Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody on Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast. The So this is the new
Speaker 1: year edition as we get you set for opening day
Speaker 1: at Paul Brown Stadium as the Bengals host Mike Zimmers
Speaker 1: Minnesota Vikings. Coming up, we'll find out what advice former
Speaker 1: Bengals great t J. Hushman Zada has for rookie Jamar
Speaker 1: Chase about overcoming a preseason case of butterfingers. And I'll
Speaker 1: talk to Jonah Williams, who hopes the bigger is better
Speaker 1: as he gets ready for his second season as the Bengals.
Speaker 1: Left tackle Dave Lapham and I will discuss the return
Speaker 1: of Joe Burrow and the absence of Trey Waynes. And finally,
Speaker 1: it's this week's Know the Faux segment as we discuss
Speaker 1: the Vikings with beat writer Chris Thomason from the Saint
Speaker 1: Paul Pioneer Press. The Bengals Booth Podcast is presented by
Speaker 1: Bud Light. Seltzer Refreshed the Game and here's a quick
Speaker 1: reminder that you can have the latest edition of this
Speaker 1: podcast as delivered right to your phone, tablet, or computer
Speaker 1: by subscribing on iTunes, Stitch your Google Play, Spotify, or
Speaker 1: pod Bean. It's the greatest thing since Robert Weintraub's profile
Speaker 1: of lap for Cincinnati Magazine. Robert Wintroub has been a
Speaker 1: guest on this podcast before for his work on The
Speaker 1: Football Outsider's Almanac. He also writes about the Bengals for
Speaker 1: Cincinnati Magazine, and this month he's written a wonderful story
Speaker 1: about my broadcast partner, Dave Lapham. The title is Mister
Speaker 1: Bengal is Mister Beloved, and it captures why lap is
Speaker 1: such a great ambassador for the franchise. You can find
Speaker 1: the story online just go to Cincinnati Magazine dot com.
Speaker 1: Now let's get to Sunday season opener. The return of
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow is obviously the headline, but the debut of
Speaker 1: his former college teammate Jamar Chase is not far behind.
Speaker 1: We are all eager to see if Chase will catch
Speaker 1: the ball now that the game's count. His preseason drops
Speaker 1: were a headscratch, sure, and I discussed it this week
Speaker 1: with one of the greatest wide receivers in team history.
Speaker 1: When wide receiver players the topic, our go to guy
Speaker 1: is the Bengal single season record holder for receptions, The
Speaker 1: great TJ. Hushminzada TJ. It's no secret that Jamar Chase
Speaker 1: struggled with drops in the preseason. Do you think it's
Speaker 1: physical or mental? It's always mental. Yeah, yeah, it's always mental.
Speaker 1: But the key words you said was preseason, and so
Speaker 1: you don't get many targets. They came over a course
Speaker 1: of three games, and so it's such a small sample
Speaker 1: size that if you think about it, if it was
Speaker 1: a regular season game, he probably would have had six
Speaker 1: to eight targets, and so you'll forget about the drop
Speaker 1: that he had in the game because he's probably gonna
Speaker 1: catch the rest of those. It's just a small sample size.
Speaker 1: It's it's one hundred percent mental. I mean, the only
Speaker 1: thing I'm not concerned at all. I am concerned slightly
Speaker 1: with the lack of separation the drops that he did have.
Speaker 1: The guy, the dvs are right there. I mean, they're
Speaker 1: right on him, and so don't worry about the drops.
Speaker 1: He's gonna catch the ball and he's gonna drop more balls. Also,
Speaker 1: just just so people know that we're receivers, we're gonna
Speaker 1: drop the ball. It just happens. And it's always a
Speaker 1: lack of concentration for the most part. He needs to
Speaker 1: just focus on creating separation, because it's the end. If
Speaker 1: you look at the LSU, he made a ton of
Speaker 1: contested catches, and the NFL guys are just better. So
Speaker 1: you're gonna still make them. You're just not gonna make
Speaker 1: as many. When you had a period where you dropped
Speaker 1: the ball, when did you know it was over? Oh,
Speaker 1: when you stopped thinking about it. I mean, it's really
Speaker 1: crazy because I didn't really drop many balls early on,
Speaker 1: but I remember dropping the punt against the Steelers, and
Speaker 1: and then I believe it was a game or two
Speaker 1: after I must the other one and I'll never forget
Speaker 1: the balls being punted to me. And in my head,
Speaker 1: I'm thinking, you gotta catch it. You gotta catch you,
Speaker 1: you gotta catch it. Oh hell no, I'm letting it
Speaker 1: drop and I just let it bounce and it comes.
Speaker 1: You come to the sideline and Darren sim and you
Speaker 1: gotta catch the ball, and I'm like, shut up, leave
Speaker 1: me alone. But in my mind, I was thinking about it,
Speaker 1: and so you know it's gone when you stop thinking
Speaker 1: about it and you just play. And so guarantee the
Speaker 1: first ball Jamar gets thrown to him in his mind,
Speaker 1: he's gonna think catch it, catch it, catch it. Yes,
Speaker 1: I caught that, excuse my language. And so it will
Speaker 1: be one of those things when he's not thinking about
Speaker 1: it and it's not in your mind, it's gone. So
Speaker 1: if Jamar was on the other side of this connection,
Speaker 1: what would your advice be, Just play football, man, it
Speaker 1: happens we dropped the ball. You know you can play.
Speaker 1: Just play football, work on getting open, work on creating separation,
Speaker 1: and everything else will take care of herself. Our guest
Speaker 1: is former Pro Bowl receiver t J Hushmnzata. When I
Speaker 1: think of the best trio wide receivers in Bengals history,
Speaker 1: I think of you, Chad in the late Chris Henry.
Speaker 1: How does this group compare in your opinion? Well, it's
Speaker 1: a little different. And I say it's a little different
Speaker 1: because me and Chad came in the same year, where
Speaker 1: as Tyler is years wise, is a lot older than
Speaker 1: t in Jamar. But Tyler can play, you know, and
Speaker 1: you would assume Tyler, if he's not the number one
Speaker 1: receiver game plan wise, he's the number one receiver on
Speaker 1: that team. It was a little different with me and
Speaker 1: Chad being older, and then Chris being a young guy,
Speaker 1: whereas now with Tyler being an old guy and Tie
Speaker 1: and Jamar being a younger guy. But they do have
Speaker 1: the potential to be just as good or even better.
Speaker 1: It's just a matter of are they gonna keep Tyler
Speaker 1: there as contract I believe runs out in a couple
Speaker 1: of years if I'm not mistaken, and so it's a
Speaker 1: little different. Hopefully they can do the same things or better.
Speaker 1: They have the pieces on offense, that's for sure. You
Speaker 1: have Joe and quarterback, you have mixing in the backfield
Speaker 1: to tight end zoom, and you got good up front.
Speaker 1: If they can get that cohesiveness, and I believe that's
Speaker 1: gonna be the biggest key, if they can jail and
Speaker 1: just keep Joe mentally Okay, physically he'll be fine, but
Speaker 1: it's the mental part of it for Joe that if
Speaker 1: they can keep them clean, they no street gonna get off.
Speaker 1: So Joe brows comeback is obviously the big story of
Speaker 1: the season. And you're Carson Palmer's teammate in two thousand
Speaker 1: and six when he came back from his knee injury.
Speaker 1: You had your first one thousand yards season that year.
Speaker 1: When did you know that Carson was back to normal.
Speaker 1: It's so different the game today. You really can't hit
Speaker 1: a quarterback. You have to be very careful. But it's
Speaker 1: also it's still day and for Joe. For Joe, it's
Speaker 1: gonna be one hundred percent mental and you ran stories
Speaker 1: about him and training camp kind of nervous. That's normal,
Speaker 1: that's to be expected. What I would do if I'm
Speaker 1: the Bengals, I'm coming out with the quick game. Ball
Speaker 1: out quick. He knows ball's out quick, so he's gonna relax.
Speaker 1: When we do work down the field. I'm going to
Speaker 1: max protect because the Vikings are a single high team, well,
Speaker 1: Mike Zimmer, they're a single high team, and so we
Speaker 1: max protect and we give Joe the mental confidence to
Speaker 1: know we're protected. And so if he knows that mentally,
Speaker 1: like yes, I'm getting the ball out quick, no problems.
Speaker 1: Yes we got max protection, no problems. I believe mentally
Speaker 1: he can relax himself and understand that. With Carson, it
Speaker 1: was just a matter of he got hurt. For us,
Speaker 1: it was the playoffs, so he didn't have as long
Speaker 1: of a healing process that Joe did. And so for
Speaker 1: car Carson is just different man. He just different one
Speaker 1: it sucks you know that we weren't able to win more.
Speaker 1: But Carson it was just different. He was a different dude, big, fast, strong,
Speaker 1: through a very catchable ball, but he had a cannon
Speaker 1: and Joe is similar. But mentally, I don't know the
Speaker 1: difference of the two because I haven't been around Joe enough.
Speaker 1: But you have been following him for a while because
Speaker 1: you have a couple of daughters to play softball at LSU.
Speaker 1: If you had to pick out one quality about Joe
Speaker 1: Burrow that you respect the most, what would that be? Competitiveness,
Speaker 1: his self, belief in himself. Joe trained out here with
Speaker 1: Jordan Palmer for the NFL Combine and so I was
Speaker 1: around Joe every day leading up to that process, and
Speaker 1: that was a year of COVID. So the last day
Speaker 1: we worked out on there, for get it. We're in
Speaker 1: the way room. I'm like leading, when are you leaving?
Speaker 1: He is like, I think I gotta get out here
Speaker 1: tomorrow because they're gonna shut everything down. And that was
Speaker 1: our last day. So I was around Joe five months
Speaker 1: pretty much, four days a week, and so it's just
Speaker 1: confidence and his belief in himself stands out more than
Speaker 1: anything do you expect the Bengals to be significantly better
Speaker 1: this year, and if so, why I expect him to
Speaker 1: be better significantly. I'm not sure if Joe had not
Speaker 1: tour his knee significantly. It's how he comes back. The
Speaker 1: Babies have a good team, and we talked about what
Speaker 1: they have offensively that is gonna be constant. They're gonna
Speaker 1: be good on offense. Defensively, can they be better than
Speaker 1: what they were last year? And let's just be honest,
Speaker 1: that's not too hard to do. So they were bad
Speaker 1: last year, and so they need to improve defensively because
Speaker 1: they're in a division that's not easy. Baltimore is really good.
Speaker 1: You played them twice. The Browns are really good. You
Speaker 1: played them twice. And say what you want about the Steelers.
Speaker 1: They're gonna play defense and as long as Number seven
Speaker 1: is under center, they're gonna throw the ball well. And
Speaker 1: so the Bengals defense needs to be better. I believe
Speaker 1: they will be, but significantly, I'm not sure because I
Speaker 1: don't know how Joe's gonna come back. I don't know
Speaker 1: how that cohesiveness on an offensive line is gonna work.
Speaker 1: But I do expect them to be improved, for sure.
Speaker 1: Always great to pick your brain. Appreciate the time. Hope
Speaker 1: we get to do it again this season. I appreciate it,
Speaker 1: Thank you, And they will beat the Vikings, though this
Speaker 1: Sunday I will say that I do believe they're gonna
Speaker 1: start one and up. Bold prediction by the two thousand
Speaker 1: and seven Pro bowler who set the Bengals single season
Speaker 1: record that year with one hundred and twelve catches. Any
Speaker 1: season preview you read about the Bengals is likely to
Speaker 1: follow this theme. They've got their franchise quarterback, they've rounded
Speaker 1: him with weapons, but have they done enough to improve
Speaker 1: the offensive line. Here's my take. The dependable Riley Reef
Speaker 1: will be a significant upgrade from the inconsistent Bobby Hart
Speaker 1: at right tackle, and the group as a whole will
Speaker 1: benefit from the return of an outstanding coach in Frank Pollock.
Speaker 1: But one of the biggest keys that hasn't been getting
Speaker 1: enough attention is the development of Jonah Williams. He was
Speaker 1: the first offensive lineman taken in the twenty nineteen draft
Speaker 1: for a reason, and after two injury plague seasons, he's
Speaker 1: ready for year three. Jonah, you are noticeably bigger this
Speaker 1: year based on training camp and twenty snaps in preseason games.
Speaker 1: Can you tell if bigger is better and if so why?
Speaker 1: I think so. I feel good. And it's hard to
Speaker 1: tell if that's due to technique or if that's you know,
Speaker 1: the weight and strength helping out. But I think it's
Speaker 1: definitely been a good thing to put on a little
Speaker 1: bit of weight. It's not a huge sample size, but
Speaker 1: you were involved in eleven passing snaps in the preseason
Speaker 1: games and did not allow any pressures. At least according
Speaker 1: to Pro Football Focus, you were blocking against Chase Young
Speaker 1: on several of those plays. How'd you feel you did?
Speaker 1: I think I you know, I'm happy with how I played,
Speaker 1: but as a person who wants to get better, you know,
Speaker 1: that's what that's what we practiced for, and that's what
Speaker 1: the seasons for, you know. So I think I did well,
Speaker 1: but I'm looking to get a little bit better. It's
Speaker 1: your third season, but really it's your second because you
Speaker 1: were injured in year one. How much different do you
Speaker 1: feel going into this year than you did a year ago.
Speaker 1: I feel a lot of different. I feel a lot better.
Speaker 1: You know, the game moves a little bit slower, as
Speaker 1: they say, I think that just takes a lot of
Speaker 1: game reps to start to get used to it. You know,
Speaker 1: playing in the NFL is a big challenge. So the
Speaker 1: more experience you have and the more comfortable we are
Speaker 1: going out there, you know, the more success you're likely
Speaker 1: gonna have. We're chatting with Jonah Williams. So when Frank
Speaker 1: Pollock was brought back as the offensive line coach in
Speaker 1: early January, did you guys talk over the phone? Did
Speaker 1: you meet? How did you begin forming a relationship? Yeah?
Speaker 1: I was back here for a bit in the offseason, Um,
Speaker 1: you know, just getting my knee signed off on and
Speaker 1: checked out and everything like that. From from the end
Speaker 1: of the season. Um, you know, so I was able
Speaker 1: to see coach and talk and get a feel for
Speaker 1: how he operates, and you know what is you know
Speaker 1: what his attitude is like, and you know, really appreciate
Speaker 1: him as a coach and have enjoyed, you know, all
Speaker 1: the time we spent together so far. In addition to
Speaker 1: having a new position coach, you've got a ten year
Speaker 1: vet on the opposite side of the offensive line and
Speaker 1: Riley reef is that almost like having another coach? It is,
Speaker 1: you know, Riley's Riley's played a lot of football, and
Speaker 1: he knows what he's talking about, and so it's good
Speaker 1: to hear that. You know, you have the coach perspective,
Speaker 1: and you know, obviously coach Pollack also played in the
Speaker 1: NFL for for a while, so you have that insight.
Speaker 1: And then you have Riley who's played so long and
Speaker 1: you know, I'm playing next to Q and Eric Quinton
Speaker 1: and we have trade too, so playing next to a
Speaker 1: lot of guys in x who play a lot of football.
Speaker 1: So I think we're definitely an experience unit this year.
Speaker 1: Riley is roughly the same size as you are. He's
Speaker 1: not one of these six seven, three hundred and forty
Speaker 1: pound kind of guys. Does that make his information even
Speaker 1: more helpful? I think so for sure. You know, I
Speaker 1: think there's similarities in our games, and you know, obviously,
Speaker 1: like you said, and the in terms of just pure
Speaker 1: size and that type of thing, we're pretty close. So
Speaker 1: I think that that it adds an element. You know,
Speaker 1: we kind of have the same toolbox. So if he
Speaker 1: says something works for him, then it's likely to work
Speaker 1: for me. I'm interested in your intel on a guy
Speaker 1: on the opposite side of the ball. Trey Hendrickson, who
Speaker 1: came in as a free agent thirteen and a half
Speaker 1: sacks last year with the Saints to tie for second
Speaker 1: best in the NFL. You've had to block him a
Speaker 1: lot in training camp. What stands out? You know, he's
Speaker 1: a he's a great player, and I think the thing
Speaker 1: that stands out most is his speed, his upfield speed,
Speaker 1: his ability to get up field and put pressure on
Speaker 1: the tackle to you know, get depth so he can protect.
Speaker 1: And also his motor. You know, he's a he's a
Speaker 1: guy who's going to keep on try and move swiping
Speaker 1: hands and even if you beat him on the first thing,
Speaker 1: he's going to keep on trying. And you know, I
Speaker 1: don't know how many snaps he's played, but it felt
Speaker 1: like every snap I was watching them in the preseason
Speaker 1: he was getting pressure. So, you know, it's been good
Speaker 1: battling with them all camp, and I think we've made
Speaker 1: each other better. The last time we saw you last
Speaker 1: year on the field, it did not look good. I
Speaker 1: think most of us assumed that you had a torn
Speaker 1: acl or something of that magnitude when you went down
Speaker 1: in the Miami game two games after Joe Burrow's injury.
Speaker 1: Did you fear the worse at that time, I did,
Speaker 1: you know, I felt the same thing that you guys saw.
Speaker 1: I felt somebody flying into my knee from the side,
Speaker 1: and you know, felt some issues in my knees. So
Speaker 1: I was pretty pretty happy to hear that, you know,
Speaker 1: when the MRI results came back that it wasn't as
Speaker 1: serious as I thought. So it allowed me to go
Speaker 1: into the off season rehabit and then for the vast
Speaker 1: majority of the off season, I've been one hundred percent
Speaker 1: training at full speed and I think that that's been,
Speaker 1: you know, beneficial to my growth this year. So you
Speaker 1: open against the Vikings and you're gonna be matched up
Speaker 1: against one of the NFL's premiere pass rushers and Denil Hunter.
Speaker 1: He missed last year with a neck injury, but before that,
Speaker 1: back to back seasons of fourteen and a half sacks.
Speaker 1: You study these guys. What stands out about him? I
Speaker 1: think he's a He's a really balanced rusher. That's the
Speaker 1: first thing I noticed is he you know, he has
Speaker 1: a little bit of everything, and he's good everything he does.
Speaker 1: It's not just the speed guy. He's not just a
Speaker 1: power guy. He's not just a technique guy. He kind
Speaker 1: of you know, combines all of that, and he's a
Speaker 1: verse stul player, you know, and that's that's the NFL.
Speaker 1: Every every single week pretty much, we're playing a premier
Speaker 1: pass rusher and so that's the challenge for this week
Speaker 1: is to is to handle him. And you know, I'm
Speaker 1: I feel good about the old lined room and I
Speaker 1: feel good going into practice that we're gonna, you know,
Speaker 1: do a good job. Last thing for Jonah Williams, you
Speaker 1: have been reunited with your high school quarterback from Fulsome
Speaker 1: High School near Sacramento, as the Bengals have added Jacob
Speaker 1: Browning to the practice squad. To small world, isn't it
Speaker 1: It is? It's a tiny world, and it's cool to
Speaker 1: be practicing with him again for the first time since
Speaker 1: twenty fourteen. And you know, last time we practice together,
Speaker 1: we're undefeated, never lost the game while practicing together. So
Speaker 1: I think that's a good sign for the future. And
Speaker 1: I'm glad to have him on the team. I like
Speaker 1: the way you think best of like this season. I
Speaker 1: appreciate your time. Thank you. That's Jonah Williams. The Bengals
Speaker 1: Booth podcast is presented by Bud Light Seltzer. It's light
Speaker 1: and refreshing with a hint of fruit flavor. Now time
Speaker 1: to discuss some of the key storylines in Week one
Speaker 1: with my broadcast partner Dave Lapham Lap. It's going to
Speaker 1: be a very special day on Sunday at Paul Brown Stadium.
Speaker 1: It marks the return of Joe Burrow, Yes the official
Speaker 1: Returney obviously played preseason snaps in the final preseason game,
Speaker 1: but this will be the one that counts. It will
Speaker 1: be forty two Sundays since his injury in Washington last year,
Speaker 1: torn ACL, torn MCL, partially torn PCL. He's hardly the
Speaker 1: first quarterback to come back from an injury like this.
Speaker 1: Tom Brady tore his CL and MCL in two thousand
Speaker 1: and nine, had a passer rating of ninety six plus.
Speaker 1: The following year, Carson Palmer towards a CL and MCL
Speaker 1: in that playoff game that was a month and a
Speaker 1: half later than Joe Burrow. He came back in two
Speaker 1: thousand and six and averaged more yards per attempt than
Speaker 1: any other year of his Bengals tenures. So and he
Speaker 1: ays do this, and he was MVP of the Pro
Speaker 1: Bowl that year. So he goes to the Pro Bowl
Speaker 1: and he's the best player there, So there is there
Speaker 1: are some examples of success stories for sure. And yeah,
Speaker 1: when you talk about ACLMCL and partial of the PCL,
Speaker 1: the terrible triad they call that. When you damage all
Speaker 1: three of those uh ligaments, it's extensive. There's no question
Speaker 1: about it. And for Joe Burrow to grind through the
Speaker 1: rehab process like he has dan and to be where
Speaker 1: he is, he's pretty darn remarkable. Joe Burrows spoke to
Speaker 1: the Cincinnati media earlier today. He was asked the following question,
Speaker 1: does he think he's back to normal? I don't expect
Speaker 1: to be better, and I've put in a lot of
Speaker 1: work this offseason that you know, I'm excited to show
Speaker 1: off as well as all of our guys have. You know,
Speaker 1: we're a much better football team that has prepared the
Speaker 1: way we need to and and understands how to win
Speaker 1: games now. I think. So I've I've seen more football
Speaker 1: I've seen I've had more refs against defenses that you know,
Speaker 1: maybe you hadn't seen before, and so I know what
Speaker 1: to get to when when I see those, and so
Speaker 1: it just comes with refs and I'm gonna get even
Speaker 1: more and I'm gonna you know, you try to improve
Speaker 1: you to year. Um, so I'm excited to go out
Speaker 1: there and show everybody what I got. I think it's
Speaker 1: fair to say that Joe Burrow struggled for about the
Speaker 1: first week of training camp and then he settled in
Speaker 1: and he looked good. What are your expectations for Joe
Speaker 1: beginning with week one? Yeah, I think that that Joe
Speaker 1: Burrow has got one big box left to check, and
Speaker 1: that's taking the hit, and and he's He's talked about it,
Speaker 1: you know, a few times. So if a guy says
Speaker 1: I'm not thinking about that, it's hard to believe that
Speaker 1: he wouldn't be. It's it's natural, it's it's human nature.
Speaker 1: So you don't as a as a former lineman, I
Speaker 1: certainly don't want to see him get hit. But if
Speaker 1: he does, for some reason get hit early in the
Speaker 1: game or whenever it happens in the game, I think
Speaker 1: that is the last big, final box to check and
Speaker 1: he gets up, does himself off, I think then he's
Speaker 1: off and running. But yeah, I hope Dan that the
Speaker 1: Bengals don't throw the ball forty times with Joe Burrow
Speaker 1: in this football game. I hope that Joe Burrow throws
Speaker 1: twenty five, no more than thirty times in this football game.
Speaker 1: I hope they get a running game going and they can,
Speaker 1: you know, kind of ease Joe back into it a
Speaker 1: little bit. In today's football, twenty five thirty times is
Speaker 1: not a huge number, but he averaged over forty passes
Speaker 1: per game, forty attempts a game as a rookie. That
Speaker 1: that's just I think it's it's too much to ask
Speaker 1: him to go out there and throw it forty times
Speaker 1: in this football unless they run any snaps and they
Speaker 1: run it forty times and throw it forty times, and
Speaker 1: they're they're just a machine offensively and they're scoring every possession.
Speaker 1: I find that hard to believe. Against Mike Zimmer's defensive
Speaker 1: football team, he's on record saying it's the worst defense
Speaker 1: he've ever had last year. But he's got guys back
Speaker 1: from injury, he's got guys back from COVID, He's got
Speaker 1: you know, he's got some talent on that defensive football team,
Speaker 1: and he and Paul Gunther are back together. They were
Speaker 1: the inventors basically the double a gap blitz and all
Speaker 1: the stuff you do with it. So there's a lot
Speaker 1: of pressure on the offensive line to recognize, communicate that,
Speaker 1: for Joe to make pre and post nap reeds properly
Speaker 1: because they're gonna be trying to disguise in the back end,
Speaker 1: and Harrison Smith, the safety five time Pro bowler, can
Speaker 1: do that as well as anybody. So I would make
Speaker 1: sure that I get that running game going because in
Speaker 1: my opinion, Mike Zimmer is going to start the game
Speaker 1: with two safeties deep and so he can play back
Speaker 1: there and disguise, and he's gonna say front seven, I
Speaker 1: believe you can stop the run. We can handle them.
Speaker 1: I might even put six in the box something. We
Speaker 1: can stop the run. It's up to the Bengals offensive
Speaker 1: line to change that and make him change what he's
Speaker 1: doing on the back end a little bit by running
Speaker 1: the football successfully and get get Mike Zimmer out of that.
Speaker 1: And Dan. I think one of the biggest things in
Speaker 1: this football game is in game adjustments. You know, you
Speaker 1: don't know exactly what you're going to see in an opener.
Speaker 1: These coaches had all this time to prepare for an opener.
Speaker 1: They're going to do something that you have not prepped for,
Speaker 1: which coaching staff can make adjustments on the sideline in
Speaker 1: game adjustments based on their rules, applying to different formations,
Speaker 1: whatever the case may be, even though they haven't repped
Speaker 1: against it. Who can make the adjustments and take care
Speaker 1: of those kind of things during the course of the
Speaker 1: football game and the opening I was listening to a
Speaker 1: Vikings podcast earlier today where somebody referred to Mike Zimmer
Speaker 1: as a third down defensive genius. Yes, what is it
Speaker 1: about Zim and making it so difficult for opponents on
Speaker 1: third down? It's that double A gap stuff. That's when
Speaker 1: he really goes crazy, you know, on third down. And
Speaker 1: double a gap means the A gap is the is
Speaker 1: the the space between the center and both guards center,
Speaker 1: right guard, center left guard. That's the A gap, and
Speaker 1: he walks guys up. Linebackers could be a linebacker in
Speaker 1: the safety. He walks them up into the A gap
Speaker 1: and they can rush straight with defensive line rustrate, they
Speaker 1: can twist with the defensive tackles, they can super loop
Speaker 1: with defensive ends. There's all kinds of things they can do.
Speaker 1: They can drop one out, they can drop both out.
Speaker 1: There's there's a myriad of things, the myriad of different
Speaker 1: looks you can do, and it puts a lot of
Speaker 1: pressure on the offensive line and running backs and tight ends,
Speaker 1: everybody involved in blitz pick up responsibility. And as bad
Speaker 1: as they were defensively, Dan that's one area where they
Speaker 1: were they were pretty good in third down, red zone,
Speaker 1: red zone, third down second in the NFL. They only
Speaker 1: allowed the opposition to for at thirty five point three
Speaker 1: percent of the time. Miami was number one. At thirty
Speaker 1: five percent, they were number two. So even as as
Speaker 1: poor as they were, they were twenty ninth and points allowed,
Speaker 1: twenty seventh in yards allowed, That's that's unheard of from
Speaker 1: Mikes Zimmer. In twenty seventeen, they were first in both
Speaker 1: categories and they went to that big of a slide.
Speaker 1: But third down in the red zone and then third
Speaker 1: down overall, you know they were they were they were
Speaker 1: pretty good on third down, but in the red zone.
Speaker 1: They were dynamic on third down. And that's where his
Speaker 1: you know, he's like a mad sciences. He's a chemist,
Speaker 1: you know, putting things together and coming up with different
Speaker 1: ways to try to attack you and pressure you. So
Speaker 1: that's where you have to be really good on third
Speaker 1: down and really good in the red zone, particularly on
Speaker 1: third down. In the red zone. All right, let's talk
Speaker 1: about another big story going into Sunday's game, and that
Speaker 1: involves rookie Jamar Chase. Will he hold onto the ball
Speaker 1: when it's thrown to him by Joe Burrow. He dropped
Speaker 1: five passes in his final year at LSU eighty four catches,
Speaker 1: five drops in three preseason games one catch, four drops,
Speaker 1: so the ratio is not good. Here is Jamar Chase
Speaker 1: this week talking about the problems he had during the
Speaker 1: preseason holding it under the ball. I don't know. I
Speaker 1: don't want to blame it on me sitting sitting on
Speaker 1: my butt the whole year, but I mean it probably
Speaker 1: has something to do with it. Of course, Um you know,
Speaker 1: it's a bigger ball adjustment, so you know, I don't
Speaker 1: want to make any excuses, but I just gotta be
Speaker 1: a pro and make the catch. The ball is different
Speaker 1: because it's bigger, of course. Another reason it is different
Speaker 1: because it doesn't have the white stripes on the side,
Speaker 1: so you can't see the ball coming in from the
Speaker 1: tip of the point. So now you actually have to
Speaker 1: look for the strings on the ball at the top,
Speaker 1: which is a little hard to see because the whole
Speaker 1: ball is brown and then we have like six string
Speaker 1: that's brown, that's white. But for the most part, um,
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying, You just gotta get used
Speaker 1: to it, find out what I'm comfortable with catching, how
Speaker 1: I'm catching it comfortable, and going from there to be on.
Speaker 1: I think my drops come from me not looking the
Speaker 1: ball in by looking at bottin I mean like high
Speaker 1: point and watching it as soon as it hits the
Speaker 1: me looking away, me running before the catch. So stuff
Speaker 1: like that is me dropping it, and I did it
Speaker 1: a couple of times. My long term concern for Jamar
Speaker 1: Chase is nil. I'm not worried at all that eventually
Speaker 1: he'll hold onto the ball like he did at LSU
Speaker 1: and that aspect of his game will be fine. My
Speaker 1: short term concern for Jamar Chase is pretty high, just
Speaker 1: because it is clearly still in his head. Until he
Speaker 1: reels off a few catches and doesn't have a problem
Speaker 1: with a drop, you can't help it be a little concerned.
Speaker 1: I agree with you, Dan. The thing is we saw
Speaker 1: drops in practice of training camp, and then it carried
Speaker 1: over into the game where like you said, five opportunities
Speaker 1: caught one drop four that's a big carryover and what
Speaker 1: you don't want to do is letting one mistake turn
Speaker 1: into two, three or four, you know. And so now
Speaker 1: a little pattern developed for him in the preseason games.
Speaker 1: And now, like you say, he gets into his head
Speaker 1: a little bit, and now you start to press. And
Speaker 1: the one throw that Joe Burrow made to Jamar Chase
Speaker 1: is something I think they're gonna do quite a bit
Speaker 1: bubble screens because the lower body is so strong. You
Speaker 1: get him in space one on one, it's hard to
Speaker 1: bring that guy down. He's gonna get a lot of
Speaker 1: yards after catch. And I think in his mind he
Speaker 1: was like, here it comes. The fans are going crazy,
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow's first pass. Joe and I lsu man, we're
Speaker 1: gonna I'm putting on a show. And then he peaks
Speaker 1: and he looks to see what the defensive back is
Speaker 1: and he doesn't secure the football. You can't do anything
Speaker 1: after the catch if you don't catch it. Got to
Speaker 1: catch the football. So you know, part of it is
Speaker 1: at some point every great player does have slumps as such,
Speaker 1: in terms of catching the ball or dropping the football.
Speaker 1: And if this is a minor slump, it's good to
Speaker 1: have it happened when it did rather than the regular season.
Speaker 1: But my advice to him would be, don't overthink it.
Speaker 1: Don't overthink it, just go out there, react and play.
Speaker 1: And we both know Dan that in terms of catchable footballs,
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow throws about his catchable football is there as
Speaker 1: there is. It's not, you know, a duck. It's a
Speaker 1: tight spiral. It's it's got some RPMs on it, but
Speaker 1: it's not so hot that it's going to burn your
Speaker 1: hands up. Joe Burrow throws a catchable football and he
Speaker 1: knows it, and he caught a ton of them in
Speaker 1: twenty nineteen with Joe Burrow, So do it again. All right,
Speaker 1: let's talk about the injury report. First point of the
Speaker 1: week came out earlier today. For the Bengals. Trey Waynes
Speaker 1: did not practice due to his hamstring injury. We already
Speaker 1: know that he will not play on Sunday. The news
Speaker 1: is better for rookie center Trey Hill, now number two
Speaker 1: on the depth chart at that position, behind Trey Hopkins.
Speaker 1: He was a full participant in practice as he is
Speaker 1: back from his hip injury, and tight end Mitchell Wilcox,
Speaker 1: number three on the totem pole, is fully back from
Speaker 1: his concussion. That's good because if Trey Hill didn't snap, Dan,
Speaker 1: we watched the tryouts for some of the guards. Good. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it not not good. So Trey Hill, it's good that
Speaker 1: he's back as the backup center for sure. All right.
Speaker 1: For the Minnesota Vikings, they don't list anybody as not
Speaker 1: participating in practice. They had three guys who are limited.
Speaker 1: Tight end Tyler Conklin with a hamstring injury. Now they've
Speaker 1: lost their number one tight end for the season or
Speaker 1: Smith right, Tyler Conklin number two on the totem pole.
Speaker 1: They just went out and got two guys this past week,
Speaker 1: so they could be starting completely new players at that position.
Speaker 1: Linebacker Anthony Barr, great player, has missed basically a month,
Speaker 1: didn't play in the preseason. He did practice a little
Speaker 1: bit today, so maybe he can make the dance on Sunday.
Speaker 1: Rookie tackle Christian Derra Saw has been out with a
Speaker 1: groin injury. He was also limited at PRAC this today.
Speaker 1: So those are the big concerns for the Minnesota Vikings.
Speaker 1: And you know it's interesting. Darren Saw obviously the first
Speaker 1: round pick, and they drafted Wyatt big, big boy insided
Speaker 1: guard from the Ohio State Buckeyes in the third round.
Speaker 1: Wyatt Davis. Wyatt Davis, Yes, and neither one of them
Speaker 1: are listed as starters at this point in time. So
Speaker 1: it's not just the Bengals that have young rookie lineman
Speaker 1: that are in backup positions and not starting at this
Speaker 1: point in time. The Minnesota Vikings earned the same boat.
Speaker 1: So at Trey Wayne's out, Eli Apple will apparently start
Speaker 1: in his spot. Darius Phillips also very capable of filling in. Yep.
Speaker 1: You know you'd love to have Trey Wayne's Obviously, you
Speaker 1: didn't get anything out of him last year after setting
Speaker 1: him to a huge three year deal. Hopefully he's back,
Speaker 1: maybe as soon as next week. If not next week,
Speaker 1: maybe the week after that. But your cornerbacks are going
Speaker 1: to get injured at various points of the season. You
Speaker 1: hate it to be Week one, but you need depth
Speaker 1: at cornerback, and the Bengals tried desperately to improve their
Speaker 1: depth at that spot. They did. And you know the
Speaker 1: one that had the unbelievable camp in one him self
Speaker 1: as spot as the depth corners, Jalen Davis. I mean,
Speaker 1: on a snap by snap basis, he proved that he
Speaker 1: was the best cover corner that he proved that he
Speaker 1: was the best special teams player necessarily at the cornerback position,
Speaker 1: with Brown and other guys back there. Not necessarily, but
Speaker 1: first and foremost, I mean, if an a cornerback is
Speaker 1: a huge position. If a guy goes down, you need
Speaker 1: to have depth with guys that can cover, because if
Speaker 1: they can't cover, you don't have to worry about your
Speaker 1: punt team. You know, you don't have to worry about
Speaker 1: special teams. And when you say he proved he's the
Speaker 1: best cover corner, you're talking about the guys he was
Speaker 1: competing against to be on the roster. I'm not better
Speaker 1: than a Wouje or exactly exactly, he's the best of
Speaker 1: the guys that were trying to the back end of
Speaker 1: the roster the depth cornerback position. You know, those guys,
Speaker 1: it's all right, how many snaps were going to get
Speaker 1: from them at the line of scrimmage defensively and special teams?
Speaker 1: And I'm sure it was a tough call. Tony Brown
Speaker 1: and others. You know, gives you a lot of special
Speaker 1: team snaps. But this guy showed that he's the best
Speaker 1: cover guy of that group that was trying to make
Speaker 1: that fifth cornerback situation with the Cincinnati Bengals. Last, but
Speaker 1: not least, time to take a closer look at the Vikings,
Speaker 1: who are coming off a very disappointing season. They opened
Speaker 1: one in five, rebounded to climbing to playoff contention at
Speaker 1: six and six, then dropped three in a row to
Speaker 1: miss the postseason. Chris Thomason covers the team for the
Speaker 1: Saint Paul Pioneer Press, and he joined Lapping Me on
Speaker 1: the Bengals Game Plan show. We started with what went
Speaker 1: wrong in Minnesota last year? The defense last year was
Speaker 1: a disaster, ranking twenty seventh in total defense. They were young,
Speaker 1: they lost a lot of veterans, while the offense it's
Speaker 1: pretty darn good. Fourth in total offense, best ranking in
Speaker 1: sixteen years. So they spent a lot of time during
Speaker 1: the off season rejoeling the defense and the defense should
Speaker 1: be much better. But then the offense by the same
Speaker 1: token good regrets. I mean, they didn't bring back Cincinnati
Speaker 1: native Kyle Rudolph, they didn't bring back Riley Reese who's
Speaker 1: gone to Cincinnati. Another Cincinnati reference there, and Er Smith Junior.
Speaker 1: The tight end is out for the season with knee injury,
Speaker 1: and Christian derren Saw, who they thought was going to
Speaker 1: be their starting left tackle, first round pick out of
Speaker 1: Virginia Tech, he's had a groin injury, so Rashad Hill,
Speaker 1: who's pretty much been a career reservant right tackle, is
Speaker 1: now they're starting left tackle. So there are certainly some
Speaker 1: issues on offense, There's no doubt about it. The Minnesota
Speaker 1: Vikings under Mike Zimmer have made the playoffs in every
Speaker 1: odd numbered year, which is three times, and have missed
Speaker 1: and every even number year which is four times. Okay,
Speaker 1: it's an odd numbered year. If the Vikings don't make
Speaker 1: the playoffs and they missed the playoffs in consecutive years
Speaker 1: for the first time under Mike Zimmer, is he on
Speaker 1: the hot seat? Is his job in jeopardy? Yeah? I
Speaker 1: think he would definitely be on the hot seat if
Speaker 1: they don't make the playoffs, because, as you noted, it
Speaker 1: would be the first time they missed in two straight years.
Speaker 1: Plus there's of course now seven teams in each conference
Speaker 1: making the playoffs, so it's easier to make it, and
Speaker 1: the Vikings expect to make the playoffs. But also you know,
Speaker 1: they Dimmer wanted the defense to Zimmer's baby, and they
Speaker 1: beaked it up. They gave him, you know, a lot
Speaker 1: of players. So the defense should be much better. And
Speaker 1: even though I pointed out some pretensive shortcomings on offense,
Speaker 1: the defense should be much better. So it might be
Speaker 1: a case of, you know, if they don't win this year,
Speaker 1: it's like, well, we gave you the pieces. Chris Thomason
Speaker 1: from the Saint Paul Pioneer Press, he is our guest.
Speaker 1: You mentioned that a first round draft pick, Christian Derresaw,
Speaker 1: has been battling injury and it looked like he was
Speaker 1: going to be the left tackle from day one this year.
Speaker 1: Is his replacement Rashad Hill a weak link on the
Speaker 1: offensive line and are there any other pending injury concerns
Speaker 1: that are kind of up in the air at this point? Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean, obviously, left tackle is the glamour position on
Speaker 1: the offensive line, and it was manned capably by Riley
Speaker 1: Reefs for the previous four years. He didn't make any
Speaker 1: pro bowled, but he was steady above avert's left tackle.
Speaker 1: So you're taking a guy. I mean, I expect with Shaw,
Speaker 1: Hill to be better than he has been previously, but
Speaker 1: this is a guy who was mostly deserve at right tackle,
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, starting at left tackle, that's a
Speaker 1: big responsibility. So yeah, that's going to be something to watch.
Speaker 1: As far as injuries, keep an eye on Anthony bar
Speaker 1: He had a knee injury and pretty much didn't practice
Speaker 1: for an entire month until he was limited today. And
Speaker 1: he missed the whole preseason and he returned after being
Speaker 1: out for the last four teen games last year. I mean,
Speaker 1: they have been training with kids run to get his
Speaker 1: knee back in shape. I think he'll probably play on Sunday.
Speaker 1: But you know, here's a guy that hasn't played in
Speaker 1: a game in close to a year and hasn't even
Speaker 1: practiced much until today for a month. So the rusty,
Speaker 1: he might be Kirk Cousins kind of a lightning rod.
Speaker 1: Obviously your impression heat last year he throws ten interceptions.
Speaker 1: The first six games, they go one in five. He
Speaker 1: throws three interceptions in the final ten they go six
Speaker 1: and four. But since two thou fifteen, he's the only
Speaker 1: quarterback with thirty five hundred yards or more passing in
Speaker 1: twenty five or more touchdowns passing. He's the only guy
Speaker 1: that's done it for six consecutive years Brady and Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers has done it five out of six years. So
Speaker 1: what is your take on Kirk Cousins. Well, I mean,
Speaker 1: I think Kirk Cousins pretty much set at all before
Speaker 1: the two thousand and nineteen season, when he pretty you know,
Speaker 1: I had asked him about what he needs to do
Speaker 1: to get to the next level, and he's set, you know,
Speaker 1: five hundred quarterbacks pretty much. That kind of set it all.
Speaker 1: And then that particular season he did lead the Vikings
Speaker 1: to the playoffs and they got a playoff victory over
Speaker 1: in New Orleans, So it looked like he was making
Speaker 1: strides after they missed the playoffs in the first year
Speaker 1: two thousand eighteen, but then last year they regressed. They
Speaker 1: were seven and nine. I mean, I think, you know,
Speaker 1: the major reason was the defense. But still during a
Speaker 1: one in five start last year, you mentioned the ten interceptions,
Speaker 1: and the Vikings started to play a lot better. Cousins
Speaker 1: started to play a lot better of it. They never
Speaker 1: could dig themselves out of that hole. And you know,
Speaker 1: he pretty much is just a five and a quarterback.
Speaker 1: A lot of the stats that he has, I mean,
Speaker 1: he's beast up in games where they've trailed and he's
Speaker 1: picked up a lot of semi meeting the stats in
Speaker 1: the second half. But you know, now the seen rod
Speaker 1: has been for him kind of being the poster guy
Speaker 1: of unvaccinated. I mean, I'm calling up to see Ann
Speaker 1: website and they're having just a general story about unvaccinated
Speaker 1: people in America and the photos that they collect for
Speaker 1: the CNN home page of the pitching Cousins. So that's
Speaker 1: what he's kind of started to become known for. Is
Speaker 1: not he vaccinated in the fact that he met five
Speaker 1: days while on the COVID reserve lists in late July
Speaker 1: in early August, and you know he's still has vaccinated.
Speaker 1: So obviously if he wouldn't this time this year that
Speaker 1: it would really get controversial with Kirk Cousins. So defensively,
Speaker 1: Mike Zimmer calls the signals. His son Adam is one
Speaker 1: of the co coordinators, but Mike Zimmer makes the calls offensively.
Speaker 1: Gary Kubiak retires, his son Clint takes over. He's never
Speaker 1: called plays. Is there any concern about Clint Kubiak calling
Speaker 1: plays in his first NFL game? Yeah, I would definitely
Speaker 1: think so. I mean, he's unproven, he's never called plays. Before,
Speaker 1: and you know, it's an adjustment for him, and even
Speaker 1: to the point where he started out the preseason being
Speaker 1: on the field calling him and then he moved up
Speaker 1: to the box like his father used to be, so
Speaker 1: he even switched in midstream there. So he's learning to adjust,
Speaker 1: you know, just where he's sitting during games. So yeah,
Speaker 1: there's no doubt that it was going to be a
Speaker 1: potential adjusting period. I mean, because he doesn't have anybody
Speaker 1: to really help him out. I mean, a couple of
Speaker 1: years ago, Kevin's the fantasy now the Browns coach. He
Speaker 1: was relatively experienced as an offensive coordinator, but he had
Speaker 1: Gary Kubiak as an offensive advisor who was on the
Speaker 1: headset there and could help him out during games of
Speaker 1: that sort of thing. And of course Gary was the
Speaker 1: offensive coordinay last year. He didn't need any help. But
Speaker 1: you know, there's not too many folks to help clean out.
Speaker 1: So it's going to be interesting to see what happened.
Speaker 1: Here's a quick reminder to join lapping me for the
Speaker 1: Bengals pep Rally show this Friday from three to six
Speaker 1: on ESPN fifteen thirty. That's going to do it for
Speaker 1: this episode of The Bengals Boothpiecast, brought to you by
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Speaker 1: more Bengals fans find this podcast. I'm Dan Howarden. Thanks
Speaker 1: for listening to The Bengals Booth Podcast