Speaker 1: Hig and everybody.
Speaker 2: I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading The Bengals Booth Podcast.
Speaker 2: The With a little lock addition, as the preseason gets
Speaker 2: underway with a three point loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers,
Speaker 2: coming up radio replays Zach Taylor's postgame comments and postgame
Speaker 2: analysis from Dave Lappham. Then, in this week's fun Facts Conversation,
Speaker 2: you'll get to know a rookie quarterback with the greatest
Speaker 2: name in football history. The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought
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Speaker 2: Fiber Internet designed to elevate your home, business and community
Speaker 2: to a new level, and by Kettering Health the best
Speaker 2: care for the best fans. Kettering Health is the official
Speaker 2: healthcare provider of the Bengals. Now here's a quick reminder
Speaker 2: that you can have the latest edition of this podcast
Speaker 2: delivered right to your phone, tablet, or by subscribing wherever
Speaker 2: you get your podcasts. It's the greatest thing since Greater's
Speaker 2: ice cream test batches when my friends and Greaters come
Speaker 2: out with a new flavor, as they did this year
Speaker 2: with banana pudding and Hawaiian wedding cake. They don't just
Speaker 2: make a batch and put it in a store. They tinker,
Speaker 2: test and taste until they get it just right. Well,
Speaker 2: this week I got to taste a test batch of
Speaker 2: Coffee Oreo ice cream and it was absolutely sensational. That
Speaker 2: doesn't mean that it's going to be a Greater's flavor.
Speaker 2: It was just a test. But if it happens someday,
Speaker 2: my advice to you would be to run, not walk,
Speaker 2: to your nearest Greater scoop shop. Now, let's get to
Speaker 2: the radio replays of Saturday's pre season opener. It's been
Speaker 2: nearly nine months since Joe Burrow tore a ligament in
Speaker 2: his right wrist and a gloomy Thursday night in Baltimore.
Speaker 2: But after surgery, rehab, a Paris fashion show, and a
Speaker 2: blond buzz cut, one of the NFL's biggest stars returns
Speaker 2: to action tonight as the Bengals open preseason play against
Speaker 2: the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And it is time for the
Speaker 2: pig skin to fly. Here at pay Corpse Stadium, Third
Speaker 2: down and five at the forty two of Tampa Bay,
Speaker 2: the Bengals go empty three receivers left two out to
Speaker 2: the right. Burro waiting for the shotgun snap. Joe Catches
Speaker 2: at the forty eight, drops back to midfield. Fire downfield
Speaker 2: caught by yoc Bosh, and he streaks toward the far
Speaker 2: sideline for a first down. He's knocked on the bounds
Speaker 2: at the nineteen of Tampa Bay the nickel corner Tyke Smith,
Speaker 2: getting him to the ground. Second in goal from the
Speaker 2: ten yard line. Tee Higgins motions from right to left
Speaker 2: and lines up wide to the left. Burrough throws for Higgins,
Speaker 2: catches at the five, makes a man miss and runs
Speaker 2: into the un zone.
Speaker 3: Touchdown.
Speaker 2: Bengals has t Higgins eluded Josh Hayes and scored the
Speaker 2: ten yard TD.
Speaker 1: How about that your nash for a better drive for
Speaker 1: the number ones, Joe Burrow and company are done for
Speaker 1: the night clock.
Speaker 2: Running one forty three left in the first quarter. Trask
Speaker 2: standing back at the ten as he waits for the
Speaker 2: shotgun snap. He has the ball, hands it off to
Speaker 2: Irving running right up the middle of the field, and
Speaker 2: he takes it into the end zone for a five
Speaker 2: yard Tampa Bay touchdown. Shotgun snap Trask with a deep
Speaker 2: drop he throws before getting.
Speaker 3: Huh, and it is interceptingent fig Newton, the rookie out
Speaker 3: of TCU, with tremendous coverage, and he comes away with
Speaker 3: the interception at the thirty four yard line.
Speaker 1: You darn touton love fig Newton.
Speaker 2: Second down and two clock running three forty three left
Speaker 2: in the fourth court of the Bengals, down by three.
Speaker 2: They are in field goal range. Woodside throwing deep to
Speaker 2: left top line.
Speaker 3: Has a man open, caught at the five Burton to
Speaker 3: the end zone. Touchdown. But there's a penalty flag down
Speaker 3: too before the.
Speaker 1: Pass illegal contact defense number twenty one. That penalty has
Speaker 1: to climb touch side. So in the play stands and
Speaker 1: Burton obviously, I mean the guy. The guy has first
Speaker 1: round talent. How about woodside? How about the drive that
Speaker 1: this guy put together, mental toughness and he threw a
Speaker 1: beautiful ball right here. Safety couldn't get there in time.
Speaker 3: Big throw, big.
Speaker 2: Catch, thirty seven yards, dropped it right into the bucket
Speaker 2: at the five yard line to Jermaine Burton, and he
Speaker 2: took it across the goal line to give the Bengals
Speaker 2: the lead with three thirty three to go, sixty nine
Speaker 2: seconds left in the game. Fourth down, and twelve coming
Speaker 2: up for the Buccaneers, who break the huddle and head
Speaker 2: toward the seventeen yard line where the ball is waiting.
Speaker 2: Cincinnati leading fourteen to ten. The Buccaneers go empty. Three
Speaker 2: receivers right, two out to the left, four down linemen
Speaker 2: for the Bengals. Shotgun snap Wolford with a short drop
Speaker 2: turns it into the end zone in complete, but a
Speaker 2: penalty fly down at the two yard line.
Speaker 1: Defensive pass interppearance.
Speaker 2: Wolford under center. It's a run to the left. Robinson
Speaker 2: does not get in, but he's close and he is in.
Speaker 1: Uh. Never blew it dead. Never blew it dead. They
Speaker 1: just kept pushing and giving him a touchdown.
Speaker 2: Fifty seconds to go, three timeouts remaining. Shotgun snap Woodside
Speaker 2: with a deep drop, fires deep for Burden.
Speaker 3: He has been and he makes the catch about at
Speaker 3: the twenty five yard line of Tampa Bay, over the
Speaker 3: top of Andrew Hayes.
Speaker 2: The Bengals will call a time out. With forty seconds
Speaker 2: to go, Bengals need to get to the fourteen yard
Speaker 2: line to extend the drive. Burton goes out to the
Speaker 2: lef left lassiter and prior out to the right Woodside
Speaker 2: waits for the shotgun snap. He has the ball, he
Speaker 2: drops back. It's a five step drop. He begins scrambling left.
Speaker 2: Logan wood Side running down the left sideline, grabbed from
Speaker 2: behind and tackled at the seventeen yard line. He's three
Speaker 2: yards short. Man Buccaneers in the victory formation with nineteen
Speaker 2: seconds left. Wolford takes the snap and takes a knee
Speaker 2: and the Bengals will not use one of their two
Speaker 2: remaining timeouts. Final score the Tampa Bay Buccaneers seventeen and
Speaker 2: the Cincinnati Bengals fourteen. Here are some postgame stats. Joe
Speaker 2: Burrow is five for seven for fifty one yards in
Speaker 2: a touchdown in what could be his only preseason action
Speaker 2: since the Bengals have joint practices coming up before their
Speaker 2: final two preseason games. Third string quarterback Logan Woodside did
Speaker 2: a nice job, going eight for twelve for one hundred
Speaker 2: and forty nine yards in a touchdown, and Jermaine Burton
Speaker 2: certainly had an impressive debut with three catches for eighty
Speaker 2: two yards, including a thirty seven yard score. On defense,
Speaker 2: undrafted rookie linebacker Muma john Meta led the team with
Speaker 2: ten tackles Dax Hill broke up three passes, and defensive
Speaker 2: tackle Travis Bell was a menace late in the game
Speaker 2: with three tackles and a sack. Now, let's hear from
Speaker 2: head coach Zach Taylor. We spent a few minutes with
Speaker 2: Lap after the game.
Speaker 1: Logan Woodside put together a pretty nice performance heat for
Speaker 1: twelve hundred and forty nine yards in a touchdown.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I thought he did a great job. You know,
Speaker 4: he energized the offense, moved the ball, gave us some opportunities.
Speaker 4: They had the touchdown pass obviously, and then took us
Speaker 4: down there right on the brink again. So it was
Speaker 4: pleased from that extending some plays. Found the backs did
Speaker 4: a really nice show.
Speaker 1: First first drive, you go twelve plays over seventy yards
Speaker 1: for a touchdown, and then defense goes three and out. So,
Speaker 1: I mean, when you had your number ones and there
Speaker 1: was a pretty good night for you, that's good.
Speaker 4: You know, that was a good start to the game,
Speaker 4: and you just want to build on that momentum with
Speaker 4: the rest of the guys. And you have to remember
Speaker 4: everyone's going in there. Knew some guys haven't played games
Speaker 4: in a long time, and so again we just need
Speaker 4: to be cleaner. I think operationally offense and defense with
Speaker 4: the twos we entered the game.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think the I mean, let me take a look.
Speaker 1: I had a note on that penalties for the game.
Speaker 1: It wasn't it wasn't in the bengals favor whatsoever. There.
Speaker 1: I think it was eight penalties for over eighty yards
Speaker 1: for the Bengals. And I know that was a a
Speaker 1: big thing you were looking for. It was playing cleanly
Speaker 1: in terms of assignments and penalties.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, quite frankly, they killed us. You know,
Speaker 4: we had a fourth down pass interference that gave them
Speaker 4: the ball on the three yard line. We had some
Speaker 4: offensive penalties when we're backed up, you know, with a
Speaker 4: false start made us more backed up. We had a
Speaker 4: third and three, we had a false start put us
Speaker 4: in third and eight, we don't convert, had some holding
Speaker 4: penalties on some things where we got big conversions, and
Speaker 4: so you talk about not being able to sing drives
Speaker 4: and get more runs off and get more production. These
Speaker 4: penalties killed those drives and something we got.
Speaker 1: A correct running game, couldn't really get much out of that,
Speaker 1: couldn't manufacture much in the running game, and they were
Speaker 1: able to rush for over one hundred and thirty yards.
Speaker 1: I think big difference there.
Speaker 4: Yeah, we've got to be better there if that's but again,
Speaker 4: that goes with just getting a first down and getting
Speaker 4: someone minium there, and we couldn't get that done. And
Speaker 4: so we quite frankly weren't good enough in the run game.
Speaker 4: More of the pass game.
Speaker 1: How about taking care of the football. We were satisfied with.
Speaker 4: That zero turnovers right one. We threw the one pick,
Speaker 4: so no, I mean you want to walk away with
Speaker 4: zero and we took a shot there into one on
Speaker 4: one and they made the play and you know, stole
Speaker 4: a position there from us, so we can be clear there.
Speaker 1: It was. It was great to watch Joe and T
Speaker 1: Higgins in the first drive and Joe throws themto double
Speaker 1: coverage knowing that if he's not going to come up
Speaker 1: with the football, they sure as heck aren't. I mean,
Speaker 1: that's unbelievable trust and you're wide receive It almost wasn't
Speaker 1: unbelievable play.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean they've they made a great play. There
Speaker 4: was two guys around it. I love the decision to
Speaker 4: give it to them because T makes that play for us.
Speaker 4: They just did a good job knocking it out, But
Speaker 4: you got an advantage there. You run a double move
Speaker 4: and so there's dvs. They got the back to the
Speaker 4: quarterback and Tino's where the ball's going, and we'll throw
Speaker 4: that ball every time.
Speaker 1: So I guess, coach, what's your thought. You're gonna take
Speaker 1: a look at the tape and assess things and go
Speaker 1: back to work. What do you think are some of
Speaker 1: the things that the biggest things that need to be
Speaker 1: worked on? Penalties?
Speaker 4: First of all, we just got to be more more
Speaker 4: efficient operationally on offense. I didn't think we were clean
Speaker 4: enough with all the details of the routes. Defensively, I
Speaker 4: thought we got it together really after that second drive,
Speaker 4: and those guys played with a ton of energy. Pressure
Speaker 4: the quarterback. We're tighter in coverage, got their hands on
Speaker 4: a lot of balls. So we'll watch the tape and
Speaker 4: see what we can improve on. Appreciate your time, coach, yep,
Speaker 4: thank you.
Speaker 2: Here are a couple of the biggest negatives from Saturday night.
Speaker 2: The Bucks had one hundred and thirty six rushing yards
Speaker 2: compared to only thirty six for the Bengals, and Cincinnati
Speaker 2: committed eight penalties for sixty one yards while the Bucks
Speaker 2: had just three for thirty two. Now time for the
Speaker 2: radio guys recap. All right, lap, The obvious storyline on
Speaker 2: the Bengals preseason opener is Joe Burrow on the opening drive,
Speaker 2: taking the Bengals right down the field and tossing a
Speaker 2: touchdown pass to t Higgins. He's got to be a
Speaker 2: great feeling for him to play for the first time
Speaker 2: in nearly nine months and take the team seventy three
Speaker 2: yards on twelve plays for a score.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree. I mean he was efficient. You know,
Speaker 1: he read the field flawlessly, which is no shock. He
Speaker 1: threw the ball with accuracy, with power. I mean, he
Speaker 1: put it every place he wanted to put it. The
Speaker 1: Bengals took advantage of a penalty on third and seventeen.
Speaker 1: I think it was that extended a drive on that
Speaker 1: touchdown for them, and they only I mean Tampa Bentley
Speaker 1: had three penalties on the night, and it was kind
Speaker 1: of foreshadowing of the reverse the Bengals. You know, eight penalties,
Speaker 1: two on fourth down, one on fourth and thirteen. So,
Speaker 1: I mean, penalties are always a big deal in the
Speaker 1: first preseason game, and the Bengals suffered more by it
Speaker 1: than the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But that doesn't diminish what
Speaker 1: Joe was doing, you know on that drive. I mean
Speaker 1: he obviously, I think felt pretty good. He got in
Speaker 1: a pretty good rhythm pretty quickly. He goes five for
Speaker 1: seven to fifty one yards and a touchdown. You know
Speaker 1: that dog will hunt right there. That's getting it done
Speaker 1: at a very high level.
Speaker 2: Andre Yosi Vash has had a great camp, and he
Speaker 2: had a twenty three yard catch on that touchdown drive.
Speaker 2: Charlie Jones has had an excellent camp. He obviously didn't
Speaker 2: play after colliding knees with a teammate the other day.
Speaker 2: Jermaine Burden, on the other hand, he's been solid in camp.
Speaker 2: He certainly made his share of catches. But the lights
Speaker 2: go on and he has a thirty seven yard touchdown
Speaker 2: catch and a thirty eight yard catch on the next
Speaker 2: offensive snap. Could he be one of these guys that
Speaker 2: practice is fine, but when the game is on the line,
Speaker 2: he cranks it up a notch.
Speaker 1: He's a big play waiting to happen. There's no question
Speaker 1: about it. I think you know he's got first round
Speaker 1: talent in skill set. I mean you check every trait
Speaker 1: often the boxes to check off traits. Everyone is checked off.
Speaker 1: You know, you have to evaluate who's he doing it
Speaker 1: against and all those things. I mean, you know, there's
Speaker 1: there's a big difference between playing in the fourth quarter
Speaker 1: in a preseason game against backups then you know, an
Speaker 1: NFL regular season game when the fortunes of the entire
Speaker 1: football team are on the line. So it but it
Speaker 1: is a very positive sign. There's there's no question about
Speaker 1: about it. I mean, three catches for eighty two yards,
Speaker 1: that's not too shabby. And uh, you know, back to
Speaker 1: the like you mentioned during the game, Dan two straight
Speaker 1: completions one for thirty eight, one for thirty seven, seventy
Speaker 1: five yards and a touchdown on two straight completions, and
Speaker 1: you know, I mean it's an it's an NFL caliber
Speaker 1: corner he's working against, you know, guys in camp for
Speaker 1: a reason. So yeah, I mean, I think I think
Speaker 1: he has he has the physical gifts to play. Can
Speaker 1: he on a snap by snap basis b where he's
Speaker 1: supposed to be doing what he's supposed to do and
Speaker 1: do it consistently. That's going to be the big question
Speaker 1: is you go on further and further into training camp.
Speaker 2: Let's talk about a couple of offensive linemen, Amrius Mims,
Speaker 2: who was in for a series with the first team
Speaker 2: and a series for the series with the second team,
Speaker 2: and Jackson Carmen, who had a rough night. Let's start
Speaker 2: with Mims. How do you look?
Speaker 1: I thought he looked confident. I thought he looked solid.
Speaker 1: I didn't really see any problems over there whatsoever. I
Speaker 1: don't think. I mean, the running game obviously was not
Speaker 1: very good the entire night. I thought that was one
Speaker 1: of the big differences as well. They rushed the ball
Speaker 1: for over one hundred and thirty yards and the Bengals
Speaker 1: had no consistency to their running game as well and
Speaker 1: put a lot of pressure on the passing game as
Speaker 1: a result of that. Where was Tampa. You know, they
Speaker 1: have the benefit of a strong running game and play action, pass,
Speaker 1: naked bootlegs, all that sort of thing were really causing
Speaker 1: the Bengals to have major issues in that regard. So
Speaker 1: but I do think I think that he has shown
Speaker 1: himself in the early stages of a training camp to
Speaker 1: be a very very adept pass protector. Running game was like, well,
Speaker 1: I'm gotta wait and see, and the running game tonight
Speaker 1: as a whole, I think needs a lot of work.
Speaker 1: So I would say he'd probably say, yeah, I need
Speaker 1: to get my nose back to the grindstone in terms
Speaker 1: of low pad level, coming off the ball and getting
Speaker 1: things done in that area. And I'd have to watch
Speaker 1: the tape. You know, it's it's just a you know,
Speaker 1: you look at the overall result and you think, well,
Speaker 1: nobody really probably stood out in that phase of the game.
Speaker 2: Jackson Carmen certainly hasn't developed the way they hoped as
Speaker 2: a second round draft pick. But he was really struggling
Speaker 2: tonight with four penalties. When I watch him, whether it's
Speaker 2: tonight or even at practice, it just seems like he's
Speaker 2: in his own head and not allowing the gifts that
Speaker 2: he has to at least allow him to play solidly.
Speaker 1: I think it's confidence or lack thereof. I mean, I
Speaker 1: think when when something goes wrong, it's just snowballs on him.
Speaker 1: I mean, he just you know, it's like here we
Speaker 1: go again, out of like all right, I know exactly
Speaker 1: what I did wrong. That's not gonna happen again. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna make sure that I take care of business. I
Speaker 1: think that instead of taking that approach, it looks like
Speaker 1: you know, he just not lost, but he just man,
Speaker 1: it's his his body language and everything just just shows
Speaker 1: to me, you know, a lack of confidence. So I
Speaker 1: think I think that's that's the biggest thing he's fighting
Speaker 1: right now. And you know, I don't know, I don't
Speaker 1: know what you do about that. I don't know if you,
Speaker 1: you know, send him to a professional to try to
Speaker 1: help him in that regard or what. Because he's got
Speaker 1: physical attributes. Man, there's no doubt. But it's you know,
Speaker 1: like you said, it wasn't just one penalty. You know,
Speaker 1: one led to multiples and you just you have to
Speaker 1: you have to nip that in the bud. I mean,
Speaker 1: you can't, like if you if you blow an assignment,
Speaker 1: you can't come back and blow it again, you know,
Speaker 1: and again and again. So it's all, it's all in
Speaker 1: the same boat.
Speaker 2: Was this a good debut for Dak's corner as an
Speaker 2: outside of Dax Hill rather has an outside corner?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I thought he got his hand on
Speaker 1: some footballs. You know, I think I think he did
Speaker 1: a pretty pretty solid job. You know, I can't I
Speaker 1: can't say that, you know, the entire group in the
Speaker 1: back end, where where Luin Roma wants him to be.
Speaker 1: But I thought it was a good start for him,
Speaker 1: I really did. I thought he I thought that he
Speaker 1: played with a level of confidence, you know, and you know,
Speaker 1: his big thing has sometimes been you know, instincts, you know,
Speaker 1: seeing it and reacting to it. I thought that he
Speaker 1: saw things and reacted to things pretty darn well tonight.
Speaker 1: I thought he was aggressive with it. Yeah. I thought
Speaker 1: it was a good start for him, for sure.
Speaker 2: Did the interception by Josh Newton add to the notion
Speaker 2: that the Bengals have a find in that fifth round
Speaker 2: draft pick?
Speaker 1: Yeah, And you know, and for him to come back
Speaker 1: and do that after he got dinged, you know, I
Speaker 1: mean he was he was legitimately rung a little bit there.
Speaker 1: Obviously it wasn't a concussion type, but I've been in
Speaker 1: those situations where I don't know if it was concussions
Speaker 1: or not back in the day. But it's a weird
Speaker 1: feeling when you're wrong. You know, it's like the phone
Speaker 1: keeps ringing and nobody wants to answer, and it's like
Speaker 1: you're sometimes your balance is you know, you're just not there,
Speaker 1: You're just not quite right. And for him to recover
Speaker 1: like he did, And to go back out there and
Speaker 1: make a play like he did shows me a lot
Speaker 1: of toughness. And you know, I think he and Anthony
Speaker 1: both are guys that play with that edge, you know.
Speaker 1: I think they play with a lot of physicality. I
Speaker 1: think they're kind of throwback kind of guys. I think
Speaker 1: they could play in any year, I really do.
Speaker 2: Travis Bell joined the Bengals in December after DJ Reader
Speaker 2: got hurt. Didn't get into any games for Cincinnati, but
Speaker 2: it sounded like he earned a fan and Dave Lapham
Speaker 2: with his play tonight.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I gave him the first Our Logistics
Speaker 1: in the Trenches Award tonight. So I thought that he
Speaker 1: I thought he, you know, disrupted the line of scrimmage.
Speaker 1: You know, he had knock backs like the defensive line
Speaker 1: coaches like to say, you know, not just controlling your opponent,
Speaker 1: but not talking him backwards, you know. And so he
Speaker 1: he inverted the line of scrimmage, caused some problems in
Speaker 1: the running game, and he got he got under ease
Speaker 1: people's pads and bull rushed him and tossed him around.
Speaker 1: And yeah, I thought, you know, I think he had
Speaker 1: three three tackles and a sack and you know, not
Speaker 1: a ton of snaps. I thought he. I thought he
Speaker 1: played at a pretty high level.
Speaker 2: Appreciate the time and the insight.
Speaker 1: Thank you, sir, He's a man, Dan. Appreciate you.
Speaker 2: Up next to joint practice with the Bears on Thursday
Speaker 2: before the two teams square off next Saturday afternoon in Chicago.
Speaker 2: The Bears opened the preseason with a thirty three to
Speaker 2: six win in Buffalo. The first pick in the draft,
Speaker 2: quarterback Caleb Williams, was in for two drives and they
Speaker 2: both ended with field goals. The Bengals Booth Podcast is
Speaker 2: brought to you by pay Corps, proud to be the
Speaker 2: Bengals official HR software provider, by Alta Fiber future proof
Speaker 2: Fiber Internet designed to elevate your home, business, and community
Speaker 2: to a new level, and by Kettering Health the best
Speaker 2: care for the best fans. Kettering Health is the official
Speaker 2: healthcare provider of the Bengals. Now it's time for our
Speaker 2: first fun Facts conversation of the new season, where you
Speaker 2: get to know the person under the pads. Time for
Speaker 2: some fun facts with rookie quarterback Rocky Lombardi and yes,
Speaker 2: we will start with the greatest name in NFL history.
Speaker 2: Are you related to Vince?
Speaker 5: I am not. I'm not as far as I know.
Speaker 2: And is Rocky on your birth certificate?
Speaker 6: Rocky is not on my birth certificate. Actually, Michael is
Speaker 6: my given name. My dad wanted to name me Rocky,
Speaker 6: and my mom basically was like, that's not a real.
Speaker 5: Name, so she named me Michael.
Speaker 6: My dad said, screw it, I'm gonna call him Rocky anyways,
Speaker 6: And I've been Rocky for as long as I can remember.
Speaker 2: Did I hear correctly that it's not for the boxer
Speaker 2: Rocky Balboa, but for the legendary Steelers running back Rocky Blier.
Speaker 6: That is correct. Yeah, that was my dad's favorite player
Speaker 6: growing up, was Rocky Bler. Obviously, he's got a great story.
Speaker 6: If you don't know it, I'd definitely recommend looking into it.
Speaker 6: But yeah, named after Rocky Blier.
Speaker 2: We are visiting with rookie quarterback Rocky Lombardi. According to
Speaker 2: your bio, you were a four sport athlete in high school,
Speaker 2: and that in and of itself is not that unusual
Speaker 2: for an NFL player, but this is You're a quarterback
Speaker 2: who wrestled for a state championship, probably the only quarterback
Speaker 2: in the NFL that can say that, why did you
Speaker 2: do both?
Speaker 6: Yeah, I've wrestled for I wrestled for a long time.
Speaker 6: I started wrestling when I was probably six years old
Speaker 6: or so, six or seven, you know, and I grew
Speaker 6: to love the sport. And I'm also a firm believer
Speaker 6: in being a multi sport athlete. I think that that
Speaker 6: teaches you things that you just can't get from doing
Speaker 6: one sport all year round. There's so many skills mentally
Speaker 6: and physically that I picked up from not only wrestling
Speaker 6: but all the sports I did. But I just wouldn't
Speaker 6: have had the opportunity to come across if I would
Speaker 6: have just been a strictly football player.
Speaker 2: We're doing fun facts with Rocky Lombardy. You had a
Speaker 2: fine college career and a long college career. Between COVID
Speaker 2: rules and a medical red shirt, you had seven seasons
Speaker 2: on college rosters. They say college years are the best
Speaker 2: years of your life. Were they for you?
Speaker 5: Uh? Yeah?
Speaker 6: I had a great time, too long, for sure, you know.
Speaker 6: I did have a great time. But this is the
Speaker 6: league I want to be in, and I wish it
Speaker 6: didn't take me seven years to get here. But this
Speaker 6: is the journey that I've taken, and I'm grateful for it,
Speaker 6: and I'm grateful to be here right now.
Speaker 2: You might have had the greatest tweet of all time
Speaker 2: at the beginning of your senior year last year. This
Speaker 2: is the first day of nineteenth grade. Did your teammates
Speaker 2: give you a lot of you know what for being
Speaker 2: a seventh year senior.
Speaker 6: Yeah, definitely they did. I had to do a little
Speaker 6: bit of math to figure out what great I was,
Speaker 6: first of all. But yeah, obviously I've gotten quite a
Speaker 6: bit of a crap for my teammates in college and
Speaker 6: even here in the NFL with the Bengals, I've taken
Speaker 6: some crap. Luckily, I think most of my teammates don't
Speaker 6: realize how old I actually am. But there's certainly the
Speaker 6: board's certainly floating around, and you're starting to get some
Speaker 6: questions about how old I am as a rookie.
Speaker 2: I want to go back to your college football debut
Speaker 2: back in twenty eighteen. Michigan State's punter suffered an injury
Speaker 2: in the fourth quarter and they called on you to punt.
Speaker 2: It was probably the last thing that you were thinking
Speaker 2: about standing there on the sideline. What do you remember
Speaker 2: about that moment.
Speaker 6: I remember it was super hot Arizona State in August
Speaker 6: or maybe September. You know, I had been standing around
Speaker 6: the entire game. I was the backup that year.
Speaker 2: And backup quarterback, back up quarterback.
Speaker 5: Yes, and.
Speaker 6: Our punter went down with I think three minutes left
Speaker 6: or something like that, and they were like, hey, you
Speaker 6: gotta go out and punt. You know, they knew I
Speaker 6: could pun. I punted a little bit in high school
Speaker 6: and punned a little bit in college obviously here, but yeah,
Speaker 6: they're like, you gotta.
Speaker 5: Warm up and go kick this ball.
Speaker 6: So I remember taking about two leg swings going back there,
Speaker 6: and the last thing Coach d He said to me
Speaker 6: was just catch the ball.
Speaker 5: So I remember concentrating catching the ball and booting it.
Speaker 6: I mean, it wasn't that impressive of a punt, but
Speaker 6: we got him down and made him have a real
Speaker 6: long drive to come back and beat us.
Speaker 5: So got the job done.
Speaker 2: Does Darren Simmons know you are available in an emergency?
Speaker 5: I think he does.
Speaker 6: He told me that he got a text or call
Speaker 6: or something from my old special teams coach at Michigan
Speaker 6: State telling him that I could be the emergency punter
Speaker 6: if needed. Hopefully we wouldn't need that obviously, but in
Speaker 6: an emergency situation, I definitely feel like I could fill
Speaker 6: those roles.
Speaker 2: Among Darren's attention to detail is legendary, so that does
Speaker 2: not surprise me. We're visiting with Rocky Lombardi. After playing
Speaker 2: for Michigan State and Northern Illinois, you signed to the
Speaker 2: Bengals as a college free agent after the draft. I'm
Speaker 2: guessing you had options. Why did you choose Cincinnati?
Speaker 6: Yeah, I feel like this was the best fit for me.
Speaker 6: I really enjoyed my interview with coach Brad Kragthorpe. I
Speaker 6: thought that the room was a good fit, an opportunity
Speaker 6: to learn from guys like Joe Burrow and Jake Browning
Speaker 6: and Coach Taylor and his staff. You know, I think
Speaker 6: there's six or seven former quarterbacks in this coaching staff
Speaker 6: and administration. So it's just a great room to be
Speaker 6: a part of. You know, these guys like to spin
Speaker 6: the rock, they like to throw it around, and I'm
Speaker 6: really happy and excited to be here.
Speaker 2: So when friends and family ask, what's Joe Burrow like?
Speaker 2: How do you respond?
Speaker 6: I have had that question a couple of times, but
Speaker 6: you know, at the end of the day, we're all
Speaker 6: human beings, right, so you know he's a He's a
Speaker 6: human being just like I am. He's just extremely talented,
Speaker 6: so you know, that's usually what I tell him.
Speaker 1: All right.
Speaker 2: Time for some wild card questions, Now for Ricky quarterback
Speaker 2: Rocky Lombardi. Has Rocky Lombardi seen all six Rocky movies?
Speaker 2: And I'm not including the Creed spinoffs?
Speaker 5: I don't believe I have.
Speaker 6: Actually, I know I've seen a couple, and I've seen
Speaker 6: a couple of the Creeds.
Speaker 5: I don't know how many there are, but no, I
Speaker 5: definitely haven't.
Speaker 2: All Right, So, if you've seen a few, who is
Speaker 2: your favorite Rocky opponent?
Speaker 5: I would say.
Speaker 6: Apollo Apollo Creed, just like that's the first one, right, Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 6: Well it might be Drago though, I must have break
Speaker 6: you one of those two, I think, I mean, Drago
Speaker 6: probably would be my favorite, although Apollo, you know, kind
Speaker 6: of ends up being.
Speaker 5: A good guy, so there's that storyline too. But one
Speaker 5: of those two, for sure.
Speaker 2: Clever Lang was good as well. All Right, You're all
Speaker 2: time favorite athlete in any sport is Oh, that's a
Speaker 2: good question.
Speaker 6: I would say my favorite athlete growing up was ray Lewis.
Speaker 5: I loved the way ray Lewis played the game.
Speaker 6: Kind of an unusual answer, probably for my position, but
Speaker 6: just the energy, the passion.
Speaker 5: The physicality that he played with. I would say, ray Lewis.
Speaker 6: I also love golf though, and I was a huge
Speaker 6: Tiger fan growing up. Obviously, you know you gotta be.
Speaker 6: So I would say, one of those two guys.
Speaker 2: You have short blonde hair, was Burrow copying your luck.
Speaker 6: I don't even know if I'm allowed to answer this.
Speaker 6: I mean, I think Joe was just doing what he wanted.
Speaker 6: I've had long blonde hair, I've had short blonde hair.
Speaker 6: It's only been blonde, though. So I told him that
Speaker 6: he stole my thunder. You know this is my this
Speaker 6: is my trademark look, right, and now it's now it's Joe's.
Speaker 5: Blonde here instead of mine. But no, I don't think.
Speaker 6: I don't think he stole my look, certainly, not intentionally.
Speaker 2: With the orange quarterback jersey on, has anybody yelled out
Speaker 2: hey Burrow toward you?
Speaker 6: Uh, Not that I know of. I don't think. I
Speaker 6: guess it could possibly happen one day, but not as.
Speaker 2: Far as I know, you've got the mustache to separate
Speaker 2: the two of you. All right, final question for Rocky Lombardy.
Speaker 2: This one's kind of deep. If you could meet anybody
Speaker 2: in history, living or deceased, so could be an athlete,
Speaker 2: a world leader, an entertainer. Who would that person be.
Speaker 6: Wow, you are going deep on this one. I would
Speaker 6: say Teddy Roosevelt. Probably. I was a history major, so
Speaker 6: I do enjoy history. I'm not claiming to know everything
Speaker 6: in history, obviously, but I love studying history. I'm assuming
Speaker 6: Jesus is off the table here.
Speaker 2: He can be out the table, but I will tell
Speaker 2: you this. You are the first person to answer Roosevelt.
Speaker 6: Yeah, Well, he was an interesting guy. I think we
Speaker 6: would have had a lot of similar interests. I admire
Speaker 6: his leadership and kind of the way he went about things.
Speaker 6: And then obviously he had a huge impact on the
Speaker 6: National Park system if you.
Speaker 1: Didn't know that.
Speaker 6: So, yeah, interesting guy. I definitely would like to have
Speaker 6: a couple of conversations with him and see.
Speaker 1: What he is all about.
Speaker 2: A great answer and a fun time chatting with you.
Speaker 2: Best of luck this season, and thanks for the time.
Speaker 5: Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 2: Rocky did not get in on Saturday Night but Zach
Speaker 2: Taylor will almost certainly get him some snaps before the
Speaker 2: preseason comes to an end. That's going to do it
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