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Speaker 1: Hi, Get everybody. I'm Dan Horde and this is the

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Speaker 1: Bengals Booth Podcast. The change is gonna come. Oh yes

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Speaker 1: it will. Addition, as we look at Zach Taylor's decision

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Speaker 1: to benj Andy Dalton after an O and eight start

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Speaker 1: and turned to rookie Ryan Finley as his starting quarterback.

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Speaker 1: When the Bengals return to action a week from Sunday

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Speaker 1: against the Baltimore Ravens. Coming up, you'll hear from four people. First,

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Speaker 1: my broadcast partner Dave Lapham, as he analyzes the big switch,

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Speaker 1: shares his opinion of Ryan Finlay, and looks back at

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Speaker 1: what went wrong in the bengals fourteen point loss in

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Speaker 1: London to the La Rams. You'll also hear from the

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Speaker 1: two quarterbacks in the eye of the Hurricane, the twenty

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Speaker 1: four year old Finlay and the thirty two year old Dalton.

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Speaker 1: And finally, we'll hear from an expert uniquely qualified to

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Speaker 1: weigh in on a decision, a former NFL quarterback who

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Speaker 1: is Andy Dalton's teammate for two seasons in Cincinnati, and

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Speaker 1: a guy who was once in Ryan Finley's shoes when

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Speaker 1: he was suddenly thrust into Tampa based starting lineup. As

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Speaker 1: a rookie I am speaking of Bruce Gradkowski. All of

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Speaker 1: that is straight ahead. But first, here's a quick reminder

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Speaker 1: that you can have the latest edition of this podcast

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Speaker 1: delivered write to your phone, tablet, or computer by subscribing

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Speaker 1: on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, or Podbean. It's the

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Speaker 1: greatest thing since organizing one's Halloween candy. It's Halloween morning.

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Speaker 1: My son is thirteen, and for the first time in

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Speaker 1: his life, it does not sound like he is going

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Speaker 1: to go trick or treating. That's sad for a couple

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Speaker 1: of reasons. Number one, he's growing up way too fast,

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Speaker 1: and number two, I will miss seeing the organized piles

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Speaker 1: of candy. That was my favorite part of Halloween as

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Speaker 1: a kid, getting home, dumping the bag of candy onto

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Speaker 1: the floor, and then organizing it in small piles, hoping

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Speaker 1: for stacks of Reese's peanut buttercups and kit kats, and

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Speaker 1: quickly discarding all mounds and almond joys due to the

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Speaker 1: dreaded presence of coconut. One of the true joys of childhood,

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Speaker 1: parenthood and profitable dentistry the organized piles of Halloween candy.

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Speaker 1: Now let's get to football. I was hired by the

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Speaker 1: Bengals to be their radio announcer on May fourth, twenty eleven,

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Speaker 1: less than a week after they selected Andy Dalton with

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Speaker 1: a thirty fifth pick in the NFL Draft. I get

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Speaker 1: the credit or blame, depending on how you feel about it,

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Speaker 1: for coining the nickname the red Rifle. When he's been healthy,

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Speaker 1: Andy has been the starting quarterback for every game that

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Speaker 1: I've called. I have the utmost respect for him as

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Speaker 1: a player and as a person, in my opinion, and

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Speaker 1: he never received enough credit for inheriting a team that

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Speaker 1: went four and twelve the year before he got there

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Speaker 1: and taking it to the playoffs in each of his

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Speaker 1: first five seasons. Additionally, he and his wife JJ have

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Speaker 1: been incredibly giving to families facing serious medical challenges. He

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Speaker 1: is one of the classiest athletes I have ever had

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Speaker 1: the pleasure of covering, so I'll admit it. I was

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Speaker 1: shocked when I saw the news on Tuesday. I thought

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Speaker 1: it might happen at some point, but didn't see it

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Speaker 1: happening now. When I sat down for this week's conversation

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Speaker 1: with my broadcast partner Dave Lapham, I asked if he

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Speaker 1: was shocked by the news as well. I'm not sure

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Speaker 1: I was shocked, but I was definitely surprised. But we

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Speaker 1: talked about it before. I thought if they were going

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Speaker 1: to make that move, the bye week would make sense

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Speaker 1: to do it because you have the extra week of

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Speaker 1: Ryan Filly working with the number one. He's had no

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Speaker 1: reps with AJ Green, He's back, he's had no reps

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Speaker 1: with Basically, he said, rests with Damian Willis, Stanley Morgan,

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Speaker 1: guys like that reps, not with Tyler Boyd and guys

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Speaker 1: that are gonna you know, had been playing uh earlier

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Speaker 1: in the season with Andy Dalton and him getting all

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Speaker 1: those number one reps. So I think that was a big,

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Speaker 1: big factor in the in the decision making process. And

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Speaker 1: you know, it's it's tough for Andy Dalton, there's no

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Speaker 1: question about I've said it a few times. I'm going

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Speaker 1: to say it again. You know, I think that organizationally,

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Speaker 1: as a group, they let Andy Dalton down more than

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Speaker 1: he'd let the organization down. Lap Ryan was a fourth

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Speaker 1: round draft pick. He had a passer rating of ninety

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Speaker 1: nine point three in the preseason. What do you think

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Speaker 1: of him based on what he saw during training camp

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Speaker 1: and in those preseason games In the beginning of training camp,

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Speaker 1: I would scratch my head a little bit. Didn't look

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Speaker 1: didn't look like well man. Fourth round pick so high

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Speaker 1: on him. He wasn't playing real well, but took coaching

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Speaker 1: point to change his footwork, and once he did that,

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Speaker 1: I mean he took off and started playing really well.

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Speaker 1: The thing I liked best about him as a warmer

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Speaker 1: offensive lineman is his ability to manipulate the pocket. He'll

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Speaker 1: slap sidestep, he'll step up in the pocket, you know,

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Speaker 1: climate at just the right time. It's almost like he

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Speaker 1: has eyes in the back of his head, and those

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Speaker 1: are instincts that really can't coach. He has a tremendous

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Speaker 1: feel for that kind of thing, and I think that

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Speaker 1: was one of the big problems I think that they

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Speaker 1: had with Andy, is that not just mobility, you know,

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Speaker 1: getting out of pocket, extending, creating, but within the pocket,

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Speaker 1: even the mobility wasn't there, and you know he was,

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Speaker 1: you know, he's just basically a little bit shell shocked,

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Speaker 1: you know. I think I think his clock had been

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Speaker 1: readjusted and wasn't showing any signs of changing that. And

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Speaker 1: that's one of the big reasons I think they made

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Speaker 1: the move to Ryan Finley to see if he can

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Speaker 1: negotiate and manipulate the pocket a little bit better lap.

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Speaker 1: The Bengals played Baltimore a couple of weeks ago and

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Speaker 1: did not score an offensive touchdown until there was a

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Speaker 1: minute in twenty eight seconds to go. How difficult is

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Speaker 1: it going to be for a rookie quarterback to face

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Speaker 1: that defense in his first NFL start? Coach Martindale, the

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Speaker 1: defensive coordinator is a blitz master. Finley is going to

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Speaker 1: see blitzes that he never knew existed. He's going to

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Speaker 1: see every blitz known to mankind. And a little over

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Speaker 1: a year ago, the home opener on Thursday Night Football,

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Speaker 1: Andy Dalton torched it, torched it. He and aj Green

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Speaker 1: combined for three touchdown receptions in a quarter and a

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Speaker 1: half or less than a quarter and a half, and

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Speaker 1: Martindale wink blinked. You know, he didn't blitz anymore for

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Speaker 1: a myriad of plays, A good number of plays hadn't

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Speaker 1: seen it before out of Baltimore. So I hope Andy

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Speaker 1: can impart some of that knowledge, you know, Ryan Finley

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Speaker 1: in terms of a pre snap reads a feel for it.

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Speaker 1: But that I think that's Andy's biggest strength is really

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Speaker 1: predicting blitzes based on what he sees pre snap. He's

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Speaker 1: very hard to fool. He's seen everything Ryan Finley has not.

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Speaker 1: That experienced level is going to be something that you

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Speaker 1: can only get by taking snaps out on the football field.

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Speaker 1: Andy Dalton's not going to be able to drill a

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Speaker 1: hole and pour Andy Dalton knowledge in the in Finley's head,

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Speaker 1: but he's going to be, you know, helping him as

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Speaker 1: much as he possibly can on that sideline. We'll see

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Speaker 1: how it rolls. I went back and looked at every

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Speaker 1: time the la Rams faced third and eight or longer

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Speaker 1: in last week's game in London. They converted on four

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Speaker 1: of six opportunities when it was third and eight or longer,

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Speaker 1: with gains of twenty one, twenty three, twenty and forty.

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Speaker 1: That's unbelievable to me. Was it a lack of pass rush?

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Speaker 1: Is that a bad scheme? How does that happen? I

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Speaker 1: think it's everything. You know, the one that galls me

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Speaker 1: the most. Third and ten from your own two yard line,

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Speaker 1: you give up a twenty yard run. You've got to

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Speaker 1: be kidding me, absolutely got to be kidding me. So

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Speaker 1: I think all of it you know, I think everybody's

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Speaker 1: looking at themselves during this bye week and looking at

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Speaker 1: the mirror and saying, man, what can we do. I

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Speaker 1: mean a lot of times in the coverages there was

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Speaker 1: terrible discipline in the back end of his own coverages.

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Speaker 1: Guys were getting as were getting their eyes were being

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Speaker 1: downhill looking at crossers and shallower routes while things behind

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Speaker 1: him were developing. And you just can't have those kind

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Speaker 1: of things. Because Dan, as we saw, it wasn't just

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Speaker 1: they found a little opening in his own. They found

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Speaker 1: a cavern, they found the Grand Canyon. I mean sometimes

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Speaker 1: when you look, there'd be nobody within ten yards of

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Speaker 1: any direction of them, and it's like, how the hell

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Speaker 1: can that be? You know, Cooper Cup lit him up,

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Speaker 1: but a tea cup of coffee cup would have done

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Speaker 1: the same thing. Didn't have to be Cooper Cup. I mean,

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Speaker 1: there there was. It was so unbelievably wide open down

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Speaker 1: the football field. Even one time when we were on

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Speaker 1: a room well called the double team on Cup, Sean

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Speaker 1: Williams goes airborne too early. You know, he makes a

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Speaker 1: contested catch. It was like it was it was amazing.

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Speaker 1: But the one that the one that really really threw

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Speaker 1: me was from your own two yard line. As a

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Speaker 1: former lineman offensive lineman, I'm thinking, man, if you bust

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Speaker 1: a twenty yard run on third and ten from your

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Speaker 1: own two yard line, you gotta feel pretty damn good

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Speaker 1: about how the game's gonna unfold. According to our buddy

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Speaker 1: Jay Morrison from The Athletic, the Bengals used two tight

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Speaker 1: ends in a season high eighteen snaps against the Rams

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Speaker 1: that matched their total in the previous three games combined.

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Speaker 1: How much did multiple tight ends help the running game?

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Speaker 1: I think it did help it. Guys talked to in

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Speaker 1: the post game, you know, locker room show, we're saying

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Speaker 1: that they were having a hard time matching up. Initially

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Speaker 1: they caught him in some nickel looks, you know, and

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Speaker 1: with the with the big bodies, Michael Jordan was the

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Speaker 1: extra lineman quote tight end you know on some of

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Speaker 1: those occasions, and they they creased them a little bit.

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Speaker 1: So the Rams, the Rams didn't expect it, and they

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Speaker 1: caught them in some favorable matches matchups to run the

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Speaker 1: football and even up the numbers game in the box

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Speaker 1: as such. Um. But then as the game war on,

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Speaker 1: you know, now you're you're fighting from behind again, and

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Speaker 1: if they could play with the lead, you know, have

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Speaker 1: have a lead for doesn't have to be a huge lead,

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Speaker 1: just a lead, things would be so different, you know,

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Speaker 1: from them. They could continue to you know, run the

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Speaker 1: football with multiple tight end looks and a lot of

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Speaker 1: these things. But man, you get down, you know, a

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Speaker 1: score plus in the second half of football games in

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Speaker 1: the National Football League, that becomes very difficult, particularly when

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Speaker 1: your defense was hemorrhaging like they were, you know, and

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Speaker 1: like we talked about on third and longs and things

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Speaker 1: that nature. So you know, as a play caller on

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Speaker 1: both sides of the football, when you're having struggles like that,

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Speaker 1: it's like the defense of coordinators thinking what do I

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Speaker 1: call not only the best call for my defense, but

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Speaker 1: to make sure that I helped the offense as much

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Speaker 1: as I can, And the offensive coordin is thinking the

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Speaker 1: same thing for the defense, you know, trying to play

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Speaker 1: a complimentary football. When you get caught in that cross

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Speaker 1: are it's brutal. It's hard enough to make calls just

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Speaker 1: for your side of the football, but when you have

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Speaker 1: to try to factor in you know, both sides of

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Speaker 1: the football that having their issues in certain areas. Man

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Speaker 1: that's a tough time. It's a tough scenario to find

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Speaker 1: the right play call. It really is. The Bengals did

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Speaker 1: not make any trades before the Tuesday deadline. I do

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Speaker 1: think there's a miskin reception that that means they blew

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Speaker 1: their chance to acquire extra draft picks. They can still

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Speaker 1: do that in the offseason, and honestly, I think they will.

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Speaker 1: Did they lose a chance to get maximum value? I

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Speaker 1: honestly don't know the answer to that question. But do

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Speaker 1: you think the current players appreciate the fact that there

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Speaker 1: wasn't a fire sale. I do think they do appreciate

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Speaker 1: that fact. But if I'm a current player, when Zach

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Speaker 1: Taylor made the move that he made with Andy Dalton,

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Speaker 1: that stignals to me it can happen to any of us.

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Speaker 1: That's the most significant move to make, changing out your

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Speaker 1: starting quarterback, And past experiences tell me when they change

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Speaker 1: out the starting quarterback, there's a couple of other shoes

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Speaker 1: going to fall. They may they may have already decided

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Speaker 1: to make other changes that haven't been announced yet in

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Speaker 1: terms of lineups and personnel, in amount of playing time.

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Speaker 1: Because man, if you if you do that at the

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Speaker 1: quarterback position. Nothing sacred. There's nothing that you you know,

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Speaker 1: there's nothing, nothing that says that can't happen to me.

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Speaker 1: So the message has been sent buckle it up, Buttercup,

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Speaker 1: because you know you could be next. And there's nothing

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Speaker 1: wrong with that part of it. So there weren't trade.

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Speaker 1: So guys you know, are thinking, well, you know, there's

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Speaker 1: nobody that's going to be taking my job by trade.

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Speaker 1: But when they made the move they made to me,

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Speaker 1: you better go out and re earn your job during

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Speaker 1: the bye week because every position's wide open if they

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Speaker 1: made that move with the quarterback position. We get to

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Speaker 1: spend some time every week with Zach Taylor working on

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Speaker 1: his TV show and you tape a weekly segment for

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Speaker 1: the radio pregame show with him. How do you think

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Speaker 1: he's holding up? I think the Cordy Glenn thing is

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Speaker 1: wearing him out, you know. I think that's the that's

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Speaker 1: the one variable that is I mean, it's football related,

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Speaker 1: but it's not you know, x's and O is related,

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Speaker 1: and that sort of thing. Am I making the right calls,

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Speaker 1: my scheme property, all those kind of things that that's

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Speaker 1: just a different dynamic and that that kind of thing

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Speaker 1: and in handling the mine field of the media aspect

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Speaker 1: of it, and um, the collective bargain agreement with the

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Speaker 1: players associate aspect of it. It's is going to wear

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Speaker 1: you out. And I think that he handled he's handled

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Speaker 1: it well, you know, but there's no way in my

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Speaker 1: mind it hasn't had an impact on him. Um, but

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Speaker 1: he's handled the injury part of it. And you know,

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Speaker 1: Jonah Williams aj Green the eleventh pick of the draft,

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Speaker 1: the fourth pick of the draft. When he came out

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Speaker 1: best player on your team, you lose your left tackling

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Speaker 1: before training camp starts, your best player of forty five

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Speaker 1: minutes into training camp play. If you talked about ad nauseam,

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Speaker 1: I mean, that's that's that's brutal stuff. And he real

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Speaker 1: handles it like you know, it's a blip on the screen.

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Speaker 1: To me, my screen would be shattered. Man, I would

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Speaker 1: have been like suicidal, you know. I mean, it's he's

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Speaker 1: handled it very well. I think he's handled uh, you know,

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Speaker 1: his media obligations with the fans, you know, admirably. What

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Speaker 1: he's got to make sure of is you know, he's

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Speaker 1: I think he still has the locker room. I don't

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Speaker 1: think he's lost the locker room. But at some point

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Speaker 1: there has to be validation to what you're doing. And

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Speaker 1: when I when I watch the offense now as opposed

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Speaker 1: to what I saw in OTAs and training camp in Seattle,

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Speaker 1: the Seattle game, like what happened to it? Where is it?

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Speaker 1: You know? And I know there's obviously player issues with injury,

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Speaker 1: but man, when I when I first watched that offense

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Speaker 1: and AJ Green was involved, you know, in the OTAs

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Speaker 1: in mini camp, I'm like, God, this is going to

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Speaker 1: be unbelievable. I was watching Rams PARTD, you know, and

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Speaker 1: then against Seattle, same thing. Man, there was mister actually

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Speaker 1: motion and quick slant short time like this is this

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Speaker 1: is gonna be fun? You know, maybe he starts to

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Speaker 1: run the ball. Now he can't run the ball, and

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Speaker 1: a lot of stuff's gone away. The offense right now

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Speaker 1: is a shell of itself. And maybe with the bye

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Speaker 1: week and getting some bodies back, you know, like Aj

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Speaker 1: and then hopefully you know, not too far behind is

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Speaker 1: John Ross and you know, the whole thing, the whole

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Speaker 1: dynamic can change, you know, back to what they were

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Speaker 1: a little bit. But you know, I'm gonna get some

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Speaker 1: lineman back healthy as well. You know Andre Smith, John

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Speaker 1: Miller Accord. He decides he wants to play. You know,

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Speaker 1: if he goes out there, that big old son of

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Speaker 1: a gun is a moving condo. He can play. He

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Speaker 1: just decide, has to decide he wants to play and

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Speaker 1: contribute to me. I don't know. I don't know how

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Speaker 1: you look at your teammates when they've been struggling as

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Speaker 1: badly as they've been struggling at the left tackle position,

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Speaker 1: and not once have you had said I'm stepping up,

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna do something about it. Not once, not even close.

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Speaker 1: I don't know how you look at teammates in the eye.

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Speaker 1: Now time to hear from the Bengals new starting quarterback

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Speaker 1: Ryan Finley is six to four and a slender two

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Speaker 1: hundred and seven pounds, so he is two inches taller

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Speaker 1: and about fifteen pounds lighter than Andy Dalton. He was

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Speaker 1: twenty five and fourteen as a starter at NC State,

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Speaker 1: where he completed nearly sixty five percent of his passes,

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Speaker 1: second best in school history to Philip Rivers. Now he

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Speaker 1: gets an earlier than expected shot to show what he

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Speaker 1: can do in the NFL. Ryan sat down with Lapping

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Speaker 1: Me to discuss his opportunity. Ryan, I imagine when you

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Speaker 1: got the news it had to be kind of a shock. Yeah. Um,

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Speaker 1: you know, I wasn't expecting it yesterday morning. But I'm

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Speaker 1: excited for the opportunity. I guess, um the timing of it,

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Speaker 1: with the bye week, you're having two full weeks to

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Speaker 1: work with the Number ones, you know, get a rhythm

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Speaker 1: and timing and reps with the Number ones. That seemed

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Speaker 1: to make a lot of sense in your mind. Does

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Speaker 1: that give you a feeling of you know, cheez, At

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Speaker 1: least I got a little more time to get ready

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Speaker 1: for this. Yeah, that's huge for me, I think, and

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Speaker 1: I think you nailed it. That's that's kind of how

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Speaker 1: I view it in my mind, is uh, you know,

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Speaker 1: just the more days to kind of get my mind

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Speaker 1: or I get reps with with those guys that I

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Speaker 1: haven't thrown too much. Um, you know, get with get

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Speaker 1: with Trey and get snaps and so I think, you know,

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Speaker 1: having a bye week is as big so I was.

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Speaker 1: I was thankful that it happened. At this time we're

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Speaker 1: visiting with Ryan Finlay. You performed well in your preseason opportunities.

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Speaker 1: You had a passer rating of ninety nine point three.

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Speaker 1: Does that give you confidence going into your first regular

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Speaker 1: season start? Yeah, it does, I think, Um, you know,

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Speaker 1: that's just something I can look back on and have

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Speaker 1: confidence in. And um, you know, I just did my

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Speaker 1: best to execute football plays. And that's kind of that's

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Speaker 1: kind of the mindset I'm taking right now. So, um,

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Speaker 1: you know, kind of simplify it and make it, don't

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Speaker 1: make it as much as it is, and just kind

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Speaker 1: of execute football plays and uh, cover it on third

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Speaker 1: downs and you get into the red zone score points,

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Speaker 1: and I think that's kind of where it all starts.

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Speaker 1: Baltimore is known to have every blitz known demand in

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Speaker 1: their arsenal, and Andy Dalton has done a pretty good

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Speaker 1: job of sorting it out, you know, seeing things almost

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Speaker 1: like before they happen, pre snap, post snap, and making

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Speaker 1: real good decisions that way. Obviously, you guys are good friends,

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Speaker 1: You're both highly intelligent. You're gonna lean on his experiences

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Speaker 1: and his intelligence to help you prepare for this one. Yes, yes, uh,

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Speaker 1: and he's obviously, and he's very good with that, um

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Speaker 1: you know, being in the league for as long as

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Speaker 1: he's been in and Alex is very good with that. Um.

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Speaker 1: So you know, I'm gonna do my best. Uh if

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Speaker 1: I need to, I'll look over to the silne and

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Speaker 1: he can signal to me what we need to do

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Speaker 1: or something like that. But uh, you know, that's just something. UM,

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Speaker 1: I'm not going to learn it until I just get

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Speaker 1: thrown out there and I just, um, you know, get

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Speaker 1: hit with live bullets and then i'll uh you know,

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Speaker 1: Alex will coach off it and I'll be able to

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Speaker 1: I'll be able to learn, you know. So I've confidenced

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Speaker 1: my ability to pick it up. But it's one of

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Speaker 1: those things where it's, uh, it's different watching it on

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Speaker 1: film and then get out there and actually having to

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Speaker 1: having to do it. So, UM, that's definitely something that

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Speaker 1: I'll be thinking about a lot over the you know,

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Speaker 1: over the course of the week and preparing for Ryan.

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Speaker 1: You strike me as someone who kind of follows the

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Speaker 1: rookie playbook where you come in, you keep your mouth shut,

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Speaker 1: you work hard, pay attention. Uh, you try to just

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Speaker 1: let your actions do the talking as a quarterback? Can

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Speaker 1: you do that now when you step into the starting role? Um,

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Speaker 1: I don't see why I'm not. Uh, you know, I

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Speaker 1: think I've had Um, I've had practice with this type

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Speaker 1: of situation in college, and I think I'm thankful for

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Speaker 1: some of the experiences that I've had in college, so

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Speaker 1: I can can lean back on that. But you know,

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Speaker 1: like I said earlier, it's about just executing plays. Uh,

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Speaker 1: And that's that's kind of how I see it. That's

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Speaker 1: how I kind of visualize myself being out there, is

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Speaker 1: just um doing what the coaches asked. And at the ball,

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Speaker 1: you know, it's a curl flat and that these things

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Speaker 1: underneath the curling to the flat. So it's kind of

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Speaker 1: just simplify it for me, and that's how I kind

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Speaker 1: of get into a rhythm of a game. So that's

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Speaker 1: what I hope to do. I guess as a follow

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Speaker 1: up to that, how do you classify yourself as a leader.

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Speaker 1: Are you a guy that leads by example? You guy

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Speaker 1: that's a you know, an emotional rohra guy. Are you

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Speaker 1: guy that's like, I'm gonna let my play speak for itself.

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Speaker 1: What type of leader or can we expect outa Ryan Finley? Um,

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Speaker 1: I don't. I'm not gonna I'm not gonna define my leadership.

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Speaker 1: I think, Uh. I think leadership is just when it's needed,

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Speaker 1: it's given. Um and I think, Uh, it's it's a

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Speaker 1: lot of times it's needed in a lot of different

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Speaker 1: ways according to the circumstance in the situation. UM. But

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Speaker 1: right now, I think, uh, like I said, you know,

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Speaker 1: my my goal is to just play quarterback at a

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Speaker 1: at a high level, and I think it starts with that.

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Speaker 1: UM and then um, you know everything else comes after that.

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Speaker 1: But uh, with that being said, I think, you know,

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Speaker 1: bringing energy uh and some juice and some competitive spirit

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Speaker 1: is never a bad thing ever. So UM, that's kind

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Speaker 1: of what I plan on doing. Just bring an energy

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Speaker 1: UM and juice to practice and making it competitive um

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Speaker 1: and then um and then after that just executing. We're

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Speaker 1: visiting with Ryan Finley. There are rookie quarterbacks having a

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Speaker 1: lot of success right now, from the number one overall

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Speaker 1: pick Kyler Murray right down to Gardner Minshew. Why do

404
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Speaker 1: you think rookies are able to stay in and play

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Speaker 1: well right away? I don't know. I think I don't know.

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Speaker 1: They you know, they got their mind right, and um,

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Speaker 1: they have confidence in themselves and you know, the stage

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Speaker 1: wasn't too big for them, and they just kind of

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Speaker 1: came in and had confidence in their innatabilities and kind

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Speaker 1: of just um, you know, I don't know. One thing

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Speaker 1: is a former linement that impressed me about you right

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Speaker 1: away is the eyes in the back of the head

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Speaker 1: kind of thing where you'll slidestep, you'll climb the pocket.

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Speaker 1: I mean, you manipulate the pocket exceptionally well. Is that

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Speaker 1: something that you've always had? Is that just been an

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Speaker 1: instinct thing from Jump Street even in high schools? Was

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Speaker 1: something that developed over time? How did that? How that?

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Speaker 1: How does that occurred? I don't, I don't know. I

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Speaker 1: think it's just uh, you know, it's just a part

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Speaker 1: of my game that I have confidence in, uh and

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Speaker 1: kind of just like you said, just kind of manipulating

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Speaker 1: the pocket. Um, And that's kind of my game, you know.

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Speaker 1: So my game is to kind of just you know,

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Speaker 1: they have good pocket awareness and no when to take

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Speaker 1: off and no when to be smart, and just kind

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Speaker 1: of go through my progression and uh, you know, kind

427
00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:07,879
Speaker 1: of whatever the defense gives me, that's what I'm gonna take. So, uh,

428
00:22:07,920 --> 00:22:09,240
Speaker 1: that's just kind of what I'm good at. I don't.

429
00:22:09,240 --> 00:22:11,080
Speaker 1: I don't know. I think I've I've obviously worked on

430
00:22:11,119 --> 00:22:13,080
Speaker 1: it a lot. Um, there's a lot of things you

431
00:22:13,080 --> 00:22:15,760
Speaker 1: can do, but um, just you know, a lot of preparation,

432
00:22:15,800 --> 00:22:19,000
Speaker 1: a lot of work over time. What are the next

433
00:22:19,440 --> 00:22:21,600
Speaker 1: ten days going to be like for you? Are you

434
00:22:21,680 --> 00:22:25,520
Speaker 1: going to be in front of that iPad studying non

435
00:22:25,720 --> 00:22:28,119
Speaker 1: stop or will you just kind of follow a normal

436
00:22:28,200 --> 00:22:30,840
Speaker 1: routine and trust what's worked for you before. Yeah, I

437
00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:33,239
Speaker 1: mean I've played in a lot of football games. Uh,

438
00:22:33,520 --> 00:22:35,480
Speaker 1: and that's that's kind of the way I see it

439
00:22:35,560 --> 00:22:37,680
Speaker 1: in my mind. And you know, I'll just I'll get

440
00:22:37,720 --> 00:22:40,679
Speaker 1: into I'm sure I'll fall into it, maybe a slightly

441
00:22:40,680 --> 00:22:43,480
Speaker 1: different routine than I've had, um the last you know,

442
00:22:43,520 --> 00:22:46,320
Speaker 1: eight nine weeks, but um, not too different. You know,

443
00:22:46,520 --> 00:22:48,800
Speaker 1: a lot of the same things will apply, and um,

444
00:22:49,440 --> 00:22:51,960
Speaker 1: you know, probably watch the maybe a little bit more film,

445
00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:54,040
Speaker 1: but not not much more. I mean I think, uh,

446
00:22:54,760 --> 00:22:56,359
Speaker 1: I think once you kind of get a there's a

447
00:22:56,800 --> 00:22:59,760
Speaker 1: point where you know, you've watched plenty uh and then

448
00:22:59,760 --> 00:23:01,199
Speaker 1: at the point you just gotta go out and you

449
00:23:01,240 --> 00:23:03,400
Speaker 1: got to execute and you just gotta let your kind

450
00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:05,679
Speaker 1: of let your body take over and just have the

451
00:23:05,760 --> 00:23:08,760
Speaker 1: right mindset going in. So I know, you and Andy,

452
00:23:08,800 --> 00:23:11,800
Speaker 1: you're great friends, and you're similar type guys, both extremely

453
00:23:11,800 --> 00:23:14,480
Speaker 1: intelligent guys that the IQ in that quarterback room. This

454
00:23:14,640 --> 00:23:17,280
Speaker 1: is pretty staggering, There's no question about it. Do you

455
00:23:17,320 --> 00:23:21,160
Speaker 1: plan on um over this next ten days when he's

456
00:23:21,200 --> 00:23:24,240
Speaker 1: comfortable with it? Leaning on him? You guys watch tape together.

457
00:23:24,280 --> 00:23:26,480
Speaker 1: And I'm not saying bore a hole in your head

458
00:23:26,480 --> 00:23:28,680
Speaker 1: and have andy poorn knowledge into it or whatever, but

459
00:23:28,840 --> 00:23:31,159
Speaker 1: do you do You anticipate and you'll be there for you.

460
00:23:31,200 --> 00:23:33,600
Speaker 1: It's kind of like a tutor as such, to get

461
00:23:33,640 --> 00:23:37,240
Speaker 1: you up to speed as quickly as possible. Um. Yeah,

462
00:23:37,280 --> 00:23:39,880
Speaker 1: I mean, I trust me any any help, and he's

463
00:23:39,880 --> 00:23:42,840
Speaker 1: gonna give me. I'm gonna take And you know he's

464
00:23:42,920 --> 00:23:44,719
Speaker 1: he's played this game at a high level for a

465
00:23:44,720 --> 00:23:47,880
Speaker 1: long time. Um, And so I don't take that lightly

466
00:23:47,920 --> 00:23:51,119
Speaker 1: at all. So, UM, you know, he's he's He's mentioned

467
00:23:51,119 --> 00:23:53,840
Speaker 1: to me that he doesn't want our relationship to change

468
00:23:53,880 --> 00:23:56,520
Speaker 1: and that meant a lot to me. And you know,

469
00:23:56,560 --> 00:23:59,440
Speaker 1: I'm hopeful that uh, you know he will. I guess

470
00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:02,800
Speaker 1: tutor me u is an interesting word, but I you know,

471
00:24:02,840 --> 00:24:05,480
Speaker 1: I hope he does, and I hope he'll he'll help me,

472
00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:08,119
Speaker 1: and I'm sure you will. You mentioned the number of

473
00:24:08,359 --> 00:24:10,719
Speaker 1: games you've played in college, and you know you're you're

474
00:24:10,760 --> 00:24:13,760
Speaker 1: an experienced rookie as such. I mean, you've got a

475
00:24:13,760 --> 00:24:16,080
Speaker 1: lot of snaps. Some of these record quarterbacks that are

476
00:24:16,119 --> 00:24:19,440
Speaker 1: succeeding don't have the you know, the volume of players

477
00:24:19,480 --> 00:24:22,680
Speaker 1: that you that you've had, and maybe even in different systems,

478
00:24:22,720 --> 00:24:25,280
Speaker 1: being in two different places and adapting you, you know,

479
00:24:25,320 --> 00:24:29,520
Speaker 1: to that the college game is filtering down in the NFL.

480
00:24:29,600 --> 00:24:31,760
Speaker 1: It's it's it's coming from the college to the NFL,

481
00:24:31,840 --> 00:24:33,840
Speaker 1: not the NFL to college. And I think that's what's

482
00:24:34,160 --> 00:24:37,520
Speaker 1: what's helping. If you noticed that, is that something that uh,

483
00:24:37,680 --> 00:24:40,600
Speaker 1: with Zach's offense, there's some similarities to what you've done

484
00:24:40,600 --> 00:24:45,440
Speaker 1: in college, and it's an easier transition. Um. Yeah, yeah,

485
00:24:45,480 --> 00:24:50,600
Speaker 1: I guess just regarding um, my own college situation, UM,

486
00:24:50,680 --> 00:24:53,800
Speaker 1: I think there's a lot of similarities with just um,

487
00:24:53,880 --> 00:24:56,440
Speaker 1: you know, being an under center. That's thankful, really thankful

488
00:24:56,480 --> 00:24:58,520
Speaker 1: to just get under center work in college. That was

489
00:24:58,560 --> 00:25:01,199
Speaker 1: that was huge for me U sending five motions and

490
00:25:01,240 --> 00:25:03,879
Speaker 1: handing off jet sweeps and that kind of stuff. So

491
00:25:04,080 --> 00:25:07,280
Speaker 1: that helped me a lot. For Zach's offense, and I

492
00:25:07,320 --> 00:25:09,560
Speaker 1: think we'll just kind of continue to build on it.

493
00:25:09,600 --> 00:25:12,320
Speaker 1: So there's definitely a lot of similarities with what I did.

494
00:25:12,359 --> 00:25:15,359
Speaker 1: In college and what we're doing now now time to

495
00:25:15,440 --> 00:25:18,600
Speaker 1: hear from Andy Dalton. His tenure with the Bengals, at

496
00:25:18,680 --> 00:25:22,160
Speaker 1: least so far, peaked in twenty fifteen, when he led

497
00:25:22,200 --> 00:25:24,800
Speaker 1: the team to an eight no start and was in

498
00:25:24,840 --> 00:25:29,480
Speaker 1: the MVP conversation before breaking his thumb when Cincinnati was

499
00:25:29,560 --> 00:25:32,160
Speaker 1: ten and two and the number one seed in the

500
00:25:32,200 --> 00:25:36,520
Speaker 1: AFC playoff race. That year, Andy led the conference in

501
00:25:36,560 --> 00:25:39,920
Speaker 1: passer rating at one oh six point three, and after

502
00:25:39,960 --> 00:25:44,119
Speaker 1: the season, his peers chose him as the thirty fifth

503
00:25:44,160 --> 00:25:47,640
Speaker 1: best player in the league in the NFL Network's annual

504
00:25:47,680 --> 00:25:52,960
Speaker 1: Top one hundredth survey. Unfortunately, things have spiraled downhills since

505
00:25:53,440 --> 00:25:56,600
Speaker 1: and for now he's a backup quarterback for the first

506
00:25:56,600 --> 00:26:00,160
Speaker 1: time since high school. Lap and I were a I'm

507
00:26:00,200 --> 00:26:02,480
Speaker 1: a group of reporters who spoke to Dalton in front

508
00:26:02,480 --> 00:26:05,560
Speaker 1: of his locker on Wednesday. What have the last twenty

509
00:26:05,560 --> 00:26:10,720
Speaker 1: four hours been? Like? Andy? Uh? Weird? Different? Uh, not

510
00:26:10,720 --> 00:26:15,920
Speaker 1: what I was expecting. You know, it's um now how

511
00:26:15,920 --> 00:26:20,000
Speaker 1: you thought the birthday was gonna go? Um, But you

512
00:26:20,080 --> 00:26:24,400
Speaker 1: know it's it's an unfortunate situation. You know, I don't

513
00:26:24,400 --> 00:26:28,560
Speaker 1: agree with it, but um, I mean Jack's making the

514
00:26:28,560 --> 00:26:33,880
Speaker 1: decisions and so, UM, I'm gonna do my part. I'm here, Um,

515
00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:40,760
Speaker 1: and so I'm gonna help right now the best I can. Uh.

516
00:26:40,760 --> 00:26:42,440
Speaker 1: He said he has to think about the future and

517
00:26:42,560 --> 00:26:45,680
Speaker 1: the draft and uh, let's see what they have and

518
00:26:45,800 --> 00:26:49,920
Speaker 1: Ryan and so, UM, that's what it came down to. You.

519
00:26:50,840 --> 00:26:52,679
Speaker 1: You know, it's it's been voiced to me. I was

520
00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:56,720
Speaker 1: in no reason. You know, I wasn't the reason for

521
00:26:57,080 --> 00:26:58,919
Speaker 1: the way the season has gone. It felt like I

522
00:26:58,960 --> 00:27:03,040
Speaker 1: played well, and Um, you know I have done some

523
00:27:03,200 --> 00:27:06,840
Speaker 1: things to keep this team together in this stretch. But

524
00:27:07,920 --> 00:27:10,680
Speaker 1: he just feels like he's gotta figure out what they have.

525
00:27:10,760 --> 00:27:13,160
Speaker 1: And Ryan, so many players in this locker room look

526
00:27:13,200 --> 00:27:15,520
Speaker 1: to you as such a big leader here. Um, what

527
00:27:15,560 --> 00:27:18,160
Speaker 1: did you say to your teammates when they found out

528
00:27:18,160 --> 00:27:23,480
Speaker 1: this news? Yeah, I UM talk to everybody in the

529
00:27:23,800 --> 00:27:26,840
Speaker 1: in the team meeting today and just said, uh, you know,

530
00:27:26,880 --> 00:27:29,920
Speaker 1: I don't agree with the decision, but you know, I'm here,

531
00:27:29,920 --> 00:27:31,440
Speaker 1: I'm gonna do my part. I'm gonna be the same

532
00:27:31,440 --> 00:27:34,520
Speaker 1: guy that that I've been since I've got here. You know,

533
00:27:34,560 --> 00:27:36,960
Speaker 1: I've had been through a lot in the nine years

534
00:27:37,040 --> 00:27:38,919
Speaker 1: that I've been here. I've done a lot for this city.

535
00:27:39,160 --> 00:27:41,880
Speaker 1: My heart has been in this in for this team,

536
00:27:41,920 --> 00:27:44,640
Speaker 1: in for this city, and uh, I think a lot

537
00:27:44,640 --> 00:27:47,640
Speaker 1: of people see that, and so, um, just letting everybody

538
00:27:47,640 --> 00:27:50,840
Speaker 1: know that I'm I'm gonna be the same guy, regardless

539
00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:55,280
Speaker 1: of the circumstances and regardless of the situation that I'm in.

540
00:27:55,440 --> 00:27:58,520
Speaker 1: But um, and it just kind of through the air.

541
00:27:59,160 --> 00:28:02,320
Speaker 1: Obviously there's the awkwardness of Okay, do I say something

542
00:28:02,320 --> 00:28:03,760
Speaker 1: to him? Do I not say something? Tune, do we

543
00:28:03,760 --> 00:28:05,320
Speaker 1: talk to him, do we leave him alone? And just like,

544
00:28:05,720 --> 00:28:08,560
Speaker 1: let's just get that behind us. You know, if you

545
00:28:08,600 --> 00:28:09,920
Speaker 1: want to say something to me, say something to me.

546
00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:13,400
Speaker 1: If not, don't, It's fine. I'm gonna be okay. Because

547
00:28:13,440 --> 00:28:16,119
Speaker 1: of the team's record, was there even a remote thought

548
00:28:16,320 --> 00:28:18,520
Speaker 1: in your mind that they might do it just to

549
00:28:18,520 --> 00:28:24,600
Speaker 1: shake things up? You know? I it's hard to say. Um,

550
00:28:25,320 --> 00:28:27,560
Speaker 1: you know, I felt like there's a lot of things

551
00:28:27,560 --> 00:28:30,760
Speaker 1: that I did well and gave us a chance to

552
00:28:30,800 --> 00:28:34,800
Speaker 1: win some of these games, and so um, you know,

553
00:28:34,880 --> 00:28:37,560
Speaker 1: and I've had a lot of conversations with Zach. You know,

554
00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:41,400
Speaker 1: he even said we've met after games. We've met on

555
00:28:41,520 --> 00:28:46,560
Speaker 1: numerous occasions. I've been that that office way more than

556
00:28:46,600 --> 00:28:48,640
Speaker 1: I've ever been in there and just trying to figure

557
00:28:48,640 --> 00:28:52,080
Speaker 1: out what we can do, what I can do, and um,

558
00:28:53,240 --> 00:28:55,040
Speaker 1: you know, obviously he wants to head a different direction.

559
00:28:57,480 --> 00:29:00,880
Speaker 1: Try to you know, I don't did you tell him

560
00:29:00,920 --> 00:29:02,480
Speaker 1: you don't agree? If I'm trying to talk him out

561
00:29:02,480 --> 00:29:04,760
Speaker 1: of it. It's one of those things where he's not

562
00:29:04,800 --> 00:29:08,840
Speaker 1: gonna bring it to me. It's already been decided. You know.

563
00:29:09,240 --> 00:29:12,440
Speaker 1: It's nothing I'm gonna say is going to change anything.

564
00:29:13,080 --> 00:29:16,239
Speaker 1: He obviously felt like it was the best thing to

565
00:29:16,360 --> 00:29:20,959
Speaker 1: do for this team, even though I don't agree with it.

566
00:29:21,040 --> 00:29:26,400
Speaker 1: But um, yeah, I mean it's I don't think anything

567
00:29:26,400 --> 00:29:27,720
Speaker 1: I could have said would have talked him out of it,

568
00:29:32,720 --> 00:29:36,360
Speaker 1: for sure. Yeah, I think just because of the unknown

569
00:29:36,440 --> 00:29:41,040
Speaker 1: of everything. Um, I've had a lot of stability here,

570
00:29:42,160 --> 00:29:47,520
Speaker 1: I've done a lot, and so to go through the

571
00:29:47,560 --> 00:29:50,000
Speaker 1: stretch that we've gone through, as you know from a

572
00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:53,960
Speaker 1: football standpoint, and then to have this happen, and it's

573
00:29:53,960 --> 00:29:55,760
Speaker 1: one of those things you really have to For me,

574
00:29:55,840 --> 00:29:57,960
Speaker 1: I really rely on my faith knowing that God has

575
00:29:57,960 --> 00:30:02,400
Speaker 1: a plan for me and my family. And UM, it's

576
00:30:02,440 --> 00:30:05,400
Speaker 1: easy to say when things are good, but if you're

577
00:30:05,400 --> 00:30:06,959
Speaker 1: times like this, you really have to lean on that

578
00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:09,960
Speaker 1: and and trust and believe it. Given that the news

579
00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:12,440
Speaker 1: happened that Zach told you before the deadline, was there

580
00:30:12,480 --> 00:30:14,440
Speaker 1: any thought of I'd like to go somewhere else? They

581
00:30:14,440 --> 00:30:17,320
Speaker 1: didn't communicate that with them at all. Yeah, I think

582
00:30:17,360 --> 00:30:21,640
Speaker 1: that's an unfortunate thing. I mean, it happened three hours

583
00:30:21,640 --> 00:30:24,760
Speaker 1: before the trade deadline. You know, it's I wish it

584
00:30:24,760 --> 00:30:27,760
Speaker 1: would have at least, you know, if he was thinking

585
00:30:27,840 --> 00:30:30,520
Speaker 1: about it, at least let me try to see if

586
00:30:30,560 --> 00:30:33,200
Speaker 1: I could end up somewhere else or you know, at

587
00:30:33,240 --> 00:30:36,840
Speaker 1: least see if there is interest and possibly getting traded.

588
00:30:36,880 --> 00:30:39,160
Speaker 1: At that point, the way it was all handled, there

589
00:30:39,240 --> 00:30:42,320
Speaker 1: wasn't enough time to even um even have that happened.

590
00:30:42,520 --> 00:30:44,400
Speaker 1: Did you put you push that in this offseason and

591
00:30:44,520 --> 00:30:47,080
Speaker 1: to look to go somewhere else? You know. Right now,

592
00:30:47,160 --> 00:30:50,120
Speaker 1: I'm just focused on this year. Um. Obviously there's a

593
00:30:50,120 --> 00:30:54,160
Speaker 1: lot to come in the next eight weeks and beyond

594
00:30:54,560 --> 00:30:58,360
Speaker 1: um after this year, UM, I want to have an

595
00:30:58,360 --> 00:31:00,720
Speaker 1: opportunity to play. I want to have an opportunity to

596
00:31:00,800 --> 00:31:04,920
Speaker 1: be somewhere where I'm wanting and UM, you know, if

597
00:31:04,960 --> 00:31:08,200
Speaker 1: that's here, great, If that's not, then um, you know,

598
00:31:08,280 --> 00:31:11,000
Speaker 1: well we'll see. But right now it's not my focus.

599
00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:14,400
Speaker 1: My focus is just you know, playing my role on

600
00:31:14,440 --> 00:31:17,680
Speaker 1: this team. Been great. Ryan said that you told him

601
00:31:17,800 --> 00:31:19,960
Speaker 1: you won't want the relationship to be the same, don't

602
00:31:19,960 --> 00:31:23,440
Speaker 1: want it to change whatsoever. And um, he's looking forward to,

603
00:31:23,920 --> 00:31:26,160
Speaker 1: you know, trying to absorb all the knowledge you have

604
00:31:26,320 --> 00:31:28,880
Speaker 1: with respect your football I que and seeing the game

605
00:31:28,920 --> 00:31:31,360
Speaker 1: and seeing the field. Are you up for that? Yeah?

606
00:31:31,440 --> 00:31:34,600
Speaker 1: I Ryan was one of the first people I reached

607
00:31:34,600 --> 00:31:36,440
Speaker 1: out to just let him know, like, this has nothing

608
00:31:36,480 --> 00:31:38,840
Speaker 1: to do with Ryan. You know, Ryan and I have

609
00:31:38,920 --> 00:31:42,000
Speaker 1: been close ever since he's been here, and we've built

610
00:31:42,040 --> 00:31:45,960
Speaker 1: up a really good friendship. And um, so I don't

611
00:31:45,960 --> 00:31:47,880
Speaker 1: want Ryan to think that I have any ill will

612
00:31:47,920 --> 00:31:50,720
Speaker 1: towards him. He didn't do anything wrong. All he did was,

613
00:31:51,040 --> 00:31:52,720
Speaker 1: you know, be here and show up and do things

614
00:31:52,760 --> 00:31:54,640
Speaker 1: the right way. And they want to give him an

615
00:31:54,640 --> 00:31:58,239
Speaker 1: opportunity and so, um, like I said, I'm gonna help

616
00:31:58,320 --> 00:32:01,160
Speaker 1: him out. I've seen a lot of football, we have

617
00:32:01,200 --> 00:32:03,600
Speaker 1: a lot of division games coming up. I understand how

618
00:32:03,600 --> 00:32:07,080
Speaker 1: all all these defensive play does and just their scheme

619
00:32:07,120 --> 00:32:10,080
Speaker 1: and things. So I mean, I'll help him from that standpoint.

620
00:32:10,320 --> 00:32:13,200
Speaker 1: Did you vote that frustration with with Duke or anybody

621
00:32:13,200 --> 00:32:16,640
Speaker 1: in the front office, and not Zach. Well, I haven't

622
00:32:16,640 --> 00:32:19,120
Speaker 1: had a chance to talk to Duke or anybody, but

623
00:32:19,480 --> 00:32:21,920
Speaker 1: I know my agent was, um, you know, trying to

624
00:32:21,960 --> 00:32:24,080
Speaker 1: figure out what we could do in those last you know,

625
00:32:24,240 --> 00:32:26,920
Speaker 1: remaining a couple hours before the trade deadline. With the

626
00:32:26,920 --> 00:32:29,160
Speaker 1: way everything went down, I've heard richis and say even

627
00:32:29,240 --> 00:32:31,120
Speaker 1: Zach said it to a certain extent, did you deserve

628
00:32:31,160 --> 00:32:36,040
Speaker 1: a better faith here? Yeah. It's one of those things

629
00:32:36,080 --> 00:32:39,680
Speaker 1: where I've had a lot of good, you know football

630
00:32:39,800 --> 00:32:44,480
Speaker 1: years here. We've had a lot of good seasons. Can

631
00:32:44,560 --> 00:32:48,480
Speaker 1: look back at all the playoff you know runs that

632
00:32:48,480 --> 00:32:51,880
Speaker 1: we made the um just what we had to overcome

633
00:32:51,920 --> 00:32:55,200
Speaker 1: to get there, you know, to start a season eight. No,

634
00:32:55,520 --> 00:32:57,520
Speaker 1: I've been on the other side of the too, and

635
00:32:57,680 --> 00:33:02,160
Speaker 1: so I'd never envisioned it to kind of happen like this.

636
00:33:02,880 --> 00:33:06,280
Speaker 1: I never thought that I'd be in this position, um,

637
00:33:06,880 --> 00:33:11,240
Speaker 1: and so I wish it would have been different, absolutely,

638
00:33:11,880 --> 00:33:15,320
Speaker 1: because when Zach got hired here, it's like I had

639
00:33:15,320 --> 00:33:17,040
Speaker 1: a plan that we were gonna get this thing turned around,

640
00:33:17,040 --> 00:33:19,880
Speaker 1: and we were gonna get this thing going, and obviously

641
00:33:19,880 --> 00:33:21,520
Speaker 1: that hasn't happened. There's been a lot of other things

642
00:33:21,560 --> 00:33:26,680
Speaker 1: that have gone on that um probably you know, have

643
00:33:26,880 --> 00:33:29,200
Speaker 1: have caused it to not be the way that that

644
00:33:29,200 --> 00:33:31,880
Speaker 1: that we thought it was going to be and stuff

645
00:33:31,920 --> 00:33:35,720
Speaker 1: that's been out of my control, and so that's unfortunate.

646
00:33:36,160 --> 00:33:40,800
Speaker 1: But no, it's one of those things where I if

647
00:33:40,800 --> 00:33:42,920
Speaker 1: this is the end here I which I don't know,

648
00:33:43,040 --> 00:33:45,280
Speaker 1: I don't know what the future holes like I was saying,

649
00:33:45,360 --> 00:33:48,440
Speaker 1: but um, now, this is not how I had envisioned

650
00:33:48,600 --> 00:33:53,640
Speaker 1: envisioned it. What was your conversation like with Heim, Yeah,

651
00:33:53,720 --> 00:33:59,040
Speaker 1: it's AJ's been one of my closest friends since since

652
00:33:59,280 --> 00:34:01,200
Speaker 1: we got here. Obvious we got here together. We've been

653
00:34:01,200 --> 00:34:05,800
Speaker 1: through this whole thing together, and so you know, he's,

654
00:34:06,760 --> 00:34:10,080
Speaker 1: like you said, he understands everything. He's AJ's got my back.

655
00:34:10,200 --> 00:34:11,640
Speaker 1: You know, we're gonna be friends for the rest of

656
00:34:11,680 --> 00:34:18,040
Speaker 1: our lives. So you know, it's it's tough to not

657
00:34:18,120 --> 00:34:20,279
Speaker 1: have a guy like that out there when when you're

658
00:34:20,280 --> 00:34:23,440
Speaker 1: going through all this, to not have your best player

659
00:34:23,480 --> 00:34:27,560
Speaker 1: on the field. But you know, like I said, has

660
00:34:27,600 --> 00:34:31,200
Speaker 1: been very supportive of me. Andy was upset about the

661
00:34:31,239 --> 00:34:34,160
Speaker 1: timing since it came so close to the trading deadline,

662
00:34:34,160 --> 00:34:36,759
Speaker 1: and some people think he was treated poorly and that

663
00:34:36,800 --> 00:34:39,440
Speaker 1: the Bengals owed it to him to make a deal.

664
00:34:40,120 --> 00:34:42,799
Speaker 1: I have a few thoughts on that topic. Number One,

665
00:34:43,400 --> 00:34:46,840
Speaker 1: Zach Taylor made the move now because it's the bye week,

666
00:34:47,120 --> 00:34:50,040
Speaker 1: giving Ryan Finley extra time to work with the number

667
00:34:50,040 --> 00:34:54,520
Speaker 1: one offense. That happened to be the same week as

668
00:34:54,520 --> 00:34:59,720
Speaker 1: the trade deadline. That was unfortunate timing. But more significantly,

669
00:35:00,040 --> 00:35:02,680
Speaker 1: the only way it made sense for the Bengals to

670
00:35:02,719 --> 00:35:06,160
Speaker 1: trade Dalton now is if there was a team really

671
00:35:06,239 --> 00:35:10,640
Speaker 1: desperate for a quarterback that would pay maximum value. Who

672
00:35:10,680 --> 00:35:13,799
Speaker 1: would that be? The Bears have been mentioned as a

673
00:35:13,840 --> 00:35:17,920
Speaker 1: possible candidate, But are we sure the Bears are ready

674
00:35:17,960 --> 00:35:21,759
Speaker 1: to punt Mitchell Trubisky the number two pick in the

675
00:35:21,760 --> 00:35:27,080
Speaker 1: twenty seventeen draft for a quarterback who currently has a

676
00:35:27,160 --> 00:35:31,880
Speaker 1: lower passer rating. The Bears gave up four draft picks

677
00:35:32,120 --> 00:35:35,200
Speaker 1: when they trade it up to draft Trubisky. Do you

678
00:35:35,280 --> 00:35:37,399
Speaker 1: really think they were going to give up a high

679
00:35:37,480 --> 00:35:41,839
Speaker 1: pick to trade for Dalton. If the Andy Dalton era

680
00:35:42,000 --> 00:35:45,280
Speaker 1: is over in Cincinnati, there will be a bigger market

681
00:35:45,320 --> 00:35:48,600
Speaker 1: to trade him in the off season. You would have

682
00:35:48,680 --> 00:35:51,799
Speaker 1: to think almost any contender would want Andy as a

683
00:35:51,880 --> 00:35:55,600
Speaker 1: backup quarterback, and there will likely be a few teams

684
00:35:55,640 --> 00:35:58,360
Speaker 1: that would want him to compete to be their starter.

685
00:35:59,320 --> 00:36:02,160
Speaker 1: Andy is under contract for one more season, so it's

686
00:36:02,200 --> 00:36:04,520
Speaker 1: not like the Bengals are about to lose him to

687
00:36:04,600 --> 00:36:09,200
Speaker 1: free agency. If the Dalton era is over in Cincinnati,

688
00:36:09,680 --> 00:36:11,759
Speaker 1: there will be plenty of time to trade him for

689
00:36:11,800 --> 00:36:15,319
Speaker 1: a draft pick in the off season. Now time to

690
00:36:15,360 --> 00:36:19,480
Speaker 1: hear from one more quarterback. In Eddie Dalton's NFL debut,

691
00:36:19,560 --> 00:36:21,520
Speaker 1: he had to exit in the second quarter when he

692
00:36:21,560 --> 00:36:25,399
Speaker 1: injured his wrist against the Cleveland Browns. Enter back up

693
00:36:25,440 --> 00:36:28,680
Speaker 1: Bruce Gradkowski, who rallied the Bengals to an opening day

694
00:36:28,719 --> 00:36:32,920
Speaker 1: win by engineering a fourth quarter comeback that included the

695
00:36:33,080 --> 00:36:38,040
Speaker 1: first touchdown catch of AJ Green's career. After a long

696
00:36:38,160 --> 00:36:43,120
Speaker 1: NFL career that included stops with the Buccaneers, Rams, Browns, Raiders, Bengals,

697
00:36:43,120 --> 00:36:46,920
Speaker 1: and Steelers, Gradkowski is doing some broadcasting these days for

698
00:36:47,160 --> 00:36:52,880
Speaker 1: Serious NFL Radio and evaluating quarterback play for Pro Football Focus.

699
00:36:53,320 --> 00:36:56,759
Speaker 1: He is uniquely qualified to discuss what went down in

700
00:36:56,840 --> 00:37:00,319
Speaker 1: Cincinnati this week, and Bruce joined lapping me on the

701
00:37:00,320 --> 00:37:03,840
Speaker 1: Bengals Game Plan Show. I started our conversation by asking

702
00:37:03,960 --> 00:37:07,640
Speaker 1: him his initial reaction to this week's news. You know

703
00:37:07,960 --> 00:37:10,880
Speaker 1: I wasn't surprised just for the fact of where the

704
00:37:10,920 --> 00:37:13,359
Speaker 1: team is at as a whole. You know, you see

705
00:37:13,400 --> 00:37:16,360
Speaker 1: these teams going through changes and trying to rebuild and

706
00:37:16,400 --> 00:37:20,960
Speaker 1: do different things. And now if you're Cincinnati and the

707
00:37:21,040 --> 00:37:24,040
Speaker 1: last few years haven't been the greatest, you have a

708
00:37:24,120 --> 00:37:26,799
Speaker 1: new head coach, you really have to see where you're

709
00:37:26,800 --> 00:37:28,840
Speaker 1: at as a football team. I mean, right now, I

710
00:37:28,880 --> 00:37:32,279
Speaker 1: don't think it's as much on Andy Dalton as it

711
00:37:32,400 --> 00:37:35,120
Speaker 1: is as much as where do they go for the future.

712
00:37:35,360 --> 00:37:38,279
Speaker 1: You know, is Thinley a guy? Is he a viable guy?

713
00:37:38,719 --> 00:37:41,239
Speaker 1: You know? Is Andy still part of the mix or not?

714
00:37:41,480 --> 00:37:43,279
Speaker 1: I mean, you look at it, guys, and he's been

715
00:37:43,320 --> 00:37:46,440
Speaker 1: sacked twenty nine times this year. He has twenty one

716
00:37:46,560 --> 00:37:49,000
Speaker 1: drop passes. And this is all from the Pro Football

717
00:37:49,040 --> 00:37:52,000
Speaker 1: Focus grades that I do that I do with the guys,

718
00:37:52,120 --> 00:37:56,200
Speaker 1: and you know, so it's not that he's getting much

719
00:37:56,239 --> 00:37:59,320
Speaker 1: help out there. You know, he started with Mohammed Sanu,

720
00:38:00,120 --> 00:38:05,080
Speaker 1: Jay Green, Marvin Jones, and now those weapons he has

721
00:38:05,120 --> 00:38:07,640
Speaker 1: had in the past is diminished a little bit. And

722
00:38:07,760 --> 00:38:10,960
Speaker 1: now when you're get in that position, as you as

723
00:38:11,040 --> 00:38:13,919
Speaker 1: Andy doone is you try to do more. You try

724
00:38:13,960 --> 00:38:15,880
Speaker 1: to take more on your plate, you try to squeeze

725
00:38:15,920 --> 00:38:17,880
Speaker 1: more and throws in there. You try to feel like

726
00:38:17,920 --> 00:38:20,240
Speaker 1: you have to save the world on every single snap,

727
00:38:20,560 --> 00:38:22,400
Speaker 1: and then it starts to catch up to you. And

728
00:38:22,440 --> 00:38:25,160
Speaker 1: then you have, you know, a few mistakes here and

729
00:38:25,200 --> 00:38:27,239
Speaker 1: there that you want to take back if you force

730
00:38:27,360 --> 00:38:30,640
Speaker 1: football in the tight coverage and things of that sort,

731
00:38:30,680 --> 00:38:33,960
Speaker 1: and then you have miscommunication on route. So it's a

732
00:38:34,000 --> 00:38:36,680
Speaker 1: lot of things going on as you guys see weekend

733
00:38:36,719 --> 00:38:39,000
Speaker 1: and week out. And I think you have to start

734
00:38:39,040 --> 00:38:41,960
Speaker 1: the quarterback position because right now you do have to

735
00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:45,200
Speaker 1: see what do we even have behind Andy and where

736
00:38:45,200 --> 00:38:47,239
Speaker 1: are we going for the future, because this is all

737
00:38:47,280 --> 00:38:49,440
Speaker 1: in Zach Taylor's hands and he has to try to

738
00:38:49,440 --> 00:38:53,040
Speaker 1: figure this out. Yeah, you make a bunch of excellent

739
00:38:53,080 --> 00:38:56,600
Speaker 1: points there. To me, it's very simply every member of

740
00:38:56,600 --> 00:39:00,359
Speaker 1: the organization, front office, coaching staff, and teammates have let

741
00:39:00,360 --> 00:39:03,120
Speaker 1: Andy Dalton down more than he's let them down. He

742
00:39:03,280 --> 00:39:06,120
Speaker 1: as you know, I mean, the quarterback gets very little

743
00:39:06,160 --> 00:39:08,040
Speaker 1: credit when it's going well and all the blame when

744
00:39:08,040 --> 00:39:11,040
Speaker 1: it goes poorly. And for all the things you talked about,

745
00:39:11,120 --> 00:39:14,440
Speaker 1: I mean, his supporting cast is nowhere near you know

746
00:39:14,520 --> 00:39:17,440
Speaker 1: what it was. So you know, they're they're making a move,

747
00:39:17,760 --> 00:39:21,600
Speaker 1: you know, and they're moving on. My thing is AJ

748
00:39:21,760 --> 00:39:24,520
Speaker 1: Green if he comes back after the bye. Andy Dalton

749
00:39:24,560 --> 00:39:28,600
Speaker 1: has not had AJ Green all. So incomes Ryan Finley.

750
00:39:28,600 --> 00:39:30,920
Speaker 1: He's got AJ Green right off the bat. And now

751
00:39:31,000 --> 00:39:33,040
Speaker 1: you won't have an AJ Green for sixty snaps, but

752
00:39:33,120 --> 00:39:36,719
Speaker 1: AJ Green for any snaps. That changes everything and you're

753
00:39:36,760 --> 00:39:39,799
Speaker 1: not comparing apples to apples anymore. How tough would that be?

754
00:39:40,360 --> 00:39:43,200
Speaker 1: You know, if you're in andy shoes and AJ comes back,

755
00:39:43,280 --> 00:39:45,719
Speaker 1: John Ross, some of these guys start coming back from

756
00:39:45,719 --> 00:39:47,920
Speaker 1: injury and you're not the guy, how tough would that

757
00:39:48,000 --> 00:39:50,879
Speaker 1: be to deal with? Oh? That that's a tough tie

758
00:39:50,960 --> 00:39:53,680
Speaker 1: to swallow because I look at look. I played with Andy.

759
00:39:53,719 --> 00:39:55,680
Speaker 1: I backed him up, and as a young guy coming

760
00:39:55,719 --> 00:39:57,920
Speaker 1: in the league, he was ahead of the curve as

761
00:39:57,920 --> 00:40:02,960
Speaker 1: far as understanding protection. I understand how he's blocking what

762
00:40:03,000 --> 00:40:05,160
Speaker 1: the old lineman should do in the running backs and

763
00:40:05,520 --> 00:40:08,279
Speaker 1: you know, navigating through hand singnals to the receivers to

764
00:40:08,320 --> 00:40:11,120
Speaker 1: put the receivers in the proper routes to run. So

765
00:40:11,520 --> 00:40:14,120
Speaker 1: you're not gonna get better than Dalton right now. I

766
00:40:14,120 --> 00:40:17,000
Speaker 1: mean you're really not. I mean, you know, yes, maybe

767
00:40:17,040 --> 00:40:19,920
Speaker 1: you want to see what Finley has, but I don't

768
00:40:19,920 --> 00:40:23,080
Speaker 1: expect much to change. I mean, you know, it's not

769
00:40:23,160 --> 00:40:25,399
Speaker 1: like the play calling has been off the carter to either,

770
00:40:25,520 --> 00:40:28,360
Speaker 1: so you know, you know, so a lot of things

771
00:40:28,400 --> 00:40:30,920
Speaker 1: play play a part in this, and it's just it

772
00:40:31,040 --> 00:40:34,759
Speaker 1: just thinks that, you know, Andy has to shoulders a

773
00:40:34,800 --> 00:40:37,360
Speaker 1: load right now, and who knows. I mean maybe this

774
00:40:37,560 --> 00:40:41,000
Speaker 1: just support a point that you know, when the dust settles,

775
00:40:41,000 --> 00:40:43,520
Speaker 1: they'll see what they have. But you know, you look

776
00:40:43,560 --> 00:40:47,240
Speaker 1: around the league guys too, and it's hard to find

777
00:40:47,280 --> 00:40:50,759
Speaker 1: a viable starting quarterback that you trust week in and

778
00:40:50,800 --> 00:40:53,239
Speaker 1: week out. I've always felt like Andy was that guy

779
00:40:53,400 --> 00:40:55,920
Speaker 1: you could trust. I mean, he's accurate, he's gonna go

780
00:40:55,960 --> 00:40:58,040
Speaker 1: with the right place at the right time with the football.

781
00:40:58,360 --> 00:41:02,920
Speaker 1: He's gonna put your offense and the good run past situations,

782
00:41:03,040 --> 00:41:06,480
Speaker 1: you know, as as audibles are concerned. So it's hard.

783
00:41:06,520 --> 00:41:08,719
Speaker 1: I just feel like now you're taking a step back

784
00:41:09,160 --> 00:41:12,520
Speaker 1: if you're the Bengals and they really need to figure out,

785
00:41:12,680 --> 00:41:16,000
Speaker 1: you know, where do they go from here. Former Bengals

786
00:41:16,040 --> 00:41:19,840
Speaker 1: quarterback Bruce Gradkowski is our guest. You studied Ryan Finley

787
00:41:19,920 --> 00:41:23,680
Speaker 1: before the draft. What did you think? I like him?

788
00:41:23,760 --> 00:41:26,120
Speaker 1: I actually did like him coming out because I felt

789
00:41:26,120 --> 00:41:29,520
Speaker 1: like his timing and his rhythm, his footwork, he kind

790
00:41:29,520 --> 00:41:33,840
Speaker 1: of had it already. You could tell he understood progressions

791
00:41:34,080 --> 00:41:37,799
Speaker 1: and just how your feet match up with throws. And

792
00:41:37,880 --> 00:41:39,680
Speaker 1: I think that just put them ahead of the curve.

793
00:41:39,719 --> 00:41:41,680
Speaker 1: I mean, you look at a guy like Drew Locke's,

794
00:41:41,920 --> 00:41:45,360
Speaker 1: he's really not ready to play yet because of those things,

795
00:41:45,400 --> 00:41:48,080
Speaker 1: the timing and the four. And I think for Finley

796
00:41:48,120 --> 00:41:51,839
Speaker 1: it helped tremendously getting to watch Andy for how many

797
00:41:51,880 --> 00:41:55,000
Speaker 1: weeks already and getting to learn from him because you

798
00:41:55,160 --> 00:41:58,160
Speaker 1: learned so much by sitting back and watching. And I

799
00:41:58,200 --> 00:42:00,400
Speaker 1: thought Finley had a pretty good preseas, didn't you know?

800
00:42:00,400 --> 00:42:03,080
Speaker 1: He made some plays that, you know, we're impressive. There's

801
00:42:03,120 --> 00:42:05,759
Speaker 1: sometimes that maybe he held onto the ball too long

802
00:42:05,880 --> 00:42:08,480
Speaker 1: or in the pocket awareness and you have to protect

803
00:42:08,480 --> 00:42:10,279
Speaker 1: the football in the pocket. You see these young guys,

804
00:42:10,280 --> 00:42:14,239
Speaker 1: I mean Gardner Minshew, he hasn't thrown many balls to

805
00:42:14,320 --> 00:42:16,840
Speaker 1: put in harm's way, but when he takes sacks in

806
00:42:16,880 --> 00:42:19,759
Speaker 1: the pocket, he's fumbling. You can count, you know, at

807
00:42:19,800 --> 00:42:22,880
Speaker 1: least one fumball game Minshew's gonna have in the pocket.

808
00:42:22,960 --> 00:42:25,600
Speaker 1: Same thing with Kyle Allen, so these young guys have

809
00:42:25,680 --> 00:42:29,760
Speaker 1: a tendencies and not realize the pressure that the pocket brings.

810
00:42:29,760 --> 00:42:33,200
Speaker 1: It collapsed as fast guys around who swinging, who's sweeping

811
00:42:33,239 --> 00:42:36,680
Speaker 1: at the football. So it's not easy. But as a whole,

812
00:42:36,800 --> 00:42:39,959
Speaker 1: I liked Finley as a quarterback. I liked his feet,

813
00:42:39,560 --> 00:42:42,719
Speaker 1: his footwork, his time and rhythm. I think he has

814
00:42:42,760 --> 00:42:46,200
Speaker 1: the right type of accuracy and he has enough arm strength.

815
00:42:46,480 --> 00:42:49,480
Speaker 1: So it'll be interesting to see what happens given this

816
00:42:49,600 --> 00:42:54,600
Speaker 1: opportunity tunity. So without aj Green, John Ross, two guys

817
00:42:54,600 --> 00:42:57,000
Speaker 1: on the outside stretching the field, the Bengals were playing

818
00:42:57,040 --> 00:42:58,960
Speaker 1: offense in a closet. They're in a box. You know,

819
00:42:59,320 --> 00:43:01,560
Speaker 1: everybody's us. The line of scream is loaded up. Joe

820
00:43:01,600 --> 00:43:04,000
Speaker 1: Mixon has more guys in the box they can block,

821
00:43:04,080 --> 00:43:06,200
Speaker 1: and you know they're saying, yeah, we can cover your guys.

822
00:43:06,239 --> 00:43:08,040
Speaker 1: We don't need extra people. We're gonna load up and

823
00:43:08,080 --> 00:43:10,160
Speaker 1: make you know, you throw it to beat us. And

824
00:43:10,360 --> 00:43:13,680
Speaker 1: the major weapons are out and then and he's starting

825
00:43:13,680 --> 00:43:15,920
Speaker 1: to get hit and and he's you know, there's not

826
00:43:16,120 --> 00:43:19,480
Speaker 1: windows out there, and Andy's clock changes, and you know,

827
00:43:19,560 --> 00:43:21,759
Speaker 1: people are like, oh, the dude shell shocked. What is

828
00:43:21,760 --> 00:43:23,920
Speaker 1: it like as a quarterback. When you find yourself in

829
00:43:23,960 --> 00:43:27,279
Speaker 1: that situation, you know, you're you're you're throwing, You're never

830
00:43:27,360 --> 00:43:29,840
Speaker 1: able to transfer your weight, you know what, your mechanics

831
00:43:29,840 --> 00:43:32,359
Speaker 1: start to suffer because of all that. We just you know,

832
00:43:32,440 --> 00:43:35,000
Speaker 1: just laid out there. What's it like? How how hard

833
00:43:35,080 --> 00:43:39,000
Speaker 1: is it to fight through that? Yeah? No, it's it's

834
00:43:39,080 --> 00:43:41,600
Speaker 1: real tough, because it happened to me in Oakland. You know,

835
00:43:41,640 --> 00:43:44,719
Speaker 1: when I it took over for JaMarcus Russell, I kind

836
00:43:44,800 --> 00:43:47,680
Speaker 1: of tended to you know, sling it from the back,

837
00:43:47,920 --> 00:43:50,200
Speaker 1: back the foot and you can sling it side arm

838
00:43:50,280 --> 00:43:53,080
Speaker 1: because you're always used to that pressure in your face

839
00:43:53,520 --> 00:43:56,320
Speaker 1: and you're trying to just get the ball out without

840
00:43:56,400 --> 00:44:00,200
Speaker 1: taking a sack. So you're you're technique and on the

841
00:44:00,200 --> 00:44:02,480
Speaker 1: metals go out the window because now you're just kind

842
00:44:02,520 --> 00:44:05,160
Speaker 1: of trying to survive and trying to make the play

843
00:44:05,160 --> 00:44:07,640
Speaker 1: the best you can. So it's hard. Then when you

844
00:44:07,680 --> 00:44:10,719
Speaker 1: get a good clean pocket, you're sitting back there and

845
00:44:10,760 --> 00:44:12,919
Speaker 1: you look like you're Auntie and throwing off your back

846
00:44:12,920 --> 00:44:15,520
Speaker 1: foot when you have all this time. But that hasn't

847
00:44:15,560 --> 00:44:18,000
Speaker 1: necessarily been the case. I mean, like like I said,

848
00:44:18,000 --> 00:44:20,719
Speaker 1: I mean, Andy's taking the most sacks so far this

849
00:44:20,840 --> 00:44:24,280
Speaker 1: year has the most dropped passes, so things have definitely

850
00:44:24,360 --> 00:44:27,080
Speaker 1: not been working in his favor. Now, look, you guys

851
00:44:27,080 --> 00:44:28,920
Speaker 1: know a lot of you know, some of those sacks too,

852
00:44:28,920 --> 00:44:30,920
Speaker 1: aren't just on the offensive line. You know a lot

853
00:44:30,960 --> 00:44:33,440
Speaker 1: of things, playing the part with Andy holding the ball

854
00:44:33,440 --> 00:44:36,400
Speaker 1: a little too long, did Andy drift too far outside?

855
00:44:36,480 --> 00:44:39,040
Speaker 1: You know, the integrity of the pocket, or you know

856
00:44:39,280 --> 00:44:42,640
Speaker 1: that kind of stuff. But the majority is protected, being

857
00:44:42,680 --> 00:44:45,160
Speaker 1: able to be protected, you know, running backs picking up

858
00:44:45,160 --> 00:44:47,840
Speaker 1: their blitzes and knowing who to block. A lot of

859
00:44:47,880 --> 00:44:50,359
Speaker 1: that goes into it. So I just think there's a

860
00:44:50,360 --> 00:44:53,040
Speaker 1: lot right now in Cincinnati. I'm trying to digest it

861
00:44:53,000 --> 00:44:55,480
Speaker 1: at all. I don't know how you guys are doing it.

862
00:44:55,640 --> 00:44:58,319
Speaker 1: Not very well. I'm throwing from my mouth every night.

863
00:44:59,080 --> 00:45:02,440
Speaker 1: No digestion, kind of whole heart. Questions for a former

864
00:45:02,440 --> 00:45:06,760
Speaker 1: Bengals quarterback, Bruce Gradkowski. You have been in Ryan Finley's

865
00:45:06,760 --> 00:45:09,319
Speaker 1: shoes as a rookie in Tampa Bay back in two

866
00:45:09,320 --> 00:45:11,680
Speaker 1: thousand and six. You took over during the season when

867
00:45:11,760 --> 00:45:15,640
Speaker 1: Chris Simms got hurt. What advice would you give Ryan Finley?

868
00:45:17,280 --> 00:45:19,880
Speaker 1: I think you just you just have to execute the offense,

869
00:45:20,000 --> 00:45:23,360
Speaker 1: you know, I was given a few opportunities, you know,

870
00:45:23,480 --> 00:45:26,400
Speaker 1: especially my first one in Tampa as a rookie. I

871
00:45:26,440 --> 00:45:31,000
Speaker 1: started eleven games, and you know, I had a good preseason,

872
00:45:31,000 --> 00:45:33,320
Speaker 1: and then once the season started, I took over. I

873
00:45:33,600 --> 00:45:36,359
Speaker 1: played a good shoot games, and then I started thinking

874
00:45:36,440 --> 00:45:39,040
Speaker 1: too much. Now you're trying to be perfect. Now you're

875
00:45:39,080 --> 00:45:41,960
Speaker 1: trying to please the coach. Oh, you know, what's what's

876
00:45:42,000 --> 00:45:44,319
Speaker 1: Gruden want me to do? I know what I should do,

877
00:45:44,600 --> 00:45:46,640
Speaker 1: But what's he want me to do? Instead of? You know,

878
00:45:46,960 --> 00:45:50,120
Speaker 1: just trust yourself. I told I talked to Mason Rudolph

879
00:45:50,400 --> 00:45:52,400
Speaker 1: before the Monday night football game and I told him,

880
00:45:52,400 --> 00:45:54,920
Speaker 1: I said, look, man, if there's anything you could do,

881
00:45:55,160 --> 00:45:58,520
Speaker 1: just trust yourself. Trust yourself in between those white lines.

882
00:45:58,600 --> 00:46:01,480
Speaker 1: Trust what you see out there. You can grate the

883
00:46:01,480 --> 00:46:05,440
Speaker 1: film tomorrow, you could get coach tomorrow. But trust what

884
00:46:05,520 --> 00:46:08,960
Speaker 1: you're seeing out there and just play decisive because the

885
00:46:08,960 --> 00:46:11,840
Speaker 1: worst thing you can do is the quarterback is played indecisive.

886
00:46:12,120 --> 00:46:14,279
Speaker 1: And I see that in a lot with young quarterbacks.

887
00:46:14,520 --> 00:46:16,800
Speaker 1: If you pick the wrong side and you weren't supposed

888
00:46:16,800 --> 00:46:19,640
Speaker 1: to work that side, work the heck out of that

889
00:46:19,680 --> 00:46:22,000
Speaker 1: side and just stick to it and just get after

890
00:46:22,080 --> 00:46:24,919
Speaker 1: it and try to find a completion because you'll tend

891
00:46:24,960 --> 00:46:27,239
Speaker 1: to try to flip to the other side. Now you're

892
00:46:27,280 --> 00:46:29,600
Speaker 1: throwing a hitch late and it's going for a pick

893
00:46:29,640 --> 00:46:32,080
Speaker 1: six the other way. So I think the most important

894
00:46:32,080 --> 00:46:34,600
Speaker 1: thing is just trying to play decisive and trust your

895
00:46:34,600 --> 00:46:37,680
Speaker 1: preparation throughout the week and trust what you see on Sunday.

896
00:46:38,200 --> 00:46:42,160
Speaker 1: Andy Dalton's future, you know, you just never know what

897
00:46:42,680 --> 00:46:45,759
Speaker 1: right now. I asked Zach, is this a one game

898
00:46:45,840 --> 00:46:48,200
Speaker 1: situation or is it? He goes no. You know, we're

899
00:46:48,239 --> 00:46:50,040
Speaker 1: giving him the rest of the season. You got to

900
00:46:50,080 --> 00:46:52,480
Speaker 1: give a young guy a chance. But there's always injury,

901
00:46:52,520 --> 00:46:54,759
Speaker 1: there's always we know Andy Dalton's going to be ready

902
00:46:54,760 --> 00:46:56,520
Speaker 1: to play. We know Andy Dalton be right in there

903
00:46:56,600 --> 00:46:58,960
Speaker 1: if needed to play as a backup. He's a little

904
00:46:58,960 --> 00:47:02,319
Speaker 1: disgruntled because of the timing of the bye week the

905
00:47:02,400 --> 00:47:05,480
Speaker 1: Bengals had. It was trade deadline time, and you know

906
00:47:05,520 --> 00:47:06,959
Speaker 1: he was hoping that he might have had a little

907
00:47:07,000 --> 00:47:09,640
Speaker 1: more time to see what kind of interesting might have

908
00:47:09,719 --> 00:47:12,200
Speaker 1: been out there in the NFL for him. What do

909
00:47:12,239 --> 00:47:14,359
Speaker 1: you think his future halts? I mean, obviously the guy

910
00:47:14,400 --> 00:47:16,719
Speaker 1: belongs in the National Football League. Do you think he

911
00:47:16,840 --> 00:47:19,239
Speaker 1: ends up going somewhere else and starting I'm not I

912
00:47:19,239 --> 00:47:21,160
Speaker 1: don't know. I guess I'm asking to be a Southsayer.

913
00:47:21,280 --> 00:47:23,239
Speaker 1: But what's your opinion? What do you think might happen

914
00:47:23,280 --> 00:47:26,680
Speaker 1: in the future. Yeah, I mean that Look, Andy Doan

915
00:47:26,880 --> 00:47:29,479
Speaker 1: is a good young quarterback. I mean still he still

916
00:47:29,520 --> 00:47:32,520
Speaker 1: has a lot of mouths on that arm. And you know,

917
00:47:32,840 --> 00:47:34,680
Speaker 1: I was thinking about it and I was like, man,

918
00:47:34,960 --> 00:47:36,880
Speaker 1: I mean, what about the Bears. What is the Bears

919
00:47:36,880 --> 00:47:40,520
Speaker 1: traded off for him? I just think Andy's a reliable player.

920
00:47:40,560 --> 00:47:43,959
Speaker 1: It's hard to find a quarterback you can trust that's

921
00:47:43,960 --> 00:47:47,319
Speaker 1: going to be accurate, smart, make the right decisions, put

922
00:47:47,320 --> 00:47:50,839
Speaker 1: your offense in good positions. And he is now he

923
00:47:50,880 --> 00:47:52,880
Speaker 1: needs the pieces around him. I mean, he's kind of

924
00:47:52,920 --> 00:47:55,520
Speaker 1: Deshaun Wapton that's going to run around make plays and

925
00:47:55,640 --> 00:47:58,880
Speaker 1: Patrick Mahomes. He needs the talent around him. That's why

926
00:47:58,920 --> 00:48:02,799
Speaker 1: I thought Chicago might be a good spot. But you know,

927
00:48:03,200 --> 00:48:05,759
Speaker 1: we'll see how it unfolds. But I know there will

928
00:48:05,800 --> 00:48:09,560
Speaker 1: be definitely teams in the mix. He might be, you know,

929
00:48:10,000 --> 00:48:12,440
Speaker 1: might end up being that guy like a Brian Hoyer was.

930
00:48:12,520 --> 00:48:15,040
Speaker 1: Where you go to Cleveland, they bring you in to

931
00:48:15,120 --> 00:48:18,560
Speaker 1: compete with the young guy and but he will have

932
00:48:18,560 --> 00:48:21,680
Speaker 1: an opportunity. Again, I just think Joan's too smart of

933
00:48:21,680 --> 00:48:25,360
Speaker 1: a quarterback, He's too reliable. Who knows out there in

934
00:48:25,400 --> 00:48:28,160
Speaker 1: Oakland if it's a good fit with John Gruden and

935
00:48:28,280 --> 00:48:31,040
Speaker 1: him matching up in that system that Andy was a

936
00:48:31,040 --> 00:48:34,239
Speaker 1: part of with Jay Gruden back in the day. So

937
00:48:35,280 --> 00:48:37,640
Speaker 1: you just never know. But I think Andy has still

938
00:48:37,680 --> 00:48:39,440
Speaker 1: a lot of good football left in him, and I

939
00:48:39,480 --> 00:48:42,200
Speaker 1: hope mentally he's handling this the right way. He's a

940
00:48:42,200 --> 00:48:45,919
Speaker 1: true professional, so I know he is. He's gonna support Finley.

941
00:48:45,960 --> 00:48:48,359
Speaker 1: But guys, you know, I mean, it's tough, man. It's

942
00:48:48,400 --> 00:48:50,759
Speaker 1: tough when you get benched and now you're sitting on

943
00:48:50,800 --> 00:48:53,799
Speaker 1: the sideline watching. It happened to me, you know, my

944
00:48:53,880 --> 00:48:56,480
Speaker 1: rookie year. You asked me about, you know, advice for

945
00:48:56,560 --> 00:49:00,000
Speaker 1: Finley because I took over for Chris Simms start eleven games,

946
00:49:00,200 --> 00:49:02,720
Speaker 1: and then advice for Andy because in that same season

947
00:49:03,080 --> 00:49:05,919
Speaker 1: I got bench for Tim Rote, you know, going into

948
00:49:06,400 --> 00:49:09,799
Speaker 1: the twelfth Star. So you see both sides of it.

949
00:49:09,880 --> 00:49:11,800
Speaker 1: So it's a world win, man. You got to handle

950
00:49:11,840 --> 00:49:15,120
Speaker 1: those ups and down. But lap you know that that's

951
00:49:15,120 --> 00:49:19,040
Speaker 1: what this game's about all Thanks to Bruce Gradkowski, and

952
00:49:19,200 --> 00:49:21,400
Speaker 1: that is going to do it for this episode of

953
00:49:21,440 --> 00:49:24,560
Speaker 1: the podcast. If you haven't done so already, don't forget

954
00:49:24,560 --> 00:49:26,360
Speaker 1: to subscribe, and if you have a minute, give it

955
00:49:26,400 --> 00:49:29,360
Speaker 1: a rating or share a comment. Those five star ratings

956
00:49:29,400 --> 00:49:33,720
Speaker 1: help more Bengals fans find this podcast. I'm Dan Horne,

957
00:49:33,840 --> 00:49:37,160
Speaker 1: and thanks for listening to The Bengals Booth Podcast