WEBVTT - Bengals Booth Podcast: Right Here Right Now 0:00:03.600 --> 0:00:06.479 I get everybody. I'm Dan Horde, and thanks for downloading 0:00:06.480 --> 0:00:12.719 the Bengals Booth Podcast the right here, right now. There 0:00:12.880 --> 0:00:18.840 is no other place I wanna be. Addition, as the 0:00:18.880 --> 0:00:21.799 Bengals look to capitalize on a six game stretch of 0:00:21.840 --> 0:00:24.400 their schedule in which four of the games are against 0:00:24.440 --> 0:00:29.240 teams with a combined record of nine and twenty eight Washington, 0:00:29.440 --> 0:00:33.400 the Giants, the Cowboys, and the Texans coming up, Dave 0:00:33.479 --> 0:00:36.199 Lapham joins me to discuss how the Bengals are handling 0:00:36.280 --> 0:00:40.800 positive COVID tests among players and coaches, and the teeter 0:00:40.960 --> 0:00:44.239 totter that aj Green and te Higgins have been on. 0:00:45.000 --> 0:00:47.760 My one on one player interview is with Mike Daniels, 0:00:47.760 --> 0:00:50.360 and we'll find out if he agrees with my prediction 0:00:50.880 --> 0:00:53.559 that he has headed toward a highly successful career in 0:00:53.640 --> 0:00:57.320 broadcasting when his playing days are finished. And in our 0:00:57.400 --> 0:01:00.960 know the faux segment, I'll ask Washington radio voice Bram 0:01:00.960 --> 0:01:07.160 Weinstein if he ever slips and accidentally says Redskins. The 0:01:07.240 --> 0:01:11.560 Bengals Booth Podcast is presented by Bud Light Seltzer. Refresh 0:01:11.720 --> 0:01:14.160 the game, and here's a quick reminder that you can 0:01:14.200 --> 0:01:17.600 have the latest edition of this podcast delivered right to 0:01:17.640 --> 0:01:21.400 your phone, tablet, or computer by subscribing on iTunes, Stitcher, 0:01:21.480 --> 0:01:25.560 Google Play, Spotify, or pod Bean. It's the greatest thing 0:01:25.680 --> 0:01:32.240 since none. During the pandemic, we've tried to support local 0:01:32.280 --> 0:01:35.360 restaurants by getting takeout once or twice a week, including 0:01:35.640 --> 0:01:39.759 occasional trips to our favorite Indian restaurant. I'm a big 0:01:39.800 --> 0:01:42.720 fan of Indian food, and for me, the best part 0:01:42.760 --> 0:01:47.240 of the meal is the non the oven baked flatbread. 0:01:47.920 --> 0:01:50.080 There used to be an Indian restaurant in town that 0:01:50.200 --> 0:01:54.760 served a non which a sandwich on none that might 0:01:54.800 --> 0:01:58.920 have been the greatest sandwich in history. So if you 0:01:58.960 --> 0:02:02.160 are a restaurant to or in the Cincinnati area, put 0:02:02.160 --> 0:02:04.800 a nonwich on your menu and I will beat a 0:02:04.880 --> 0:02:09.800 path to your door. Now let's get to my conversation 0:02:10.120 --> 0:02:13.720 with Dave Lapham. It's been a turbulent week and a 0:02:13.720 --> 0:02:17.040 half for the Bengals, largely due to COVID nineteen. They 0:02:17.080 --> 0:02:19.440 did not have Fred Johnson last week, they did not 0:02:19.560 --> 0:02:22.920 have Marcus Hunt last week. They did not have several 0:02:22.919 --> 0:02:26.519 of their coaches, including four that they thought they would 0:02:26.560 --> 0:02:30.839 have until game day. Stuff to overcome it is, I mean, 0:02:30.960 --> 0:02:34.440 you know they're they're flying out to Pittsburgh. Coach takes 0:02:34.440 --> 0:02:36.880 off his mask to eat. You know, they have their 0:02:36.919 --> 0:02:40.600 masks on even when they fly. Duffner's sitting across from 0:02:40.600 --> 0:02:45.399 them and a linebacker coach sitting behind them. Both those 0:02:45.400 --> 0:02:50.720 guys are contact traced, and I mean they're woken up 0:02:50.720 --> 0:02:53.200 like in the wee hours on the morning to tell them, 0:02:53.240 --> 0:02:56.359 you know, we've got a situation here. You guys are 0:02:56.560 --> 0:02:59.440 part of contact tracing. Stay in your rooms, quarantine until 0:02:59.480 --> 0:03:02.839 further no and then earlier a few hours later, they're 0:03:02.880 --> 0:03:05.880 told get rental cars, al golden and marked. After they 0:03:05.880 --> 0:03:08.840 have to get rental cars, one each drive back separately 0:03:09.240 --> 0:03:13.320 to Cincinnati. Crazy and Dan. When you have guys that 0:03:13.400 --> 0:03:17.560 were as experienced as these guys head coaches both have 0:03:17.639 --> 0:03:20.400 been former head coaches during the course of a game, 0:03:20.880 --> 0:03:24.800 I mean their eyes, experienced eyes are valuable. They're experienced, 0:03:25.480 --> 0:03:27.480 you know, just having all the experiences of being a 0:03:27.520 --> 0:03:30.040 head coach as well as coordinator and position coach and 0:03:30.080 --> 0:03:32.960 everything else for all those years. When you're making adjustments 0:03:32.960 --> 0:03:35.400 and adjustments to adjustments as that game goes on. That 0:03:35.400 --> 0:03:38.160 that's a factor, you know, and players like to come 0:03:38.200 --> 0:03:40.800 off the field and have the same coach that they're 0:03:40.800 --> 0:03:42.760 speaking to when they come off the field, and all 0:03:42.800 --> 0:03:44.920 that change. Am I saying that's the reason that Pittsburgh 0:03:44.960 --> 0:03:47.640 thumped them? Hell no, I mean they didn't do anything right. 0:03:47.680 --> 0:03:50.600 There's no any one of the three phases. Nobody in 0:03:50.680 --> 0:03:53.760 any of the three phases stepped up and played modicum 0:03:53.840 --> 0:03:56.600 of a game that would have been worthy of a 0:03:56.680 --> 0:04:00.000 victory in Pittsburgh. But all of these things are facts, 0:04:00.000 --> 0:04:02.080 and it certainly didn't help the cause. I can tell 0:04:02.120 --> 0:04:05.040 you that for sure. Because of the positive tests coming 0:04:05.040 --> 0:04:09.080 out of the buy. Nothing has been normal since. Their 0:04:09.360 --> 0:04:12.880 meetings have all been virtual, their practices have been disjointed. 0:04:12.920 --> 0:04:17.719 They've been wearing masks at practice. It's unprecedented. Teams have 0:04:17.880 --> 0:04:20.840 never gone through anything like this before. Let's hear from 0:04:20.920 --> 0:04:24.120 Von Bell about the Bengals trying to deal with these 0:04:24.160 --> 0:04:27.760 COVID issues. Man, we're in a weird time and you 0:04:27.839 --> 0:04:30.279 never know, how can you get the virus whatnot? And 0:04:31.080 --> 0:04:34.120 it's like it's weird. But when you get close contact, 0:04:34.120 --> 0:04:38.120 they track it with those tracers and and so you 0:04:38.160 --> 0:04:40.360 could be next to somebody for five minutes and then 0:04:40.400 --> 0:04:42.440 got do in close contact and you could be knocked 0:04:42.480 --> 0:04:45.960 out and it's always the next play, next man of mentality. 0:04:45.960 --> 0:04:48.560 It's like man, and it affects the whole group because 0:04:48.640 --> 0:04:51.360 of you know, we're not getting that time together. We 0:04:51.360 --> 0:04:54.200 could spend the meetings and really break down of how 0:04:54.240 --> 0:04:57.800 can we do this and get detailed and what can 0:04:57.839 --> 0:05:00.719 we do in the game because all on zoom and 0:05:00.800 --> 0:05:05.640 you're not getting enough reps sometimes and it's just crazy, man. 0:05:05.760 --> 0:05:08.279 So you know, you just gotta find a way because 0:05:08.320 --> 0:05:11.320 nobody cares about that. Like my old coach's telling me, Man, 0:05:11.400 --> 0:05:14.239 ninety percent of the world I don't care about your problems. 0:05:14.240 --> 0:05:16.640 Ten percent care that you got them, and we just 0:05:16.680 --> 0:05:19.280 gotta figure out to produce on Sunday and then that's 0:05:19.560 --> 0:05:21.599 that's that's the end of it, and we just gotta 0:05:21.640 --> 0:05:27.160 find a way. Let's talk specifically about zoom meetings. Everybody 0:05:27.160 --> 0:05:29.320 and just about every walk of life is doing them 0:05:29.360 --> 0:05:32.080 these days. But when it comes to a game plan 0:05:32.200 --> 0:05:34.760 and a team football setting, how much do you think 0:05:34.800 --> 0:05:38.960 they're missing by not being in a room discussing exactly 0:05:39.040 --> 0:05:41.520 what they're going to do against the next opponent. Well, 0:05:41.520 --> 0:05:45.599 I mean, you know you can you can still follow 0:05:45.640 --> 0:05:48.440 the grease board in a zoom with the coach up 0:05:48.480 --> 0:05:51.000 there at the grease board. You can watch tape, you know, 0:05:51.080 --> 0:05:56.600 on zoom with a coach. It's you know, the meetings. 0:05:56.640 --> 0:05:59.800 That's the big thing to me is when they go 0:05:59.839 --> 0:06:01.560 on in the field, like you said, they go out 0:06:01.560 --> 0:06:04.320 and shifts. So the offense will come in, and the 0:06:04.400 --> 0:06:08.160 offense go out for a walkthrough, they'll leave, Defense comes in, 0:06:08.440 --> 0:06:11.080 defense goes out for a walkthrough, they leave, and then 0:06:11.080 --> 0:06:14.360 they all reconvene a few hours later for a practice 0:06:14.920 --> 0:06:20.080 and uh so, and right now they're in the stiffest 0:06:20.080 --> 0:06:24.160 protocols possible because they've had positive tests. So that's that's 0:06:24.200 --> 0:06:27.200 the stiffest scenario schedule wives that you can go through. 0:06:27.680 --> 0:06:29.800 Pittsburgh was going through it. That's why with Ben not 0:06:29.960 --> 0:06:33.960 practice or you know, he had treatment. That's all he 0:06:34.000 --> 0:06:36.320 was going to do anyway, and he went out and played. Well, 0:06:36.360 --> 0:06:38.600 I'm gonna not take credit away from for doing that, 0:06:38.600 --> 0:06:40.599 but I think that whole thing was overrated. He couldn't 0:06:40.600 --> 0:06:42.840 have done any more than he did anyway. COVID or 0:06:42.839 --> 0:06:45.320 no COVID and he's in his seventeenth year. Yeah, I 0:06:45.360 --> 0:06:47.960 mean there's there's no that was no. Uh that was 0:06:48.880 --> 0:06:51.840 Everybody's like, oh, my gosh, it's just unbelievable. Ben didn't practice. 0:06:52.000 --> 0:06:55.280 Ben hasn't practiced a bunch of weeks during the course 0:06:55.279 --> 0:06:57.080 of his seventeen year career and then gone out and 0:06:57.120 --> 0:07:00.200 played on game day. Right, he said so many times 0:07:00.200 --> 0:07:04.039 he just stands behind watching the other quarterbacks, and that's helpful. Yeah, 0:07:04.080 --> 0:07:08.080 but yeah, he's getting mental reps, you know. And you know, 0:07:08.120 --> 0:07:11.280 the bottom line was, in my opinion after watching it again, 0:07:11.720 --> 0:07:15.720 the Bengals played zone every time. You know, Pittsburgh went 0:07:15.840 --> 0:07:19.160 jet sweep motioning guys. Nobody went with them, so they 0:07:19.200 --> 0:07:22.760 knew right away of the playing zone defense. And they're 0:07:22.800 --> 0:07:27.960 just playing soft. I mean, forget cushion. They were giving 0:07:28.000 --> 0:07:31.240 counties up. It wasn't just cushion. And part of that 0:07:31.400 --> 0:07:34.400 is if you're getting beaten, you know, I remember coaches 0:07:35.240 --> 0:07:38.720 many times pushing the defensive backs in practice, get up there, 0:07:39.040 --> 0:07:40.760 get up there. I don't want you given an eight 0:07:40.800 --> 0:07:43.040 yard cushion. I'm talking like four yards. What do you 0:07:43.040 --> 0:07:46.480 do well your natural instinct when you think that you've 0:07:46.480 --> 0:07:48.840 got a guy that's a good receiver in Pittsburgh had 0:07:48.880 --> 0:07:51.240 three of them, and the defensive backs that were playing 0:07:51.280 --> 0:07:55.000 a corner weren't necessarily all starting corners. Your tendency is 0:07:55.040 --> 0:07:59.400 to back up. I remember one time in an All 0:07:59.400 --> 0:08:01.920 Star game, had a cornerback that was getting torched by 0:08:01.920 --> 0:08:04.120 this wide receiver who's damn good on the other team, 0:08:04.160 --> 0:08:06.880 obviously going to a big Division one school. The kid 0:08:07.000 --> 0:08:09.520 lined up from the they have the ball at the 0:08:09.520 --> 0:08:12.480 eight yard line. The receiver lines up our defensive backs 0:08:12.480 --> 0:08:14.760 two yards in the end zone. He's given him ten yards. 0:08:14.760 --> 0:08:17.400 Be's so scared. It's like, there's no field from to 0:08:17.480 --> 0:08:19.520 run behind you. What are you doing? But he's Your 0:08:19.800 --> 0:08:22.320 natural reaction is to back up, and that's what the 0:08:22.320 --> 0:08:24.440 Bengals were doing in the secondary. When I watched this, like, 0:08:24.480 --> 0:08:29.200 oh my gosh, they just basically didn't didn't really feel 0:08:29.200 --> 0:08:31.280 like I can make place here. I got all the 0:08:31.320 --> 0:08:33.120 confidence in the world. I mean, they were they were 0:08:33.160 --> 0:08:37.679 playing defensive defense. I mean they weren't. They weren't playing 0:08:37.679 --> 0:08:40.160 offensive defense. I can tell you that they weren't aggressive. 0:08:40.200 --> 0:08:42.880 They were very, very not aggressive in their posture, and 0:08:42.920 --> 0:08:46.360 Ben took full advantage of it. But yeah, it's it's 0:08:46.440 --> 0:08:49.839 it's crazy, crazy times. There's no other way to put it. 0:08:49.840 --> 0:08:55.400 It's whatever can Murphy's Law is twenty twenty with COVID nineteen. 0:08:55.440 --> 0:08:57.840 Whatever can happen will happen, and you better be ready 0:08:57.840 --> 0:09:01.040 for all of it. And you know, Zach mentioned earlier 0:09:01.080 --> 0:09:05.800 today on Zoom conference calls that press conferences that you know, 0:09:06.000 --> 0:09:08.959 during training camp they had all these things in place. 0:09:09.040 --> 0:09:11.160 If this guy goes down, this guy's taken it, and 0:09:11.240 --> 0:09:13.200 every team had to do that. You have to go 0:09:13.320 --> 0:09:17.360 all the way through your coaching staff and have plan B, C, 0:09:17.720 --> 0:09:19.920 D all the way to z. Yeah, it's one thing 0:09:19.960 --> 0:09:22.720 to make a plan, it's another thing to actually have 0:09:22.920 --> 0:09:25.360 to do it or the guy that's never done that 0:09:25.480 --> 0:09:29.359 job before. I also wonder about the state of anxiety 0:09:30.120 --> 0:09:32.440 because of the positive tests and all the things that 0:09:32.480 --> 0:09:34.760 have happened over the last nine or ten days. We 0:09:34.880 --> 0:09:38.720 get tested once a week as NFL Tier three employees. 0:09:39.000 --> 0:09:42.000 So we got to Paul Brown Stadium. There's a trailer outside, 0:09:42.120 --> 0:09:44.680 You go into the trailer, you get your test, you 0:09:44.840 --> 0:09:48.360 leave immediately, and then sometime overnight you get an email 0:09:49.000 --> 0:09:51.600 that your results are in. You go to this website, 0:09:51.640 --> 0:09:54.240 you check the website and you get your result. And 0:09:54.720 --> 0:09:57.440 I've had no symptoms. I feel great. Nobody in my 0:09:57.480 --> 0:10:01.120 immediate family has tested positive and Yeah, there's always a 0:10:01.160 --> 0:10:04.920 tiny bet of anxiety for me when I click that link, 0:10:05.440 --> 0:10:08.960 just to know for sure that I'm not positive. Yeah, 0:10:09.000 --> 0:10:12.520 I mean, it's it's unfortunately, it's a fact of COVID life. 0:10:12.760 --> 0:10:15.720 You know, it's it's the uncertain. Here's what you're dealing with, 0:10:16.240 --> 0:10:20.199 and it is it's an unusual time. And as said 0:10:20.280 --> 0:10:22.920 from the very beginning of this, the teams and the 0:10:23.679 --> 0:10:27.760 coaches and players that can pivot the best and avoid 0:10:28.880 --> 0:10:32.400 over infection of COVID nineteen are the ones that are 0:10:32.400 --> 0:10:35.880 gonna gonna survive in advance. It's a it's a it's 0:10:35.920 --> 0:10:39.600 a much different ballgame. There's no doubt. Last week's lost 0:10:39.640 --> 0:10:42.240 in Pittsburgh wasn't a good day for anybody, but it 0:10:42.280 --> 0:10:45.280 was a particularly tough day for AJ Green. He was 0:10:45.320 --> 0:10:48.200 targeted five times in that game and did not have 0:10:48.679 --> 0:10:52.240 a single catch. Here's head coach Zach Taylor on the 0:10:52.280 --> 0:10:55.559 status of AJ Green. We have a really deep receiving 0:10:55.600 --> 0:10:59.600 corps and so it's a benefit for the quarterback where 0:10:59.640 --> 0:11:01.480 he doesn't have to be dialed into just trying to 0:11:01.480 --> 0:11:04.240 get a ball to somebody. He can just throw to 0:11:04.280 --> 0:11:07.040 the open man. And you know, so again it's just 0:11:07.080 --> 0:11:08.800 it's part of the way it goes. I've kind of 0:11:08.800 --> 0:11:10.560 predicted that this could happen for a couple of guys 0:11:10.600 --> 0:11:13.560 as the season goes, where a guy has eight catches 0:11:13.600 --> 0:11:15.240 one game and has zero the next game, you know, 0:11:15.280 --> 0:11:17.559 And so again we just are careful enough to overreact 0:11:17.600 --> 0:11:20.880 to that. Aj Green did have eight catches in one game, 0:11:20.960 --> 0:11:24.040 the Indianapolis game, eight catches for ninety six yards. Came 0:11:24.080 --> 0:11:26.719 back the next week had seven catches and a very 0:11:26.760 --> 0:11:30.160 solid game against the Cleveland Browns. But really that's been 0:11:30.200 --> 0:11:33.320 it this year. Yeah, it's still still kind of a 0:11:33.320 --> 0:11:35.320 work in progress. The one thing I will say is 0:11:35.320 --> 0:11:37.440 he's drawn the number one corner again, you know, I 0:11:37.480 --> 0:11:40.920 mean he was, he was matched up in that scenario. So, 0:11:41.679 --> 0:11:44.079 like we said before, he used to draw the number 0:11:44.080 --> 0:11:46.480 one as well as tilting his safety over there. That 0:11:46.760 --> 0:11:50.000 is not happening as much. I think they paid a 0:11:50.000 --> 0:11:52.480 lot of attention to Tyler Boyd and as a result, 0:11:52.600 --> 0:11:55.360 he Higgins benefited. So there's a trickle down, you know, 0:11:55.440 --> 0:11:57.679 trickle up, trickle down. When you have three good ones, 0:11:58.240 --> 0:12:00.080 you know, you can't double all of them. Somebody's going 0:12:00.120 --> 0:12:01.839 to have the day. Who are they? Who are they 0:12:01.840 --> 0:12:04.079 going to try to take out of the game, and 0:12:04.120 --> 0:12:06.640 who are they going to try to see who can 0:12:06.800 --> 0:12:08.640 they might be able to handle more one on one. 0:12:09.000 --> 0:12:11.600 They do feel like most teams do feel like putting 0:12:11.640 --> 0:12:14.640 their number one corner on AJ eliminates them and then 0:12:14.720 --> 0:12:17.840 they can play accordingly coverage wives with the other guys. 0:12:17.880 --> 0:12:21.400 So until AJ starts UH, you know, ramping it up 0:12:21.400 --> 0:12:23.679 a little bit in terms of production and UH and 0:12:23.800 --> 0:12:26.960 makes people change their mind. It is good to get 0:12:26.960 --> 0:12:32.160 that number one corner removed from the process, but like 0:12:32.240 --> 0:12:34.360 to see AJ break out of it. Do you think 0:12:34.400 --> 0:12:36.840 he has lost a half a step because he's thirty 0:12:36.880 --> 0:12:39.120 two or because he missed the last year and a half. 0:12:39.480 --> 0:12:42.840 I think it's both. I think it's at the double whammy. 0:12:42.960 --> 0:12:45.720 You know, when you lose when you're when you're off 0:12:45.760 --> 0:12:47.760 the field and out of the game for that long 0:12:47.800 --> 0:12:50.680 a time frame, and you're also hitting that magic year 0:12:50.720 --> 0:12:53.640 of thirty and you know, getting into those into those 0:12:53.640 --> 0:12:58.480 early adult years as such, it's hard. So I think 0:12:58.520 --> 0:13:02.080 it is a combination, and it's it's a combination you 0:13:02.120 --> 0:13:04.640 don't want to have to experience. And I think he's 0:13:04.720 --> 0:13:08.160 going through the process now of having experienced it and 0:13:08.200 --> 0:13:10.840 trying to come out the other end on the flip side. 0:13:10.920 --> 0:13:13.800 Te Higgins had the best game of his NFL career, 0:13:13.800 --> 0:13:15.840 at least in terms of catches. He had a career 0:13:15.920 --> 0:13:19.280 high seven grabs, targeted nine times, finished with one hundred 0:13:19.280 --> 0:13:23.320 and fifteen receiving yards, including a touchdown. Let's hear from 0:13:23.400 --> 0:13:26.640 Tyler Boyd on his rookie teammate, te Higgins. He really 0:13:26.679 --> 0:13:29.280 can be a very special player in this league. You know, 0:13:29.320 --> 0:13:33.040 he just gotta be more detail in a few things. 0:13:33.080 --> 0:13:35.640 I mean, that's saw a rookies have to work on. 0:13:36.120 --> 0:13:38.280 But I think I think he's hit it in the 0:13:38.360 --> 0:13:41.719 right direction so far. So the the skuy thelema for him. 0:13:42.040 --> 0:13:44.800 We were told before this draft that it might be 0:13:44.880 --> 0:13:49.480 the best wide receiver crop in history. Man, it looks 0:13:49.480 --> 0:13:51.920 like they got that right because most of the guys 0:13:51.920 --> 0:13:53.880 that were selected in the first two rounds are having 0:13:53.960 --> 0:13:57.800 fantastic rookie years. Yeah, they really are. And U te Higgins, 0:13:57.800 --> 0:14:00.400 I think Tyler Boyd hit it on the head, you know, 0:14:00.440 --> 0:14:03.400 a little more attention to detail. First play the game 0:14:03.760 --> 0:14:06.840 penalty a little bit later in the game fumble and 0:14:06.960 --> 0:14:09.800 that's stunned te Higgins. I mean, he does not fumble. 0:14:09.840 --> 0:14:12.640 He hadn't fumbled a while, and he was like wooh, 0:14:12.640 --> 0:14:14.320 but he got over it. You know, the thing is 0:14:14.440 --> 0:14:16.839 he had the penalty and had the fumble. Two things 0:14:16.880 --> 0:14:18.200 you don't want to do. You don't want to cost 0:14:18.240 --> 0:14:19.880 your team yards. You don't want to cost your team 0:14:19.920 --> 0:14:23.520 to football. And what did he do? Responded to the diversity? 0:14:23.880 --> 0:14:26.800 Made plays. You know, it's good to see him have 0:14:26.960 --> 0:14:32.440 that mental toughness to absorb when it's not going well, compartmentalized, 0:14:32.520 --> 0:14:35.640 move on and play. And he played well. So a 0:14:35.640 --> 0:14:38.960 lot of positives there. Eliminate those couple of negatives and 0:14:39.000 --> 0:14:42.120 you'd have as good a game as you can possibly have. 0:14:42.480 --> 0:14:44.200 He's on a pace to have more than a thousand 0:14:44.240 --> 0:14:48.240 receiving yards his rookie year. Tyler Boyd. His success obviously 0:14:48.280 --> 0:14:51.160 speaks for itself. He's got sixty catches this season for 0:14:51.400 --> 0:14:55.040 that third spot. Obviously, AJ is still the guy for now. 0:14:55.320 --> 0:14:58.440 But do the Bengals have to consider rotating Odd and 0:14:58.520 --> 0:15:01.760 Tate in more frequently or Mike Thomas in that spot. 0:15:02.520 --> 0:15:05.800 I don't know. I don't think it's to that point yet, um, 0:15:05.840 --> 0:15:07.920 but you know, I mean, at some point in time, 0:15:07.920 --> 0:15:10.680 it's a meritocracy. You know, and I think AJS is 0:15:10.680 --> 0:15:13.480 acutely aware of that as anybody. The Bengals are one 0:15:13.520 --> 0:15:15.280 of six teams in the NFL. They have three different 0:15:15.280 --> 0:15:17.760 guys with five hundred scrimmage yards and more. AJ is 0:15:17.800 --> 0:15:21.640 automatic in that in that role. Call not this year, 0:15:22.080 --> 0:15:26.200 it's it's mixing Still and Boyden Higgins and AJ Green 0:15:26.760 --> 0:15:28.880 and doesn't even have four hundred yards, you know if 0:15:28.920 --> 0:15:33.560 scrimmage yards just barely over three hundred. So he's at 0:15:33.600 --> 0:15:37.080 a different place on the totem pole. But you know, 0:15:37.120 --> 0:15:40.280 I'd love to love to see him have a breakout game, 0:15:40.640 --> 0:15:43.560 uh when when it's least expected. I'd like to see 0:15:43.600 --> 0:15:45.640 it happen more than once. I'd love to see it 0:15:45.680 --> 0:15:47.760 happen against one of the division opponents that have left 0:15:47.760 --> 0:15:50.520 Pittsburgh in Baltimore, because he's had those kind of games 0:15:50.560 --> 0:15:53.760 against him before. Twenty nine year old Quentin Spain was 0:15:53.800 --> 0:15:56.400 picked up a few weeks ago after being let go 0:15:56.480 --> 0:15:59.000 by the Buffalo Bills, and he certainly had an interesting 0:15:59.040 --> 0:16:01.960 first two games as a member of the Bengals. After 0:16:02.080 --> 0:16:04.520 joining the team on a Friday, he wound up playing 0:16:04.560 --> 0:16:07.560 most of the game in the victory over the Tennessee Titans, 0:16:07.600 --> 0:16:11.000 and then this past week, due to the absences of 0:16:11.120 --> 0:16:13.960 Bobby Hart and Fred Johnson, the Bengal's top two options 0:16:13.960 --> 0:16:17.320 at right tackle, he had to play that position really 0:16:17.640 --> 0:16:20.040 for the first time in an NFL game. He'd played 0:16:20.040 --> 0:16:23.680 a handful of snaps, but nothing significant until last week, 0:16:24.000 --> 0:16:28.000 and he played extremely well. Here's Michael Jordan on his 0:16:28.200 --> 0:16:32.720 new teammate Quentin Spain. It doesn't even compare how impressed 0:16:32.760 --> 0:16:35.560 I am. I mean, oh, my goodness for him. So 0:16:36.200 --> 0:16:38.160 I was supposed to play against the Titans and I 0:16:38.200 --> 0:16:42.680 went down sick with colleidis, and you know, he just 0:16:42.800 --> 0:16:46.240 got there. What there had to be three days, three days, 0:16:46.320 --> 0:16:48.280 knee comes in. He has a hell of the game. 0:16:48.800 --> 0:16:50.960 I was like, this guy is the real deal. I 0:16:51.040 --> 0:16:53.040 need to learn as much as possible from him. So 0:16:53.120 --> 0:16:57.360 I'm truly impressed by him and his experience as a 0:16:57.440 --> 0:17:02.080 veteran offensive linement in NFL. What was more impressive coming 0:17:02.120 --> 0:17:04.520 in and playing in two days or going out and 0:17:04.560 --> 0:17:09.960 playing right tackle. Well, they're both impressive, honestly, and I 0:17:10.040 --> 0:17:12.640 thought he did a tremendous job at right tackle as well. 0:17:13.280 --> 0:17:18.720 Quinton Spain, he knows, he knows defenses, he knows you 0:17:18.800 --> 0:17:23.080 know the playbook, and he knows how to react to 0:17:23.160 --> 0:17:26.320 different defenses on what they're doing. So he's just an 0:17:26.320 --> 0:17:30.160 impressive guy all around. How well did he do it right? Tackle? 0:17:30.840 --> 0:17:34.120 Very well? I mean, what is legit? And a couple 0:17:34.119 --> 0:17:36.800 of times he buckled him, I mean he covered him up. 0:17:36.840 --> 0:17:39.560 He did a good job. Now you know, a couple 0:17:39.600 --> 0:17:41.960 of sacks to what gout. One of them was on 0:17:42.000 --> 0:17:46.240 a twist, a te twist tackle penetrated Redman staying on 0:17:46.280 --> 0:17:47.760 the tackle a little bit too long when he hit 0:17:47.920 --> 0:17:50.760 them off to Spain and what being so quick, Redman 0:17:50.800 --> 0:17:54.119 couldn't react back inside, So that doesn't go as a 0:17:54.720 --> 0:17:57.600 downgrade to Spain because he was blocking the tackle that 0:17:57.640 --> 0:18:00.119 he ended up having to block. And you know the 0:18:00.160 --> 0:18:04.600 other sack that Watt was involved with, Joe Barrows climbing 0:18:04.640 --> 0:18:06.560 the pocket. He kind of clouded with Trey Hopkins a 0:18:06.600 --> 0:18:08.720 little bit and held on to the ball probably a 0:18:08.760 --> 0:18:11.520 little bit too longer than than would have liked. And uh, 0:18:11.760 --> 0:18:15.399 eventually walk got a piece of that action. But I mean, Spain, 0:18:15.480 --> 0:18:22.120 to me, this is the most unusual and incredible storyline 0:18:22.240 --> 0:18:25.240 an offensive lineman's ever had here in this franchise. They 0:18:25.240 --> 0:18:29.560 come off the Street and in three days Friday Saturday, 0:18:29.680 --> 0:18:32.800 play on Sunday. I have a walkthrough on Saturday and 0:18:32.880 --> 0:18:36.199 a coach's office with other coaches and other players in 0:18:36.240 --> 0:18:39.520 the offensive line. Tells me that what he's got Dan 0:18:40.160 --> 0:18:43.520 is he's got the feel for the game. He's got instincts. 0:18:43.560 --> 0:18:47.359 He sees the big picture, I mean the total picture, 0:18:47.880 --> 0:18:51.760 though the picture window. It's it's not a little porthole. 0:18:51.800 --> 0:18:55.080 He sees it all. And Willie Anderson was like that. 0:18:55.280 --> 0:18:57.359 Willie saw the game, you know, and a lot of 0:18:57.359 --> 0:19:01.600 guys in Spain, Spain has that has that ability, and 0:19:01.680 --> 0:19:05.200 Adenogy as well. I mean he's playing next to Adenagy 0:19:05.600 --> 0:19:08.080 in the Tennessee game and then the bye week and 0:19:08.119 --> 0:19:11.320 then he's a bookend tackle with a Dentagy And as 0:19:11.400 --> 0:19:14.159 Dennis Green said, they were who we thought they were 0:19:14.200 --> 0:19:16.520 and we let him off the hook. Identagy is who 0:19:16.560 --> 0:19:18.680 I thought he was. And once he actually got a 0:19:18.760 --> 0:19:20.480 chance to go in a game and play without any 0:19:20.520 --> 0:19:23.880 preseason games, he's who I thought he was. Identagy has 0:19:23.920 --> 0:19:26.800 done a good job at left tackle. And if Jonah 0:19:26.800 --> 0:19:29.359 Williams could have if he could have played instead of 0:19:29.359 --> 0:19:31.440 just being an emergency guid, Adenagy would have been the 0:19:31.560 --> 0:19:33.520 right tackle. Jonah would have been the left tackle, but 0:19:33.600 --> 0:19:36.399 Identagy stayed at left tackle, and they said, ask Spain, 0:19:36.920 --> 0:19:41.439 He's like, let's go. And I thought Identagy acquitted himself 0:19:41.440 --> 0:19:45.400 well with Dupris and uh, I thought that Spain did 0:19:45.600 --> 0:19:48.399 well with Wat as well. Michael Jordan's the left guard, 0:19:48.560 --> 0:19:51.480 Alex Redman is the right guard. Do you see those 0:19:51.520 --> 0:19:54.359 two guys holding off Quentin Spain for a starting spot 0:19:54.400 --> 0:19:56.040 the rest of the way this year? That's a that's 0:19:56.040 --> 0:19:59.520 a great question what I would do. And you know, 0:19:59.600 --> 0:20:03.040 I'm I'm a believer in if you have shown you 0:20:03.040 --> 0:20:07.520 can play, play him some rottum in why not play 0:20:07.560 --> 0:20:10.879 all three of them? Just rote every every series. You know, 0:20:11.320 --> 0:20:15.359 two guys play one sits, then just rotate them, rotate 0:20:15.440 --> 0:20:18.920 them every series in there, because at some point somebody's 0:20:18.960 --> 0:20:21.720 gonna go down again, whether it's COVID nineteen injury or whatever. 0:20:22.320 --> 0:20:25.960 And it's like we talked about before Major League Baseball. 0:20:26.000 --> 0:20:28.760 You're a utility guy. You don't sit them and then 0:20:28.800 --> 0:20:31.080 you know, for like twenty five thirty games and then 0:20:31.160 --> 0:20:32.840 expect him to come right off the bench and be 0:20:32.920 --> 0:20:35.159 the guy that he you know normally is you have 0:20:35.200 --> 0:20:37.399 to let him. You have to let him still go 0:20:37.480 --> 0:20:40.719 out there and perform. So I think there might be 0:20:40.760 --> 0:20:44.120 in that situation in a couple of categories. I mean, 0:20:44.720 --> 0:20:47.760 in my mind, when Bobby Heart's back, and you know 0:20:48.040 --> 0:20:53.439 in Jonah Identagy, rotat them, rotate those three. I have 0:20:53.520 --> 0:20:55.960 no problem. If there are seven or eight linemen that 0:20:56.040 --> 0:21:01.720 can play, let them play. We know Bengals are patient 0:21:01.880 --> 0:21:04.920 with coaches, to say the least, and this is only 0:21:05.000 --> 0:21:08.080 year two for Zach Taylor, but at some point every 0:21:08.119 --> 0:21:11.720 coach needs to win games, and so far Zach's record 0:21:11.800 --> 0:21:15.639 is four twenty and one. Well, it's gonna have some 0:21:15.680 --> 0:21:18.480 opportunity to add some wins to that ledger in the 0:21:18.520 --> 0:21:20.679 weeks to come, because three of the next four games 0:21:20.680 --> 0:21:23.879 are against three of the lousiest teams in the NFL 0:21:23.960 --> 0:21:27.639 so far this season. Washington this week two and seven, 0:21:28.119 --> 0:21:31.080 then the Giants three and seven. A couple of weeks 0:21:31.119 --> 0:21:34.600 after that Dallas currently two and seven. Houston is still 0:21:34.600 --> 0:21:37.639 on the schedule this year. The Texans are two and seven. 0:21:38.040 --> 0:21:41.520