Speaker 1: Hig and everybody. I'm Dan Hord and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: the Bengals Booth Podcast the h fetwo days. Addition, as
Speaker 1: Dave Lapham joins me to break down the twenty twenty
Speaker 1: three schedule, we'll discuss the big picture and take a
Speaker 1: week by week look at the Bengals path to winning
Speaker 1: the AFC North for the third straight year. Plus a
Speaker 1: pair of one on one conversations with a pair of
Speaker 1: Bengals draft picks. Cornerback DJ Turner, who tells us about
Speaker 1: his unusual first name, and hunter Brad Robbins, who admits
Speaker 1: that he wasn't sure that was really Zach Taylor when
Speaker 1: he got his draft day phone call. The Bengals Booth
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Speaker 1: Now here's a quick that you can have the latest
Speaker 1: edition of this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet,
Speaker 1: or computer by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's
Speaker 1: the greatest thing since kids on video boards? Is there
Speaker 1: anybody more predictably excited than a kid at a sporting event.
Speaker 1: Who looks up and sees that he or she is
Speaker 1: on the stadium video board. You can picture it, right.
Speaker 1: They're up there for a couple of seconds without realizing it.
Speaker 1: Then somebody nudges them and tells them to look up,
Speaker 1: and suddenly you get jumping and pointing and dancing and
Speaker 1: flexing and any number of expressions of genuine joy. About
Speaker 1: the only thing that gets me that excited these days
Speaker 1: is when my seventeen year old son cleans his room, which,
Speaker 1: like a lunar eclipse, happens about twice a year. Now,
Speaker 1: let's get to football. We learn the Bengals regular season
Speaker 1: schedule on Thursday night. We already knew the who and where,
Speaker 1: Now we know the when. Here's a closer look with
Speaker 1: my broadcast partner Dave Lapham Lap. We'll get into some
Speaker 1: of the specific details about the schedule here as we speak,
Speaker 1: but big picture, when this thing came out, my first
Speaker 1: thought was, this is pretty favorable for the Bengals. There
Speaker 1: are no three game road trips, there are no West
Speaker 1: Coast night games. All things considered, I think the NFL
Speaker 1: did them a solid I agree.
Speaker 2: I think it's it's a very acceptable schedule on many
Speaker 2: many levels. I guess the only complaint might be the
Speaker 2: buy maybe a little bit early. You know, after six games.
Speaker 2: Week seven is the bye, but you know, then the
Speaker 2: Thursday night game is late enough the season where you
Speaker 2: get a mini bi after that Thursday night game, so
Speaker 2: that kind of makes up for it. I think a
Speaker 2: little bit, you know, in that regard. So overall, I
Speaker 2: think it is very, very favorable. In my estimation, Sky,
Speaker 2: I think the rubber meets the road after the bye
Speaker 2: week when you got to go to San Francisco. They've
Speaker 2: only got two big trips at Arizona at San Francisco,
Speaker 2: and it's not that terrible because they're not an East
Speaker 2: Coast team. I mean, they don't have to go coast
Speaker 2: to coast anywhere. They've got the least amount of travel
Speaker 2: miles in the NFL from a scheduling standpoint, So that's
Speaker 2: in the second half of the season, and the Sam's
Speaker 2: games not really it's right close to mid season. After that,
Speaker 2: they really don't have any real long trips. As you said, Dan,
Speaker 2: night games are on a favorable basis. I think overall,
Speaker 2: I don't think you can lay anything from an excuse
Speaker 2: standpoint on oh man, that schedule just killed us. With
Speaker 2: this stretch here. Overall, I'd take it all day, every day,
Speaker 2: twice on Sunday.
Speaker 1: I was really surprised that they only got four primetime games. Now,
Speaker 1: the December twenty third game against Pittsburgh at four point
Speaker 1: thirty in the afternoon is going to be more or
Speaker 1: less the equivalent. They're treating it like Sunday Night football
Speaker 1: on NBC, but primetime games are nighttime games. They only
Speaker 1: got four. The limit is six. They could get flexed,
Speaker 1: and at some point they might, but that did surprise me.
Speaker 1: I'm not complaining about it. I think it's good for
Speaker 1: the team. Primetime games are hard on the body, hard
Speaker 1: on everybody. But I was surprised that there are four
Speaker 1: teams that got six. I believe six teams that got five,
Speaker 1: and the Bengals only got four. Were you surprised?
Speaker 2: Yeah, the Minnesota game is kind of, you know, to
Speaker 2: be determined. I mean, if Minnesota's playing well, the Bengals
Speaker 2: are playing well, I could see that, you know, being
Speaker 2: the fifth one. As you say, they could flex. But
Speaker 2: two Monday night games, one home, one on the road,
Speaker 2: Rams at home, Jacksonville on the road. The one Sunday
Speaker 2: night game is home against Buffalo. Thursday night game on
Speaker 2: the road against Baltimore. The other thing, Dan, as you mentioned,
Speaker 2: they have four second game of double header scenarios, which is,
Speaker 2: you know, a big portion of the country will get
Speaker 2: the the Bengals. All four of those are road games,
Speaker 2: every single one of them. Arizona, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Kansas City.
Speaker 2: They're all on the road. So it is interesting in
Speaker 2: that regard. I think the Bengals they're gonna draw fans
Speaker 2: on the road. Those games are going to be obviously
Speaker 2: real enthusiastic, energetic. They want the nation to see the
Speaker 2: Bengals as much of the nation as possible on a
Speaker 2: more regular basis. But yeah, I thought they'd max out.
Speaker 2: I thought they'd max out with night nationally televised games
Speaker 2: as well.
Speaker 1: All right, let's start from the top. Week one is
Speaker 1: a road game at Cleveland. The Reds are home that weekend. Historically,
Speaker 1: when the Reds are home on opening weekend, the Bengals
Speaker 1: open on the road, and that's the case this year.
Speaker 1: Cleveland has been the closest thing to Joe Burrow's kryptonite
Speaker 1: of any team the Bengals play. He was zero four
Speaker 1: before finally beating them in December. Your thoughts on facing
Speaker 1: Cleveland in Cleveland in Week one dangerous?
Speaker 2: You know, I mean, I think the Bengals, look, look
Speaker 2: what happened last year against Pittsburgh. Five turnovers, minus five
Speaker 2: early division playoff, early division game in the schedule, go
Speaker 2: minus five, five giveaways, no takeaways, and lose a game.
Speaker 2: They still could have won it and should have won it,
Speaker 2: but they lose that football game. I'm not saying that's
Speaker 2: gonna happen, but that's the kind of thing that can happen.
Speaker 2: You do have to take care of business. As far
Speaker 2: as the division matchups. They start the season with Cleveland,
Speaker 2: they end the season with Cleveland, and really it's interesting, Dan,
Speaker 2: they have back to back division games to start the
Speaker 2: season Cleveland and Baltimore Baltimore at home. Then they don't
Speaker 2: play again in terms of division matchups until the twenty
Speaker 2: the sixteenth of November, two months, two months, and then
Speaker 2: they go back to back again Baltimore and Pittsburgh the
Speaker 2: twenty sixth sixteenth and the twenty sixth November, and then
Speaker 2: you have to go, you know. They so they start
Speaker 2: the season with two a little over halfway through the season.
Speaker 2: They have back to back then to end the season
Speaker 2: two out of the final three weeks Pittsburgh and Cleveland,
Speaker 2: Sandwichuru on Kansas City on that four to twenty five
Speaker 2: game against Patrick Mahomes against on Cbsso, I mean, I
Speaker 2: think it's interesting the way they set the schedule with
Speaker 2: respect to the division. They start the season off with
Speaker 2: the division. They always want to end with division opponents
Speaker 2: league wide because of playoff implications, tie breakers and all that.
Speaker 2: But it's very interesting started off two months, another pair
Speaker 2: a little bit longer toward the end of the season,
Speaker 2: and then your final division matchups. I mean, as we
Speaker 2: remember they went on three to start off in the
Speaker 2: division last year. You don't want to be in that
Speaker 2: type of situation. So you've got to take care of
Speaker 2: business against Cleveland and Baltimore for sure.
Speaker 1: So that season opener last year against Pittsburgh was the
Speaker 1: worst game statistically of Joe Burrow's career. He was coming
Speaker 1: back from the app and deck to me, he can't
Speaker 1: go through that again. That can only happen once. It
Speaker 1: would be nice though, for Joe to go into a
Speaker 1: season opener not coming back from anything knee surgery. It
Speaker 1: appened Deck to me, knock on Wood that he is,
Speaker 1: you know, completely healthy through training camp and can finally
Speaker 1: take the field confident, healthy and ready to go in
Speaker 1: week one.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean last year they didn't do anything as
Speaker 2: a number one offense in preseason games. Basically they're very
Speaker 2: minimal if any snaps, and Joe Burr didn't take any
Speaker 2: of them. So I mean it'll be a different dynamic.
Speaker 2: They'll be much more ready. I think, lesson learned and
Speaker 2: there's nothing you can do about it. And app and
Speaker 2: Deck to me, I mean, you know you can't control
Speaker 2: those kind of things. That's in other people's hands. But
Speaker 2: you know you got to get ready for you want
Speaker 2: to start off in your division, well it is tie breakers.
Speaker 2: You don't want to start zero and three in the
Speaker 2: division then have to win three just to finish at
Speaker 2: five hundred. You want to get off on the right
Speaker 2: foot up in Cleveland. If you can come into Cincinnati
Speaker 2: and beat Baltimore the following week with Lamar Jackson all
Speaker 2: his new shiny toys at the receiver position, that'd be
Speaker 2: a great start to a season.
Speaker 1: All right, I'm glad you mentioned Lamar Jackson and Baltimore
Speaker 1: in Week two, because the Bengals obviously ended the regular
Speaker 1: season last year with a win over Baltimore opened the
Speaker 1: playoffs with a win over Baltimore, but they did not
Speaker 1: face Lamar Jackson in either of those games. The only
Speaker 1: time they faced him last year, they lost. He's six
Speaker 1: and one in seven career starts against Cincinnati, and now
Speaker 1: he's signed for multiple years, so they had better figure
Speaker 1: out a way to play better against Lamar Jackson than
Speaker 1: they historically have.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I'm very interesting what Lou and Rumo's got
Speaker 2: in store for Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens with
Speaker 2: these new wide receiver weapons. I mean, I wonder, I
Speaker 2: wonder how that will impact the way he has defended
Speaker 2: Lamar Jackson with that five man front, you know, basically
Speaker 2: daring him to run the football and trying to take
Speaker 2: away those running lanes. It's going to be an interesting,
Speaker 2: interesting scenario league wide. I wonder how much different they're
Speaker 2: going to look at defending Lamar Jackson now that he's
Speaker 2: got these viable weapons at the wide receiver position. If
Speaker 2: I'm not mistaken, I don't think the Baltimore Ravens have
Speaker 2: ever had a Pro Bowl player at the wide receiver
Speaker 2: position in franchise history. I think that might be the case.
Speaker 2: And if that is the case, that's crazy, and they're
Speaker 2: trying to do something about it. With all the weapons
Speaker 2: they went out and got.
Speaker 1: Week three the first primetime game, a home game on
Speaker 1: Monday Night Football against the Rams, a rematch of Super
Speaker 1: Bowl fifty six, a Rams team coming off of five
Speaker 1: and twelve season the year after they won the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: Matthew Stafford only played in nine games. Cooper Cup only
Speaker 1: played in nine games. Aaron Donald only played in eleven.
Speaker 1: That franchise is going through a turnover. They're going to
Speaker 1: a much younger roster. They've lost a lot of their
Speaker 1: key players. But those three guys should be back this year.
Speaker 1: And I imagine that Monday Night home game in Week
Speaker 1: three is probably going to be the Ring of Honor
Speaker 1: game based on the last couple of years, so that
Speaker 1: should be quite knighted. Pay Court.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree with you, Dan, I think that is
Speaker 2: going to be the case. I think that'll be a
Speaker 2: Ring of Honor induction ceremony for the guys that are
Speaker 2: lucky enough to be selected in That should juice up
Speaker 2: the crowd big time. It should be a big factor
Speaker 2: in that regard. Just got to go out and play
Speaker 2: sound football. You know, when you're playing a team that's
Speaker 2: in the in the mode that the that the Rams
Speaker 2: are in, you don't want to help them. You know,
Speaker 2: you never want to turn the football over in any
Speaker 2: football game, but reality says you're going to. But you
Speaker 2: just hope that you don't have a ridiculous number of turnovers.
Speaker 2: I mean, nobody's perfect. You're going to have mistakes, but
Speaker 2: you can't have mistakes at the most inopportune times. If
Speaker 2: you can avoid mistakes make big plays on a more
Speaker 2: regular basis, you're going to have a successful season and
Speaker 2: successful games. That's what they got to get done against
Speaker 2: the Rams.
Speaker 1: In Week four, it's back on the road for a
Speaker 1: one o'clock game at Tennessee. Third year in a row
Speaker 1: the Bengals have played at Tennessee. Beat them in the
Speaker 1: playoffs years ago, beat him in the regular season last year.
Speaker 1: It was interesting when they played last year Tennessee. We
Speaker 1: all thought they were good. There were seven and three
Speaker 1: the Bengals beat him. That was the they got a
Speaker 1: playoffs game for the first time for Mark Duffner, and
Speaker 1: then Tennessee didn't win again. There were seven and three
Speaker 1: and finished seven and ten.
Speaker 2: Unbelievable, And Mike Vrabel knows that, and Mike Vrabel is
Speaker 2: going to use that as a rallying cry. Was were
Speaker 2: we walking together when Mike Vrabel was leaving the stadium
Speaker 2: that day, I'm trying to think of who I was
Speaker 2: walking with. And he walked to his car, he kicked
Speaker 2: his car, got in his car, and took off at
Speaker 2: a pretty high speed. I mean, Mike Vrabel is serious
Speaker 2: about the game of football. He's a physical guy. He'd
Speaker 2: like to decide a game instead of going overtime, go
Speaker 2: one on one at the fifty yard line and a
Speaker 2: nutcracker drill with the opposing coaches. That kind of a guy.
Speaker 2: So it's going to be a physical game. And you
Speaker 2: got to remember it's a short week. Fortunately the Bengals
Speaker 2: are at home on Monday Night football against the Rams.
Speaker 2: But you know, lick your wounds quickly, because one thing
Speaker 2: Tennessee's gonna do, Mike Vrabel is going to make sure
Speaker 2: of it. They're gonna hit you. So you better take
Speaker 2: care of your body on that short week when you
Speaker 2: travel down to Tennessee to take on the Titans, because
Speaker 2: you're gonna have to buckle the chin strap up, you know,
Speaker 2: get the shoulder pads anchored and buckle the chin strap
Speaker 2: up a couple of times get it going.
Speaker 1: Depending on how Ryan Tannehill plays and how the team does.
Speaker 1: I wouldn't expect Will Levis to take over at quarterback
Speaker 1: by week four October first. If he does it.
Speaker 2: All, yeah, I mean that that might be a little early. Potentially,
Speaker 2: if he does, it's probably not good for the Tennessee Titans.
Speaker 2: It means one of two things. Either Tannehill has struggled
Speaker 2: or Tannehill is injured if Levis is in as a
Speaker 2: starting quarterback at that point in time, So for Tennessee's
Speaker 2: take to sake, I should say you have to think
Speaker 2: that Levis will not be the starting quarterback unless those
Speaker 2: circumstances or eyes.
Speaker 1: Twice during the course of the season, the Bengals play
Speaker 1: back to back road games, and this is the first
Speaker 1: time because after the Week four game at Tennessee, Week
Speaker 1: five is at Arizona four to five Cincinnati times. So,
Speaker 1: like I said earlier, you hope to avoid West Coast
Speaker 1: time zone night games because that's brutal when you come
Speaker 1: back and at six in the morning, but in any case,
Speaker 1: based on everything I've read, it doesn't sound like Kyler
Speaker 1: Murray is expected to be back by October eighth. He
Speaker 1: tore his ACL in mid December. Maybe that gives him
Speaker 1: a chance of being back by then. I guess Colt
Speaker 1: McCoy could be the quarterback. If so, I would like
Speaker 1: the Bengals chances on the road at Arizona.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no doubt. Old friend. Colt McCoy did a lot
Speaker 2: of his games when he was at the University of Texas.
Speaker 2: A very very smart football player at the quarterback position,
Speaker 2: has immense football IQ. You know, he's one of those
Speaker 2: guys that is like a coach on the field type guy.
Speaker 2: Teammates respond to that. So I think Colt McCoy brings
Speaker 2: more to the table than just the physical skills, because
Speaker 2: they're not upper echelon by any stretch of the imagination.
Speaker 2: But he gets the most out of what he has.
Speaker 2: And the one thing that his teammates and coaches know
Speaker 2: is that he is not going to put his team
Speaker 2: in jeopardy. He is all about making the right decision
Speaker 2: at all times. So you're gonna have to play a clean,
Speaker 2: smart football game to take care of the Arizona Cardinals,
Speaker 2: but I think they're going to be able to do that.
Speaker 1: The Cardinals went four and thirteen a year ago. So
Speaker 1: after the back to back road games in weeks four
Speaker 1: and five, it's a home game against Seattle. That's the
Speaker 1: game before the bye. Seattle is one of eight playoff
Speaker 1: teams on the schedule. People forget with Gino Smith having
Speaker 1: a Pro Bowl year last year they went nine to
Speaker 1: eight and made it to the postseason.
Speaker 2: Gino Smith is somebody you can't fall asleep on. There's
Speaker 2: no doubt about that. He's got weapons to throw to.
Speaker 2: That's a solid football team. Pete Carroll is a football lifer.
Speaker 2: He always maximizes effort of his foot ball team. He's
Speaker 2: one of those guys that you know is quote cheerleader
Speaker 2: in the most positive sense that you can possibly think of.
Speaker 2: They respond to it. It's not phony. It's who he is.
Speaker 2: It's what he is, and he gets his players to
Speaker 2: play at an extremely high level. So you can't expect
Speaker 2: the Seattle Seahawks to travel in from Seattle. They're used
Speaker 2: to traveling. I mean where they are. Every road trip
Speaker 2: is a monster trip, so they're used to handling that
Speaker 2: and playing at a high level on the road, and
Speaker 2: he'll have them ready to play. So that's the last
Speaker 2: game you want to go into the bye week on
Speaker 2: an upbeat. On an up note, you don't want it
Speaker 2: to go into the bye week with Gino Smith having
Speaker 2: shredded you, or you've made mistakes against that Seattle defense
Speaker 2: who's more than inadequate as well. So that's a big game.
Speaker 1: Gino Smith only started one game in his career prior
Speaker 1: to this against the Bengals. It was a forty nine
Speaker 1: to nine loss when he was with a Jets. He
Speaker 1: threw two pick sixes in that game, so a repeat
Speaker 1: of that would be nice. The bye the Bengals are
Speaker 1: at San Francisco, a team that went thirteen and four
Speaker 1: a year ago, And I mentioned thirteen and four because
Speaker 1: the Bengals all time record against San Francisco is the
Speaker 1: opposite of that four and thirteen, including the two Super
Speaker 1: Bowl losses. I assume brock Purty will be back by then,
Speaker 1: as he comes back from his injury when he was
Speaker 1: healthy and started last year, so I'm removing the playoff
Speaker 1: game where he got hurt and they lost. He was
Speaker 1: seven and zero last pick in the draft. Mister Irrelevant
Speaker 1: and he turned out to be the guy that they
Speaker 1: expect to be their long term quarterback.
Speaker 2: Mister Irrelevant certainly was relevant, you know, and he played
Speaker 2: that way, There's no two ways about it. Yeah, but
Speaker 2: if he doesn't make it able to get there physically,
Speaker 2: Sam Darnold, Trey Lance, I mean, it could be a
Speaker 2: three headed monster at the quarterback position. In the early
Speaker 2: stages of the season. You don't really know. You got
Speaker 2: to figure by that time October twenty ninth, the end
Speaker 2: of the month of October, they will have had to
Speaker 2: settle in on some and if Rock Perdy is healthy,
Speaker 2: you think that he would be the guy. But this
Speaker 2: is where we talked about earlier. The rubber meets the
Speaker 2: road after that bye week, and it's good you have
Speaker 2: to travel to San Francisco after the bye week is
Speaker 2: the perfect time to have to do it. You know,
Speaker 2: you can rest up during the week, travel out there,
Speaker 2: play the game, come back and get ready for a
Speaker 2: doozy the following week because it's going to be a big,
Speaker 2: big battle in the next week.
Speaker 1: That's for sure. Sunday Night football at home against the
Speaker 1: Buffalo Bills. So back to back games against teams that
Speaker 1: had thirteen wins last year, and the Bills obviously smarting
Speaker 1: for another crack at the Bengals after a twenty seven
Speaker 1: to ten playoff loss at home. The thing that I'm
Speaker 1: wondering is if DeMar Hamlin could actually be back and
Speaker 1: play in that game. He's been fully cleared to return
Speaker 1: to football. That happened in mid April, so I guess
Speaker 1: it's at least possible. Can you imagine. I can't picture
Speaker 1: a visiting player ever getting a bigger ovation from Bengals
Speaker 1: fans then DeMar Hamlin would if he's able to play
Speaker 1: in that game.
Speaker 2: You know, I think even if he's on the non
Speaker 2: football injury list, you know, to start the season or that,
Speaker 2: I would think some way, shape or form, he's going
Speaker 2: to be part of this, the Buffalo Bills franchise. If
Speaker 2: he's not able to play this year, he is going
Speaker 2: to be a big part of it, because the guy
Speaker 2: isn't Just the fact that he's walking around with his
Speaker 2: Buffalo Bill teammates is a rallying cry, and it is
Speaker 2: amazing because Monday night football game the season before, on
Speaker 2: a nationally televised game, is when he suffered the unbelievable
Speaker 2: injury that that basically postponed and then canceled that football game.
Speaker 2: And if he's back, I would think that Buffalo would
Speaker 2: travel him. He would be on on the on the
Speaker 2: sideline in some way, shape or form, and I think
Speaker 2: that that would probably be good for the Cincinnati fans
Speaker 2: to to just Okay, let's let's close this chapter. We
Speaker 2: just saw him about a year ago in a very
Speaker 2: very vulnerable situation. Looking at him today, it's remarkable. That
Speaker 2: game has a lot of juice around. There's no doubt
Speaker 2: about it. And for that reason. It's on NBC Sunday
Speaker 2: Night Football and Josh Allen and Joe Burrow tee it.
Speaker 1: Up Tariico and Collinsworth in the house for the eighth
Speaker 1: game of the year at home against Buffalo. So the
Speaker 1: next week the Bengals stay home. This is the ninth
Speaker 1: game of the year. After playing the forty nine Ers
Speaker 1: and Bills great teams back to back, they take on
Speaker 1: a Houston team that's lost twelve or more games now
Speaker 1: in each of the last three years. They've got a
Speaker 1: new coach and Damico Ryans CJ. Stroud I assume would
Speaker 1: be their starting quarterback. In the under the category of
Speaker 1: games you got to win. I would assume a home
Speaker 1: game against the team that went three thirteen and one
Speaker 1: last year is probably at the top of the list.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I would agree with you, CJ. Stroud. The second
Speaker 2: pick of the draft is quarterback and form and Will
Speaker 2: Anderson they traded up to get him. Third pick of
Speaker 2: the draft is anchoring the defense coming off the edge,
Speaker 2: you know. So they feel like they've got two marquee
Speaker 2: franchise type players that they just got in this year's draft.
Speaker 2: But to expect both these guys as rookies to be,
Speaker 2: you know, Pro Bowl performers, I think is asking quite
Speaker 2: a bit, and they should be able to handle the
Speaker 2: Houston Texans, there's no question.
Speaker 1: So I think the toughest game strictly in terms of
Speaker 1: day of the week or where it's being played, etc.
Speaker 1: Is the Week ten game at Baltimore. It's Thursday night football.
Speaker 1: We talk about this often. The Thursday night home game
Speaker 1: might be the biggest advantage you get because of the
Speaker 1: short week and the lack of travel. Seems like most
Speaker 1: of the Bengals Thursday night games in recent years have
Speaker 1: been at home. Well not this year. They're on the
Speaker 1: road on Thursday night. It's in Baltimore where it's always
Speaker 1: tough to win, and the Ravens are especially tough in
Speaker 1: primetime games at home.
Speaker 2: Yeah, a home division game nationally televised, the Baltimore Ravens
Speaker 2: are going to ratchet up up another notch as high
Speaker 2: level as they can play physically. From a focused standpoint,
Speaker 2: a mental approach standpoint, you have to realize that you're
Speaker 2: in for a battle, a battle royale. There are no
Speaker 2: two ways about it. You know. The good news is
Speaker 2: that you know you play that Thursday night game. And
Speaker 2: we talked about the bye being a little bit early
Speaker 2: in the season. Like we mentioned when we were talking
Speaker 2: about that, they get almost like another mini buy with
Speaker 2: this Thursday night game because they get the extra days.
Speaker 2: They don't play for ten days against the Pittsburgh Steelers,
Speaker 2: which is good. Another division opponent at home for the
Speaker 2: Cincinnati Bengals. That'll be very, very physical. So hopefully the
Speaker 2: Bengals will beat the Baltimore Ravens. You'll be able to
Speaker 2: still lick their wounds. As such, it will be a physical,
Speaker 2: physical altercation, there's no two ways about it. And then
Speaker 2: get ready for Pittsburgh. And the fact is, you know,
Speaker 2: the Pittsburgh Steelers franchise as well as you know any franchise.
Speaker 2: So you have a long weeks it's you know them cold.
Speaker 2: You have time to rest your bodies, rest your minds,
Speaker 2: and get ready to play as good as you possibly
Speaker 2: can at the end of November on the twenty sixth,
Speaker 2: against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Speaker 1: No games against Pittsburgh in the first ten games of
Speaker 1: the season, and then two games against Pittsburgh in a
Speaker 1: five week span, basically, you know, two games in one month.
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh's going to be a really interesting team to me.
Speaker 1: They started two and six, they finished seven and two
Speaker 1: to extend Mike tomlin streak of never having a record
Speaker 1: below five hundred. I still don't quite know what to
Speaker 1: make of the Steelers. Are they back to being really
Speaker 1: good with Kenny Pickett? Are they just going to be
Speaker 1: you know, five hundred or slightly above. I'm not sure.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm not either. I don't think they're gonna look
Speaker 2: to Kenny Pickett to be the savior. I don't think
Speaker 2: he's gonna throw everything on his shoulders. But I do
Speaker 2: think that he is capable, and I do think that
Speaker 2: he's a quarterback that can adapt to you know, not
Speaker 2: being not being second fiddle as such, but knowing that
Speaker 2: the Pittsburgh Steeler philosophy organizationally is We're going to run
Speaker 2: the football, and I'm going to compliment and supplement that
Speaker 2: running game with a passing attack. And I think Kenny
Speaker 2: Pickett has the mindset to take on that role and
Speaker 2: to execute it at a very high level. I think
Speaker 2: he's got his ego and check. I don't think that's
Speaker 2: going to be an issue, and I think he might
Speaker 2: be the perfect fit for what they're trying to do
Speaker 2: from an organizational standpoint. But will that be enough in
Speaker 2: the era of these great quarterbacks. I mean, you're talking
Speaker 2: nine quarterbacks NAFC potentially could uh you know, could make
Speaker 2: the Pro Bowl if they have great years and all
Speaker 2: of them aren't going to make the playoffs. And he's
Speaker 2: not one of those nine, you know, he'd be the
Speaker 2: next level guy. So it's going to be interesting to
Speaker 2: see what transpires.
Speaker 1: With Pittsburgh, depending on their health and how their team
Speaker 1: is doing at the time. The Bengals could face Pro
Speaker 1: Bowl quarterbacks twelve of their seventeen games, including the next
Speaker 1: one on the list. Their twelfth game of the year
Speaker 1: is at Jacksonville, on Monday Night football. Trevor Lawrence went
Speaker 1: to the Pro Bowl for the first time last year,
Speaker 1: just like Pittsburgh, the team they faced the week before.
Speaker 1: This is a Jacksonville team that started poorly three and seven,
Speaker 1: finished strong six and one, rallied from twenty seven nothing
Speaker 1: to beat the Chargers in the first round of the
Speaker 1: playoffs and then had Kansas City on the ropes in
Speaker 1: the second round of the playoffs.
Speaker 2: They were playing their best football at the most opportune time.
Speaker 2: You know, every team hopes to peak at the right time.
Speaker 2: The Jacksonville Jaguars peaked at the right time. They have
Speaker 2: a coach they believe in, they have a quarterback they
Speaker 2: believe in, and in this era of the National Football League,
Speaker 2: the head coach and the quarterback are huge. I mean
Speaker 2: they're huge factors. And Jacksonville feels like they're on the
Speaker 2: right track. There's no doubt about it. They've got, you know,
Speaker 2: good players on a lot of places. This is a
Speaker 2: solid roster up and down their roster and all three
Speaker 2: phases of their football team can be a big factor
Speaker 2: in winning football games. And nothing to sneeze a Monday
Speaker 2: night football in Jacksonville. Challenged to say the least to
Speaker 2: start the month of December.
Speaker 1: After that game, the Bengals come home for back to
Speaker 1: back home games, beginning with a rebuilding Indianapolis team in
Speaker 1: Game thirteen. The Colts only won four games last year.
Speaker 1: They drafted Anthony Richardson number four overall, and I've got
Speaker 1: to think by December tenth, Anthony Richardson will be their
Speaker 1: starting quarterback. I could see Gardner Minshew to begin the season,
Speaker 1: but you gotta think thirteen games in, a guy taking
Speaker 1: fourth overall will be the starting QB.
Speaker 2: I agree with you. I mean, no one nursay a
Speaker 2: little bit, and he will be very impatient. I think
Speaker 2: in that regard, they are high on Anthony Richardson. They're
Speaker 2: high on what he can bring him bring that football team.
Speaker 2: I should say he is a freak of an athlete.
Speaker 2: He's a big guy and his athleticism is off the charge.
Speaker 2: But seen it before. Sometimes it just doesn't translate totally.
Speaker 2: But I think he has the ability. His floor is
Speaker 2: so high, he's nowhere near his ceiling. You know, I
Speaker 2: think he's he's going to be I don't know how special,
Speaker 2: but he's going to be unique. He's going to be different.
Speaker 2: He's going to be Cam Newton like, will he perform
Speaker 2: at his higher level as Cam Newton did. I think
Speaker 2: he has the potential the ability to, But it'll the
Speaker 2: proof will be in the pudding. But it'll be very
Speaker 2: interesting the Indianapolis Colts at that stage of the season.
Speaker 2: I think at that point in time, Anthony Richardson will
Speaker 2: not only be starting, I think he'll have a few
Speaker 2: starts under his belt.
Speaker 1: So the week after that, we know the Bengals have
Speaker 1: a home game against the Vikings, a team that won
Speaker 1: thirteen games a year ago and made the playoffs before
Speaker 1: losing to the Giants. But we don't know when it is.
Speaker 1: Could be December sixteenth Saturday, could be December seventeenth Sunday,
Speaker 1: could be primetime, depends on how good the teams are.
Speaker 1: The one thing we do know is that with Kirk
Speaker 1: Cousins and Jefferson and their skill position talent, that is
Speaker 1: going to be a difficult game for the Bengals defense.
Speaker 2: It will Bengals defense is going to be challenged. Minnesota
Speaker 2: Vikings defense stunk, There's no doubt about that. They struggled
Speaker 2: last year. How much of an improvement can they make
Speaker 2: That's going to be the key because this one could
Speaker 2: literally be a track meet. I mean, Kirk Cousins and
Speaker 2: Joe Burrow could put up crazy numbers. And I have
Speaker 2: confidence in the Bengals defense at home to not let
Speaker 2: Kirk Cousins go wild. I think Joe Burrow, if the
Speaker 2: Minnesota Vikings played defense like they played last year, Joe
Speaker 2: Burrow could tear them apart. And if Kirk Cousins can't
Speaker 2: keep up on a score by score basis, there's a
Speaker 2: lot of pressure on the road, you know, to do that,
Speaker 2: particularly if both teams are a vying for the playoffs.
Speaker 2: If the Bengals were making a playoff push, we know
Speaker 2: pay Corps is going to be rocking man, It's going
Speaker 2: to be going wild. It's gonna be tough for Kirk Cousins.
Speaker 1: So the next two after that are on the road
Speaker 1: at Pittsburgh at Kansas City. The Pittsburgh game is on Saturday,
Speaker 1: December twenty third, at four point thirty in the afternoon.
Speaker 1: That's going to be a huge TV game on NBC.
Speaker 1: It's interesting Christmas falls on a Monday. This year, there
Speaker 1: is a Christmas triple header for the second year in
Speaker 1: a row. I think the NFL loved the way that
Speaker 1: that worked out last year. They are full slate of
Speaker 1: Sunday games on Christmas Eve, the Bengals get to play
Speaker 1: on December twenty third, which you know, it's a nice
Speaker 1: thing for family members of the players and coaches, and
Speaker 1: in a high, high profile game at Pittsburgh.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they're going to maximize the NFL as a five
Speaker 2: hundred pound marketing grill, and they're going to maximize everything
Speaker 2: Black Friday. They're taking advantage of this year from a
Speaker 2: scheduling standpoint, So expect the NFL to not be tunnel
Speaker 2: vision in terms of when they're going to play games,
Speaker 2: where they're going to play games, and everything that goes
Speaker 2: along with scheduling, because revenue is the objective. There's no
Speaker 2: question about it. It's it's my Sunday's birthday. He's mad
Speaker 2: that it's in Pittsburgh. He was hoping that it was
Speaker 2: going to be a game. If they were going to
Speaker 2: play on that Saturday, it would be here in Cincinnati.
Speaker 2: But four point thirty on NBC, the rematch with Kenny
Speaker 2: Pickett and that Pittsburgh Steel a running game and that
Speaker 2: very salty defense that they always have and and Mike
Speaker 2: Tomlin will have his team playing very intelligent football. One
Speaker 2: thing that you can count on. The Pittsburgh Steelers, traditionally
Speaker 2: at this stage of the season, are not going to
Speaker 2: beat themselves. I mean, they're gonna make you finish them.
Speaker 2: They're gonna make you knock them out. They are not gonna,
Speaker 2: you know, let their guard down and let you take
Speaker 2: a haymaker on them. It's not gonna happen.
Speaker 1: The next last game of the regular season is at
Speaker 1: Kansas City on New Year's Eve at four to twenty
Speaker 1: five in the afternoon. The NFL did a solid for
Speaker 1: CBS to give them that game and that window. I
Speaker 1: think many of us wondered really from months Cincinnati would
Speaker 1: be Kansas City's opponent in the kickoff game on that
Speaker 1: Thursday night before the first weekend of the regular season. Instead,
Speaker 1: the Chiefs are going to open up at home against
Speaker 1: the Lions, and the NFL is putting Cincinnati Kansas City
Speaker 1: in the sixteenth game of the year, thinking this could
Speaker 1: very well be for the number one seed.
Speaker 2: No question, this is a potential seeding game in their
Speaker 2: estimation of things that go. According to Hoyle, in the
Speaker 2: Bengals right now, Joe Burrows serene won against Kansas City
Speaker 2: just lost in the playoffs to Patrick Mahomes last year
Speaker 2: in a three point game. I mean, they've been just
Speaker 2: riveting contests. It's just I think every fan in the
Speaker 2: National Football League is going to circle that December thirty
Speaker 2: first game at four to twenty five, that second game
Speaker 2: of the doubleheader with CBS Must See TV. That is
Speaker 2: going to get stupid numbers. It's going to get probably
Speaker 2: record setting numbers for a time frame of a Sunday afternoon.
Speaker 2: Would not surprise me whatsoever. It's a football game that
Speaker 2: people can't wait for, and it's going to be right
Speaker 2: and a very very significant decision making potentially time frame
Speaker 2: of the season for two franchises that have been battling
Speaker 2: out the last few years.
Speaker 1: And then a home game against Cleveland to wrap up
Speaker 1: the regular season. No word yet on when that game
Speaker 1: will be played. The NFL saves times and Saturday or
Speaker 1: Sunday for based on how things look going into that
Speaker 1: final week of the season. My dream is that the
Speaker 1: Bengals clinch the number one seed against Kansas City on
Speaker 1: New Year's Eve, and then, as they did two years
Speaker 1: ago when they ended the regular season in Cleveland, they
Speaker 1: can rest a bunch of guys before getting a playoff.
Speaker 2: By three of the first five games of the season,
Speaker 2: the Bengals are on the road. Three of the last
Speaker 2: five games of the season, the Bengals are at home,
Speaker 2: and they finish up in a in a division game
Speaker 2: at home against Deshaun Watson and the Cleveland Browns. Uh.
Speaker 2: Be interesting. I can't remember a time where a division
Speaker 2: opponent you started the season and ended the season with
Speaker 2: the with the same division opponent. That's that's very unusual
Speaker 2: to have bookends games like that. For the Cincinnati Bengals.
Speaker 2: The Battle of Ohio Part one is going to be
Speaker 2: right away, the Battle of Part two is gonna be.
Speaker 2: You're gonna have to hang on for a while. And
Speaker 2: uh and it's not It's not what it used to be.
Speaker 2: The Battle of Ohio used to be unbelievable. It's lost
Speaker 2: some of its luster. Uh And I hope it does, Honestly,
Speaker 2: I hope that it doesn't. It doesn't become what it
Speaker 2: was when both of those franchises were playing at that
Speaker 2: high level. I mean, I don't think everybody in the
Speaker 2: AFC North can be a playoff uh contender. I mean,
Speaker 2: somebody's gonna take up the rear somewhere, so hopefully Cleveland
Speaker 2: might stay there for a while. That would suit me fine.
Speaker 1: There are four opponents hosting international games. The Bengals were
Speaker 1: not selected to either go to London or Germany. Dave
Speaker 1: Lapham is not heartbroken by that development.
Speaker 2: No, not heartbroken whatsoever. And the way you, as busy
Speaker 2: as you are during the fall season, that's got to
Speaker 2: be a relief for you from a scheduling standpoint, travel
Speaker 2: standpoint as well. I did get my fill of York
Speaker 2: travel doing NFL Europe games, and I really enjoyed it.
Speaker 2: But yeah, at this stage, I don't know.
Speaker 1: Dan.
Speaker 2: I think next year though, how do we miss it?
Speaker 2: Next year?
Speaker 1: Well, next year the Bengals only have eight home games,
Speaker 1: so they can't host an international game. They could travel.
Speaker 1: Two years from now, when the Bengals have nine home
Speaker 1: games and it will be nine years since they gave
Speaker 1: up a home game to go to London to play Washington,
Speaker 1: I think you can virtually guarantee go ahead and book
Speaker 1: your tickets. Well, we don't know where it would be,
Speaker 1: but I bet two years from now they're hosting an
Speaker 1: international game.
Speaker 2: So in that case, maybe next year was safe. I
Speaker 2: don't know, if they'd put them on in Europe two
Speaker 2: years in a row. They could though, because I mean,
Speaker 2: obviously it's it's one of the franchises everybody wants to see,
Speaker 2: including people in Europe, and they want to waive the
Speaker 2: the marketing banner as much as they possibly can to
Speaker 2: expand the National Football League. So it's going to be
Speaker 2: interesting to see how that how that all shakes down.
Speaker 1: Do you have any memory of getting the schedule and
Speaker 1: you're playing days? Was it, you know, a phone call
Speaker 1: at some point in the offseason. It certainly wasn't a
Speaker 1: nationally televised TV show.
Speaker 2: Basically, the the local newspapers found out before anybody. Just
Speaker 2: check your paper find out who we play. Oh well yeah,
Speaker 2: I mean the writers they had the information distributed to
Speaker 2: them from the from the teams, the league, to the
Speaker 2: team's teams to the to the writers, because I mean
Speaker 2: in the radio there were radio shows, but not like
Speaker 2: it wasn't sports talk, you know and all that sort
Speaker 2: of thing. I mean, it was it was crazy. I
Speaker 2: mean the daily newspaper literally was the bible. It was
Speaker 2: the sports Bible.
Speaker 1: Things have changed, who have they ever? A couple of
Speaker 1: follow ups on that conversation, Lapp was right. In their
Speaker 1: twenty seven year history, the Baltimore Ravens have never had
Speaker 1: a Pro Bowl wide receiver. Devin DuVernay was chosen last year,
Speaker 1: but as a return specialist, not as a wide out.
Speaker 1: On the other hand, the Ravens have had four quarterbacks
Speaker 1: go to the Pro Bowl, including Tyler Huntley. Yes, Tyler Huntley,
Speaker 1: who went last year despite finishing forty eighth in passing
Speaker 1: yards in a thirty two team league. And this is
Speaker 1: not the first time that the Bengals will open and
Speaker 1: close the regular season against the same opponent. It's happened
Speaker 1: three times before, most recently in twenty seventeen, when the
Speaker 1: opening and closing foe was Baltimore. That was the year
Speaker 1: that Andy Dalton Tyler Buyoyd knocked the Ravens out of
Speaker 1: the playoffs on New Year's Eve. The Bengals Booth podcast
Speaker 1: is brought to you by Kettering Health, the official healthcare
Speaker 1: provider of the Bengals. With more than one hundred and
Speaker 1: twenty care facilities and fifteen hundred care providers, Kettering Health
Speaker 1: is committed to guiding you to your best health. Visit
Speaker 1: ketteringhealth dot org to learn more. The Bengals open their
Speaker 1: three day rookie mini camp on Friday, and we were
Speaker 1: allowed to observe them on the practice field for about
Speaker 1: one hour. Here's an observation about each draft pick. It's
Speaker 1: easy to see why Miles Murphy was their first rounder
Speaker 1: at six five, two seventy. He's extremely quick, and in
Speaker 1: individual drills he showed the ability to bend low to
Speaker 1: the ground coming around the edge like a motorcycle racer
Speaker 1: making a turn. We know that second round pick DJ
Speaker 1: Turner ran a four two six forty at the Combine,
Speaker 1: the fastest of any player in Indianapolis this year, but
Speaker 1: it was interesting to see him run. He goes from
Speaker 1: zero to six in a heartbeat and has long, fluid strides.
Speaker 1: You'll hear him talk about that in just a bit.
Speaker 1: I was eager to meet third rounder Jordan Battle after
Speaker 1: hearing coaches and scouts rave about his in person interview
Speaker 1: at the Combine. When I asked him if he could
Speaker 1: tell how impressed the Bengals were at the time, he said, quote,
Speaker 1: that was the goal going into every interview. How can
Speaker 1: I make these guys like me? How can I make
Speaker 1: them want to draft me? Unquote? He's a smart kid.
Speaker 1: I spent quite a bit of time watching wide receivers
Speaker 1: Charlie Jones and andre Yosi Vash, chosen in the fourth and
Speaker 1: sixth rounds, respectively. Jones showed his quick feet and ability
Speaker 1: to get in and out of cuts. Yosi Vosh is
Speaker 1: all of six three two oh five and can really run.
Speaker 1: I'm looking forward to seeing Jones return punts in the
Speaker 1: preseason fifth round. Running Back Chase Brown is chiseled and
Speaker 1: I love his attitude. When I asked him about being
Speaker 1: in the locker room for the first time, he said,
Speaker 1: the first thing I did when I came in here
Speaker 1: was to take a picture. I sent it to my
Speaker 1: mom and put it on my social page. It's unreal.
Speaker 1: Not only am I in the locker room, but my
Speaker 1: name is on a locker I love that. While most
Speaker 1: of the players worked out in the indoor bubble, punter
Speaker 1: Brad Robbins kicked outdoors with special teams coordinator Darren Simmons.
Speaker 1: Reporters weren't there to observe, but one onlooker told me
Speaker 1: that Robin's hangtime was consistently around five seconds. Leading NFL
Speaker 1: punters typically have an average hangtime of about four point
Speaker 1: eight you'll hear from Robins in just a few minutes.
Speaker 1: And finally, I watched cornerback DJ Ivy do some boxing
Speaker 1: type drills with cornerbacks coach Charles Burks, and you can't
Speaker 1: help but notice his length. He's six ' one and
Speaker 1: his arms are nearly thirty three inches long. He has
Speaker 1: longer arms than two offensive linemen who were drafted in
Speaker 1: the top fifty, Peter Skoranski, who went eleventh overall and
Speaker 1: Cody Mack, who has chosen forty eighth. The Bengals Booth
Speaker 1: podcast is brought to you by Bengals Picks and Ultimate Bengals.
Speaker 1: They're free to play with tickets and Sidne merchandise up
Speaker 1: for grabs. Find both inside the Bengals app. Now time
Speaker 1: for my conversation with second round draft pick DJ Turner.
Speaker 1: This is like getting to know you type weekend. You're
Speaker 1: meeting new teammates, you're meeting new coaches, you're meeting new staff.
Speaker 1: What are you hoping to accomplish? I guess, for lack
Speaker 1: of a better word, in this opening weekend, I.
Speaker 3: Mean just get laying, just get comfortable around here, looking
Speaker 3: forward to meeting the Holy sam It is doing the
Speaker 3: Rocky so far, and you know, just having to a
Speaker 3: relationship everybody in the building.
Speaker 1: You're sitting in front of your new Bengals locker, you
Speaker 1: got Bengals gear on. Does that make it all seem real? Nah?
Speaker 3: Definitely does, definitely does. And you know in the NFL
Speaker 3: Bengals the logo like it definitely does.
Speaker 1: Since the draft, how have people reacted to you being
Speaker 1: selected by Cincinnati?
Speaker 4: Oh? Man?
Speaker 3: Good? I mean just on my former teammates all happy,
Speaker 3: you know, and my teammate here, you know, Chris Sevens, Dax,
Speaker 3: you know, they they're all happy, my family, you know,
Speaker 3: and they're just like this what you worked for. So,
Speaker 3: you know, just great that it's all worked out.
Speaker 1: I'm glad you mentioned Chris Evans because everybody has talked
Speaker 1: about how you and Dax we're teammates of Michigan, but
Speaker 1: you've got another guys that you spent a considerable amount
Speaker 1: of time with.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean because being absolutely in the
Speaker 3: same secondary. So but not me and Chris Sevens. He
Speaker 3: was there my sophomore year, came back when he came back,
Speaker 3: and we have relationships. As soon as I got drafted,
Speaker 3: he texted me too, called me and so yeah, now
Speaker 3: you just like, let me know you get here, all
Speaker 3: kind of stuff like that. So I just said, it's good.
Speaker 3: You know, I already have relationships with people in the
Speaker 3: locker room before I even can.
Speaker 1: For visiting the DJ Turner. The forty yard dash time
Speaker 1: at the combine speaks for itself. But just seeing you
Speaker 1: run around out in this initial rookie workout, the amount
Speaker 1: of ground did you gobble up with every stride really
Speaker 1: stood out to me. It seems to just flow so easily.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's that's actually why I hold when people don't
Speaker 3: really know I am that fast because I gain so
Speaker 3: much ground and not really look like I'm straining. And
Speaker 3: so unless you really look at how far around or
Speaker 3: because you know, some some people take small, like short strides,
Speaker 3: so it makes them look faster, but I don't. I
Speaker 3: take long strides, not just cover ground, so you might
Speaker 3: not know. But yeah, like I said, since the forty
Speaker 3: it's on everybody radar now, so it's noticed now.
Speaker 1: So yeah, are you looking to put on weight in
Speaker 1: the NFL?
Speaker 2: Uh?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean I'll put on a little bit of weight,
Speaker 3: but like I said, I don't want to put on
Speaker 3: too much weight because speed is my thing wet size
Speaker 3: isn't so, but of course, you know, always trying to
Speaker 3: get bigger and stronger, faster.
Speaker 1: So yeah, it seems like, based on everything that I've
Speaker 1: heard and read, despite the fact that you're not a
Speaker 1: two hundred pound guy, you have no problem sticking your
Speaker 1: head in there and tackling people.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, I have no problem with that. Uh yeah,
Speaker 3: it makes it gain fun. You know sometimes that corner.
Speaker 3: You might go a couple of series without some action,
Speaker 3: but you know, it just makes you get involved a game,
Speaker 3: so you're not falling asleep.
Speaker 1: Since the pick. Have you studied the guys in the
Speaker 1: Bengals secondary and tried to find okay, you know who
Speaker 1: can I learn from? How do I fit in? Oh?
Speaker 3: Yeah, for sure, for sure. I've been watching film. I mean,
Speaker 3: like just the Corners Wooziah, he had vet Mike Hilton.
Speaker 3: He from Georgia, so he trained with my trainer back
Speaker 3: at home, Cam Taylor Bread. I remember playing him at
Speaker 3: when we played Nebraska, so I remember him all the
Speaker 3: way back then, So I was watching him last year.
Speaker 3: So yeah, No, it was just everybody you know, DA
Speaker 3: said I'll played with him, So I just been looking
Speaker 3: at everybody.
Speaker 1: My final thing for DJ Turner, tell me about your
Speaker 1: first name and why you go by DJ.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, my first name is one Drego. I go
Speaker 3: by DJ just because it was easier as a kid.
Speaker 3: Nobody can say my name for real, and I was
Speaker 3: gonna frustrated, so I just said DJ. But everybody who
Speaker 3: knows me, everybody who like knows my name, they call
Speaker 3: me one. It's either one, one, Drego or Drego. So like,
Speaker 3: if you go back to my high school, I MG Michigan,
Speaker 3: like Dax, don't call me DJ, Like you know what
Speaker 3: I'm saying. Like it's if you know my real name
Speaker 3: and won't calls me one, Draco or Drego something like that.
Speaker 3: But DJ is just you really don't know me for real.
Speaker 3: That's really what it is.
Speaker 1: So when I'm broadcasting the games on the radio and
Speaker 1: you have your first NFL pick six, do you want
Speaker 1: a touchdown one Drago Turner or should I stick with DJ?
Speaker 3: This is no I like my name.
Speaker 4: You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 3: You said one Drago, DJ Draco.
Speaker 4: You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 3: I know I'm cool one though, Uh yeah, So like
Speaker 3: I said, that's what I'll go. But I mean literally,
Speaker 3: like even even here, I'm watch, I'm gonna go about
Speaker 3: one dre here because there's three DJs on the team,
Speaker 3: so I already know. Like once once they hear Dax
Speaker 3: call me Drego, be like, why is he talking about
Speaker 3: my name with one Drago? About one Drego?
Speaker 1: And then watch.
Speaker 3: I'm telling you it happens every every single place I'm at.
Speaker 1: I like it. Unique names than are great, Welcome to Cincinnati.
Speaker 1: Great to have you on the team. Look forward to
Speaker 1: getting to know you better.
Speaker 3: Thank you, Thank you.
Speaker 1: In twenty fifteen, the Bengals had AJ Green, AJ McCarron,
Speaker 1: and AJ Hawk. Now they have DJ Reader, Djivy, and
Speaker 1: DJ Turner. He's right, I suspect his teammates and coaches
Speaker 1: we'll be calling him Drago. The Bengals Booth Podcast is
Speaker 1: brought to you by Alta Fiber future proof fiber Internet
Speaker 1: capable of delivering multi gigabit speeds designed to take your home, business,
Speaker 1: and community to a new level. Elevate your connection with
Speaker 1: Alta Fiber. Did you watch the video the Bengals posted
Speaker 1: after they drafted punter Brad Robbins when he got the
Speaker 1: call from Zach Taylor it sounded like he thought he
Speaker 1: might be getting punked bred.
Speaker 4: This is Zach Taylor at the Bengals. Oh, Zach Tayror,
Speaker 4: how's it going. How I'm doing?
Speaker 1: Great? Man?
Speaker 4: You want to come by a Bengal?
Speaker 1: Oh?
Speaker 4: Absolutely, all right.
Speaker 2: We're gonna drop you right here.
Speaker 4: Oh yes, sir, appreciate.
Speaker 2: That you're up in Columbus right now.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm up in Columbus. Awesome, awesome.
Speaker 2: We we're happy to have you, and we're gonna put the
Speaker 2: pick in right now and then we'll be in touch
Speaker 2: with you later.
Speaker 4: Holy appreciate that. All right. We might have to edit
Speaker 4: that out on the video, but that's great, man. I'm
Speaker 4: fired up that you're fired up. Thank you, fired up,
Speaker 4: thank you.
Speaker 1: I discussed that phone call and much more with Robbins
Speaker 1: when we met on Friday. Will your fellow rookies were
Speaker 1: working out in the practice bubble. I saw that Darren
Speaker 1: Simmons pulled you away to do something outdoors. I guess
Speaker 1: what were you guys up to.
Speaker 4: Yeah, we were just punting a few balls up in
Speaker 4: the air. Got over to the stadium. Uh was pouring
Speaker 4: down right a little bit earlier, so we had the
Speaker 4: chance to be able to get out there and hit
Speaker 4: a few balls, get some holes in and all that
Speaker 4: kind of stuff and wait for the returners towards the
Speaker 4: end of practice to come over there and catch the
Speaker 4: balls for us.
Speaker 1: He probably liked the opportunity to get you out and
Speaker 1: inclement weather.
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, oh yeah, nothing different from me being from
Speaker 4: the North, you know, and well originally from Ohio. I
Speaker 4: live for this kind of stuff.
Speaker 1: You've got kind of a petuall ear to ear grin
Speaker 1: going on right now. You're pretty excited to be here.
Speaker 4: Yeah, definitely, definitely a dream come true. Definitely the best
Speaker 4: case scenario for me. I just feel like overall, being
Speaker 4: from the Midwest, I've always wanted to stay in the Midwest,
Speaker 4: close to home, being from Ohio, would like to come
Speaker 4: back to Ohio, right I'm just really excited to, you know,
Speaker 4: kind of play my role and do what I can
Speaker 4: do to help the team and just be a member
Speaker 4: of the culture and help create a positive culture.
Speaker 1: We're visiting with Brad Robbins, everybody here. It's it's an
Speaker 1: incredible accomplishment to be in an NFL camp. In your case,
Speaker 1: you're competing for one of thirty two jobs in the world.
Speaker 1: It's hard to be an NFL partner. To make it
Speaker 1: this far has to be incredibly gratifying.
Speaker 4: Yeah, definitely, and especially after, like you know, the draft
Speaker 4: and stuff like that. I allowed myself about two hours
Speaker 4: to kind of let it set in, and you know,
Speaker 4: my mindset is just like I'm ready to get to
Speaker 4: work and show what i can do and prove I
Speaker 4: can be the guy and just enjoy the competition and
Speaker 4: join the environment. Right.
Speaker 1: So, yeah, definitely. I'm guessing that most of the people
Speaker 1: listening to this have seen the video of the phone call.
Speaker 1: People are wondering if you thought you got pranked? Did
Speaker 1: you think that was the real Zach Taylor? What was
Speaker 1: going on in your mind?
Speaker 4: It was a little surreal, I mean, just thinking about it.
Speaker 4: I have a lot of friends down in Cinci and
Speaker 4: I had expressed to them I was like, yeah, I
Speaker 4: would really I think this situation could happen. I would
Speaker 4: really like to be in this situation, and it wouldn't
Speaker 4: be far fetched for one of them to call me
Speaker 4: and kind of, you know, egged me on a little bit.
Speaker 4: And I still didn't really believe it until I saw
Speaker 4: it on the TV and I was like, ah, wow,
Speaker 4: really yeah, yeah, let's go. You know. But at the
Speaker 4: end of it all, you know, I'm just really excited
Speaker 4: to be a part of this culture and what a
Speaker 4: great opportunity to be. I think it was one of
Speaker 4: three guys that were drafted this year's as punters, and
Speaker 4: definitely very blessed, very fortunate, and uh, just excited to
Speaker 4: get to work.
Speaker 1: So you didn't see the pick on TV until after
Speaker 1: you hung up the phone with the person you were
Speaker 1: quite sure was Zach.
Speaker 4: It was about it was about twenty second. I was
Speaker 4: pretty convinced at the end of the phone, cause like, yeah,
Speaker 4: that is Zach Taylor, that was that was probably Zach Taylor,
Speaker 4: and you know all that kind of stuff. Then I
Speaker 4: saw my name on TV and my parents are pretty excited,
Speaker 4: and I was pretty excited. But yeah, just allowed myself
Speaker 4: to settle in and take about two hours and then
Speaker 4: you know, it's right, it's time to get to work.
Speaker 1: They've given you Kevin Huber's number. I'm not reading too
Speaker 1: much into that. There are only so many available for specialists.
Speaker 1: Was that a choice? Did you want ten or did
Speaker 1: you just show up and see ten?
Speaker 4: So, yeah, the story behind it, I mean I was
Speaker 4: texted like, here's a list of numbers, pick what you want.
Speaker 4: I hadn't been number ten yet, and I think it
Speaker 4: had slipped my mind that he, like Kevin Huber, was ten, right,
Speaker 4: So I was like, ten is probably the best option here.
Speaker 4: I think that would be good. But I'm not too
Speaker 4: picky or particular about numbers. I kind of just closed
Speaker 4: my eyes and picked one. I was like, ten works,
Speaker 4: you know, And sure enough I googled, like punters that
Speaker 4: were number ten, Let's see who I can endulate here,
Speaker 4: and it was I think one of them was like
Speaker 4: Johnny Hecker, but the first guy that popped up was
Speaker 4: Kevin Hubert. And I was like, it's gosh, Dart, So
Speaker 4: I can just blend in. You know, the fans won't
Speaker 4: know who it is. Maybe just sneak in and you know,
Speaker 4: hopefully continue to you know, have a have a good career,
Speaker 4: long lasting career.
Speaker 1: You punt right footed, though right right footed, they'll know,
Speaker 1: they'll know, they'll know, Well, he was the last punter
Speaker 1: they drafted and he had the job for fourteen years,
Speaker 1: so that's pretty good, mo job.
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, guy never left Cincy. And you know, I
Speaker 4: think definitely this this environment. I think the Cincinnati Bengals
Speaker 4: in general. This is just my thought process really, Like
Speaker 4: especially specialists from like the Midwest, North all that kind
Speaker 4: of stuff that kind of grew up and punning in
Speaker 4: this you know, challenging conditions, especially you know, the division war,
Speaker 4: and it's all the games are outside. All the games
Speaker 4: are tough. There's always challenging wins. So growing up and
Speaker 4: being in that and always uh, you know, learning in
Speaker 4: that environment I think will benefit me as well as.
Speaker 1: The other guys in the specialist room. I've asked several
Speaker 1: of your fellow draft picks this question. You're in front
Speaker 1: of your locker, You've got the name tag, you've got
Speaker 1: the gear. Does it make it all seem more real? Oh?
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, definitely. It's a step in the right direction.
Speaker 4: I'm never going to be a finished product. Just in
Speaker 4: my mind, I think I have plenty of room to grow.
Speaker 4: You know, my dad tells me, once you know everything,
Speaker 4: you can't learn anything, right, So just taking that attitude
Speaker 4: of being really approachable and coachable by all the coaches
Speaker 4: and just in all the vets and players and stuff
Speaker 4: like that, and just whatever I can, however, I can
Speaker 4: be a sponge to them and just kind of soak
Speaker 4: in what what I can learn to stay in the
Speaker 4: league and on this team as long as I can.
Speaker 4: I'm going to try to take that and run with it.
Speaker 1: Welcome Cincinnati, have a great weekend.
Speaker 4: Thank you as well.
Speaker 1: That's going to do it for this episode of the
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Speaker 1: I'm Dan Hord. Thanks for listening to The Bengals Booth Podcast.