WEBVTT - Bengals Booth Podcast: Crazy Train 0:00:03.640 --> 0:00:06.359 Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading 0:00:06.400 --> 0:00:11.240 the Bengals Brood podcast. Uh I'm going off the rails 0:00:11.360 --> 0:00:16.480 on a crazy train addition, as we address some recent 0:00:16.600 --> 0:00:20.400 Bengals drama before looking ahead to Sunday's Battle of Ohio 0:00:20.520 --> 0:00:23.720 rematch at Paul Brown's Stadium between the Bengals and the 0:00:23.760 --> 0:00:27.440 four and two Cleveland Browns. Coming up, Dave Lapham joins 0:00:27.440 --> 0:00:32.320 me to discuss Carlos Dunlap, Geno Atkins, AJ Greene, John Ross, 0:00:32.680 --> 0:00:35.680 and the latest Bengals news. This week's one on one 0:00:35.760 --> 0:00:40.040 player interview is actually a one on two conversation as 0:00:40.080 --> 0:00:43.760 I speak to close pals Giovanni Bernard and c J Uzama. 0:00:44.159 --> 0:00:47.640 It's CJ's first interview since tearing his achilles, so we 0:00:47.640 --> 0:00:50.880 will discuss that. But we'll also talk about a fun 0:00:50.880 --> 0:00:54.520 contest they're involved with and provide details for how you 0:00:55.080 --> 0:00:57.640 can sign up to win, and in our Know the 0:00:57.680 --> 0:01:00.880 Faux segment, we'll get the latest news of Cleveland from 0:01:00.880 --> 0:01:04.560 our pal Zack Jackson, who covers the team for the Athletic. 0:01:04.959 --> 0:01:08.440 The Bengals Booth podcast is presented by Bud Light. Seltzer 0:01:08.800 --> 0:01:11.600 refreshed the game and Here's a quick reminder that you 0:01:11.640 --> 0:01:15.520 can have the latest edition of this podcast delivered write 0:01:15.520 --> 0:01:19.680 to your phone, tablet, or computer by subscribing on iTunes, Stitcher, 0:01:19.760 --> 0:01:24.080 Google Play, Spotify, or pod Bean. It's the greatest thing 0:01:24.200 --> 0:01:30.640 since not being harassed by political campaigns. As if the 0:01:30.680 --> 0:01:34.160 NonStop attack ads on TV weren't bad enough, now I'm 0:01:34.200 --> 0:01:38.240 getting several text messages a day asking for my vote. 0:01:38.760 --> 0:01:40.640 I don't know how they got my phone number, but 0:01:40.760 --> 0:01:43.840 I am extremely annoyed by it, and I tweeted the 0:01:43.880 --> 0:01:49.800 following response on Wednesday. Dear political candidates, I can promise 0:01:49.840 --> 0:01:52.800 you that there is not a single voter who wants 0:01:52.800 --> 0:01:57.080 a text message from a strange number asking for our vote. 0:01:57.720 --> 0:02:04.720 Please stop sending them. Sincerely, everybody. Based on your responses, 0:02:04.760 --> 0:02:09.840 I was right when I said everybody. Now time to 0:02:09.880 --> 0:02:14.480 bring in my broadcast partner, Dave Lapham lap As you know, 0:02:15.160 --> 0:02:18.040 I started my broadcasting career as a minor league baseball 0:02:18.040 --> 0:02:22.160 announcer after graduating from Syracuse back in the late nineteen eighties. 0:02:22.520 --> 0:02:25.520 This was pre internet, and when I would travel on 0:02:25.560 --> 0:02:28.799 the road with my minor league baseball team, had a 0:02:28.840 --> 0:02:31.040 lot of time to kill on the road during the 0:02:31.120 --> 0:02:35.040 day so I'd do my homework, I'd go for a run, 0:02:35.760 --> 0:02:38.799 i might read part of a book. And every day 0:02:39.280 --> 0:02:43.480 I watched The Young and the Restless. I am not 0:02:43.639 --> 0:02:48.000 proud to admit that now that is the only soap 0:02:48.040 --> 0:02:51.200 opera I have ever watched. Susan Lucci, now that's I 0:02:51.200 --> 0:02:55.840 think she was on All My Children Children different soap. 0:02:56.120 --> 0:02:59.200 So that's the only soap opera I have ever watched. 0:03:00.080 --> 0:03:02.080 Until now, I feel like I am watching one all 0:03:02.120 --> 0:03:05.080 of a sudden. With the Bengals, We've got Carlos Dunlab 0:03:05.120 --> 0:03:09.240 doing live Instagram feeds to complain about his role. We 0:03:09.360 --> 0:03:12.440 have people trying to read aj Green's lips when he's 0:03:12.480 --> 0:03:16.520 on the bench. We have John Ross's agent asking to 0:03:16.600 --> 0:03:20.760 be traded. It seems like the feel good portion of 0:03:20.800 --> 0:03:25.040 the Joe Burrow era did not last very long. Yeah, 0:03:25.160 --> 0:03:28.720 I just think. I mean earlier in the week, I 0:03:28.800 --> 0:03:34.120 asked both Zach and Lou and Rumo if social media 0:03:34.200 --> 0:03:37.360 was opinioned, because we never had to deal with that, 0:03:37.720 --> 0:03:41.400 and I think social media it's players don't even have 0:03:41.440 --> 0:03:43.720 to go through the media like Carlos did when he 0:03:43.760 --> 0:03:47.520 basically connived his press conference to announce that he wasn't 0:03:47.560 --> 0:03:52.440 starting anymore, did you go right to social media? So 0:03:53.000 --> 0:03:55.680 as a head coach, it's a different ball game, it 0:03:55.800 --> 0:04:00.640 is a different arena and guys right now, you know, 0:04:00.920 --> 0:04:03.840 bottom line is and I know I'm old school, because 0:04:03.840 --> 0:04:08.360 I'm old I understand. But instead of wasting your energy 0:04:08.680 --> 0:04:13.160 going on social media and trying to do whatever you're doing, 0:04:14.400 --> 0:04:18.520 just play, play hard, Just play, Go to the coach 0:04:18.680 --> 0:04:21.080 and say where am I deficient? What do I need 0:04:21.120 --> 0:04:23.680 to do better? How come I can't get snaps or 0:04:23.880 --> 0:04:25.359 you know, try to get on the same page with 0:04:25.400 --> 0:04:28.640 the guy and find and just improve on things you 0:04:28.640 --> 0:04:31.919 need to improve on. Go out and play. And it 0:04:32.040 --> 0:04:35.720 drives me nuts right now that Gino Atkins isn't in 0:04:35.760 --> 0:04:38.560 the same sentence with Carlos Dunlap. I think that's irresponsible. 0:04:39.240 --> 0:04:42.640 Gino Atkins is not Gino Atkins wants to play. Gino 0:04:42.680 --> 0:04:45.800 Atkins had a hell of a training camp. Gino Atkins 0:04:45.839 --> 0:04:48.560 was primed and ready to go, and unfortunately he got 0:04:48.640 --> 0:04:50.640 hurt and he didn't want to talk about it, and 0:04:50.680 --> 0:04:52.280 the coaches don't want to talk about it. So all 0:04:52.320 --> 0:04:55.600 these assumptions and all these it's a bigger, bigger deal 0:04:55.640 --> 0:04:58.120 than it is Why didn't he get surgery? Why didn't 0:04:58.120 --> 0:04:59.520 he go on ir? Why don't he do this? Why 0:04:59.520 --> 0:05:01.360 don't you do that? Well, maybe he wanted to try 0:05:01.360 --> 0:05:03.640 to play, that's why he didn't have surgery. Maybe he's 0:05:03.760 --> 0:05:06.039 you know, it's gone longer than he wanted it to 0:05:06.080 --> 0:05:08.040 go because he didn't have surgery and he's trying to 0:05:08.080 --> 0:05:10.720 rehab it. But I know one thing after watching him 0:05:10.720 --> 0:05:15.560 in training camp, he wanted to play. And the problem 0:05:15.640 --> 0:05:18.280 flat out with Carlos Dunlap, the reason they don't want 0:05:18.320 --> 0:05:22.159 you in on defensive run snaps is you're taking the 0:05:22.200 --> 0:05:26.680 easy way out. Instead of squeezing the tackle into a gap, 0:05:26.720 --> 0:05:28.960 you're running up the football field and making the whole 0:05:29.400 --> 0:05:32.599 naturally taking the easy way out doing things of that nature. 0:05:33.160 --> 0:05:36.240 Coaches would not have a guy take a guy off 0:05:36.240 --> 0:05:40.880 a football field if he's their best option. Bledsoe it 0:05:40.920 --> 0:05:44.359 doesn't have one iota of the athletic ability that Carlos 0:05:44.480 --> 0:05:47.279 Dunlap has. And you don't have to be a great 0:05:47.279 --> 0:05:49.960 athlete to give good effort. And so that's why they're 0:05:49.960 --> 0:05:53.400 playing other guys and the line of scrimmage to stop 0:05:53.520 --> 0:05:56.800 run snaps and to put Geno Atkins situation in the 0:05:56.839 --> 0:06:01.080 same sentence as Carlos Dunlap. Situation is ludicrous, in my 0:06:01.160 --> 0:06:04.840 humble apo, ludicrous. They're totally different. So people that are 0:06:04.880 --> 0:06:09.359 saying Geno Is doesn't want to play, he's you know, 0:06:09.480 --> 0:06:13.880 milking it, or whatever accusations are being made, you flat 0:06:13.920 --> 0:06:16.800 out say that's nonsense. The only reason he has not 0:06:16.920 --> 0:06:19.520 done well so far is that he's just slow coming 0:06:19.560 --> 0:06:22.840 back from a legitimate shoulder injury. Exactly exactly, he's not 0:06:22.960 --> 0:06:26.520 able to go. If you I mean, I know, I've 0:06:26.520 --> 0:06:29.359 had a shoulder problem and tried to play. It's a bitch. 0:06:30.040 --> 0:06:33.400 I mean, there's nothing tougher. And for him to try 0:06:33.400 --> 0:06:35.919 to do what he does as a defensive tackle with 0:06:36.000 --> 0:06:38.960 a legitimate shoulder injury, not knowing the severity. I don't 0:06:38.960 --> 0:06:40.960 know what the severity of it is, but I remember 0:06:40.960 --> 0:06:44.160 I've tried to play with a separated shoulder, and man, 0:06:44.360 --> 0:06:47.839 it was. It's tough. It's tough. I mean, you're you're 0:06:47.880 --> 0:06:51.400 you know, you're gritting your teeth and fighting through it 0:06:51.440 --> 0:06:53.560 every single snap. And I did take a shot in 0:06:53.640 --> 0:06:55.599 the shoulder. I took a shot at halftime, you know, 0:06:55.640 --> 0:06:57.520 before the game and at halftime of the game. And 0:06:57.600 --> 0:07:00.640 it's still. I mean that night, you know, and in bed, 0:07:00.839 --> 0:07:03.760 throbbing away, not able to sleep, you thinking, man, you 0:07:03.800 --> 0:07:06.160 know what do I do now? So, I mean it's 0:07:06.200 --> 0:07:10.160 tough and uh, you know Geno Atkins. In my mind, 0:07:10.200 --> 0:07:12.840 if Geno Atkins didn't want to play, did not want 0:07:12.840 --> 0:07:15.760 to have a season with the Cincinnati Band, he wouldn't 0:07:15.800 --> 0:07:18.160 have had the training camp he had. I mean, we 0:07:18.240 --> 0:07:20.160 talked about it a few times to winch you know, man, 0:07:20.200 --> 0:07:23.840 he's Gino's busting it. Gino's working. He was, he was 0:07:23.880 --> 0:07:27.600 primed and ready. It's sad that he got hurt. But 0:07:27.680 --> 0:07:29.520 don't put him in the same sentence as the Carlos 0:07:29.600 --> 0:07:33.120 Dunlap situation. To me, that's not responsible. Gino's got two 0:07:33.160 --> 0:07:35.840 years left on his deal twelve point two million next year, 0:07:35.920 --> 0:07:38.920 thirteen point four five the following year. Carlos has one 0:07:39.000 --> 0:07:42.800 year left eleven point two five mill. Not a big 0:07:43.080 --> 0:07:46.040 dead cap situation. If they let Carlos go at the 0:07:46.120 --> 0:07:47.680 end of this year, it would be a big dead 0:07:47.760 --> 0:07:50.280 cap hit if they let Gino go at the end 0:07:50.280 --> 0:07:53.520 of this year. Can Geno Atkins still be good enough? 0:07:53.640 --> 0:07:56.080 Maybe not as good as he once was was, but 0:07:56.240 --> 0:07:59.720 still good enough to be worth it at those prices. 0:08:00.120 --> 0:08:02.640 Geno Atkins at the end of last year when he 0:08:02.640 --> 0:08:05.480 made the Pro Bowls, that really Gino knew he didn't 0:08:05.480 --> 0:08:08.440 have a great year, and he worked as off in 0:08:08.480 --> 0:08:11.160 the off season and came back and had an unbelievable, 0:08:11.240 --> 0:08:14.800 really strong training camp. He was ready to get after 0:08:14.840 --> 0:08:17.840 it again. He made it on reputation and in his mind, 0:08:17.920 --> 0:08:20.040 he knows that when he made his eighth Pro Bowl, 0:08:20.720 --> 0:08:22.440 but he was ready to have another year. So I 0:08:22.520 --> 0:08:26.480 do think. I mean I thought watching him in twenty nineteen, 0:08:26.520 --> 0:08:28.720 I thought, teez, you know, maybe it's the end. He 0:08:28.840 --> 0:08:31.640 just he didn't. There was no suddenness, no explosion. It 0:08:31.720 --> 0:08:34.600 looked like the gas in the tank was, you know, draining, 0:08:35.920 --> 0:08:40.280 And for whatever reason, he resurrected himself and and came 0:08:40.280 --> 0:08:43.640 back and was ready to roll this year. So it will, 0:08:43.679 --> 0:08:46.200 it will. It have to be diminished obviously for this 0:08:46.280 --> 0:08:48.800 year for sure. If that shoulder is as big a 0:08:48.840 --> 0:08:51.280 problem as it appears to be that he's missing the 0:08:51.400 --> 0:08:54.240 number of games that he's missing or not able to 0:08:54.280 --> 0:08:56.440 participate at a higher level, If he were able to 0:08:56.440 --> 0:08:58.880 participate at a higher level, he'd be doing it. He 0:08:59.000 --> 0:09:02.160 would be doing it. The coaches would you know the 0:09:02.200 --> 0:09:06.679 coaches would say, I'll guarantee you that they're probably medical people, 0:09:06.760 --> 0:09:10.080 and coach are telling the coaches to not overdo it 0:09:10.120 --> 0:09:12.960 with them. He's not telling the coaches to not overdo 0:09:12.960 --> 0:09:16.400 it with them. In my opinion, that's the way. That's 0:09:16.440 --> 0:09:18.680 the way it is. A couple of weeks ago, things 0:09:18.679 --> 0:09:21.920 didn't look good for AJ Green. He had a hamstring 0:09:21.960 --> 0:09:24.320 injury and spent the second half on the bench. He 0:09:24.400 --> 0:09:28.160 admittedly loafed after a pass thrown for him was intercepted, 0:09:28.400 --> 0:09:31.160 and according to the lip readers out there, he was 0:09:31.200 --> 0:09:34.200 on the bench asking for a trade. He denied it. 0:09:34.320 --> 0:09:36.080 We'll never know if that's what he was saying, but 0:09:36.120 --> 0:09:39.920 in any case, this past week AJ was terrific. He 0:09:40.000 --> 0:09:42.960 was targeted eleven times. He had eight catches just under 0:09:43.280 --> 0:09:47.080 one hundred yards, and those catches came in huge situation 0:09:47.320 --> 0:09:50.679 second and long, third and long, fourth and long. AJ 0:09:50.960 --> 0:09:53.320 was the go to guy for Joe Burrow. Here are 0:09:53.360 --> 0:09:56.320 a couple of his fellow wide receivers T Higgins and 0:09:56.400 --> 0:09:59.760 Tyler Boyd on AJ's first big game in a couple 0:09:59.760 --> 0:10:03.120 of years, seeing him get his confidence back, having him, 0:10:03.520 --> 0:10:05.439 you know, have a good game like that, is um 0:10:06.240 --> 0:10:08.880 really good for him and his confidence, you know, just 0:10:08.920 --> 0:10:11.160 to get him rolling, and you know the offense is 0:10:11.160 --> 0:10:13.520 gonna be rolling now. I knew his game was gonna 0:10:13.520 --> 0:10:16.560 come and and all it took was one game, you know, 0:10:16.559 --> 0:10:18.480 and I felt he played good at the beginning the 0:10:18.520 --> 0:10:20.680 first game, second game. You know, his number just wasn't 0:10:20.920 --> 0:10:24.320 Aj Green numbers. You know, sometimes uh you won't have 0:10:24.360 --> 0:10:26.640 them big games like everybody used to see him do. 0:10:26.800 --> 0:10:29.920 That's why a lot of people criticize his performance, you know, 0:10:29.960 --> 0:10:32.080 but I felt that he always played great. You know, 0:10:32.080 --> 0:10:33.880 it stayed detailed and he did we had to do 0:10:34.080 --> 0:10:36.839 to keep the change rolling. Whenever his name is called, 0:10:36.840 --> 0:10:39.120 then you know he's gonna make that play. And then 0:10:39.120 --> 0:10:41.640 now he's starting to rally up. And now the offense 0:10:41.840 --> 0:10:44.880 is it looked like it just looked like an overall 0:10:44.920 --> 0:10:46.960 great offense when you see all three of us out 0:10:46.960 --> 0:10:49.400 there dominant, and that's the offense everybody wanted to see. 0:10:49.480 --> 0:10:52.840 But I don't think uh Aj was held back or 0:10:52.840 --> 0:10:55.200 it was was anything wrong with him. I just felt 0:10:55.240 --> 0:10:57.120 like it's just just the game just had to come 0:10:57.160 --> 0:11:00.440 to him. As great as Aj Green is having time 0:11:00.440 --> 0:11:03.240 pro bowler, certainly one of the top three wide receivers 0:11:03.240 --> 0:11:06.240 in Bengals history, along with Chad Johnson and Isaac Curtis. 0:11:06.640 --> 0:11:11.680 He's human. He needed a performance like that desperately he did. 0:11:11.720 --> 0:11:14.640 And actually to see him smile during the course of 0:11:14.679 --> 0:11:18.160 that game was huge because he kind of admitted he 0:11:18.200 --> 0:11:20.280 was in his own head and he got out of 0:11:20.320 --> 0:11:22.480 his own head and he just said, I got to 0:11:22.520 --> 0:11:25.160 start having fun again. And if you play this game 0:11:25.559 --> 0:11:29.000 making quote business decisions where you're playing not to get hurt, 0:11:29.040 --> 0:11:31.920 you're gonna get hurt. You're gonna get hurt. And that's 0:11:31.960 --> 0:11:34.160 on that play, the interception where he said, you know, 0:11:34.200 --> 0:11:36.679 he loathed what he did. He saw the interception and 0:11:36.720 --> 0:11:38.680 he started looking around, like who's going to hit me? 0:11:39.000 --> 0:11:41.559 And then just went, you know, north and stous instead 0:11:41.559 --> 0:11:42.839 of Easton was to put a hit on the guy 0:11:42.840 --> 0:11:44.920 and went north and south to make sure that he 0:11:45.000 --> 0:11:47.640 cleared all the all the potential damage of the play. 0:11:48.080 --> 0:11:52.520 And that that's uncharacteristic and totally foreign to what aj 0:11:52.679 --> 0:11:55.000 Green's all about. The guys on the Mount rushmore of 0:11:55.080 --> 0:11:58.160 great players in franchise history and deserves to be there. 0:11:58.600 --> 0:12:02.040 And I'm just glad that at two things, I was 0:12:02.080 --> 0:12:05.839 impressed that he called himself out and then after doing that, 0:12:05.960 --> 0:12:09.000 he went out and played and played great. So I 0:12:09.040 --> 0:12:11.600 think I think there was a Catharsis moment there when 0:12:11.600 --> 0:12:15.240 it happened during the game and when his reaction was 0:12:15.320 --> 0:12:17.560 silent obviously on the on the bench, and I'm sure 0:12:17.800 --> 0:12:20.360 his wife, his dad is, you know, his mom's dad. 0:12:20.400 --> 0:12:23.080 Everybody's like, what are you doing? It's not you, And 0:12:23.160 --> 0:12:25.240 he thought about it and it's not me. And then 0:12:25.240 --> 0:12:27.920 he had the Wednesday press pressor on zoom where that's 0:12:27.960 --> 0:12:30.600 not me, and I got to start doing things differently 0:12:30.760 --> 0:12:32.400 and play the way I can play. And he went 0:12:32.400 --> 0:12:35.960 out and did it. So hats off to AJ Green 0:12:36.160 --> 0:12:41.440 on characteristic mistake made restitution for it. I wish other guys. 0:12:41.440 --> 0:12:44.520 I wish Employee ninety six would have a Catharsis pressor 0:12:44.559 --> 0:12:46.600 and say, you know what I have been, Uh, I 0:12:46.600 --> 0:12:48.640 can give better effort than I've given. I'm going to 0:12:48.679 --> 0:12:52.200 go out and do it. And then he's had some Catharsis. 0:12:52.600 --> 0:12:55.120 He just hasn't said that. No, not that type of 0:12:55.360 --> 0:12:57.960 not the right Catharsis that I'm looking for. But yeah, 0:12:58.000 --> 0:13:00.400 I mean, um, it was. It was really good to 0:13:00.480 --> 0:13:03.520 see to see AJ involved in like you has said 0:13:03.800 --> 0:13:07.560 on your question when we were talking to Zach that 0:13:07.760 --> 0:13:11.480 his catchers were you know, are Joe. His catchers were second, third, 0:13:11.520 --> 0:13:14.360 and long fourth down. Had to have had keep a game, 0:13:14.480 --> 0:13:17.439 you know, a possibility of winning a football game alive. 0:13:17.480 --> 0:13:20.000 And he stepped up and made big plays in big moments. 0:13:20.120 --> 0:13:22.520 That's AJ, I'll tell you something outside liked. So he 0:13:22.559 --> 0:13:25.280 comes on the zoom after the game to talk to reporters. 0:13:25.679 --> 0:13:28.240 Eight catches, ninety six yards, kind of a feel good 0:13:28.280 --> 0:13:31.640 moment despite the loss. His response to the first question, 0:13:31.760 --> 0:13:34.840 I should have played the deep ball better. Could have 0:13:34.840 --> 0:13:37.240 been a forty four yard touchdown pass. He tried to 0:13:37.240 --> 0:13:39.800 show late hands. That's become the big topic this year, 0:13:40.000 --> 0:13:42.600 instead of going up trying to go over the guy, 0:13:42.679 --> 0:13:46.439 maybe draw pass interference. So that's the AJ that we're 0:13:46.480 --> 0:13:49.400 accustomed to. That is and that's interesting because on bengalstein 0:13:49.440 --> 0:13:51.520 Way had Bob mcnell on as a guest, and Bob 0:13:51.600 --> 0:13:54.400 mcnell on that play said, you know, he did try 0:13:54.440 --> 0:13:57.360 to do the late hands thing instead of going up 0:13:57.440 --> 0:14:01.640 to to you know, to aggressively attacked the football. He said, 0:14:01.640 --> 0:14:04.160 the reason I thought when I saw it, and it 0:14:04.280 --> 0:14:06.160 was confirmed on tape that he decided not to do that. 0:14:06.200 --> 0:14:08.000 He was really close to the sideline, So if you 0:14:08.080 --> 0:14:10.120 go airborne, now you've lost control where you are on 0:14:10.160 --> 0:14:12.840 the field and staying on the ground. He felt like 0:14:12.840 --> 0:14:15.320 he had better control being so tight to the sideline, 0:14:15.440 --> 0:14:17.240 and he said, I really I'm not going to grade 0:14:17.320 --> 0:14:19.760 him down from not going airborne because of where he 0:14:19.880 --> 0:14:22.200 was real estate wives on the football field. So I 0:14:22.200 --> 0:14:25.760 thought that was pretty interesting. But again AJ's first reaction, okay, 0:14:25.840 --> 0:14:28.360 I was okay, but I'm still gonna be self deprecating. 0:14:28.400 --> 0:14:30.960 I'm still gonna say, hey, I can be better. I 0:14:31.080 --> 0:14:35.120 love that. Love it. With Odd and Tate out last 0:14:35.120 --> 0:14:38.080 week with a sore's shoulder, John Ross was active. He 0:14:38.240 --> 0:14:41.400 was in for one snap on offense. It was a 0:14:41.480 --> 0:14:47.120 running play, so for the season his contribution remains minimal. 0:14:47.200 --> 0:14:49.920 Two catches for seventeen yards. They both came in the 0:14:49.960 --> 0:14:53.880 season opener against the LA Chargers, and now word comes 0:14:53.920 --> 0:14:57.960 that his agent has requested a trade. John is in 0:14:57.960 --> 0:15:00.520 the final year of his contract after being ninth pick 0:15:00.520 --> 0:15:04.080 in the draft. Here is his friend and teammate, Tyler 0:15:04.160 --> 0:15:07.480 Boyd and what John Ross is going through. I mean, 0:15:07.520 --> 0:15:10.200 it's tough, you know, I've been in that situation before, 0:15:10.320 --> 0:15:11.920 and I know how it is. You know. What I 0:15:12.120 --> 0:15:15.200 told him is just just just to be him, you know, 0:15:15.280 --> 0:15:19.120 don't let nobody uh categorize you and tell you what 0:15:19.280 --> 0:15:22.200 you are and what you are not. So I mean 0:15:22.280 --> 0:15:24.720 for for for him, you know, just just just just 0:15:24.760 --> 0:15:26.640 to stay ready, you know, no matter what, you know, 0:15:26.640 --> 0:15:28.320 if you feel like we're not going to use you 0:15:28.400 --> 0:15:30.200 or whatever the case may be, at the end of 0:15:30.200 --> 0:15:31.840 the day, you see a football player, you know, that's 0:15:31.840 --> 0:15:34.200 never that's not going to change regardless, you know. And 0:15:34.560 --> 0:15:36.040 and and one of these weeks, I feel like it's 0:15:36.040 --> 0:15:37.760 gonna be a week for John, just like I've said 0:15:37.840 --> 0:15:39.720 for for AJ. You know, you never know what can 0:15:39.760 --> 0:15:42.640 happen in the receiver room, you know. So I just 0:15:42.640 --> 0:15:44.960 feel like he's been doing pretty good, you know. I don't. 0:15:45.000 --> 0:15:47.680 I just just don't want him to start putting his 0:15:47.720 --> 0:15:49.640 head down. But I haven't seen it, so I think 0:15:49.680 --> 0:15:52.360 he's he's good so far. So his agent has requested 0:15:52.400 --> 0:15:56.680 the trade. Should the Bengals trade John Ross, I don't 0:15:56.720 --> 0:15:59.160 know what the market would be. Honestly, it's like he 0:15:59.280 --> 0:16:01.720 was the ninth pick the draft. I don't know what 0:16:01.760 --> 0:16:03.840 they could get. If they try to trade him, and 0:16:03.880 --> 0:16:05.640 I think teams are gonna they're gonna they're not gonna 0:16:05.680 --> 0:16:07.240 re up them. I mean, they know they're gonna let 0:16:07.320 --> 0:16:09.800 them go. So I'm not sure anybody would offer anything. 0:16:09.800 --> 0:16:11.520 I don't know what kind of trade value there would 0:16:11.520 --> 0:16:14.080 be right at this point in time for John Ross. 0:16:13.880 --> 0:16:16.720 That's that's a big, big issue. It's not going to 0:16:16.800 --> 0:16:20.720 be high. I mean, people would be silly to think 0:16:20.720 --> 0:16:24.160 they would get a high draft pick, but I personally 0:16:24.320 --> 0:16:28.600 think that somebody would give up a late pick just 0:16:28.760 --> 0:16:32.080 to roll the dice on that speed, particularly if you're 0:16:32.120 --> 0:16:34.000 not one of the first five or six to have 0:16:34.000 --> 0:16:36.280 a shot at him. Well, actually he'll be a free agent, 0:16:36.320 --> 0:16:39.240 so everybody can bid. But if you want to say, okay, 0:16:39.320 --> 0:16:41.280 let me try to get him and see if I 0:16:41.280 --> 0:16:44.480 can get him signed for less market value. Then if 0:16:44.480 --> 0:16:47.120 he goes out there and if there is if there's 0:16:47.240 --> 0:16:49.760 more than one person that wants him, his market value 0:16:49.800 --> 0:16:52.680 is a little bit better if you can get him 0:16:52.720 --> 0:16:55.160 in a trade and say to him, look, you know, 0:16:55.400 --> 0:16:57.640 we'll only do this to his agent. We'll only do 0:16:57.680 --> 0:17:00.440 this if we can extend the contract. We'll make the trade, 0:17:00.640 --> 0:17:02.200 but we don't want to have him be a free 0:17:02.200 --> 0:17:04.359 agent as soon as you know, he finishes the season 0:17:04.400 --> 0:17:07.199 with us, let's get let's get a deal done. Now 0:17:07.240 --> 0:17:09.360 the agent has to decide, what the hell do I do? Now, 0:17:09.520 --> 0:17:11.920 you know, I don't see that happening. I mean, it's 0:17:11.960 --> 0:17:15.720 to me, I don't know why I would trade for 0:17:15.760 --> 0:17:17.880 a guy, though, with ten games left in the season, 0:17:18.440 --> 0:17:22.119 who has shown that you know, he's he's spotty at 0:17:22.119 --> 0:17:26.280 best with hands. But you said many times and I 0:17:26.280 --> 0:17:31.840 can agree with you reverses Ali screens. There's got to 0:17:31.880 --> 0:17:34.879 be a package. Somebody is probably sitting out there saying, 0:17:35.359 --> 0:17:38.560 I'll take him and put together this little package and 0:17:38.680 --> 0:17:41.439 compliment what I've got from my receiver group, particularly a 0:17:41.440 --> 0:17:45.480 team that's struggling at the receiver position and has an 0:17:45.480 --> 0:17:47.800 offense like the Baltimore Riggans. And now they never trade 0:17:47.840 --> 0:17:50.480 him in the division obviously, But the New England Patriots, 0:17:50.760 --> 0:17:52.920 you know, are a team that they're saying. The Green 0:17:52.920 --> 0:17:56.200 Bay Packers supposedly have an interest in John Ross, and 0:17:56.359 --> 0:17:58.600 you know, I could see them creating a package with 0:17:58.600 --> 0:18:01.960 with Aaron Rodgers for John potentially. So I guess it's 0:18:02.119 --> 0:18:04.120 you know, it's not out of the realm of possibility, 0:18:04.560 --> 0:18:06.800 although I would deem it highly unlikely. I'm not sure 0:18:06.840 --> 0:18:09.159 that Mike Brown would pull the trigger on a trade. 0:18:09.840 --> 0:18:12.040 And then people will say, well, why wouldn't you if 0:18:12.040 --> 0:18:15.480 he's not part of your future, why not get anything? 0:18:15.560 --> 0:18:18.680 Assuming that somebody would flip you a late pick just 0:18:18.960 --> 0:18:22.280 because they're seduced by the speed, I guess the argument 0:18:22.320 --> 0:18:26.640 against would be, well, so then what happens when Aj 0:18:26.760 --> 0:18:29.560 Green pulls Hampshire? Yeah, Aj gets hurt or God forbid, 0:18:29.640 --> 0:18:32.159 another of your top receivers gets hurt. You want to 0:18:32.200 --> 0:18:35.800 have that guy available. I guess that's the argument against that. 0:18:35.960 --> 0:18:38.480 That's the obvious argument against, no question about it. And 0:18:39.240 --> 0:18:42.160 you know the way they get hit by injury at positions, 0:18:42.160 --> 0:18:46.760 and it spreads like a virus. You know, allowed defensive 0:18:46.800 --> 0:18:49.840 tackle this year or left tackle last year. Man you 0:18:49.960 --> 0:18:53.080 just never know. I would say that that is certainly 0:18:53.080 --> 0:18:56.000 a case where you should be talking to every team 0:18:56.080 --> 0:19:00.000 just to find out what the market would bear. I agree, 0:19:00.040 --> 0:19:02.800 there's no sense, there's no harm. I should say in 0:19:03.119 --> 0:19:07.000 doing research, there's no harm whatsoever and seeing what the 0:19:07.040 --> 0:19:10.680 market will give. Let's face it, if you look back 0:19:10.720 --> 0:19:13.880 at the Bengals one four and one start, they could 0:19:13.880 --> 0:19:17.440 have been perhaps should have been four and two, could 0:19:17.440 --> 0:19:20.159 have have the Chargers game in Week one, shouldn't have 0:19:20.200 --> 0:19:22.840 lost or shouldn't have tied against the Eagles in their 0:19:22.840 --> 0:19:25.440 first road game of the year, and then last week 0:19:25.520 --> 0:19:28.680 up by twenty one early in the second quarter. That's 0:19:28.720 --> 0:19:32.120 a game you can't let get away. Unfortunately they did. 0:19:32.480 --> 0:19:36.240 Here's veteran Josh Bines on that one four and one start. 0:19:36.840 --> 0:19:39.280 We definitely should be, definitely, for sure be a four 0:19:39.320 --> 0:19:41.560 and two team right now. You'll take the bow whip 0:19:41.560 --> 0:19:43.639 in the Ravens and the Cleveland of course as a 0:19:43.720 --> 0:19:46.760 learning lesson, But we just gotta learn how to finish 0:19:46.760 --> 0:19:50.200 these games, and then the conversation is different that we're 0:19:50.240 --> 0:19:52.760 having right now, and right now it just it just sucks, 0:19:52.840 --> 0:19:54.240 you know, because I feel like we're a better team 0:19:54.280 --> 0:19:56.520 than that. It just didn't make them one play or 0:19:56.520 --> 0:19:59.160 two players. We've needed important to come down to stretch 0:19:59.240 --> 0:20:00.880 to win the game, and that's what we haven't done 0:20:00.920 --> 0:20:04.480 this season. I haven't learned how to finish in all phases, 0:20:04.720 --> 0:20:06.840 and I just, you know, it just sucks to know 0:20:06.920 --> 0:20:09.639 that we're that close, really to be in such a 0:20:09.680 --> 0:20:12.240 great team and just to fall short and the record 0:20:12.320 --> 0:20:15.040 says otherwise, and actually, you know, than what we know 0:20:15.080 --> 0:20:17.560 we capable of. I don't know that the Bengals are 0:20:17.880 --> 0:20:20.600 that close to being a great team, as Josh Bunes 0:20:20.680 --> 0:20:22.959 just said, but they are that close to being a 0:20:22.960 --> 0:20:25.800 middle of the pack team as opposed to a one, 0:20:25.960 --> 0:20:29.600 four and one team. I agree. And if those had 0:20:29.600 --> 0:20:32.479 gone that way, the entire AFC North would be four 0:20:32.520 --> 0:20:34.520 and two were better, and the Bengals and Browns would 0:20:34.520 --> 0:20:37.680 be planned to be five and two potentially. I mean, 0:20:38.080 --> 0:20:41.360 think about that. I mean, the AFC North could have 0:20:41.800 --> 0:20:47.439 potentially been the most top to bottom, the strongest division 0:20:47.440 --> 0:20:52.359