Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody on Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast. The It's the Club addition, as
Speaker 1: the Bengals look to climb toward the top of the
Speaker 1: AFC North as they host the Baltimore Ravens. Coming up,
Speaker 1: I'll talk to a former Bengals wide receiver who is
Speaker 1: making it big and broadcasting and no it's not Chris
Speaker 1: collins Worth. We'll hear from Cam Taylor Britt who bows
Speaker 1: to bounce back from a bad game, and Ryan Rico
Speaker 1: on winning the punting job. And at our Know the
Speaker 1: Faux segment, we'll get an in depth look at the
Speaker 1: Ravens from former Baltimore linebacker Brad Jackson. The Bengals Booth
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Speaker 1: quick reminder that you can have the latest edition of
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Speaker 1: by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's the greatest
Speaker 1: thing since Pete Rose, the baseball player. The hit King,
Speaker 1: passed away this week, and he was obviously a flawed person,
Speaker 1: aren't we all. But in his twenty four years as
Speaker 1: a Major League baseball player, Pete Rose gave it his
Speaker 1: all as much as any athlete in any sport. The
Speaker 1: end result was three batting titles, an MVP Award, seventeen
Speaker 1: All Star Game appearances, three World Series titles, and a
Speaker 1: record four thousand, two hundred and fifty six hits. Consider this,
Speaker 1: Royal shortstop Bobby Witt led Major League Baseball this year
Speaker 1: with two hundred eleven hits. If he did that for
Speaker 1: twenty straight seasons, he would come up thirty six hit
Speaker 1: shy of the hit King, a mind boggling achievement by
Speaker 1: one of Cincinnati's greatest sports legends. Now let's talk football,
Speaker 1: beginning with a former Bengal who was at the Carolina
Speaker 1: game last week as a guest. A former Bengals quarterback
Speaker 1: Andy Dalton. Our guest is one of the quickest and
Speaker 1: shiftiest wide receivers in Bengals history. Now crushing it in
Speaker 1: retirement on ESPN and in Business number sixteen, Andrew Hawkins
Speaker 1: Hawk great to visit with you last week on ESPN
Speaker 1: before the Bengals beat Carolina, you said you were not
Speaker 1: writing off Cincinnati yet explain why.
Speaker 2: Well, you know, Cincinnati over the Joe Burrow tenure has
Speaker 2: had slow starts to a season. Right, That's something that
Speaker 2: we're always going to talk about that needs address. But
Speaker 2: as you break it down, each game, there was a
Speaker 2: different reason why they didn't get over the hump and
Speaker 2: get a W in the column. And you know, the
Speaker 2: first game, the offense didn't look great. There were moments
Speaker 2: I felt that Joe could have pushed the ball down field,
Speaker 2: but there was chemistry things and with Jamar coming back recently,
Speaker 2: you can see wild can that took a little bit
Speaker 2: for that to get going. Game two, defense played decent
Speaker 2: against you know, the best quarterback, but they had faced
Speaker 2: to this point Patrick Mahomes and the offense had their
Speaker 2: moments as well, but a call goes differently at the
Speaker 2: end of the game and they get a W there.
Speaker 2: And then week three, the defense probably didn't, you know,
Speaker 2: play the way any of us wanted. But so as
Speaker 2: I looked at those three the three games, I felt like,
Speaker 2: because there were all different issues each week, there was
Speaker 2: an opportunity they would be able to put this together.
Speaker 2: And it really did just feel like a slow start
Speaker 2: as opposed to a football team that is not going
Speaker 2: to be competitive in the latter part of the season.
Speaker 2: And so I think they played a more complete game
Speaker 2: versus the Carolina Panthers. There were moments defensively, and there
Speaker 2: were some some balls that definitely went in Cincinnati's favor,
Speaker 2: But overall, I still think this is a a is
Speaker 2: a good team. I think there is great players here
Speaker 2: and what you're what you're looking at is them trying
Speaker 2: to find their chemistry. If they can, you know, get
Speaker 2: over some of the injury bug stuff that's starting to
Speaker 2: plague them. I still think that they're going to be
Speaker 2: one of those teams late in season that you don't
Speaker 2: want to see. Specifically, if Joe Burrow is healthy and
Speaker 2: doing what Joe Burrow does well.
Speaker 1: Let me follow up on that one thing we haven't
Speaker 1: heard on ESPN or any other network in recent weeks
Speaker 1: as much talk about Joe Burrow's wrist. Does he look
Speaker 1: basically as good as ever?
Speaker 3: To you?
Speaker 2: I think so. I think like you know, look for
Speaker 2: every athlete that goes through a major injury, and I
Speaker 2: went through this in my time in Cincinnati, there's like
Speaker 2: this purgatory period when you get done, like when you
Speaker 2: get back to full strength and health, that you're still
Speaker 2: trying to, like, you know, convince yourself to let it go.
Speaker 2: And I do think early in the season in that
Speaker 2: game one area, Joe was trying to figure that out
Speaker 2: right when the live action was out there. But I
Speaker 2: do think since then, as I've watched him, it looks
Speaker 2: like he has in a big way, right And the
Speaker 2: other part of the that is encouraging is I felt
Speaker 2: like versus Carolina, you know, they looked a little different
Speaker 2: in their offensive attack, and Joe was okay with that.
Speaker 2: The running backs were, you know, amazing in that game.
Speaker 2: And I was at that game. Actually, we went down
Speaker 2: to go see it because Andy was playing, and me,
Speaker 2: Mohammed sanu aj Green said pierman, Vinnie Ray, Mike NuGen,
Speaker 2: We all sat there and watched the game together. So
Speaker 2: that was a really cool moment for all of us
Speaker 2: as well.
Speaker 1: Does it do your heart good to see the red
Speaker 1: rifle still slinging it fourteen years after you guys were
Speaker 1: rookies together.
Speaker 2: I can't tell you how good it did my heart.
Speaker 2: And also I sat there I could not believe that
Speaker 2: that guy was still playing football. As someone who's knees
Speaker 2: crack as they walk up the stairs, I'm like, that
Speaker 2: is ridiculous that you were still out there. We came
Speaker 2: into the league together.
Speaker 1: So Bengals fans enjoyed the victory over Carolina last Sunday,
Speaker 1: and then on Sunday night they watched Baltimore dismantle the
Speaker 1: Buffalo Bills, and I think everybody felt a little bit
Speaker 1: queasy just seeing how good the Ravens looked in that game.
Speaker 1: What are some of your keys for the Bengals to
Speaker 1: knock off the Ravens at pay Corps on Sunday?
Speaker 2: Yeah, they cannot let the Ravens bully them, right, And
Speaker 2: I know that probably feels rudimentary, but if you watch
Speaker 2: that offense, it is rudimentary. Like NFL football in general
Speaker 2: is kind of evolving back to the old school. Run
Speaker 2: games are up. It's not as pass heavy and it's
Speaker 2: not as highly productive in the air and as it
Speaker 2: has been in years past. And for someone like Baltimore
Speaker 2: over the last two games, starting with Dallas and then
Speaker 2: in the last week versus the Bills. I mean, Derrick
Speaker 2: Henry is a modern marvel and they are very much
Speaker 2: going to say, hey, we're going to run the ball
Speaker 2: down your throat until you prove to us we can't. Right,
Speaker 2: And so for Cincinnati to get them to play it honest,
Speaker 2: to get them to like truly dig into their offensive
Speaker 2: strategy bag, they cannot allow that run game to bully him.
Speaker 2: And yeah, it starts up front. The Ravens, like the
Speaker 2: offensive line has started to slowly figure it out. Obviously,
Speaker 2: we know they replace some pieces, but I think the
Speaker 2: keys to their running game in the blocking or on
Speaker 2: the perimeter with Mark Andrews and Racard. The way that
Speaker 2: they are leading holes for Derrick Henry and almost springing
Speaker 2: him in that second level, it's special. It's special. So
Speaker 2: it's going to take a concentrated effort from first level,
Speaker 2: second level, and third level to show that they are
Speaker 2: stout early in this game. Otherwise they have the potential
Speaker 2: to wear down that defense.
Speaker 1: For the Bengals defense, help is on the way on
Speaker 1: the defensive line. There are four injured players that should
Speaker 1: be back soon. Maybe not this Sunday, but soon do
Speaker 1: you see a defense that's capable of being really good?
Speaker 2: I do, I do. I think, you know, when I
Speaker 2: look at defenses in the NFL, it starts with, hey,
Speaker 2: do you have the personnel right? And for me, if
Speaker 2: you have the personnel, number two is do you have
Speaker 2: the coaching to put them in position? And I think
Speaker 2: they have both of those things, and you know, even
Speaker 2: on the defensive side. And I know he had a
Speaker 2: tough game last week, Cam Taylor Britt, but I think
Speaker 2: he is one of the best young corners. I really
Speaker 2: do appreciate his game. I appreciate his style. I actually
Speaker 2: appreciate that he takes the chances when he does, because
Speaker 2: to me, that shows a level of confidence. Now he understands,
Speaker 2: and he said it in his you know interviews this
Speaker 2: week that he has to tighten up and he can't
Speaker 2: allow that no matter what that situation is. But I
Speaker 2: do think that their personnel is figuring out how to
Speaker 2: gel together. And what I'm hoping for versus the Ravens,
Speaker 2: which is right when it's needed, is that the Bengals
Speaker 2: are able to put together a complete game and that
Speaker 2: is both offensively, defensively, and in special teams. And then
Speaker 2: when you go a little bit more micro on the
Speaker 2: defensive side. That is, on all three levels of the defense.
Speaker 2: They have to be able to play as a unit. Right.
Speaker 2: We know that all these things affect each other, secondary
Speaker 2: effects the defensive line, the defensive line effects the secondary
Speaker 2: and the lineback and cores and all of that. And yeah,
Speaker 2: I think this is a big opportunity, not only because
Speaker 2: they'll need it. It's one of those games where if
Speaker 2: they're able to make this the game defensively, they can
Speaker 2: put it all together, even though they're you know, there's
Speaker 2: people injured and probably won't be a part of this game.
Speaker 2: It will give them the confidence for the remainder of
Speaker 2: the season. This is one of those statement games to show, look,
Speaker 2: look what we did versus the Baltimore Ravens, and that
Speaker 2: elevates their game for the rest of the way.
Speaker 1: We're chatting with ESPN analyst and former Bengals wide receiver
Speaker 1: Andrew Hawkins. Let's talk about the Bengals offense. The point
Speaker 1: total has gone up every week. They've topped thirty two
Speaker 1: weeks in a row, and we're seeing young guys emerge,
Speaker 1: Chase Brown at running back, Eric All at tight end.
Speaker 1: Do you see an offense that's finding more ways to attack.
Speaker 2: I am seeing an offense that's finding more ways to attack,
Speaker 2: and I think they're also understanding the importance of that
Speaker 2: of role as well, right, Like, we know what Jamar
Speaker 2: Chase is, we know that you know T Higgins can
Speaker 2: step up big and will step up big when necessary,
Speaker 2: and those big players are going to come. But to
Speaker 2: your point the role players and saying okay, you know
Speaker 2: hey versus Carolina, Yes, those moments. But there there's gonna
Speaker 2: be some some ground and pound opportunities. Is going to
Speaker 2: be some out of the backfield. We're going to have
Speaker 2: to make catches and get first downs. We're going to
Speaker 2: have to break tackles when it looks like we're stuffed
Speaker 2: on the goal line, because that is what's going to
Speaker 2: get us over the hump. And I think Joe Burrow
Speaker 2: has done a very good job of distributing the football
Speaker 2: right I Go's so easy for quarterbacks to get locked
Speaker 2: in on certain guys. And the thing I love about
Speaker 2: Joe is that he understands like, yeah he has Jamar,
Speaker 2: Yeah he has T. But the number one receiver to
Speaker 2: him is the guy that's open. And that is a
Speaker 2: special quality that not a lot of quarterbacks have, especially
Speaker 2: when things get thick and there's adversity in games. It's
Speaker 2: so easy just to go to the easy button. But
Speaker 2: for Joe it's I think he did an incredible job
Speaker 2: last week. It has, honestly, I think ever since Week one,
Speaker 2: of distributing the football in confident ways and trusting his
Speaker 2: guys in other places.
Speaker 1: Your short space quickness was as good as I've ever seen.
Speaker 1: But Jamar Chase isn't too far off. And he's five
Speaker 1: inches taller and thirty pounds heavier. What stands out to
Speaker 1: you when you watch Numero Uno.
Speaker 2: I'm not gonna lie to you, Jamar Chase is, you know.
Speaker 2: And I pride myself on my ability to scout receivers
Speaker 2: scout abilities. I can make comps, and when I watched
Speaker 2: Jamar Chase, I actually literally just talked about this with
Speaker 2: AJ Green. It's like he's the kind of receiver who
Speaker 2: there's no like one thing that you look at and say, oh,
Speaker 2: he does that great right now, he's the very best.
Speaker 2: To your point, when you watch me, it's very clear
Speaker 2: his quickness makes him different. That's why he could be
Speaker 2: five seven in the NFL. With AJ Green his hand
Speaker 2: eye coordination is on elite levels that even by NFL standards,
Speaker 2: you don't see. There's people like most Anew who is
Speaker 2: a strong he has very great lateral quickness for his size.
Speaker 2: But then there's Jamar Chase who does pretty much everything
Speaker 2: well that nothing stands out over the other ones. And
Speaker 2: sometimes if you're just like if you just pop in
Speaker 2: and out, it's like, oh, he's just the middle of
Speaker 2: the pack. But then you see his speed on those plays,
Speaker 2: like when he breaks out on the sideline, his strength
Speaker 2: to break that tackle, his hand eye coordination, it's just
Speaker 2: like everything is good about Jamar Chase. He's like almost
Speaker 2: And I say this to my son, who is a
Speaker 2: young receiver that I'm training as well, and I'm like,
Speaker 2: he's a guy you should watch because it's like a
Speaker 2: video game if you build a receiver. He has all
Speaker 2: the attributes like good already that are stocked that you
Speaker 2: want to put in your wide receiver. I think that's
Speaker 2: what makes him special is it's not because he does
Speaker 2: any one thing incredibly better than everybody else. He does
Speaker 2: everything better than everybody else, and that's a special quest
Speaker 2: for a receiver his size and his play style.
Speaker 1: You were a Bengals fan as a kid. Your older
Speaker 1: brother Artrell played for the team. You were part of
Speaker 1: three playoff teams in a Bengals uniform. What was it
Speaker 1: like for you to be sitting in the stands at
Speaker 1: Sofi Stadium watching the Bengals in Super Bowl fifty six.
Speaker 2: I cried, I'm not gonna lie. I did. I did.
Speaker 2: I shed tears as they played the national anthem, and
Speaker 2: I was sitting there because, yeah, You're not wrong, Dan.
Speaker 2: I remember being in sixth and seventh grade, and this
Speaker 2: is when I'm like really getting into NFL football, and
Speaker 2: I'm in the middle of Steeler Country's country, and I'm
Speaker 2: wearing Bengals jerseys and T shirts and you know these
Speaker 2: are one, one, two, three win seasons, right And you
Speaker 2: know as a sixth grader, as the seventh grader, all
Speaker 2: you want is for your team to be good. And
Speaker 2: I'm praying for my team to be good, and I'm
Speaker 2: praying just to see them in the playoffs. I would
Speaker 2: love to see a Hawkins jersey in the playoffs, you know.
Speaker 2: And I remember when we played the Texans in the
Speaker 2: playoffs in twenty eleven, like I was almost uncontrollably crimed
Speaker 2: because it was such a full circle moment. And then
Speaker 2: to be able to sit in the Super Bowl watch
Speaker 2: the Bengals battle the Los Angeles Rams, I don't know,
Speaker 2: it was a surreal moment. I consider myself a fan
Speaker 2: before anything else, and that fandom of sport, that fandom
Speaker 2: of football started with the Cincinnati Bengals. Man, So it
Speaker 2: has always meant something more to me to see those
Speaker 2: stripes out there doing well. And it's been an incredible
Speaker 2: couple of years watching Joe kind of help take this
Speaker 2: franchise to the place that we all knew it could
Speaker 2: be for the last twenty plus years.
Speaker 1: Andrew, we love seeing you on ESPN. But as I
Speaker 1: mentioned earlier, you're thriving in the business world. You got
Speaker 1: your masters at Columbia after your playing career ended. Tell
Speaker 1: us a little bit about the business you co found
Speaker 1: in Status Pro.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I appreciate that. So Status Pro is a virtual
Speaker 2: reality technology company and we build XR technology around sports
Speaker 2: for or coaches, fans and players. And so we have
Speaker 2: a training product that NFL teams use to simulate reps
Speaker 2: on the field. So you put the VR headset on
Speaker 2: or we projected on a walk through wall where you're
Speaker 2: able to see the defense, you're able to manipulate the defense,
Speaker 2: so everybody gets a real look of that first person
Speaker 2: perspective they're going to see on Sundays without putting wear
Speaker 2: and tear in their body. We also have our number
Speaker 2: one consumer product, which is NFL pro Era, which is
Speaker 2: the first ever NFL simulation game in virtual reality. So
Speaker 2: you get to play quarterback, you get to play defense,
Speaker 2: and feel what it's like to be in the NFL.
Speaker 2: It's been an incredible journey. We founded the companies five
Speaker 2: years ago now, and me and my co founder Troy Jones,
Speaker 2: who is also a former Division one quarterback, we just
Speaker 2: felt like there was an opportunity to give fans but
Speaker 2: they've always wanted, which is to feel what it's like
Speaker 2: to be their heroes. Like I told you those moments
Speaker 2: when I came out of the tunnel as a Cincinnati Bengal,
Speaker 2: having grown up a Bengal with having dreamt of that
Speaker 2: moment my entire life, it was surreal, and so through
Speaker 2: technow I wanted to create that experience for everybody, and
Speaker 2: that's what NFL Pro Era is, and it's something I'm
Speaker 2: incredibly proud of. And again those roots stem back to
Speaker 2: you know, my life as a lifelong Bengals fan.
Speaker 1: We are very excited about your success. We love seeing
Speaker 1: that Bengals helmet over your shoulder. Continued success to you, Andrew,
Speaker 1: and thanks for the time.
Speaker 2: Dan. It was great to see you and thank you
Speaker 2: for having me.
Speaker 1: Now let's turn from a former Bengals wide receiver to
Speaker 1: a current Bengals defensive back, Cam Taylor. Britt has been
Speaker 1: excellent when healthy in his first two NFL seasons. That's
Speaker 1: why it was jarring last week to see him get
Speaker 1: benched in the win over Carolina. The guy he was
Speaker 1: covering was targeted six times and Cam surrendered five catches
Speaker 1: for eighty four yards and a touchdown. DJ Turner eventually
Speaker 1: took his place in the lineup and wound up playing
Speaker 1: fifteen more snaps here are Zach Taylor and lou Anarumo.
Speaker 4: That game was not up to his standard, know, and
Speaker 4: I'm sure he'll talk more about it this week, but
Speaker 4: you know, just just again, he's a guy that we
Speaker 4: really lean on to be kind of a foundational piece
Speaker 4: over there, and that certainly wasn't his best game and
Speaker 4: expect more from him going on. And that wasn't up
Speaker 4: to his standard, and I'm excited to watch how he
Speaker 4: responds to that.
Speaker 5: Cam will bounce back. I have all the faith in Cam.
Speaker 5: He's getting a big hug right after the game and
Speaker 5: like that will never happen again. And and I do
Speaker 5: trust him. He's played too much good football here for
Speaker 5: us in order for that. But again, where we're at,
Speaker 5: we can't allow anything to slip. So he's one of
Speaker 5: the guys that weren't counting on to play well. He's
Speaker 5: demonstrated that he can and he has to.
Speaker 3: Do it consistently, so he knows it.
Speaker 5: So you know where I'll say it again, I have
Speaker 5: all the faith in the world and Cam that bounce
Speaker 5: back and have a good game this week.
Speaker 1: I spoke to Cam this week about bouncing back, all right.
Speaker 1: Lu shared the other day that after the game, you
Speaker 1: approached him even before he like shook the other team's
Speaker 1: hand and said, this is not gonna happen again. I
Speaker 1: had a game, I promise you that was that.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, most definitely.
Speaker 2: Man.
Speaker 3: You have to be a man and own up to
Speaker 3: your mistakes at the end of the day. And that
Speaker 3: game player that I put out there on the film
Speaker 3: and showcasing from the world was not it U and
Speaker 3: I believe my coaches knew that. I wanted to make
Speaker 3: sure that he knew that that was the right of
Speaker 3: me because the team they count on me, and I
Speaker 3: couldn't be counted on the you know the other game.
Speaker 1: Can you describe what you think you were doing poorly?
Speaker 3: Honestly, it was my technique, man, in my eyes, honestly,
Speaker 3: you know, they both go together. Just trying to play
Speaker 3: so fast that you're looking for the ball ahead of time. Basically,
Speaker 3: you see, I got the interception, but I was looking
Speaker 3: at the ball then, you know. But it's you can't
Speaker 3: you know, put your hands on the receiver downfield, even
Speaker 3: though they try to. You won't get those calls. You know,
Speaker 3: at the end of the day. It is offensive league,
Speaker 3: and you you have to play the you know, the
Speaker 3: ball through the air. Can't grap receivers. So that's that's
Speaker 3: one thing I gotta do better with that.
Speaker 1: It almost sounds like maybe guessing a little bit, trying
Speaker 1: to anticipate something instead of just relying on the technique
Speaker 1: that's got you this far.
Speaker 3: Anticipating most definitely for a little minute, Like I said,
Speaker 3: I do watch film Man. Sometimes you know when it's
Speaker 3: coming at the end of the day. But also you
Speaker 3: know another we're going into the second half of the season.
Speaker 3: They're looking at film now and growing against players now.
Speaker 3: So you guys are bad here the continued teams are
Speaker 3: going to continue to hit you on the same thing
Speaker 3: and double move it and you know, switch it up
Speaker 3: here and there, knowing what you're going into.
Speaker 1: How eager are you to play again after a game
Speaker 1: like that?
Speaker 3: Honestly, man, I'm surprised today. It was a great practice. Man.
Speaker 3: Just start the week, all right, Uh, you know, just
Speaker 3: get right for this week and redeem it.
Speaker 4: Man.
Speaker 1: Have you ever been taken out of a game for
Speaker 1: something other than an injury?
Speaker 3: Not at all, man, And I think that was one
Speaker 3: thing that just kind of opened my eyes, because I
Speaker 3: told you was some touch field. I didn't want to
Speaker 3: come off of it. But in all reality, you know,
Speaker 3: at the end of the day, we have to win
Speaker 3: the game, and then I'm the reason for that. You
Speaker 3: guys to understand, this is a business and it just
Speaker 3: can't be like that, and it won't be like that.
Speaker 1: Neither Zach or Lou sounded worried. They more or less
Speaker 1: said He's one of our best players. We're counting him
Speaker 1: him to be that guy, and we're confident he will be.
Speaker 1: I don't know if you heard those comments, but what
Speaker 1: does that say to you?
Speaker 3: Honestly, I did not hear any of that, but I
Speaker 3: do really appreciate them for, you know, thinking that of me.
Speaker 3: I'll try to come out here every day and put
Speaker 3: my best foot forward. Yeah. I had a hiccup, but
Speaker 3: there won't be too many more hiccups.
Speaker 2: Man.
Speaker 3: I try to do this trying to win. Man, as
Speaker 3: a team, and like I said, the team counts on
Speaker 3: me to be that number one guy, and I have
Speaker 3: to do that.
Speaker 1: Looking at the Ravens, I heard Bill Belichick say this
Speaker 1: week the challenge with them is if you go big
Speaker 1: to stop the run game, they got fast guys. If
Speaker 1: you go small to be fast, they've obviously got big guys.
Speaker 1: Is that a good description of what makes them so unique?
Speaker 3: Yeah, you can most definitely say that. Like he basically said, Man,
Speaker 3: it's total opposites on each end. You know, there's a
Speaker 3: woe win situation. They're a great team and they have
Speaker 3: the best of both worlds in the backfield. The two
Speaker 3: two greatest duos in the backfield and now I'm on
Speaker 3: the outside. You of course they have the speed, you know,
Speaker 3: the run downfield, you know, take the shots off your head.
Speaker 3: So you got to be very prepared for that. You know,
Speaker 3: stop the run when it's that time, you know, take
Speaker 3: the shots off.
Speaker 1: When they added Derrick Henry, did you say, of course
Speaker 1: they added Derrick Henry.
Speaker 3: Yeah, kind of you know, we played against so before.
Speaker 3: But you know, man, that this, you know that is
Speaker 3: intimidating to a lot of teams. That you see that
Speaker 3: in the backfield. You gotta garb both of those guys.
Speaker 3: You know, you never know. Lamar Will, you know, put
Speaker 3: his magic on and he made something happen. But down
Speaker 3: here running game with Derek here is dangerous.
Speaker 4: Will.
Speaker 1: What's the mindset of this team in terms of the
Speaker 1: importance of this game.
Speaker 3: Is his playoff game? Simple? Is that we have to win.
Speaker 3: There's no offense or us about it.
Speaker 1: Well, Cam's looking to bounce back this week. Hunter Ryan
Speaker 1: Rico aka robo leg is looking to continue the remarkable
Speaker 1: start to his NFL career. Ryan Rico's first punt today
Speaker 1: went fifty seven yards. He came into the game averaging
Speaker 1: more than fifty nine yards of punt when he launches
Speaker 1: this one way way up in the air, Blacks year
Speaker 1: going back back back. Wow, catching it at the fifteen,
Speaker 1: tackled right away by Tyson Anderson.
Speaker 6: Man in the Bengals bench, Mike Hilton and others come
Speaker 6: to congratulate Rico.
Speaker 1: He crutched that roboleg is averaging fifty eight point four
Speaker 1: yards of punt with a net average of forty nine
Speaker 1: point seven. Both numbers would be NFL single season records,
Speaker 1: and with the release of the now healthy Brad Robbins
Speaker 1: this week, Rico has officially won the full time job.
Speaker 7: I hate the way that it happened with Brad being injured,
Speaker 7: just because like it can happen to anybody, and so
Speaker 7: that's never you never feel great about that, but definitely
Speaker 7: grateful for the opportunity. I feel like I've been able
Speaker 7: to showcase what I can do. But I feel like
Speaker 7: it's like the game's not four seasons, or the season
Speaker 7: isn't four games. Just need to continue every single week
Speaker 7: proving exactly why I think they made the right decision.
Speaker 1: Your numbers through four games are pretty crazy. I mean,
Speaker 1: both your net average and your gross average would be
Speaker 1: NFL records. That's probably hard to keep up. But do
Speaker 1: you feel like you've been unusually good to this point
Speaker 1: or just good?
Speaker 7: I don't feel like it's been unusual. I feel like
Speaker 7: in practices it's pretty pretty indicative of what's been able
Speaker 7: to transfer to the field. Obviously, we haven't had a
Speaker 7: whole lot of punts, so I mean, I wish I
Speaker 7: could sit here and just say like, yeah, every ball
Speaker 7: is gonna be be perfect. But I'm sure everybody goes
Speaker 7: through a little bit ups and downs. But as as
Speaker 7: for myself right now, I feel like I can really
Speaker 7: stay the course and continue to just try and put
Speaker 7: our team in really great positions. And I feel like
Speaker 7: the net especially speaks volumes of the coverage guys. I mean,
Speaker 7: our gunners are hustling, They're setting speed records every single week.
Speaker 7: It seems like snaps are great, and I've really had
Speaker 7: not a whole lot of pressure, which has been great
Speaker 7: because our protection has been really good. So I feel
Speaker 7: like it's it's been a great couple weeks as a unit.
Speaker 1: For sure, You've hit some really good ones from deep
Speaker 1: in your own end. Do you think that that's something
Speaker 1: that maybe you are, you know, exceptionally good at Yeah.
Speaker 7: I love I love being able to have that open field.
Speaker 7: So then you're not kind of in the gray area.
Speaker 7: Do I need to take a little bit off it?
Speaker 7: You can kind of just swing away. And I feel
Speaker 7: like Coach Simmons has really instilled a lot of that confidence,
Speaker 7: just like go out and hit whatever you want, like
Speaker 7: we're gonna cover it. And so I'm just really really
Speaker 7: grateful that they've allowed me to play to my strengths
Speaker 7: and just looking forward to hopefully continuing it.
Speaker 1: Karon Simmons says that Rico has the most powerful leg
Speaker 1: of anyone he's ever coached. The Bengals Booth Podcast is
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Speaker 1: Know the Faux Segment. Former UC football and basketball player
Speaker 1: Brad Jackson won a Super Bowl ring as a Baltimore
Speaker 1: Ravens linebacker. He's covered the team since his playing days
Speaker 1: ended and joined Dave Lapham and me this week on
Speaker 1: the Bengals Game Plan Show. Let's talk about the team
Speaker 1: in your neck of the woods. The Baltimore Ravens liked
Speaker 1: the Bengals. They started the season zero to two, lost
Speaker 1: at home to the Raiders in the second week of
Speaker 1: the season, and they've been good since. Went on the
Speaker 1: road and beat Dallas, played great on Monday Night to
Speaker 1: beat Buffalo. What changed? Why did the Ravens begin turning
Speaker 1: it up in week three?
Speaker 8: Well, I think a lot of it had to do.
Speaker 8: You know, guys is with you know, when you're back
Speaker 8: as against the wall. You guys know John Harball, he
Speaker 8: obviously has bloodlines to the University of Cincinnati as our
Speaker 8: former running back coach or recruiting coordinator. So he just
Speaker 8: kind of went back to, you know, what's the hardball
Speaker 8: way of just going back in and focusing on the
Speaker 8: base and simplifying things. And so, you know, the lost
Speaker 8: of Kansas City on the roads is a tough one.
Speaker 8: We know how good Kansas City is. Opening week, like
Speaker 8: you said, it was an opening day hearing Baltimore versus
Speaker 8: the Raiders, and the Raiders have traditionally played awful every
Speaker 8: time they came east, and they kind of got shell
Speaker 8: shocked in that game.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 8: And then when you're zero and two and you go
Speaker 8: on the road to Dallas that everyone was expecting to
Speaker 8: play better considering they had just got she lacked by
Speaker 8: the Saints at home the previous week. It was it
Speaker 8: was a team that had a sense of urgency and
Speaker 8: had a lot of focus, and then they kind of
Speaker 8: got back to as you guys know and see of
Speaker 8: running the football. They kind of got away from some
Speaker 8: of the little fun dipsy do types of stuff that
Speaker 8: we all see throughout the NFL early in the season
Speaker 8: with teams and then teams ultimately find you find out
Speaker 8: who they are. And I think for the Ravens in
Speaker 8: Week three, having their backs against the wall, it was,
Speaker 8: let's go out there and just get back to handing
Speaker 8: the ball off to Derrick Henry and let's really try
Speaker 8: to ride this and take advantage of Lamar's legs and
Speaker 8: his ability to and RPOs and that type of thing,
Speaker 8: and then throw the plays downfield. And they had to
Speaker 8: so and then they carried it over into, you know,
Speaker 8: obviously last week against the Buffalo Bills, where you know,
Speaker 8: they basically opening play, you know, Derrick Henry, you know,
Speaker 8: goes all the way to the house eighty some yards
Speaker 8: or whatever it was, and then it was over from
Speaker 8: there because they just kept pounding the ball out of
Speaker 8: the Buffalo Bills, who I think were kind of shell
Speaker 8: shocked and there was really no answer for So that's
Speaker 8: probably the two biggest things. I think. Defensively, the same thing.
Speaker 2: You have a new.
Speaker 8: Defensive coordinator in Zach Korr, who was a former player obviously,
Speaker 8: Chris Hewett, you know, my bear cast teammate, is the
Speaker 8: assistant head coach and the passing game coordinator. And they
Speaker 8: finally have a healthy secondary. And then they lost a
Speaker 8: corner this week that's going to go on ir for
Speaker 8: a hamstring. So they're finding their way defensively with a
Speaker 8: new defensive coordinator, even though the system is the same.
Speaker 8: You've lost a couple of players, They've plugging in a
Speaker 8: couple of new players. They basically and all that being said,
Speaker 8: got back to playing Ravens football, which is, you know what,
Speaker 8: We're going to run the football, be physical, and play
Speaker 8: good defense and try to get back to five hundred,
Speaker 8: which is what they were able to do.
Speaker 6: Man, I'll tell you. Running the football is an understatement,
Speaker 6: you know. I mean back to back games twodred and
Speaker 6: seventy yards rushing or more. I mean they've done it
Speaker 6: three times children seventy yards rushing or more in a
Speaker 6: game since the start of last season. The rest of
Speaker 6: the NFL zero, the rest of the NFL haven't done it.
Speaker 6: They've done it three times two weeks in a row. Now,
Speaker 6: I mean you talk about committing to a running game,
Speaker 6: these two Henry and Jackson seven hundred and eighty eight
Speaker 6: yards rushing, six point nine yards per carry, and they've
Speaker 6: combined for seven touchdowns. I mean, they just they just
Speaker 6: pounded submission. I mean, is ground and pounds best, didn't it?
Speaker 8: Yeah? I mean I mean, hey, lad, you and me
Speaker 8: could come back and play for this team right here,
Speaker 8: right now, because here you know all about being physical
Speaker 8: as an offensive lineman and the offensive line if you
Speaker 8: go back and you got and I know you guys do.
Speaker 8: So I'm speaking more to the to the Bengals fans
Speaker 8: out there and Washington film or watching the game. The
Speaker 8: offensive line was getting torched, like out here in the media.
Speaker 8: They were putting moving signs, you know, in front of
Speaker 8: some of these guys' houses because they were playing so bad.
Speaker 8: And part of that had to do with it, because
Speaker 8: they were throwing the football and the right side of
Speaker 8: the offensive line was getting you know, was getting tore up.
Speaker 8: I mean, we all saw the Thursday night opener. You know,
Speaker 8: Chris Jones, who's probably you know, top five best defensive
Speaker 8: players in the entire league, was having his way and
Speaker 8: made impactful plays. The same thing happened the falling week.
Speaker 8: Max Crosby comes in here and he, I mean, he
Speaker 8: looked like he was a defensive player of the year,
Speaker 8: you know, dominating the offensive line. And I think what
Speaker 8: happened is they got back to, like you said, ground
Speaker 8: and pound, run the football. They're still going to the
Speaker 8: running game, but they're pulling guards, they're pulling tackles, they're
Speaker 8: they're trapping guys on the interior. And we know in
Speaker 8: this passing league. And then the way the game is
Speaker 8: in college as much as there's not a lot of
Speaker 8: guys that linebackers and d Liman are just not used
Speaker 8: to seeing the old school running you know, plays of
Speaker 8: you know, guards pullings and guys getting trapped. And so
Speaker 8: once you're doing that, and then you got Henry you
Speaker 8: let him go downhill, and we all know, you guys
Speaker 8: remember him from the Titans. Once he's going downhill like
Speaker 8: he's a problem. And then if you can get him
Speaker 8: to go sideways, which is what the teams the first
Speaker 8: two weeks did, then obviously you haven't advantaged there defensively,
Speaker 8: which is what I'm sure the Bengals coaches, you know,
Speaker 8: in the coordinator them, are going to have tell their
Speaker 8: guys all week, we got to get him going sideways.
Speaker 8: You have to get penetration. So, like you said, they
Speaker 8: went back to running the football the raven way because
Speaker 8: it was an opportunity and a way for them to
Speaker 8: try to get this get this ship back right after
Speaker 8: start zer and two because because guess what if you
Speaker 8: go down to Dallas and lose in your oh and
Speaker 8: three and then you got to come home and play
Speaker 8: you know, the Bills, who obviously want to, you know,
Speaker 8: be a playoff team. You know, at the end of
Speaker 8: when all this is said and done, you know that's
Speaker 8: going to be a situation of going oh and three
Speaker 8: with the chance going.
Speaker 2: Oh and four.
Speaker 8: We all know, now, all of a sudden, it gets
Speaker 8: real sticky around here. When a quarter of the season
Speaker 8: has been lost. So they went back to the roots
Speaker 8: of raven football. They went back to said, you know what,
Speaker 8: let's help these offensive lineman out because we're getting torchs
Speaker 8: trying to do all the nice things in the passing game,
Speaker 8: and right now they're just not that good enough to
Speaker 8: hold up. And they their offensive line took a beating.
Speaker 8: They took it personal. And then what you do, laugh
Speaker 8: is you know, when your offensive line is struggling, every
Speaker 8: offensive line to play with Job and Hogen the Hall
Speaker 8: of Famer and play with a lot of very good
Speaker 8: Hall of you know, played against Tony Mancelli friends with lead.
Speaker 8: I'm seriously all these guys that we know. You know
Speaker 8: that Alan Fannico is my draft here. You know, guys
Speaker 8: that I've warned to talk to, and like, what, what
Speaker 8: do they love the most? You guys love to get
Speaker 8: down and dirty and pound on people versus retreating and
Speaker 8: pass blocking and pass blocking the whole game. You want
Speaker 8: to match people in the face and impose your will.
Speaker 8: And when you're able to impose your will, You've seen
Speaker 8: what's able to happen in the last two weeks here
Speaker 8: in Baltimore, which is then getting a ground game going
Speaker 8: and now the offensive line has gotten their conference back
Speaker 8: because now they're almost likely they're the bullies on the block,
Speaker 8: you know, down there in the trenches.
Speaker 1: A couple more questions for former Bearcat great and former
Speaker 1: Raven Super Bowl winning linebacker Brad Jackson. Baltimore had a
Speaker 1: historically good defense last year, number one in the league
Speaker 1: and fewest points allowed, number one in sacks, number one
Speaker 1: in turnovers generated. No team had ever done that before
Speaker 1: in those three categories, but they lost a ton of
Speaker 1: good players. Patrick Queen has gone, Gino Stone went to
Speaker 1: the Bengals. Todevian Clowney is now with Carolina. The Bengals
Speaker 1: saw him last week. Is there a drop off? Is
Speaker 1: there a full area on this defense?
Speaker 8: Well, I think if there's a vulnerable area, you got
Speaker 8: Trent Simpsons, who obviously was a very good linebacker at
Speaker 8: Clemson University. It's his first time starting because, like you said,
Speaker 8: Pete Queen is off the Pittsburgh right now, and so
Speaker 8: the vulnerability I think is probably up front. There hasn't
Speaker 8: been a lot of pass rush. You have O Way,
Speaker 8: who had a couple of big games, but right now,
Speaker 8: Michael Pierce, the defensive tackle, he's probably gonna miss the
Speaker 8: game this week. He was down last week shoulder surge.
Speaker 8: I mean, he's a huge piece on the interior. Mama Buke,
Speaker 8: as we know, was a you know, franchise and got
Speaker 8: a huge contract.
Speaker 6: Uh.
Speaker 8: You know, one of the highest contracts were in tier
Speaker 8: defensive linemen in the NFL. He's kind of been held
Speaker 8: at bay.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 8: They went out and brought back a couple of defensive
Speaker 8: ends that they had, you know in years past, on
Speaker 8: one year deal. It's just a couple of days ago,
Speaker 8: uh to sign into the practice squad. So you know,
Speaker 8: when you look at the defense, you know the vulnerability.
Speaker 8: I would probably say there's still some area because you
Speaker 8: have a couple of guys nicked up in the second
Speaker 8: Kyle Hamilton has played well, but he hasn't played to
Speaker 8: the elite level yet. And you know, he's kind of
Speaker 8: been getting some plays here and there that people are targeting,
Speaker 8: which is what's gonna happen when you're a great player
Speaker 8: like he is. They have to find him out. So
Speaker 8: you know, the pass rus hasn't been what they wanted.
Speaker 8: Linebacker players pretty well, so they're just solid right now.
Speaker 8: They're not doing anything great, and I think a lot
Speaker 8: of that has to do with the fact that it
Speaker 8: is a new defensive coordinator. You're still trying to figure
Speaker 8: things out, like coordinators are trying to figure out what
Speaker 8: is his goal to what is he like to do?
Speaker 8: And I think that's where Chris Wit, you know, it's
Speaker 8: been extremely helpful because, like you said, you mentioned all
Speaker 8: the players that were gone, well, you also lost, like
Speaker 8: you said, the defensive coordinator, Mike McDonald, the head coach
Speaker 8: of Seattle. You lost Dennard Wilson, who was the assistant
Speaker 8: DV coach. He went down to beat the defensive coordinator
Speaker 8: in Tennessee. Anthony Weaver, the D line coach and run
Speaker 8: game coordinator. He's down in Miami Dolphins as a defensive
Speaker 8: coordinator there. So not only did you lose an abundance
Speaker 8: of players, you lost three very important coaches and the
Speaker 8: only coach that was holdover was obviously Zach or and
Speaker 8: Chris Hewitt as well.
Speaker 2: So there there's.
Speaker 8: Gonna be that learning curve, and so I think the
Speaker 8: vulnerabilities there to some would be that they just don't
Speaker 8: have the experience and then trying they're still trying to
Speaker 8: figure out what this defense can do. Well, great, but
Speaker 8: we all know the Raven defense. They're gonna they're gonna
Speaker 8: line up, they're gonna knock you in the mouth, they're
Speaker 8: gonna come after you on in blitter quarterback. Now there's
Speaker 8: gonna be no no difference this week for Burrow. You
Speaker 8: know they're gonna they're gonna dolla some blitzers and get
Speaker 8: after it when they need to. And then they're gonna
Speaker 8: try to figure out a way to show a ton
Speaker 8: of blitzes and show you crazy odd looks and then
Speaker 8: dropping the zone and have a couple of fire zones
Speaker 8: where it's gonna look crazy, and then all of a sudden,
Speaker 8: you're gonna see the defensive live and drop out to
Speaker 8: take the middle hooks in the flat. So it's still
Speaker 8: the same defense, it's just early in the season and
Speaker 8: I think they're also uh and you guys know this,
Speaker 8: and then finding their footing on defense. The best defense
Speaker 8: in the one sitting over on sideline stiffer and gatorade.
Speaker 8: So when the offense is taking care of business and
Speaker 8: running the football, controlling and time of possession that they're
Speaker 8: able to do you and you also are able to
Speaker 8: help your defense out because now the defense one isn't
Speaker 8: out there, it's not getting exposed as much. The defense
Speaker 8: is freshure physically, which is important early in the season
Speaker 8: as guys because training camp is pretty much, you know,
Speaker 8: a Christian around the league right now, so guys are
Speaker 8: still getting their game legs under them, as we all
Speaker 8: know this first month of the season. And then the
Speaker 8: other part of it is now you help to make
Speaker 8: the defense better because now the defensive goal every week
Speaker 8: is one stop to one to create win third down,
Speaker 8: to create turnovers and make a team one dimensional. Well,
Speaker 8: guess what, when you're grounding and pounding and putting points
Speaker 8: on the board, that clock is shrinking. Now all of
Speaker 8: a sudden, you help your defense out because now teams
Speaker 8: are starting to have to go one dimensional and throw
Speaker 8: the football, which goes right into what the Ravens want
Speaker 8: you to do.
Speaker 6: Final question, and really appreciate your expertise. Thanks for giving
Speaker 6: us some of your time. Tight end likely had nine
Speaker 6: catches for one hundred eleven yards in the opener. He's
Speaker 6: had four receptions in the last three games. Andrews, I
Speaker 6: mean this this guy to me, I mean his uh,
Speaker 6: his his toughness, his body control had been second to none.
Speaker 6: Looks like he's struggling a little bit. What is going on?
Speaker 6: I mean, obviously they're running the football, so you know
Speaker 6: you can't you can't do both. You got to do
Speaker 6: one of the other. And numbers are gonna suffer a
Speaker 6: little bit in that passing attack. But in particular is Andrews.
Speaker 6: Is he still struggling physically or is he up to snuff?
Speaker 8: Yeah, that's a great question, lab. I mean, they're keeping
Speaker 8: everything tight to the vest. I've been to the building,
Speaker 8: been you know, been out there, and I kind of
Speaker 8: noticed the same thing. He he doesn't seem like he's
Speaker 8: running with the same as he did prior to obviously
Speaker 8: him breaking his leg last year. I gave you guys
Speaker 8: the Bengals in that game here, I believe it was Thursday.
Speaker 2: Night football, and so.
Speaker 8: Yeah, it is. I think there's still some lingering effects
Speaker 8: that that we all know that Heat rushed to come back,
Speaker 8: and I shouldn't say rushed, but he was a to
Speaker 8: come back in time for the playoffs because he really
Speaker 8: wanted to play. And I know you've had you know,
Speaker 8: six seven months since then. But I also look at it,
Speaker 8: as you know, is it a situation that he's just
Speaker 8: not one hundred percent. The other part of the teams
Speaker 8: understand that, you know, in order to beat Lamar, you
Speaker 8: have to take away his security blak. There's no there's
Speaker 8: no question obviously that Mark Andrews is one of the
Speaker 8: best tight ends of football and that's been a huge
Speaker 8: part of Lamar's comfortability is having him to throw to.
Speaker 8: So teams are also taking him away when you watch
Speaker 8: him of the film, which is smart for them. And
Speaker 8: then you know, it's obviously turned into a situation that
Speaker 8: was part of the reason why the passing game was
Speaker 8: struggling in the first couple of weeks when the Ravens
Speaker 8: lost a couple of games, because like you said, you know,
Speaker 8: he's sitting here with six catches on the season. He
Speaker 8: usually does that in a half, you know, in the
Speaker 8: normal game, and he had no touchdowns this year, and
Speaker 8: he doesn't seem to be running the same So I
Speaker 8: think there is probably something there. I think a lot
Speaker 8: of it has to do with him being doubled and
Speaker 8: taken out of the mix right now. And then obviously
Speaker 8: the last couple of weeks being down you know, er
Speaker 8: to two, it was it was a big push to
Speaker 8: try to get this this shit back righted and they
Speaker 8: really committed to the run game, and then Likely has
Speaker 8: been a benefactor obviously the first couple of weeks of
Speaker 8: the season because of the fact that Mark was pretty
Speaker 8: much taken out the game plan by the defenses, because
Speaker 8: they were like, if somebody's going to beat this, it's
Speaker 8: not going to be Andrews, it's not going to be
Speaker 8: eighty nine. And then you know, Likely stepped up, you know,
Speaker 8: a couple of weeks, and then now they've been focused
Speaker 8: on the run. So I think that I think it
Speaker 8: all opened backed up for him. Obviously for you guys,
Speaker 8: you hope it's not this week, but I think I
Speaker 8: think down the road, once you get to that running
Speaker 8: game and start to play action, I think that you
Speaker 8: could see. I think you could see the old Mark
Speaker 8: Andrews re emerged, all right.
Speaker 1: Thanks to Brad Jackson ED. Here's a quick reminder to
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