WEBVTT - Bengals Booth Podcast: Block Party 0:00:03.600 --> 0:00:06.640 Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading 0:00:06.640 --> 0:00:13.200 the Bengals Booth Podcast. The Welcome to the Block Party addition, 0:00:13.760 --> 0:00:17.080 as we go in depth with Bengals offensive line coach 0:00:17.200 --> 0:00:20.200 Jim Turner. If you have a question about the old line, 0:00:20.320 --> 0:00:23.520 we have it covered, from the return of Jonah Williams 0:00:23.520 --> 0:00:26.880 to the addition of Xavier sua Philo to the status 0:00:26.880 --> 0:00:30.840 of Billy Price. We'll spend nearly forty minutes with the 0:00:30.920 --> 0:00:34.680 former Marine talking about the guys up front. The Bengals 0:00:34.680 --> 0:00:38.360 Booth Podcast is presented by Prime Sport, the official fan, 0:00:38.479 --> 0:00:42.360 travel and hospitality partner of the Cincinnati Bengals. And here's 0:00:42.360 --> 0:00:44.640 a quick reminder that you can have the latest edition 0:00:44.760 --> 0:00:48.479 of this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet, or 0:00:48.560 --> 0:00:53.360 computer by subscribing on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, or 0:00:53.600 --> 0:00:59.880 pod Bean. It's the greatest thing since Laturna Loca. If 0:01:00.040 --> 0:01:02.440 you live in the Cincinnati area and have been looking 0:01:02.480 --> 0:01:06.280 for tasty takeout during the pandemic, look no further than 0:01:06.600 --> 0:01:10.920 Latorta Loca in Florence, Kentucky. My friend Chad Brendel from 0:01:10.920 --> 0:01:14.960 Bearcad's Journal turned me onto it, and the law Nortinia 0:01:15.080 --> 0:01:19.440 torta is currently my favorite sandwich in the Cincinnati area. 0:01:19.600 --> 0:01:25.280 It's steak onions, avocado, limes, cilantro, and salsa verde on 0:01:25.400 --> 0:01:30.960 a crusty roll, and it's gigantic. The arepas are fantastic 0:01:31.040 --> 0:01:34.360 two and it's perfect for this edition of the podcast 0:01:34.440 --> 0:01:38.640 because offensive linemen would love the place. So check it out. 0:01:39.120 --> 0:01:42.800 Latorta Loca. The loose translation of that, by the way, 0:01:43.080 --> 0:01:48.960 is the crazy sandwich. Now, let's get to football. When 0:01:49.000 --> 0:01:51.960 I've asked you to submit questions for this podcast over 0:01:51.960 --> 0:01:54.960 the past few months, the number one topic tends to 0:01:55.000 --> 0:01:58.600 be the offensive line. Well, today we're going to take 0:01:58.640 --> 0:02:01.680 a comprehensive look at that position group and I brought 0:02:01.720 --> 0:02:04.480 in one of the Bengals all time best o lineman 0:02:04.880 --> 0:02:07.560 to lead the discussion. We are excited to have offensive 0:02:07.560 --> 0:02:10.440 line coach Jim Turner on the Bengals Boot podcast this week, 0:02:10.480 --> 0:02:13.079 and rather than having me ask the questions, I thought 0:02:13.080 --> 0:02:15.720 it would be fun and informative to leave those duties 0:02:16.000 --> 0:02:19.080 to an expert on offensive line play. My broadcast partner 0:02:19.160 --> 0:02:22.480 Dave lapoman I might chime in at some point, we'll see, 0:02:22.560 --> 0:02:25.959 but lab for now, the floor is yours. Appreciate it, Dan, 0:02:26.120 --> 0:02:29.120 And that's high praise. Expert. I don't know about that. 0:02:30.200 --> 0:02:32.880 I'm no expert offensive line play, but we're talking to one, 0:02:32.919 --> 0:02:36.200 that's for sure. Jim Turner, Bengals offensive line coach, And 0:02:36.639 --> 0:02:39.720 thanks for joining us, coach. Really appreciate it. Fired up 0:02:39.720 --> 0:02:42.600 to be here, man, Thanks for having me our pleasure. 0:02:43.000 --> 0:02:46.120 I guess the first thing is looking back to last season, 0:02:46.680 --> 0:02:49.359 one of the I think one of the best coaching 0:02:49.520 --> 0:02:54.440 jobs or coaching moves was the how you adapted and 0:02:54.520 --> 0:02:57.480 adjusted your running game halfway through the season. I know, 0:02:57.960 --> 0:03:00.600 had that game over in Europe and on the trip 0:03:00.639 --> 0:03:03.560 over there, you kind of Zach Turner said that he 0:03:03.639 --> 0:03:05.880 gave Zach Taylor said, he gave you, gives you a 0:03:05.919 --> 0:03:10.440 lot of credit for resurrecting a different approach to the 0:03:10.520 --> 0:03:12.760 running game. How did that evolve? What? What was what 0:03:12.800 --> 0:03:14.800 was in your mind when you when you went about 0:03:14.840 --> 0:03:18.200 that coach. Yeah, I mean he's just doing a great 0:03:18.280 --> 0:03:20.840 job deflecting. It was his decision to make the move. 0:03:21.080 --> 0:03:24.000 And uh, and that's what we did. Um. You know, 0:03:24.040 --> 0:03:26.160 I'm the I'm the line coach, so I'm responsible for 0:03:26.240 --> 0:03:30.760 designing the run game. UM. So initially we used his 0:03:30.880 --> 0:03:34.160 run game from the Rams, and you know, he was 0:03:34.200 --> 0:03:37.240 trying to implement that same system, which is an excellent system. 0:03:37.840 --> 0:03:40.440 And so as we did. You know, I mean, all 0:03:40.440 --> 0:03:43.200 you gotta do is watch us at the beginning of 0:03:43.240 --> 0:03:46.160 the season. You can see that we struggle, and then 0:03:46.200 --> 0:03:49.120 with that struggle comes to the losses and then the 0:03:49.200 --> 0:03:51.320 confidence of the team and so on, and so you 0:03:51.400 --> 0:03:54.480 just get to a point where you just say, hey, 0:03:54.520 --> 0:03:59.000 this is not working okay, and and that being the case, 0:03:59.120 --> 0:04:02.000 you know, got to make a change. So we just 0:04:02.000 --> 0:04:05.720 sat down myself and him and Brian and and we 0:04:05.880 --> 0:04:08.040 just said, hey, we've got to We've got to switch 0:04:08.080 --> 0:04:10.440 it up. And so we just started to do more 0:04:10.520 --> 0:04:13.840 things where the line was going downhill, and we started 0:04:13.840 --> 0:04:15.640 to do a little bit more man stuff, a little 0:04:15.640 --> 0:04:19.160 bit more of the fold scheme, and and then Joe 0:04:19.279 --> 0:04:22.480 started really beginning to feel that and we started to 0:04:22.480 --> 0:04:25.440 be able to run the ball better. So it's like anything, 0:04:25.480 --> 0:04:29.479 I guess, you know, if you're shooting the basketball a 0:04:29.480 --> 0:04:32.200 certain way and it's not going in the hole, and 0:04:32.320 --> 0:04:34.839 you need to change the way you're shooting the basketball. 0:04:34.920 --> 0:04:36.920 So it's real simple if you look at it from 0:04:36.960 --> 0:04:39.800 that standpoint, And so we just changed a couple of 0:04:39.880 --> 0:04:41.680 things in there, Like I just said, we just changed 0:04:41.720 --> 0:04:43.599 the schemes a little bit, a little bit more man 0:04:44.080 --> 0:04:46.599 to fit our guys, a little bit more fold scheme, 0:04:47.480 --> 0:04:50.960 of course, staying with the zone, but but just switching 0:04:51.000 --> 0:04:52.520 it up a little bit and trying to find if 0:04:52.520 --> 0:04:54.479 we actually ran power pretty well at the end of 0:04:54.480 --> 0:04:56.560 the year as well. So we got the fold to 0:04:56.600 --> 0:04:58.840 get the ball outside rand power to get the ball 0:04:58.920 --> 0:05:01.120 inside a little bit, and then we continued with our 0:05:01.200 --> 0:05:05.320 zone stuff and uh, and just continue to mature that 0:05:05.400 --> 0:05:09.039 scheme with our with our players. You finish sixth in 0:05:09.080 --> 0:05:11.599 the NFL and rushing in the second half of the season, 0:05:11.640 --> 0:05:15.320 I mean, the dynamic improvement and Joe Burrow's numbers are 0:05:15.440 --> 0:05:19.000 crazy off play action passing, I mean it's it's it 0:05:19.080 --> 0:05:21.440 completes about three out of every four passes and it's 0:05:21.480 --> 0:05:24.960 touchdown interception ratios off the charts with that, like him 0:05:24.960 --> 0:05:27.560 at quarterback, do you envision the running game kind of 0:05:27.600 --> 0:05:30.160 picking up where it left off last year? Finishing is 0:05:30.279 --> 0:05:32.080 as highly as you did in the second half of 0:05:32.080 --> 0:05:37.039 the season. You know, we need to build on this. 0:05:37.120 --> 0:05:39.440 I mean, uh, we're gonna have a lot of the 0:05:39.520 --> 0:05:42.279 same players inside. You know, Bobby how will still be here. 0:05:42.279 --> 0:05:45.760 Of course, Trey Hopkins will be there, Mike Jordan will 0:05:45.800 --> 0:05:48.320 be there. You know. Now You've got uh, you got 0:05:48.320 --> 0:05:51.240 Alex Redmi coming back. You got Xavier super Felow coming 0:05:51.279 --> 0:05:54.320 in there as part of that guard mix um, and 0:05:54.360 --> 0:05:56.680 then you got Jonah coming back at tackle. Okay, So 0:05:57.120 --> 0:06:00.120 Joan is really the only new player because exam if 0:06:00.120 --> 0:06:03.440 you played, everybody played last year except the Jonah, He's 0:06:03.480 --> 0:06:06.960 really the only new player. But I look at him 0:06:07.000 --> 0:06:09.120 like he's a first round draft pick that got a 0:06:09.200 --> 0:06:11.359 chance to go through mini camp for a year and 0:06:11.360 --> 0:06:16.160 a half, you know, so he obviously knows what's going on. 0:06:16.279 --> 0:06:20.400 He's a brilliant kid. So having Joe fit in with 0:06:20.440 --> 0:06:24.720 a group of experienced guys that we have, you know, 0:06:24.960 --> 0:06:27.280 even considering Mike to at least Mike Jordan have at 0:06:27.360 --> 0:06:29.800 least a year under his belt, not to that's the 0:06:29.839 --> 0:06:32.599 most experience, but he does have a decent amount of 0:06:32.640 --> 0:06:36.159 starts under his belt, and I feel great about him. 0:06:37.000 --> 0:06:40.080 The Joe's ability to move his feet in the pocket, 0:06:40.160 --> 0:06:43.200 I think is really what will what will make the 0:06:43.320 --> 0:06:48.119 change on third down on third and five, on third 0:06:48.120 --> 0:06:51.679 and four, on third and six. You know you can't. 0:06:52.040 --> 0:06:53.880 You're not going to convert every one of those through 0:06:53.880 --> 0:06:56.160 the year. At some point a quarterback has to take 0:06:56.200 --> 0:07:01.600 off and run, and he can do that asleep, hey 0:07:01.760 --> 0:07:04.839 be just his mobility in the pocket. I mean, you 0:07:04.880 --> 0:07:09.840 know lat from playing old line, you know it's about 0:07:09.880 --> 0:07:12.960 their statistics mean a lot to them. You know, they 0:07:12.960 --> 0:07:15.720 don't get the credit that everybody else gets for the success. 0:07:16.520 --> 0:07:19.400 But at the same time, inside their own head until 0:07:19.400 --> 0:07:22.480 their peers, their amount of pressures, their amount of sacks, 0:07:22.520 --> 0:07:25.240 that means a lot to them. And when a quarterback 0:07:25.320 --> 0:07:28.920 gives up a cheap sack, you know, or the scheme 0:07:29.120 --> 0:07:32.280 creates a sack, it really bothers those guys. My point 0:07:32.440 --> 0:07:35.200 is that Joe Burrow, if you watch his games at 0:07:35.320 --> 0:07:38.480 LSU last year, he really cleans up a lot of 0:07:38.480 --> 0:07:41.080 the little dirty stuff in there. You know, a guy 0:07:41.120 --> 0:07:42.880 makes a mistake, I mean you know, I mean, you 0:07:42.920 --> 0:07:46.520 play seventy plays in a game as alignment, you're gonna 0:07:46.560 --> 0:07:52.080 make a couple of mistakes, you know. So so if 0:07:52.120 --> 0:07:55.400 each one of them makes two mistakes, right, that's ten plays, 0:07:56.280 --> 0:07:58.320 you know. So if a quarterback can cover up and 0:07:58.320 --> 0:08:00.800 they're gonna make more than two mistakes piece, Right, they're 0:08:00.800 --> 0:08:03.960 gonna do something wrong at some point, a technique whatever. 0:08:04.600 --> 0:08:06.200 And when you have a guy that can just make 0:08:06.240 --> 0:08:09.280 you right a lot of the time, then it really 0:08:09.360 --> 0:08:12.520 it merely makes a difference in their confidence. Their confidence 0:08:12.600 --> 0:08:15.840 is an individual, the confidences as a unit and so on. 0:08:16.480 --> 0:08:19.800 There's no doubt the offensive line play. I mean, you 0:08:19.840 --> 0:08:22.800 live vicariously through the success of the skill guys and 0:08:23.160 --> 0:08:26.200 the stats and your quarterback. You know, throw us for 0:08:26.320 --> 0:08:29.280 thirty five hundred yards and thirty tight down only five interceptions. 0:08:29.320 --> 0:08:31.880 You feel good as an offensive line. So that's a 0:08:31.880 --> 0:08:34.199 big deal. I mean that that mindset. You don't want 0:08:34.200 --> 0:08:35.520 to be the guy. You don't want to be the 0:08:35.559 --> 0:08:38.080 guy that was the weak link that caused problems to 0:08:38.080 --> 0:08:41.920 your offense. That's that's the whole, uh, the whole core 0:08:41.920 --> 0:08:44.560 of being an offensive lineman. Right, yeah, and that's the 0:08:44.679 --> 0:08:47.360 challenge of last year. Like I think what we all 0:08:47.400 --> 0:08:53.840 went through last year was something that not everybody goes through. 0:08:53.960 --> 0:08:55.880 You you know, you go through once in your career, 0:08:56.040 --> 0:09:00.559 twice in your career at tops. So it was a 0:09:00.559 --> 0:09:04.160 crash course in just that the mentality of a team 0:09:04.400 --> 0:09:06.920 and how it can be adjusted and how it can 0:09:07.640 --> 0:09:10.600 be affected by every little piece that happens in that 0:09:10.679 --> 0:09:14.000 football game and in that football season. And so you 0:09:14.040 --> 0:09:16.480 know last year when when you're at O and Tan, 0:09:16.600 --> 0:09:23.000 I mean, it's hard, it's hard, and you know, so 0:09:23.040 --> 0:09:26.160 when it comes to that whole mentality, just having him 0:09:26.160 --> 0:09:27.800 and they're like when we handed the ball to Joe 0:09:27.920 --> 0:09:31.959 last year, like Joe Mixon really with the combination of 0:09:32.000 --> 0:09:34.480 the rest of our offense really changed our mentality going 0:09:34.480 --> 0:09:36.640 into the second half of the season. And you could 0:09:36.679 --> 0:09:39.480 see that in London when we were playing the Rams. 0:09:39.520 --> 0:09:42.000 We started to run the ball against a good defense 0:09:43.080 --> 0:09:46.120 and we popped a couple of runs early in that game, 0:09:46.240 --> 0:09:49.200 and you could just see the momentum of that game. 0:09:49.240 --> 0:09:51.880 We had a shot to win that game and we 0:09:51.880 --> 0:09:53.679 didn't get beat up by that team. And that was 0:09:53.720 --> 0:09:56.520 the first game that we really started to pound the 0:09:56.520 --> 0:09:58.160 ball a little bit and we had a little bit 0:09:58.160 --> 0:10:02.240 of balance on offense. And so Joe Mitchen really helped 0:10:02.240 --> 0:10:05.880 with that confidence, you know. So, um, that's all a 0:10:05.920 --> 0:10:08.720 big part of it. And uh and I'm looking forward 0:10:08.760 --> 0:10:12.240 to seeing just how the joves fit together back there 0:10:12.280 --> 0:10:16.480 in the backfield with our offensive line. When you evaluate 0:10:16.679 --> 0:10:20.800 offensive Lineman. When you when you're looking at a veteran, 0:10:21.080 --> 0:10:24.600 veteran free agent or a college prospect that you're considering 0:10:24.679 --> 0:10:27.079 drafting or signing as a college free agent, what do 0:10:27.160 --> 0:10:28.600 you look for? What are the trades? What are the 0:10:28.640 --> 0:10:32.160 attributes that Jim Turner has to see in a potential prospect. 0:10:33.200 --> 0:10:35.360 You have to have the talent first. We can all 0:10:35.400 --> 0:10:38.280 say character and all of that, which is true, but 0:10:38.320 --> 0:10:41.640 if you don't have the talent, then forget it. Right, So, uh, 0:10:42.920 --> 0:10:45.360 I mean I can I can work twenty four hours 0:10:45.360 --> 0:10:47.920 a day, seven days a week. I'm dunking of basketball 0:10:48.120 --> 0:10:51.480 and guess what, It's not gonna happen, right, Okay, I'm 0:10:51.520 --> 0:10:55.200 not playing for the Celtics anytime soon. Right, So that's 0:10:55.240 --> 0:10:57.319 just the way. So the first thing is talent, right, 0:10:57.360 --> 0:10:59.440 So I look at the talent of the player. I 0:10:59.480 --> 0:11:01.679 look at the body type of the player, the length 0:11:01.720 --> 0:11:04.640 of the player. Like a great example of somebody that 0:11:05.080 --> 0:11:07.840 I'm part of the group that brought in Mike Jordans, 0:11:08.160 --> 0:11:11.160 Like Mike Jordan's a great example. He's got length, he's 0:11:11.200 --> 0:11:16.640 got size, he's got power, right, he's got the talent, 0:11:16.760 --> 0:11:18.880 he's got the like the foot speed. You watch him 0:11:18.960 --> 0:11:21.559 run out on a screen. We watch them the other 0:11:21.600 --> 0:11:24.520 day running out on the screen against the Browns late 0:11:24.520 --> 0:11:28.000 in the season. I mean, it's just freakish, right, They're freaks, right. 0:11:28.000 --> 0:11:31.440 They're big, strong guys that can run. Right. There's lots 0:11:31.440 --> 0:11:33.520 of big, strong guys out there, but these guys can 0:11:33.640 --> 0:11:36.920 move that body. And that's the difference, right. So I 0:11:37.080 --> 0:11:41.480 look for that, that athletic ability, that foot speed. But 0:11:41.600 --> 0:11:44.920 the big thing, like I'll use Mike again, the big 0:11:44.960 --> 0:11:47.800 thing for me is after you find those attributes. So 0:11:47.880 --> 0:11:50.679 every so now you just pull every lineman in the NFL. 0:11:50.800 --> 0:11:54.960 They all have those attributes. They can all do those things. Now, 0:11:55.000 --> 0:11:59.240 what separates them in my mind is their toughness. They're 0:11:59.400 --> 0:12:03.000 want to hate being around anybody that doesn't want to 0:12:03.000 --> 0:12:05.520 win the Super Bowl, doesn't want to win the Championship, 0:12:05.600 --> 0:12:08.880 doesn't want to win every game. It just can't live 0:12:08.920 --> 0:12:11.000 with that human being on your field. If you have 0:12:11.120 --> 0:12:13.120 one of them on the field up front, you got 0:12:13.160 --> 0:12:17.720 a problem. And and we had that problem, and so 0:12:17.920 --> 0:12:21.360 that has to be fixed. And obviously with Jonah Williams, 0:12:21.360 --> 0:12:25.760 with Mike, Jordan, Trey Hopkins, Alex Redman, Bobby Hard, Xaviers 0:12:25.760 --> 0:12:28.360 Sua Filo. I mean, you got some guys in here. 0:12:28.360 --> 0:12:31.320 They're gonna make a difference. Freddie Johnson. I really feel 0:12:31.360 --> 0:12:35.680 good about the unit that way. I feel like these 0:12:35.679 --> 0:12:38.640 guys match the attribute that you're talking about. I feel 0:12:38.679 --> 0:12:41.320 like they have the skills. I feel like they have 0:12:41.480 --> 0:12:44.400 the toughness, you know. Like you watch Mike late in 0:12:44.440 --> 0:12:47.960 the season last year and we scored a touchdown against 0:12:47.960 --> 0:12:50.120 the Browns in the last game of the year, and 0:12:50.200 --> 0:12:53.360 he looked like a fifteen year old kid, you know, 0:12:53.440 --> 0:12:55.400 did just you know that clip I'm talking about when 0:12:55.400 --> 0:12:57.440 he he jumps up in the air with both feed 0:12:57.520 --> 0:13:01.360 up in the air, you know, so he and he 0:13:01.480 --> 0:13:06.000 just fired up. And so that emotion to me is everything. Right, 0:13:06.040 --> 0:13:08.640 A guy just loves playing the game. Now, I'm not 0:13:08.679 --> 0:13:11.560 saying that I like cheer leaders. I don't like cheer leaders, right, 0:13:11.679 --> 0:13:14.640 I like it when guys are acquired, but that it's 0:13:14.679 --> 0:13:16.520 not that I care. I don't care. You can be 0:13:16.559 --> 0:13:19.880 whatever whatever your personality is. But at the same time, 0:13:20.200 --> 0:13:22.320 it's just great when you have guys that don't talk 0:13:22.360 --> 0:13:24.600 about it. They just do it and they love doing 0:13:24.640 --> 0:13:27.200 it and they're playing for the right reasons. And that's 0:13:27.200 --> 0:13:29.320 why we brought Xavier here. I mean, we studied the 0:13:29.320 --> 0:13:33.720 tape on Xavier and and when you watch him play, 0:13:34.240 --> 0:13:36.800 you know, and he's not going to show the enthusiasm 0:13:36.840 --> 0:13:39.560 like that because he's an older player. At the same time, 0:13:39.600 --> 0:13:42.680 when you watch him play, the guy loves playing ball 0:13:43.280 --> 0:13:47.240 and and he plays that way, and he's got the power. 0:13:48.280 --> 0:13:50.040 The other thing that I look for in a player 0:13:50.200 --> 0:13:54.200 is just size. Like in the NFL, like it's hard 0:13:54.240 --> 0:13:56.520 to get away with being two hundred and ninety pound 0:13:56.640 --> 0:13:59.800 offensive lineman. In the NFL today, they get hurt, and 0:14:00.280 --> 0:14:02.440 not all of them, but you know, the ones they're 0:14:02.440 --> 0:14:05.319 thrown are an exception. That's why I love the three 0:14:05.360 --> 0:14:09.760 town the three ten, three fifteen, three twenty. Those guys 0:14:09.920 --> 0:14:12.240 don't get hurt as much. I know they can get hurt, 0:14:12.280 --> 0:14:14.880 I get it, but in general, they don't get hurt 0:14:14.920 --> 0:14:18.559 as much. The bigger bodies that don't get hurt. So 0:14:18.600 --> 0:14:22.119 you've talked a little bit a bit about Xaviers Suaphilo. 0:14:22.280 --> 0:14:25.680 Let's let's talk about a little bit more about Jonah Williams. 0:14:26.160 --> 0:14:28.720 What what what he brings to the table. And Dan 0:14:28.800 --> 0:14:31.520 and I were both impressed with man, this guy you 0:14:31.600 --> 0:14:34.600 talked about a kid that's focused, that wants to be great. 0:14:34.840 --> 0:14:38.520 It's going to sacrifice everything to be great. His his 0:14:38.560 --> 0:14:41.760 his focus at practice, when he's standing on the sideline 0:14:41.840 --> 0:14:44.480 during the game, just watching the left tackle and watching 0:14:44.480 --> 0:14:47.120 the defensive at work against a left tackle. This this 0:14:47.200 --> 0:14:50.880 kid mentally, you know, in preparation wise, you know eight 0:14:50.920 --> 0:14:55.320 plus what else about Jonah Williams impressed as you coach? Yeah, 0:14:55.360 --> 0:14:57.680 so I think you hit the nail on the head um, 0:14:58.640 --> 0:15:01.520 you know, Like Jonah he's out in San Diego working 0:15:01.520 --> 0:15:04.680 out and all that, right, and uh so it's like 0:15:04.720 --> 0:15:06.640 I talked to him on the phone, you know, and 0:15:06.640 --> 0:15:08.920 when I'm talking to him on the phone, I'm like, hey, Jony, 0:15:09.000 --> 0:15:12.320 you know there are nice restaurants and this, you know, 0:15:12.720 --> 0:15:14.360 the girls out there you might want. You know, you 0:15:14.360 --> 0:15:15.680 can go on a date if you want, you know 0:15:15.680 --> 0:15:17.520 what I mean, Like you can you know, you can 0:15:17.560 --> 0:15:19.480 go to an arcade and play video game, you know 0:15:19.600 --> 0:15:21.240 maybe or something, you know what I mean, Like, you 0:15:21.280 --> 0:15:22.760 don't have It doesn't have to be twenty four to 0:15:22.840 --> 0:15:27.400 seven football. It is a great compliment to him what 0:15:27.480 --> 0:15:32.160 I just said, though. He is so focused on being 0:15:32.200 --> 0:15:36.560 great at this game, and to me, it's that commitment 0:15:36.760 --> 0:15:38.880 you know, like what should be the next piece to 0:15:38.960 --> 0:15:42.320 what you're looking for in a player. This total commitment 0:15:42.400 --> 0:15:46.600 to being great and you know, and that's what he has. 0:15:46.840 --> 0:15:49.680 And that's just evident and everything that the kid does. 0:15:50.400 --> 0:15:52.640 You know, I'm not gonna greece him too much because 0:15:52.640 --> 0:15:55.200 he hasn't played yet, but I can tell you know, 0:15:55.240 --> 0:15:58.480 like there's a nervousness there in him about playing in 0:15:58.520 --> 0:16:01.800 his first game because now he's been hyped, right, so 0:16:01.920 --> 0:16:03.640 there's a lot to go. You know, there's some pressure 0:16:03.640 --> 0:16:06.400 that goes into that hype, right, And I'm like, hey, Jonah, 0:16:06.440 --> 0:16:09.400 let me tell you something right now, That hype has 0:16:09.520 --> 0:16:11.160 nothing to do. I said, you need to do You 0:16:11.200 --> 0:16:13.440 need to play this game like like you're playing your 0:16:13.440 --> 0:16:15.960 senior year in high school. I said, No one cared 0:16:16.000 --> 0:16:17.720 when you were a senior in high school. I said, 0:16:17.760 --> 0:16:19.960 And in the end, right, Jonah, if you can go 0:16:20.000 --> 0:16:22.440 into the season think in that way, don't put any 0:16:22.440 --> 0:16:25.240 pressure on yourself. And said, let's just start with this. 0:16:25.400 --> 0:16:28.080 You will give up the sack, you will give up 0:16:28.080 --> 0:16:31.680 the pressure. You will make a mistake, all right, And 0:16:31.760 --> 0:16:33.920 I said, and you just come to grips with that. 0:16:34.160 --> 0:16:38.000 Don't try and be perfect you know, and he's had 0:16:38.040 --> 0:16:41.040 the chance to be around Joe Thomas a little bit. 0:16:41.600 --> 0:16:44.680 And I said, Joe Thomas, did Joe Thomas have a 0:16:44.760 --> 0:16:47.520 perfect career? Like did he give up no sacks every? Now? 0:16:47.560 --> 0:16:50.200 Come on, now, I said, You're gonna make some mistakes. 0:16:50.240 --> 0:16:53.920 I said, so just you're gonna have to grind through it. 0:16:54.080 --> 0:16:55.880 You're gonna have to grind through it like every other 0:16:55.920 --> 0:16:57.440 human being in the world when they still when they 0:16:57.480 --> 0:17:01.600 get their first chance to play. And so, uh, I'm 0:17:01.640 --> 0:17:04.720 excited about the kid, the kids, everything that you said 0:17:04.720 --> 0:17:08.919 he is and and we think he's gonna help us 0:17:08.920 --> 0:17:11.560 win games. You know, I'm confident that he's going to 0:17:11.640 --> 0:17:15.400 be there for Joe Morral a guy that you picked up. 0:17:15.800 --> 0:17:20.280 M Fred Johnson responded to you responded to what you 0:17:20.320 --> 0:17:22.880 were looking for from a technique standpoint, how to play 0:17:22.920 --> 0:17:25.520 the game of football is an offensive lament. What did 0:17:25.640 --> 0:17:28.160 what did you see in Fred Johnson? And how has 0:17:28.200 --> 0:17:29.840 he developed him? What do you expect out of him 0:17:29.840 --> 0:17:34.120 down the road? Okay? And so and you know this, um, 0:17:34.160 --> 0:17:38.080 anybody that's ever been around any teams knows this. I 0:17:38.200 --> 0:17:40.320 was a lieutenant in the Marine Corps, so I dealt 0:17:40.320 --> 0:17:44.280 with all different personalities, all different types when they come in. 0:17:44.359 --> 0:17:46.120 And the one thing I did love as much as 0:17:46.119 --> 0:17:48.399 me and you just said, hey, this is what you 0:17:48.520 --> 0:17:51.560 look for. You know, do you want every single guy 0:17:51.880 --> 0:17:54.640 to be a cookie cutter at all? Right? You want 0:17:54.720 --> 0:17:57.760 them to have their own personalities, right. So and then 0:17:57.880 --> 0:18:00.119 like a lot of times, guys that are opposite it, 0:18:00.240 --> 0:18:02.520 you know, they are guys that you just fall in 0:18:02.560 --> 0:18:05.720 love with. And Freddie's one of those guys. Freddie. Now 0:18:05.760 --> 0:18:08.040 when I say Freddy's opposite, I mean that as a 0:18:08.040 --> 0:18:12.680 compliment in this way. So Freddie, Freddie didn't grow up 0:18:12.840 --> 0:18:15.080 like just being in love with football, you know what 0:18:15.160 --> 0:18:17.239 I mean? Like Freddie had other things going on in 0:18:17.280 --> 0:18:21.159 his life. And Freddie didn't play football until he was 0:18:21.160 --> 0:18:23.520 in high school. He never played ball until that time. 0:18:24.080 --> 0:18:26.720 And so you know, then he ends up playing his 0:18:26.800 --> 0:18:29.760 senior but because of his size, you know, I don't 0:18:29.800 --> 0:18:31.480 think he had a great high school career. If you 0:18:31.520 --> 0:18:34.080 listened to him, he didn't. And so you know, he 0:18:34.119 --> 0:18:35.760 ends up getting a couple of office and then he 0:18:35.760 --> 0:18:38.560 gets a laid offer by Florida, goes to Florida, and 0:18:38.680 --> 0:18:41.520 he wasn't even a standout like player at Florida. He 0:18:41.520 --> 0:18:45.119 was a good player. He was undrafted free agent. But 0:18:45.200 --> 0:18:47.600 when you're around him, there's a reason why all those 0:18:47.600 --> 0:18:53.400 things happen. And Freddie's Freddie's a work in progress when 0:18:53.400 --> 0:18:57.679 it comes to being ready to play. But as you 0:18:57.720 --> 0:18:59.840 can see, like that work in progress. We put it 0:18:59.840 --> 0:19:03.280 to test against the Dolphins last year late in the season. 0:19:03.320 --> 0:19:05.840 He played sixty five plays and then he started against 0:19:05.840 --> 0:19:08.240 the Browns the last game of the year, and I 0:19:08.320 --> 0:19:13.240 told Benny ben Marner said, listen, don't coach him at all. 0:19:13.640 --> 0:19:16.120 Don't coach him this last week going into the game. 0:19:16.119 --> 0:19:18.280 I don't want him to be uptight at all. Just 0:19:18.520 --> 0:19:20.760 let him play. Don't say a word to him about 0:19:20.800 --> 0:19:24.320 technique or anything. I said, because this guy has the 0:19:24.440 --> 0:19:28.120 talent to do a lot without anybody saying a way 0:19:28.160 --> 0:19:31.360 he is. He just naturally big story. I mean, he's 0:19:31.359 --> 0:19:34.080 a monster. I mean you've been around him, you know, 0:19:34.160 --> 0:19:36.480 like when you when you walk into an NFL locker room, 0:19:36.640 --> 0:19:39.480 right and you're just you know, and you you don't 0:19:39.480 --> 0:19:42.080 play ball or anything, you know in the NFL. You 0:19:42.200 --> 0:19:45.080 walk into you like, oh my god, these guys are monsters, right, 0:19:45.600 --> 0:19:48.879 And then Freddie takes that to the next level. You 0:19:48.880 --> 0:19:50.520 know what I'm saying, Like, all of a sudden, Freddy 0:19:50.600 --> 0:19:54.880 Freddie walks around the corner. You're like, holy smokes, right, 0:19:55.720 --> 0:19:58.520 you know this is stuff you see. I can't say that, 0:19:58.640 --> 0:20:03.800 but this is stuff. You know. It's he's just freakish. 0:20:03.840 --> 0:20:07.159 So when you're around him, Now, this is the thing 0:20:07.240 --> 0:20:10.560 about him that he kind of plays you a little bit, okay, 0:20:10.600 --> 0:20:13.240 because when you're around him, you don't, well, he kind 0:20:13.240 --> 0:20:16.840 of plays it like, hey, you know, this is good stuff. 0:20:16.880 --> 0:20:18.639 I like doing it, you know, but I'm not in 0:20:18.680 --> 0:20:20.119 love with it. Maybe you know what I mean. Like 0:20:20.119 --> 0:20:22.399 he kind of plays that role. But then when you 0:20:22.400 --> 0:20:25.800 ask him a question, this kid as smart as a whip. 0:20:25.960 --> 0:20:29.080 I'm telling you, you ask him like I'll install things 0:20:29.400 --> 0:20:31.159 and I'll just come back and I might be talking 0:20:31.160 --> 0:20:33.679 to somebody else, might be talking to Bobby Harten. I'll say, Freddie, 0:20:33.680 --> 0:20:36.520 tell me, explain that to me, and he'll come back 0:20:36.560 --> 0:20:38.360 at you and he'll explain it to you left, He'll 0:20:38.440 --> 0:20:41.600 he'll go rip right through it. And so there's an 0:20:41.640 --> 0:20:45.800 intelligence there that is excellent. And you can see like 0:20:45.840 --> 0:20:48.560 he played in the game against the Browns. He did 0:20:48.600 --> 0:20:52.879 a good job in that game and he did a 0:20:52.920 --> 0:20:55.560 good job. He played well. He played well in both games. 0:20:55.800 --> 0:20:58.520 Did he make a couple of mistakes, yes, okay, but 0:20:59.040 --> 0:21:02.119 the old man mistakes. Um, he looked good and I'm 0:21:02.200 --> 0:21:04.879 very excited about where he's headed as weak. You know, 0:21:04.960 --> 0:21:07.560