Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody on Dan Hoard and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: the Bengals Booth podcast. The I'm Back in the Settle again.
Speaker 2: Addition.
Speaker 1: As the Bengals twenty twenty three training camp gets underway,
Speaker 1: coming up, we'll hear from Mike Brown, Duke Tobin, and
Speaker 1: several members of the coaching staff as they discuss what
Speaker 1: I consider to be the team's eight most important question
Speaker 1: marks heading into camp. The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought
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Speaker 1: you get your podcasts. It's the greatest thing since Google Translate.
Speaker 1: We recently returned from an awesome family vacation that took
Speaker 1: us to six different countries in Europe. For the most part,
Speaker 1: it was easy to communicate in English, but there were
Speaker 1: a few instances where that wasn't possible. For example, one
Speaker 1: of our stops was Switzerland, and we had a hard
Speaker 1: time finding the place we had rented for lodging, so
Speaker 1: we stopped at a nearby hotel and asked four directions. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: the woman behind the counter only spoke German, which is
Speaker 1: the primary language in Switzerland. That's where Google Translate came
Speaker 1: to the rescue. We set the app to translate from
Speaker 1: German to English, then pressed the little microphone icon and
Speaker 1: had the woman speak into the phone. When she was finished,
Speaker 1: the following words appeared on the screen. Go about a
Speaker 1: mile down the street and take a rite at the
Speaker 1: school building. It worked out perfectly. Google Translate also works
Speaker 1: with the camera eye your phone. For example, if you
Speaker 1: simply focus the camera on a menu, it will translate
Speaker 1: everything into English. A couple of the words might be
Speaker 1: slightly off, but you'll definitely be able to order. So
Speaker 1: if you're traveling anywhere where language might be an issue,
Speaker 1: have Google Translate downloaded on your phone. It's eindrucksvall. That's
Speaker 1: German for awesome. Now let's get to football. This will
Speaker 1: be the bengals fifty sixth season and going back to
Speaker 1: the very beginning, Under Paul Brown, it's been a tradition
Speaker 1: to have a media luncheon with management and coaches just
Speaker 1: before the start of training cap. I approach this year's
Speaker 1: luncheon looking for feedback on what I consider to be
Speaker 1: the eight biggest question marks heading into the season. The
Speaker 1: first one is obvious and towers over any other topic,
Speaker 1: the contract status of Joe Burrow. Here's team president Mike Brown, but.
Speaker 2: Joe's the heart of the team, and everybody in Cincinnati
Speaker 2: knows that I'm not the only one. He is a
Speaker 2: necessary piece to our puzzle, and we understand that I
Speaker 2: don't have anything to say on this negotiation. We've agreed
Speaker 2: with the other side that we wouldn't do it publicly.
Speaker 2: We do it privately. We think that gives us the
Speaker 2: best chance to bring it to a conclusion.
Speaker 1: Of course, Burrow is not the only player the Bengals
Speaker 1: are hoping to extend. T Higgins and Logan Wilson are
Speaker 1: entering the final year of their contracts.
Speaker 2: We have good players that need to be signed and extended.
Speaker 2: All this is part of a puzzle, if you will,
Speaker 2: and you have to fit them in one by one.
Speaker 2: I don't know where it's going to end up because
Speaker 2: we have only so much in the camp to expend
Speaker 2: before it's all gone, and whether we can get all
Speaker 2: our guys back or have to pick and choose who
Speaker 2: depends someone what they're asking. We have them all here
Speaker 2: this year, so that's the good thing. What the future
Speaker 2: will bring, we'll have to wait and see.
Speaker 1: As for the feasibility of extending Burrow and Higgins this
Speaker 1: year and Jamar Chase next year. The Bengals say that's
Speaker 1: the goal here again is Mike along with Duke Tobin
Speaker 1: and offensive coordinator Brian Callahan.
Speaker 2: You just hit the daily worry for me. I want
Speaker 2: to get them all back. I respect all of them.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we're not out looking to replace them with other guys.
Speaker 3: We'd like to keep them around. We'll see if that's possible.
Speaker 3: I can't predict that, but we're definitely hopeful that we
Speaker 3: have long term relationships with the guys we have. You know,
Speaker 3: we drafted them for a reason, They've produced for a reason,
Speaker 3: and we want to keep that going.
Speaker 4: It's a passing league now, I mean it's I think
Speaker 4: you look at the teams that have led the league
Speaker 4: and that are in the tops, and passing are generally
Speaker 4: the teams that are that are in the playoffs and
Speaker 4: lead the league in scoring, and those top couple of
Speaker 4: teams are teams that throw the ball well. And so
Speaker 4: I think you're seeing a shift of philosophy where teams
Speaker 4: are trying to load up on the guys that score touchdowns,
Speaker 4: and those are the receivers and occasionally have really dynamic
Speaker 4: tight ends, but receivers in general. If you've got two
Speaker 4: guys that can go win on the on the outside
Speaker 4: and go win one on one matchups, you enhance your
Speaker 4: ability to throw the football, and especially if you've got
Speaker 4: a quarterback that can do it. So I think you're
Speaker 4: definitely seeing teams invest more in those positions, spend more
Speaker 4: money at that spot than probably previous years. But that's
Speaker 4: because that's the way the league's go and you people
Speaker 4: are throwing the ball quite a bit, and to do that,
Speaker 4: you got to have guys that can go win and
Speaker 4: separate and go make contested plays. And I think you
Speaker 4: see a lot of that, and where the money's going
Speaker 4: is what you're seeing, and I think that's going to continue.
Speaker 1: One contract situation has been resolved, the restructuring of Joe
Speaker 1: Mixon's deal, as he agreed to a pay cut to
Speaker 1: remain with the Bengals.
Speaker 3: Joe was real professional about that. We appreciated that. I
Speaker 3: think he understood where the team was. We found something
Speaker 3: that was acceptable to both. You know, we have to
Speaker 3: do what is best for the overall team. He understood that,
Speaker 3: and we found something that we were both satisfied with.
Speaker 3: And he's looking to win. He wants to win, very
Speaker 3: professional about the whole approach, and we're glad it's behind us.
Speaker 4: He still is a very good catcher of the football out
Speaker 4: of the backfield. He did a great job this year.
Speaker 4: He's a very hard runner. Teams don't like tackling him.
Speaker 4: All those things still remain. I'm excited he's back with us.
Speaker 4: I'm excited that things worked out for him the way
Speaker 4: they did and that he's going to be able to
Speaker 4: come play for us because he's been productive every year
Speaker 4: he's been on the field. He's found production. So that's
Speaker 4: a big deal. And again, hopefully we can keep putting
Speaker 4: him in positions to run against numbers where we have
Speaker 4: the advantage and he can continue to run hard and
Speaker 4: make it difficult on defenses. And we need a big
Speaker 4: back because that's part of football. You still have to
Speaker 4: be able to run the football in tight spots. So
Speaker 4: I think Joe's going to bring everything he always does
Speaker 4: to us, and his energy and his leadership or another
Speaker 4: part of that too, so fired up to have him
Speaker 4: raid a role.
Speaker 2: The thing with Joe was to get his deal at
Speaker 2: a market price that would help us with the overall
Speaker 2: and he consented to do that. We're appreciative that he did.
Speaker 2: It should help us address some other player contract issues.
Speaker 1: I still think a Borough deal will get done before
Speaker 1: the start of the season, hopefully sooner rather than later.
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Speaker 1: paycorp dot com. Enough contract talk, let's move on to
Speaker 1: what I consider to be the seven biggest on field
Speaker 1: question marks heading into camp. Up First, getting the safeties
Speaker 1: up to speed with Jesse Bates and Von Bell gone,
Speaker 1: Dax Hill and Nick Scott project as the starters, with
Speaker 1: rookie Jordan Battle poised to play a role in three
Speaker 1: safety packages. Bell and Bates started nearly every game together
Speaker 1: for the last three years, and their chemistry and ability
Speaker 1: to avoid mental mistakes will be hard to replace. Here's
Speaker 1: defensive coordinator lou Anarumo on Hill and Scott taking over.
Speaker 5: Well, the good news is they work together in the sprint,
Speaker 5: so we got a little bit of a baseline there.
Speaker 5: And then you know, Nix a veteran, Zach at least
Speaker 5: as a year under his belt. I'm sorry, Dax has
Speaker 5: a under his belt, so you know, we we can
Speaker 5: work with that, for sure.
Speaker 1: I think a lot of us assume it's going to
Speaker 1: take a little while. Can you even afford to look
Speaker 1: at it that way?
Speaker 5: You know, I just think that the faster the better.
Speaker 5: But at the end of the day, as long as
Speaker 5: you know, we've got a lot of other guys that
Speaker 5: have played a lot of football for us, and I
Speaker 5: think that they can also help with their getting together
Speaker 5: and meshing together because they know what it's supposed to
Speaker 5: look like. So I'm hoping it won't take long, but
Speaker 5: we'll see.
Speaker 1: Sticking with defense, the next question mark involves the Bengals
Speaker 1: pass rush. Cincinnati had just thirty sacks last year. Only
Speaker 1: three teams in the NFL had fewer, and the NFC
Speaker 1: champion Eagles had seventy. That's one of the reasons why
Speaker 1: the Bengals chose Miles Murphy in the first round. But
Speaker 1: sachs aren't the only way to measure pressure. The Bengals
Speaker 1: were twelve in quarterback Once again, here's Lou.
Speaker 5: I think we finished it first in the league with
Speaker 5: qbr against so if we're if we're doing that, that
Speaker 5: means you're effecting the quarterbacks. So you know, if we
Speaker 5: can keep that up and finish some more sacks, we'll
Speaker 5: be just fine.
Speaker 6: I'm not worried about how.
Speaker 1: Much of that stat do you think is confusing quarterbacks.
Speaker 5: I think it has something to do with it. But
Speaker 5: at the end of the day, you know, keeping those
Speaker 5: guys off balance is what wins games in this league.
Speaker 5: It's a difference. They're so good, so talented, and we
Speaker 5: got to do a good job of continuing.
Speaker 2: To do that.
Speaker 1: Now, let's move to the offensive question marks. With L. L.
Speaker 1: Collins still recovering from knee surgery, Jonah Williams appears to
Speaker 1: be the leading candidate to start at right tackle, with
Speaker 1: Jackson Carmen competing for the spot. I asked Brian Callahan
Speaker 1: about that battle. What's the game plan and the timetable
Speaker 1: for choosing right tackle.
Speaker 4: We're gonna let a play out. I mean, there's no
Speaker 4: there's no date on that as far as that when
Speaker 4: we're gonna announce the starters, it'll probably be for September.
Speaker 4: But looking forward to seeing that. I mean, Jonah's going
Speaker 4: to a new position. Excited to see him come. He's
Speaker 4: ready to work, he looks good. He's been here the
Speaker 4: last few days with the injured players, and then obviously
Speaker 4: you got Jackson over there and else coming off his injury.
Speaker 4: So we'll see where that stands when we get when
Speaker 4: we get rolling. But Elsie's starting on pup as was announced,
Speaker 4: and then Jackson's in the mix as well. So good
Speaker 4: competition hopefully brings out the best of those guys and
Speaker 4: we get a really good starting right tackle for us,
Speaker 4: because I feel really good about that group.
Speaker 1: Then there's tight end. The Bengals re signed Mitchell Wilcox
Speaker 1: on Monday, adding him to a room that includes Irv Smith,
Speaker 1: Junior Drew Sample, Devin Assi, Ossi Tanner, Hudson, Nick Bauers,
Speaker 1: and Christian Tree. Han Smith is the projected starter, with
Speaker 1: a hope that he can match or maybe even exceed
Speaker 1: the production the team received over the last two seasons
Speaker 1: from c j Uzama and Hayden Hurst.
Speaker 4: From what we've seen in the spring so far, yeah,
Speaker 4: I think he brings a little bit different element than
Speaker 4: what we've had. He's just a little a different style
Speaker 4: of player than the than the tight ends that have
Speaker 4: played for between cj and and Hayden the last two years,
Speaker 4: and so excited to see what he brings to the
Speaker 4: passing game. I think he's a really good route runner.
Speaker 4: I think he's got really good hands. He lacks maybe
Speaker 4: the physical size that the other two the last couple
Speaker 4: of years have had, so he's just a different style
Speaker 4: of player. But I think in the past game he's
Speaker 4: got real ability and I'm excited about that part of
Speaker 4: his game. He can get in out of the top
Speaker 4: of his break. He can separate at the top, which
Speaker 4: is you know, some of those tight ends use more
Speaker 4: strength than that. But he's got real route technique and
Speaker 4: savvy and I think he's the top of His routes
Speaker 4: have been pretty impressive. So we'll see if the pats
Speaker 4: come on when it gets physical, what it looks like.
Speaker 4: But you know, he's done a good job in his career,
Speaker 4: and I think he's gonna ad another element that we
Speaker 4: haven't had.
Speaker 1: The final offensive question mark is it running back, more
Speaker 1: specifically third down running back following the free agent departure
Speaker 1: of sam I j. P Ryn, Will Joe Mixon stay
Speaker 1: on the field more on third down or will Traveon Williams,
Speaker 1: Chris Evans or rookie Chase Brown fill that role. A
Speaker 1: key will be pass protection and picking up blitzers. Brian
Speaker 1: Callahan says that's one of the things they'll be evaluating
Speaker 1: closely in camp and the three preseason games.
Speaker 4: The advantage we get is we get to go against
Speaker 4: lou every day and Lou has has has a full
Speaker 4: gamut of things that that they're trying to get repped
Speaker 4: and practiced, which benefits us because they do have a
Speaker 4: pretty good arsenal of blitzes we'll see over the course
Speaker 4: of our third down work and all that, so you
Speaker 4: will get a pretty good feel for that process. Obviously,
Speaker 4: those guys aren't still they're not coming to sack the quarterback,
Speaker 4: so it's a little bit different. But as far as recognition, execution,
Speaker 4: assignment football, you're going to see all that and you
Speaker 4: should get a pretty good feel, but then always the
Speaker 4: the teller is going to be what the preseason games
Speaker 4: look like and then what those guys do in those games.
Speaker 4: So it's a role that's undefined for for who's gonna
Speaker 4: do it and what it's going to look like. And
Speaker 4: that's going to be a big focus of training camp
Speaker 4: for us on on where that's gonna come from. So
Speaker 4: that'll be a good one to follow.
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Speaker 1: Bengals Picks and Ultimate Bengals. They're free to play with
Speaker 1: tickets and sign merchandise up for grabs. Find both inside
Speaker 1: the Bengals app. We've covered six of my eight pre
Speaker 1: training camp question marks. The final two are on special teams.
Speaker 1: Will the punter be the incumbent Drew Chrisman or rookie
Speaker 1: Brad Robbins. Since the Bengals used the sixth round draft
Speaker 1: pick on Robbins, he is likely the favorite, but the
Speaker 1: job won't be handed to him. Here's Special Teams coordinator
Speaker 1: Darren Simmons on the process.
Speaker 6: We track everything from a data perspective so that the
Speaker 6: numbers are with the numbers are. But I also I've
Speaker 6: been in this business long enough. I've been around these
Speaker 6: guys long enough to know to know what it should
Speaker 6: look like and what should feel like, not only from
Speaker 6: a just a punting perspective, but just collectively, how three
Speaker 6: all three guys work together, the punter or the kicker
Speaker 6: or the snap or how it should feel and what
Speaker 6: it should look like, how seamlessly it's.
Speaker 2: Going to be.
Speaker 6: You know, I try to look ahead and see, all right,
Speaker 6: we're playing Week one. We're in Cleveland and with the
Speaker 6: wind and the weather could be like you know, versus
Speaker 6: what it could be late in the year, And who
Speaker 6: do I want doing that? And it could look very
Speaker 6: different in August and Cincinnati compared to what it could
Speaker 6: be in you know, December or January and Kansas City,
Speaker 6: and that could be two completely different people. So I've
Speaker 6: got to try to formulate my own mind. Can that guy,
Speaker 6: Can I envision him doing what we need to do,
Speaker 6: not just now, in the future.
Speaker 1: And finally there will be a training camp battle to
Speaker 1: choose kickoff in punt returners, Charlie Jones was drafted in
Speaker 1: the fourth round partly due to his return ability. He
Speaker 1: had a one hundred yard kickoff return touchdown and had a
Speaker 1: fifty four yard punt return score in his college career.
Speaker 1: But it's not his job yet, Insane Sinnattie. Trent Taylor
Speaker 1: was eighth in the league in punt return average last year,
Speaker 1: and Travon Williams and Chris Evans are back after being
Speaker 1: the kick returners last season.
Speaker 6: Well, it's still up in the air, of course. You know,
Speaker 6: obviously have an income a guy that if you're talking
Speaker 6: about punt returner first, have an income, A guy in
Speaker 6: Trent who's been a solid guy for us back there.
Speaker 6: I think we're probably trying to push the roster flexibility,
Speaker 6: flexibility a little bit. That's why we drafted Charlie. We'll
Speaker 6: get a good opportunity to see him, you know, extensively
Speaker 6: in the preseason to see I'm sure what he can
Speaker 6: do in the return game, in on offense. So that's
Speaker 6: kind of a fluid spot it's going to be. It's
Speaker 6: a spot that's open for you know, a great deal
Speaker 6: of competition, you know, I hope selfishly that the opponent's
Speaker 6: punt a lot in the preseason game, so you know,
Speaker 6: we can see somebody bubble up right there, you know,
Speaker 6: much in the same fashion we saw Alex Erickson do
Speaker 6: that several years ago. And so that's that's that's a
Speaker 6: fluid spot, as is the kickoff return spot. You know,
Speaker 6: that's going to become a very important position for us
Speaker 6: now only have a playmaker, but have a good decision
Speaker 6: maker with you know, some rule changes that have come
Speaker 6: into play here all of a sudden, so that that's
Speaker 6: going to be a very very important spot. And you know,
Speaker 6: we've got a couple of candidates here, Chris Chris Evans
Speaker 6: will be one. Trayvon will have an opportunity to show
Speaker 6: what he can do there. Charlie can do that also,
Speaker 6: and you know, and I don't want to call me lasser,
Speaker 6: it was a rising player for US here ago that
Speaker 6: came in, had a good camp earner, spotder practice squad,
Speaker 6: and and uh so we've got several capable guys back
Speaker 6: there that can do both of those spots.
Speaker 1: So there you have it. A look or listen at
Speaker 1: what I consider to be the eight biggest questions heading
Speaker 1: into training camp. And if you follow me on Twitter,
Speaker 1: my five observations from every practice will begin on Wednesday.
Speaker 1: That's going to do it for this episode of the
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Speaker 1: I'm Dan Hord, and thanks for listening to The Bengals
Speaker 1: Booth Podcast