speaker 7: you know a lot of people, I know people that
Speaker 7: I've talked to, why would you pay a guy like
Speaker 7: that that kind of money.
Speaker 4: It's like, what are you talking about? Man?
Speaker 7: His skill sets phenomenal. Yeah, but he's hurts so much
Speaker 7: now he does. He has the quad problems, the hamstring problems.
Speaker 7: I mean, he's a he's a big, big human being
Speaker 7: with you know, long muscles in those in those muscle groups.
Speaker 7: Got to figure out a way to, uh to maybe
Speaker 7: prevent prevent some of that. But this guy, when he's
Speaker 7: on the football field, I'm telling you, man, he is.
Speaker 7: The Bengals have so many ways that they can create mispatches.
Speaker 7: You know, they're they're they're such a difficult group to
Speaker 7: handle because of the physical abilities that they have. They have,
Speaker 7: you know, guys that aren't that big, that play bigger
Speaker 7: than they are, like Jamar. Jamar plays like he's a
Speaker 7: you know, two hundred and fifty pound you know, four
Speaker 7: to three tailback, That's what he plays like. And and
Speaker 7: t Higgins, you know, he'll run routes like he's a
Speaker 7: five ft ten inch receiver, you know, with all kinds
Speaker 7: of ability to sink his hips and the flexibility to
Speaker 7: get in out of cuts. And I mean, these guys
Speaker 7: are our gift a man. And I think Joe Burrow, Jamar, Chase,
Speaker 7: T Higgins, Mike is sicky. They're gonna. I think they're
Speaker 7: gonna put on a show. I mean, it's gonna be
Speaker 7: exciting to see what the heck they do.
Speaker 1: So the most significant free agent additions off other rosters
Speaker 1: so far have come on defense linebacker Orrin Burks and
Speaker 1: defensive tackle t J. Slayton. Any thoughts on the addition
Speaker 1: of those two.
Speaker 7: Guys obviously have a need for that that big body
Speaker 7: guy and that that's exactly what they got by signing this, uh,
Speaker 7: this this massive defensive tackle. Now this this guy, he's uh,
Speaker 7: he's a force, and he's he's a He's not a stiff,
Speaker 7: you know what I mean, He's he's got some athleticism
Speaker 7: to him, he's got some ability ability to move.
Speaker 4: But he will he'll stuff it up. Now, there's no
Speaker 4: doubt about that.
Speaker 7: This this guy, he will uh he will he will
Speaker 7: cause uh cause problems for the opposition when they're trying
Speaker 7: to establish that running game on the inside. There's there's
Speaker 7: no two ways about that that he is. He's a
Speaker 7: factor and need need help it linebacker. I mean, you
Speaker 7: lose a team Davis Gather who is a pretty you know,
Speaker 7: versatile guy to Arizona. I think they found one to
Speaker 7: uh to fit right in there and and take the
Speaker 7: place of So I think both of those signings are legit.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 7: My understanding is that that both of these guys are
Speaker 7: are very intelligent people, you know, I mean they they
Speaker 7: not only in general just raw intelligence, but football IQ
Speaker 7: and coaches are going to love that, you know. It's
Speaker 7: I think I think both signings are are going to
Speaker 7: help this football team. So I do think they did
Speaker 7: a pretty good job obviously of keeping their own, but
Speaker 7: then when they went out and had to had to
Speaker 7: make some moves and and get somebody else's they went
Speaker 7: out and did that pretty darn well. I mean TJ. Slayton,
Speaker 7: I think is a good a good deal. Two years
Speaker 7: for fifteen million dollars. The thing is the defensive line
Speaker 7: coach worked with him at Green Bay, knows about him,
Speaker 7: know those are the things that he can do. Jerry
Speaker 7: Montgomery is familiar with what TJ. Slayton's all about. I
Speaker 7: think there's something to be said for that. Orrin Burks
Speaker 7: is a guy who just when when he had to
Speaker 7: play big, when there were injuries and he had to
Speaker 7: go and and and play, he had his best games
Speaker 7: down the stretch, in the playoffs and in the Super Bowl.
Speaker 7: I mean he just kept getting better and better, making
Speaker 7: more and more plays. So when the season was on
Speaker 7: the line, he stepped up. You gotta like you gotta
Speaker 7: like both of those signings, Dan, I think it makes
Speaker 7: the defense.
Speaker 1: Better, especially TJ. Slayton. They have needed that gigantic, immovable
Speaker 1: run stopping force in the middle of their defensive line
Speaker 1: and and I think that's exactly what the doctor ordered.
Speaker 1: He's not going to get after the quarterback much, but
Speaker 1: you got to have somebody, particularly in the AFC North,
Speaker 1: that prevents teams from just stuffing it down your throat
Speaker 1: in the run game.
Speaker 4: Absolutely.
Speaker 7: I mean, fans are still moaning about the loss of
Speaker 7: DJ Reader, you know. I mean, and rightfully star. I
Speaker 7: mean DJ Reader was a force in the division stopping
Speaker 7: the run. And like you said, everybody can run the
Speaker 7: football in the AFC North TJ. Slayton will give you
Speaker 7: that close the closest thing to that body type with
Speaker 7: those type of movement skills. To think DJ Reader, it
Speaker 7: was unbelievable watching him with the athleticism he played with.
Speaker 4: This guy.
Speaker 7: Look you look at him and you think, oh, man,
Speaker 7: this he can't move? Are you kidding me? This guy
Speaker 7: was an athlete. Man, he could move. I mean he
Speaker 7: was hard to get off his feet. He he had
Speaker 7: he had sweet feet. Man, he had great balance. I
Speaker 7: mean he was hard to he was hard to get
Speaker 7: off his pins. And Slayton has has that kind of
Speaker 7: ability too. I mean he's hard to get on the ground.
Speaker 7: And they haven't had a guy you know like that
Speaker 7: with that kind of size that will you know, hold
Speaker 7: the fort and uh you know when when offensive and
Speaker 7: defensive line and come off the ball, where's the line
Speaker 7: is the line of scrimmage moving?
Speaker 4: Which way is it? Moving or is it moving at all?
Speaker 1: T J.
Speaker 7: Slayton will make sure that it's not moving at all,
Speaker 7: or if it's moving, it's moving in the uh negative direction.
Speaker 7: For the offense, he'll make sure he's knocking guys back
Speaker 7: and holding down the fort all right.
Speaker 1: Earlier today, I shined the Bengals logo into the sky
Speaker 1: above pay Corpse Stadium and solicited some ask lap questions.
Speaker 1: So here we go. We've got several questions about the
Speaker 1: offensive line in general and the guard position in particular.
Speaker 1: This question from SB eighty five. Are the angles interested
Speaker 1: in Brandon Sheriff.
Speaker 4: I think they should be.
Speaker 7: You know, I think he's a guy that, uh, you know,
Speaker 7: that is on everybody's list. I mean, he's of the
Speaker 7: guys that are left at the interior.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 7: I I have Brandon Sheriff, uh you know, rated right
Speaker 7: up there. I've also, you know, there's there's a couple
Speaker 7: of guys from the Chicago Bears, Tevin Jenkins. There's mixed reviews,
Speaker 7: mixed reports on him. There's I guess additional film study
Speaker 7: that I'm gonna have to have to do on him.
Speaker 7: But he and Matt Pryor are both there at the
Speaker 7: guard position with Chicago. Uh Will Hernandez out of Arizona
Speaker 7: as well as Cologne, Uh Tristan Cologne out of Arizona
Speaker 7: are both guys that I think, you know, you could,
Speaker 7: you could, you could really think about Evan Brown out
Speaker 7: of out of Arizona as well as is somebody that
Speaker 7: deserves I think a little bit more film study Lake
Speaker 7: and Tomlinson with Seattle. I mean, there there are there
Speaker 7: are bodies there, There are people there. And should the
Speaker 7: Bengals get one of them or two? Yeah, I'm all
Speaker 7: I'm all for that. Uh you know, you got to
Speaker 7: they they obviously have a have an opening with with
Speaker 7: Kappa being let go. And how about Kappa signing right
Speaker 7: away with the Las Vegas Raiders. God, that's good, really
Speaker 7: good for him. You know, the Bengals said, uh, you know,
Speaker 7: no Moss and they part ways and he gets a deal,
Speaker 7: a deal right away.
Speaker 4: But you know we mentioned Cody Ford.
Speaker 7: I think Cody Ford deserves the right to battle inside
Speaker 7: for one of those guard spots. He's got the position versatility,
Speaker 7: but I I think he's proven that that he belongs
Speaker 7: in that in that competition. And and yeah, Dan, I
Speaker 7: would I would definitely say that if you if you
Speaker 7: come out of free agency without signing one veteran guard,
Speaker 7: it would be a disappointment, I would think. I mean,
Speaker 7: if you him signed too, all the better, But if
Speaker 7: you don't, that's going to be addressed in the draft
Speaker 7: as well.
Speaker 1: I have not seen any reports about what Sheriff is
Speaker 1: asking for. His last contract as a free agent was
Speaker 1: a huge one, so he may be really looking for
Speaker 1: big bucks. Still, he's not that old. He's thirty three.
Speaker 1: He was the fifth overall pick in the draft. He
Speaker 1: was a five time Pro bowler, although the last time
Speaker 1: was twenty twenty one. His PFF grades last year weren't great,
Speaker 1: but they were still good. He was number thirteen among
Speaker 1: guards in pass Pro, number thirty nine overall. That was
Speaker 1: much better than the Bengals starting guard. So again, I
Speaker 1: don't know what his price tag is, but to me,
Speaker 1: the guys that are still out there, if you could
Speaker 1: work out a short term deal with him, I think
Speaker 1: that would be a home run. It'd be interesting to
Speaker 1: see if they can pull it off.
Speaker 7: Yeah, I agree, Dan, I mean, I think he obviously
Speaker 7: is a salary cap casualty with Jacksonville, and you know Jacksonville,
Speaker 7: they're moving on from some of their interior players and
Speaker 7: they're signing other people's interior players, and it's it's just
Speaker 7: kind of a kind of a shift and a lot
Speaker 7: of its economically driven. And I guess you know that's
Speaker 7: that's one thing that that we know the Cincinnati Bengals, uh,
Speaker 7: they always try to try to get done, is the
Speaker 7: fact that they don't let their cap get out of whack.
Speaker 7: And if a guy is not going to be on
Speaker 7: a football team, it's not going to be because of economics.
Speaker 7: He may not cut the mustard anymore. His skill set
Speaker 7: may have diminished, but I mean if he's still if
Speaker 7: you have a player that can still play in this
Speaker 7: league and you have to let him go because you
Speaker 7: didn't hinder your salary cap properly, and to me, that
Speaker 7: would that would just be that would be criminal. And
Speaker 7: they do have a you know, a a history of
Speaker 7: keeping everything even Steven pretty pretty flat lined in terms of,
Speaker 7: you know, on a year to year basis with with
Speaker 7: cap hits with these players and not have pushed to
Speaker 7: the back end all this money where it's it's ludicrous
Speaker 7: and you got to get rid of the guy. I mean,
Speaker 7: they're probably not even Hall of famers that would warrant
Speaker 7: to be paid that that kind of money. So the
Speaker 7: Bengals have done a great job of that and I
Speaker 7: think that'll continue all right.
Speaker 1: Jarno and Chuck have both asked questions about Matt Lee,
Speaker 1: the center out of the University of Miami that the
Speaker 1: Bengals drafted last year. Jarno asked, what is the status
Speaker 1: of Matt Lee could be? Could he be in the
Speaker 1: mix at guard? Chuck asked, is matt possibly the next
Speaker 1: center with Ted Karris moving to guard? What are your
Speaker 1: overall thoughts about Matt Lee and the possibility that he
Speaker 1: has a more prominent role this coming season.
Speaker 7: Yeah, I think I think Matt Lee is is probably
Speaker 7: another guy that if I'm an offensive lineman that was
Speaker 7: a member of the group last year, the offensive line
Speaker 7: coast and the assistant line coach have moved on and
Speaker 7: there are new ones, so it's wide open. I mean,
Speaker 7: everybody is out to win a job, so, uh, you know,
Speaker 7: Matt Lee, Unfortunately, he doesn't have a whole lot of
Speaker 7: tape that the coaches can watch in terms of snaps
Speaker 7: last year in the in the regular season, but the
Speaker 7: preseason he does and they can go back and look
Speaker 7: at his college tape again, which I'm sure they already
Speaker 7: did because they were evaluating him coming out of school
Speaker 7: when you know they were with the New England Patriots,
Speaker 7: so I'm sure they know about him.
Speaker 4: You know, Matt Lee has he has as good a
Speaker 4: chance as.
Speaker 7: Anybody of securing more playing time or maybe winning a
Speaker 7: job at the in the teri of the offensive line.
Speaker 4: I do think that.
Speaker 7: That is an area of improvement that is is very
Speaker 7: obvious in terms of keeping that pocket from collapsing. The
Speaker 7: protection pass protection has to be firming the pocket up.
Speaker 7: And I remember Paul Brown and Tiger Johnson first to
Speaker 7: my first year in the league.
Speaker 4: Men give ground grudgingly on that inside. You know, don't
Speaker 4: don't get bull rushed, don't get knocked back, give ground grudgingly,
Speaker 4: make a stand.
Speaker 7: And that's you know, you have a guy like Joe Borrow,
Speaker 7: a quarterback you just want to keep people out of
Speaker 7: his face. Quarterbacks at any level, high school, college or
Speaker 7: the NFL will tell you if you ask him, what
Speaker 7: is the biggest the biggest problem to deal with pressure
Speaker 7: in my face when I can't see down the football field,
Speaker 7: and then you have the yips potentially about following through
Speaker 7: and you know, having an injury on somebody's helmet, be
Speaker 7: it your teammates or the opposition. So give these guys
Speaker 7: room to operate. Give these guys space sometimes, you know,
Speaker 7: it's not only time, it's time and space. What kind
Speaker 7: of space you're giving your quarterback to operate in that
Speaker 7: pocket and feel comfortable in that pocket, because man, if
Speaker 7: you do that for Joe Burrow, bo no telling the
Speaker 7: yards and the production that that guy will put up.
Speaker 1: Mark has a question about Cordel Volson. Cordell, by the way,
Speaker 1: was graded fifty fifth among guards last year out of
Speaker 1: eighty three according to Pro Football Focus. Here's the question.
Speaker 1: Scott Peters says he thinks he can help Cordel Volson.
Speaker 1: What exactly can he help him with?
Speaker 7: You know, Cordell Volson has got some length and h
Speaker 7: Coach Peters is real good with that long arm, you know,
Speaker 7: and foot placement's a little bit different.
Speaker 4: Maybe it's a little more.
Speaker 7: Parallel than staggered, and it length lengthens the arm, and
Speaker 7: and Cordel Volson has some long, strong arms to work with.
Speaker 7: The biggest thing I think that he has to do
Speaker 7: is is uh is is bend get his pad level lower.
Speaker 7: You know, he has to he has to bend at
Speaker 7: the knees and not at the waist. He has to
Speaker 7: get get get that body down a little bit and
Speaker 7: and you know, get his his targets everything lower and
Speaker 7: player play at a lower plane. Because I think he
Speaker 7: does have ability. I think he does have athletic ability.
Speaker 7: I think he's plenty strong enough to play in the
Speaker 7: National Football League.
Speaker 4: And again, you wipe a slate clean.
Speaker 7: You know, there's if he ended up going the year
Speaker 7: ended up going tough for him last year, Frank Pollack,
Speaker 7: who drafted him, ended up sitting him down. And you know,
Speaker 7: Frank's not the start that does that lightly. You know,
Speaker 7: somebody that he drafted make that kind of decision with
Speaker 7: So Cordell is going to have a bounce back year.
Speaker 4: I think he's got it in him.
Speaker 7: And with coach Peters, he's got a clean slate, new techniques,
Speaker 7: new things to learn. And again, everybody's everybody's a square one.
Speaker 7: It's best man wins. Let's just go compete.
Speaker 1: From chastin besides guard, what other position would you like
Speaker 1: to see the Bengals addressing free agency?
Speaker 7: You know, I mean, I think they've already done. They've
Speaker 7: already gotten a defensive tackle. But I'd go multiple guards.
Speaker 7: I'd probably go another defensive tackle. I'd like, there's always
Speaker 7: room for an edge rusher. I mean, if in the
Speaker 7: secondary market, there's an edge rusher out there that you
Speaker 7: know that becomes affordable and viable.
Speaker 4: And honestly, Dan, when I'm when I'm.
Speaker 7: If I'm a free agent out there now, and you know,
Speaker 7: I haven't maybe my price tag was too high and
Speaker 7: some of these guys did get the big dollars, but
Speaker 7: you're still out there. You know, you have to lower
Speaker 7: your sites. You and your representative of your agent, your lawyer, whatever,
Speaker 7: or trying to figure out what to do. Why the
Speaker 7: hell not consider the Cincinnati Bengals. I mean, look what
Speaker 7: they've done in free agency. Look at the football team
Speaker 7: that they're putting together. If you're a defensive tackle or
Speaker 7: an offensive guard, or an edge rush guy or a corner,
Speaker 7: whatever the case may be, why why wouldn't you say, yeah, man,
Speaker 7: let's let's uh. You know, they need help at the
Speaker 7: position I play. They they need some help to to
Speaker 7: fill that roster out.
Speaker 4: They do, they do have a good roster.
Speaker 7: They believe in their roster they brought a lot of
Speaker 7: that roster back, and they paid them, you know, second
Speaker 7: contracts in some cases even more than that. But you know, man,
Speaker 7: I think when when the Bengals did what they did
Speaker 7: in terms of paying Joe Burrow good money for the
Speaker 7: long term and then signing both Jamar and t I
Speaker 7: think you showed the rest of the league we're serious.
Speaker 4: Now.
Speaker 7: You know we're serious. We're going to try to put
Speaker 7: together as good a roster as we possibly can, and
Speaker 7: we're not going to let our stars that we've developed
Speaker 7: into potential superstars walk. So if you want to be
Speaker 7: part of this, yeah, let's talk. And I would think
Speaker 7: that Cincinnati here in this era of the Joe Burrow era,
Speaker 7: is talked about in the free agency circle as much
Speaker 7: differently than they were before his arrival. I think it's
Speaker 7: it's uh, from travel agency standpoint, is probably one of
Speaker 7: the better destinations. Now, let's let's see we get done.
Speaker 7: How about arranging a trip to Cincinnati.
Speaker 1: Let's go from mister B what changes do you recommend
Speaker 1: to reverse the devastating trend of terrible starts to seasons.
Speaker 7: Yeah, man, boy, if I had an answer to that,
Speaker 7: I mean that that that one it's almost like a
Speaker 7: self fulfilling prophecy. Now, sometimes you get in that situation
Speaker 7: and it just, you know, it can it consumes you
Speaker 7: when you don't even realize it's consuming you. You know,
Speaker 7: it's a it's a an odd dynamic that way. They've
Speaker 7: tried to have these you know, controlled scrimmages with other
Speaker 7: other teams and be a little bit more physical because
Speaker 7: they're not playing guys very many snaps during the course
Speaker 7: of the preseason that that they're going to be relying
Speaker 7: on right away to start the regular season. But if
Speaker 7: you don't, I mean, that becomes a major issue, and
Speaker 7: it has been a major issue. The lack of sure
Speaker 7: tackling are a big part of the equation of those
Speaker 7: slow starts. But you know, even offensively, I mean, you
Speaker 7: look at the Bengals offense in the first three or
Speaker 7: four games of the season as opposed to the last
Speaker 7: five games this past year. Oh my gosh, man, it's
Speaker 7: like night and day. You know, you'd like to you'd
Speaker 7: like to get off to a better start at the
Speaker 7: beginning of the year, closer to the efficiency and the
Speaker 7: level of execution you're playing with. You know, at the
Speaker 7: end of the season, it's going to be natural, barring
Speaker 7: injury and all that, that you are going to progress
Speaker 7: during the course of the season.
Speaker 4: But man, it was a stark contrast.
Speaker 7: From the start of the season offensively to the end
Speaker 7: of the season offensively.
Speaker 4: And you know, I don't know.
Speaker 7: Maybe it's as simple as playing biting the bullet and
Speaker 7: then play more snaps, man, and let them bring people
Speaker 7: to the ground and start that, start that bond of
Speaker 7: what it's going to be like at all three levels.
Speaker 7: Realizing you know how to play with each other, get
Speaker 7: a feel for each other, get a feel for the
Speaker 7: guy that you're playing next to, have an understanding what
Speaker 7: the coordinators his expectations are. And the only way to
Speaker 7: go out and do it is to do that, go
Speaker 7: out and physically do it, mentally know what you're doing,
Speaker 7: and physically accomplish what you're supposed to do.
Speaker 1: All right, We've got about two minutes left for a
Speaker 1: final hard hitting question. It comes from p d y.
Speaker 1: Are you ready, yes, describe your perfect Sunday morning breakfast.
Speaker 4: Perfect Sunday morning breakfast. Man.
Speaker 7: You know, I'm really not a huge breakfast guy, but
Speaker 7: if I had to, it would be some form of steak.
Speaker 7: Would be in there. I'm definitely a steak.
Speaker 1: Guy, steak an eggs kind of guy.
Speaker 7: Yeah, steak and eggs would stay, can scrambled eggs with that,
Speaker 7: dog would hunt. I think I think I'd probably probably
Speaker 7: lean in that direction. I'm, you know, not necessarily toast,
Speaker 7: maybe more like an English s muffin or a Danish
Speaker 7: kind of guy, you know, rather than just toast, you know,
Speaker 7: get a little a little bit of something like that going.
Speaker 7: I am definitely an orange juice guy, gonna have that,
Speaker 7: but no coffee. I don't never tasted coffee. I don't
Speaker 7: drink coffee, but I'd go for a couple of glasses
Speaker 7: orange juice.
Speaker 3: Though.
Speaker 1: I can describe my perfect Sunday morning breakfast because I
Speaker 1: feel like I have it about eight times a year.
Speaker 1: It's on the road at the Bengals game day. It's you, Me,
Speaker 1: Mike Brown, his close friend Jack Schiff.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I don't really care about the food. It's the conversations
Speaker 1: that we have on those Sunday mornings on the road.
Speaker 1: That's the perfect Sunday morning breakfast for me.
Speaker 4: What a great call that is, Dan, There's no doubt.
Speaker 7: I mean the conversations football and it evolves to evolves
Speaker 7: to life in general in some cases, but a lot
Speaker 7: of football chat and uh, you know it is it's
Speaker 7: very interesting, very interesting.
Speaker 4: I think I think the fan base.
Speaker 7: Would be very pleasantly surprised to be able to tune
Speaker 7: into some of those conversations and listen to uh, you know,
Speaker 7: to Mike and uh and then when Katie and Troy
Speaker 7: come and when Paul Brown comes and everybody starts, uh
Speaker 7: starts talking football. It's really pretty enlightening, pretty very interesting,
Speaker 7: it really is.
Speaker 1: If we could make that a podcast, it would be
Speaker 1: like the Kelsey Brothers. We would sell it for one
Speaker 1: hundred mil.
Speaker 7: You're right, man, I mean I think, uh, I think
Speaker 7: it would definitely it would definitely uh disproved, you know,
Speaker 7: I don't know, maybe prove the fact that Mike Brown
Speaker 7: might be as misunderstood as almost anybody in the National
Speaker 7: Football League.
Speaker 4: But Mike Brown knows his football.
Speaker 1: Now he does. And his laugh is tremendous.
Speaker 4: It is, There's there's no question about it.
Speaker 7: And and as dry a sense of humor as I've
Speaker 7: ever as I've ever known, and uh at an extremely
Speaker 7: high intelligence, as we know, Dan, Mike Brown is like
Speaker 7: that dude is Menza he's mensa in a lot of
Speaker 7: areas that might be. That might be a smart as
Speaker 7: smart a human being ron intelligence as I've been around,
Speaker 7: he's something else.
Speaker 1: All right, so I said. The Sunday Morning Breakfast question
Speaker 1: was our final question, but there was actually one other
Speaker 1: interesting thing that came in on ask Lap. Somebody wants
Speaker 1: to know that when the Bengals win the Super Bowl
Speaker 1: in Santa Clara this coming year, will you add an
Speaker 1: extra bam to coffin nails? Bam bam bam? Will you
Speaker 1: go with a fourth for a Super Bowl?
Speaker 4: At least I might go for ten? I mean I
Speaker 4: might just be bamming my butt off.
Speaker 1: Man. All right, that's what we got to look forward.
Speaker 1: Appreciate you time, my man. Hope to see you soon.
Speaker 4: Same here. Dan, enjoyed it.
Speaker 1: Appreciate your man, you haven't done so already. Be sure
Speaker 1: to check out Laps in the Trenches podcast presented by
Speaker 1: First Star Logistics. Recent guests include BJ Hill and Mikeasicki.
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Speaker 1: business and community to a new level and by Kettering
Speaker 1: Health the best care for the best fans. Kettering Health
Speaker 1: is the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. Now time
Speaker 1: for my conversation with a Bengals newcomer linebacker and special
Speaker 1: teams ace or In Burks signed a two year deal
Speaker 1: on Monday and joins the Bengals after earning a Super
Speaker 1: Bowl ring with the Philadelphia Eagles. Berks had quite a postseason.
Speaker 1: He forced to fumble on the opening kickoff in the
Speaker 1: eagles first playoff win over Green Bay. He forced another
Speaker 1: fumble in the NFC Championship game against Washington, and after
Speaker 1: getting most of his snaps on special teams during the
Speaker 1: regular season, Berks started at linebacker in Philadelphia's last three
Speaker 1: postseason wins. Or You have had quite a twenty twenty
Speaker 1: five so far, A couple of forest fumbles in the playoffs,
Speaker 1: starting role in a Super Bowl champ and now a
Speaker 1: new two year deal with the Cincinnati Bengals. How would
Speaker 1: you describe your year to date?
Speaker 3: Man, it's been amazing. It's been amazing.
Speaker 8: Definitely looking forward to the opportunity here in Cincinnati for
Speaker 8: me and my family. I feel like it's a great
Speaker 8: fit for us, and I'm just excited to see what
Speaker 8: the future holds.
Speaker 1: I want to go back before the playoffs began, the
Speaker 1: final game of the regular season, it was big news
Speaker 1: nationally when the Eagles rested Saquon Barkley when he possibly
Speaker 1: had a chance to set the rushing record. Some other
Speaker 1: guys rested in that game as well. You stepped into
Speaker 1: the starting lineup and had seventeen tackles to kind of
Speaker 1: set the stage for the great postseason that came after that.
Speaker 1: What do you think that game did for you your
Speaker 1: reputation around the NFL.
Speaker 8: For me, it's just a big confidence piece, you know,
Speaker 8: for the whole year, I hadn't had, you know, a
Speaker 8: huge opportunity to play, you know, the majority of the game,
Speaker 8: So just was ready when the opportunity came up to
Speaker 8: you know, show showcase my talents and that that rang true,
Speaker 8: you know when I got the opportunity in the playoffs
Speaker 8: and throughout. But for me, it's always preparing like a
Speaker 8: starter no matter what my role is and teams has
Speaker 8: always been a big point of emphasis for me. So
Speaker 8: exceling that role, adding value and being a great teammate
Speaker 8: and like I said, ultimately just being ready when the
Speaker 8: opportunity comes up.
Speaker 1: Nikobe Dean suffered an injury in the first playoff game.
Speaker 1: You stepped into the starting lineup for the rest of
Speaker 1: the playoffs for Philly and the defense didn't miss a beat.
Speaker 1: How big of a source of pride was that for you?
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's huge. Like I said, like I prepare like
Speaker 3: a starter.
Speaker 8: That's that's been my point of emphasis, and that's allowed
Speaker 8: me to play in the league for a long time.
Speaker 8: This is going into year eight and I played a
Speaker 8: lot of games in terms of playoff games. You know,
Speaker 8: I've been on been in the playoffs every year except
Speaker 8: for my rookie year. And you know that that rings true,
Speaker 8: Like that experience, you know, speaks for yourself and looking
Speaker 8: to you know, increase that role and just I feel
Speaker 8: it's a great opportunity to come here and compete and
Speaker 8: this this team is.
Speaker 3: You look at the roster.
Speaker 8: You got talent up and down the roster and two
Speaker 8: big ones you know yesterday with the war receiver duo,
Speaker 8: and that's going to help us a lot to win games.
Speaker 3: So looking forward to it.
Speaker 1: That playoff track record's pretty remarkable. Six straight years with
Speaker 1: three different teams. Five of those teams went to the
Speaker 1: league championship Game, the last two teams went to the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl, and you won the Super Bowl this past year.
Speaker 1: What have you learned over the course of the last
Speaker 1: six years about what it takes for teams to make
Speaker 1: it that far in the postseason.
Speaker 8: Yeah, one thing I've noticed the biggest The best teams
Speaker 8: I've been a part of have been the closest teams
Speaker 8: in the locker room. So that's gonna be an emphasis
Speaker 8: for me, you know, just to connect with the guys here.
Speaker 3: And I'm a vet now, so like just being able
Speaker 3: to lead in that role is going to be really important.
Speaker 8: But at the same time, just the mentality that it
Speaker 8: takes to win it all. It takes a lot of
Speaker 8: hard work, but ultimately you got to be There's a
Speaker 8: lot of highs, a lot of lows. You got to
Speaker 8: find a way to stay somewhere in the middle, and
Speaker 8: I feel like that's where the work gets done. And
Speaker 8: looking forward to, you know, seeing what that looks like
Speaker 8: with this team.
Speaker 1: I'm sure Philly didn't want to lose you. What appealed
Speaker 1: to you about Cincinnati?
Speaker 8: Yeah, just opportunity, you know, the last couple of years,
Speaker 8: they haven't you know, gotten over the barrier. I feel
Speaker 8: like we're right there at it to make a run
Speaker 8: at it again. So I feel like it was the
Speaker 8: best opportunity for me and my family and a great
Speaker 8: fit here. We're in Nashville, so right down the road,
Speaker 8: so not too far. But yeah, just looking forward to
Speaker 8: the future here.
Speaker 1: What have you been told about the opportunity? What potential
Speaker 1: role do you think exists for you here?
Speaker 3: Yeah, just to come in and compete always.
Speaker 8: You know backburner's gonna be special teams, but you know
Speaker 8: it's coming to compete and play at linebacker here, and
Speaker 8: I just want to be part of a great defense.
Speaker 1: You spent your first four years in Green Bay Jerry Montgummer.
Speaker 1: He was on the defensive staff. He wasn't your position coach,
Speaker 1: but obviously you were around Jerry a lot during those years.
Speaker 1: Did that connection have anything to do with you winding up.
Speaker 3: Here, Yeah, it definitely does.
Speaker 8: You know, familiarity with somebody on staff, a good relationship
Speaker 8: with Jerry, and know his kids and his family very well.
Speaker 8: And I feel like he's going to be a big
Speaker 8: piece for our d line. And I love playing with
Speaker 8: great defensive lines man, that makes my job a lot easier.
Speaker 8: So knowing that they're going to be well coached on
Speaker 8: that front is a big piece to that.
Speaker 3: So I'll look forward to working with him.
Speaker 1: The Bengals got close to a Super Bowl title in
Speaker 1: the twenty twenty one season. You got there last year.
Speaker 1: You got to experience what it was like when the
Speaker 1: confetti is falling around you and it's your team Colors.
Speaker 1: What was that high like for you?
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a surreal experience.
Speaker 8: You know, all the work that you put in, you know,
Speaker 8: your whole life to get to the pinnacle of the
Speaker 8: sport and just being able to showcase it at at
Speaker 8: the highest level is a great honor. And just going
Speaker 8: to war, you know, with guys that you can create
Speaker 8: a bond with over the year. I'm looking forward to
Speaker 8: doing that this year with this team.
Speaker 1: You've had a tremendous track record on special teams throughout
Speaker 1: your NFL career. Do you anticipate playing a significant role
Speaker 1: in that department Cincinnati?
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 8: I mean I feel like I always try to find
Speaker 8: ways to add value wherever I am, special teams or defense,
Speaker 8: and I take a lot of pride in that, you know,
Speaker 8: just just being a pros pro and being able to
Speaker 8: you know, be ready to go when the opportunity comes up.
Speaker 1: You overlapped with TJ. Slayton briefly in Green Bay your
Speaker 1: last year there, his first. What can you tell us
Speaker 1: about what the Bengals are getting in TJ Slayton.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you're getting a young guy with a lot of potential. Man.
Speaker 8: I feel like when I was there with TJ, like
Speaker 8: you just showed so much athleticism and his ability to
Speaker 8: you know, just replays and get to the ball, and
Speaker 8: that's to nasty is going to help us on defense.
Speaker 8: So excited to get back to work with him. Having
Speaker 8: reunited with him in a little bit.
Speaker 1: So you've faced the Bengals each of the last two years,
Speaker 1: would have been your impressions of Cincinnati being on the
Speaker 1: opposite side of the ball?
Speaker 8: Yeah, Man, a high powered offense obviously, Joe leading the way.
Speaker 8: I mean, I see him as a great leader, a
Speaker 8: guy that can get the ball out and get into
Speaker 8: playmaker's hands, and for me is just.
Speaker 3: Just don't know, just a great opportunity.
Speaker 8: Like I'm really like seeing this team from the far
Speaker 8: as the first time being the AFC for me, so
Speaker 8: a little bit different, but UH known them as a
Speaker 8: contender the last couple of years. So that's what I
Speaker 8: was looking for in free agency, is an opportunity to
Speaker 8: come and compete with the contender.
Speaker 1: We joked before I turned on the microphone that based
Speaker 1: on my research, nobody has played in three straight Super
Speaker 1: Bowls for three different teams. They're having guys that have
Speaker 1: played in three for three different teams, but not three
Speaker 1: years in a row.
Speaker 3: What do you think?
Speaker 1: I mean, I imagine you joined this team thinking that Cincinnati
Speaker 1: gives you a legitimate chance to do that.
Speaker 8: Yeah, I think it's definitely on the table. And it
Speaker 8: starts with OTA's coming up here soon. Just building that
Speaker 8: foundation that leads into the camp and leads, you know,
Speaker 8: to the to the ultimate, the big one in the
Speaker 8: super Bowl.
Speaker 3: So we got to take it one day at a time.
Speaker 3: But you know, we got all the pieces that we need.
Speaker 1: Who do you know on this roster if anybody?
Speaker 8: Yeah, so Logan we have the same Logan Wilson, we
Speaker 8: have the same agent, so I've kind of known him
Speaker 8: from that. And Tanner Hudson he trains in Nashville every
Speaker 8: once in a while, so have good relationship with him.
Speaker 8: He was with the Niners when I was out there
Speaker 8: as well, so in Devin Conquering as well as office
Speaker 8: a lineman that was at Vandy when I was there
Speaker 8: for a little bit.
Speaker 1: Your thirtieth birthday is coming up in a matter of days.
Speaker 1: You seem like a very young thirty. You've played in
Speaker 1: a lot of games, but haven't necessarily played a ton
Speaker 1: of snaps on defense. Do you feel like you haven't
Speaker 1: been exposed to as much wear and tear maybe as
Speaker 1: some guys with your experience in the league.
Speaker 3: Yes, and no.
Speaker 8: I feel like we did physicals earlier today and that
Speaker 8: was in and out for thirty minutes. So I was
Speaker 8: joking with them like going into your a if you
Speaker 8: got a quick physical, that's a great sign. So hopefully
Speaker 8: I can crank out a couple more years.
Speaker 3: Here in the league.
Speaker 8: And it's about longevity, you know, like I said, and
Speaker 8: just find a ways to add value taking care of
Speaker 8: your bodies and just being a pro, you know, taking
Speaker 8: care of everything that needs to be taken care of.
Speaker 1: Great to have you here in Cincinnati. Hope that Super
Speaker 1: Bowl Street continues next year.
Speaker 3: Let's do it.
Speaker 1: N Thanks to Warren Burks, and that's going to do it.
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Speaker 1: for listening to The Bengals Booth Podcast.