Speaker 1: I get everybody on Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast. Uh it's the final countdown addition
Speaker 1: as we look ahead to Sunday season opener against the
Speaker 1: Los Angeles Chargers. By the way, I don't know about you,
Speaker 1: but I can't hear that song or even without thinking
Speaker 1: of Joe Blooth performing tricks make that illusions unarrested development
Speaker 1: coming up, my one on one conversation with tight end
Speaker 1: c j u Zamba, who compares the Bengals to a
Speaker 1: peewee football team in a good way. Then Dave Lapham
Speaker 1: joins me to look at three of Sunday's biggest storylines,
Speaker 1: and finally it's our No the Faux segment as we
Speaker 1: get the scoop on the Chargers from Joe Ready, who
Speaker 1: covers the team for the Associated Press in Los Angeles.
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast is presented by Sport, the official
Speaker 1: hospitality partner of the Cincinnati Bengals. And here's a quick
Speaker 1: reminder that you can add the latest edition of this
Speaker 1: podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet, or computer by
Speaker 1: subscribing on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, or pod Bean.
Speaker 1: It's the greatest thing since dark chocolate. I stumbled upon
Speaker 1: a pack of dark chocolate Reese's Peanut buttercups for the
Speaker 1: first time, and it confirmed by longstanding belief the dark
Speaker 1: chocolate is vastly superior to milk chocolate. But that's not all.
Speaker 1: According to healthline dot com, dark chocolate is loaded with
Speaker 1: nutrients that can positively affect your health. Made from the
Speaker 1: seed of the cocoa tree, it is one of the
Speaker 1: best sources of antioxidants on the planet, and studies show
Speaker 1: the dark chocolate can lower the risk of heart disease.
Speaker 1: So I think I'll go ahead and eat a case
Speaker 1: of those dark chocolate Reeses Peanut butter cups, you know,
Speaker 1: for my health. Let's get to football. The Bengals opened
Speaker 1: the season on Sunday at four oh five against the
Speaker 1: LA Chargers. Cincinnati's a three point underdog. This week, I
Speaker 1: had the opportunity to preview the game at a one
Speaker 1: on one visit with tight end cj Uzama. CJ. Professional
Speaker 1: athletes always sound optimistic heading into the season, but one
Speaker 1: specifically gives you confidence that this could be a good year.
Speaker 1: I just think the chemistry that we have, you know,
Speaker 1: I think in the locker room, hanging out with the
Speaker 1: defensive guys, and you know, this is a team chemistry
Speaker 1: that I haven't seen in a really long time, you know,
Speaker 1: getting back to maybe Pema years, if we're being completely honest.
Speaker 1: So just just the team chemistry that we have and
Speaker 1: the will for one another. You know, we're truly playing
Speaker 1: for the guid next to us, and we're a locker
Speaker 1: room full of brothers right now. And yeah, we're excited.
Speaker 1: We're excited to get out get out there and not
Speaker 1: hit each other for the first time and really just
Speaker 1: show you know, what we're about and what this new
Speaker 1: year means to us. So the chemistry on this team
Speaker 1: reminds you peewee football or minds of purie football and
Speaker 1: just hanging out, messing with one another, like you know,
Speaker 1: it's it's it's good vibes, you know, it's it's really um,
Speaker 1: it's it's something that you know, we we come in
Speaker 1: and we're competing, you know, I'm competing against Bond and um,
Speaker 1: these these you know, secondary people and all this stuff,
Speaker 1: and then we come inside and you know, we're we're brothers.
Speaker 1: You know, we're hanging out, we're talking shop where um,
Speaker 1: it's nice. It is. It is. Uh, it's something I
Speaker 1: haven't seen in a long time. We're chatting with tight
Speaker 1: end C. J Uzama. When asked about Joe Burrow recently,
Speaker 1: you said, quote, he's a beast, He's an absolute animal.
Speaker 1: What has he done to earn your respect before you've
Speaker 1: ever played a game? I think just the command that
Speaker 1: he has, you know, I think, um, we're going over situations,
Speaker 1: we're going over plays, and he's stopping the meeting sometimes
Speaker 1: and saying, hey, and this situation, you know, you can
Speaker 1: do it like this or in this situation, we can
Speaker 1: check it to this or you know, we're gonna do this.
Speaker 1: And and I think you know, as a rookie, as
Speaker 1: a quarterback in journal, you want to see that, you know,
Speaker 1: you want to see someone who takes control and takes
Speaker 1: him in of a huddle and things like that. But
Speaker 1: I think you know him coming in and you know,
Speaker 1: showing the assertiveness that he has so early on and
Speaker 1: in such a way that we're like, oh, nice, like
Speaker 1: we can't do that, all right, nice Like, all right,
Speaker 1: that's a that's a good check that we have. Oh
Speaker 1: we can run this shout this way against this coverage
Speaker 1: or against this leverage. I think things like that that
Speaker 1: really sticks out to you and that resonates in your mind,
Speaker 1: and that kind of gives you He's like, oh nice,
Speaker 1: he knows what he's gonna do. He's gonna get us
Speaker 1: in the best possible play and it's up to us
Speaker 1: to make the plays. CJ and the most significant scrimmage
Speaker 1: inside of Paul Brown Stadium, Joe's first two passes and
Speaker 1: three of the first five we're thrown to you. Did
Speaker 1: you take that as a good sign for how the
Speaker 1: tight ends will be used this year? Thousand percent. No,
Speaker 1: that's that's always. It's always. Uh. It means a lot
Speaker 1: to me in particular, and then to the tight end
Speaker 1: group knowing that you know, we're we're we're in his mind.
Speaker 1: You know we're we're we're going to be involved in
Speaker 1: the in the playbook. And um, I think I've mentioned
Speaker 1: this before. I want the onus on us. I want
Speaker 1: us to be stressed, whether it's um, you know, a
Speaker 1: passing play or running play, protection, whatever the cause is.
Speaker 1: I want I want that pressure. So uh yeah, having
Speaker 1: having those passes thrown early in that scream and I
Speaker 1: was like, all right, here we go. This is this
Speaker 1: is Um, something I can look forward to. Hopefully. There
Speaker 1: were no preseason games this year and limited tackling in practice.
Speaker 1: From your perspective heading into your sixth NFL season, is
Speaker 1: that a good thing or a bad thing? I think
Speaker 1: I think the coach has kind of prepared us in
Speaker 1: a in a in a good way. UM, with you know,
Speaker 1: having no preseason games. UM, I think it's gonna be
Speaker 1: more so for me. I'm I'm I mean, like I like,
Speaker 1: like you said, this is my sixty year so I've
Speaker 1: kind of, um, I'm used to speed of the game
Speaker 1: and things like that. I think more so for the rookies. UM,
Speaker 1: I think, you know, defensively, they've been doing some tackling
Speaker 1: drills and things like that, and UM, we've been doing
Speaker 1: we've been opening up kind of with like a tackling station,
Speaker 1: um with most practices. So yeah, I think I think
Speaker 1: we prepared ourselves, um, and in a really good way.
Speaker 1: I think kind of the coaches, know you know this
Speaker 1: with with not having as much live contact, with not
Speaker 1: having these preseason games, that needs to be a mindset
Speaker 1: in an m O. So, UM, I'm expecting us to
Speaker 1: come out and not have you know, mistackles and um,
Speaker 1: you know, hopefully we get some turnovers and things of
Speaker 1: that nigue as well. In addition to no preseason games,
Speaker 1: there have been severe limitations and what the media can
Speaker 1: report on a training camp. And I'm sure you're going
Speaker 1: to try to surprise the Chargers with something. I would
Speaker 1: not expect you to divulge any secrets, But is that
Speaker 1: an intriguing aspect to this opener? That's the biggest thing
Speaker 1: I think. You know, we talk about um, you know,
Speaker 1: Darren and special teams. We talked, He asked, you know,
Speaker 1: what's the biggest takeaway from game one? How are you
Speaker 1: gonna how are we gonna win Game one? And its
Speaker 1: adjustments because you're right, we don't know and they don't
Speaker 1: really know what we're gonna throw at them, what they're
Speaker 1: gonna throw at us. I think having hard knocks was nice,
Speaker 1: you know, being able to you know, kind of see
Speaker 1: see their players, see just their mannerisms, how how they
Speaker 1: go about their gay and things like that. But yeah,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be, um, you know, it's gonna be one
Speaker 1: of those things where who can adjust the best against
Speaker 1: certain things that other team's gonna throw at them. So
Speaker 1: I'm excited about that aspect. A couple more questions for
Speaker 1: tight end c j Uzoma. Let's look at that Chargers defense.
Speaker 1: No team in the NFL only rushed for more than
Speaker 1: the Chargers did last year. That was eighty two percent
Speaker 1: of the time on passing plays. Because they have great
Speaker 1: edge rushers and Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram. How much
Speaker 1: of your success will simply depend on blocking those two guys. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, I think I think that kind of allows
Speaker 1: their secondary players and their their young linebacking linebacker courts
Speaker 1: to kind of play a little more freely. You know,
Speaker 1: you have two guys like that who are um you
Speaker 1: know who I have a great deal of respect for
Speaker 1: for how they play the game. Um, you know that
Speaker 1: that dictates the flow of their defense. And I think
Speaker 1: that kind of run, their defense of energy runs through
Speaker 1: those two players. So UM yeah, I think, um, we're
Speaker 1: gonna have to be on them early and often, and
Speaker 1: um kind of a certain art dominance, UM kind of
Speaker 1: unsettled them so that they can't, you know, dictate the
Speaker 1: pace of the game and we're not you know, going
Speaker 1: into their counter moves or um playing up to their
Speaker 1: Samon cj I would describe he is a very positive,
Speaker 1: upbeat guy. How thrilled are you just at the prospect
Speaker 1: of playing football this year. I'm excited. I'm ecstatic. I
Speaker 1: can't tell you how how happy I am that um,
Speaker 1: you know, off off rip, you know, during like where
Speaker 1: when OT should have happened. I'm sitting here like there
Speaker 1: you got any Kennedy. Come on now, we have to
Speaker 1: have football. We have to I have to get out
Speaker 1: of this house and and and go back up to
Speaker 1: Cincinnati and get ready for the season. So I can't
Speaker 1: tell you I'll throw it. I am to be back
Speaker 1: in the locker room, be with my guys. Um he
Speaker 1: chatted up with TV every day and and and you know,
Speaker 1: messing with him and Geo and all the guys, you know,
Speaker 1: all the tight ends in the room. It's to me,
Speaker 1: it's it's this is my family. So I was away
Speaker 1: from my family for way too long during these during
Speaker 1: these times. So I'm excited to get back on the
Speaker 1: field with him and get after it. Appreciate your time.
Speaker 1: Best of luck this year, Yes, sir, thank you. It
Speaker 1: will be interesting to see how often Joe Burrow throws
Speaker 1: to his tight ends. Last year at the last you
Speaker 1: Randy Moss's son Thaddius finished with forty seven for five
Speaker 1: hundred and seventy yards, setting school records for receptions and
Speaker 1: receiving yards by a tight end. Now time to look
Speaker 1: at three of Sunday's biggest storylines with my broadcast partner
Speaker 1: Dave Lapham. The return of aj Green, the debut of
Speaker 1: Jonah Williams, and obviously the debut of Joe Burrow. I've
Speaker 1: been trying to think of a debut that compares to this.
Speaker 1: I mean, the first thing they'll come to mind is
Speaker 1: a Bengals fan would be Carson Palmer. But for whatever reason,
Speaker 1: that didn't seem quite this hyped to me. Maybe there's
Speaker 1: the fact that he sat out his entire rookie year.
Speaker 1: Ken Griffey Junior coming home kind of compares. But that's
Speaker 1: baseball one hundred and sixty two games instead of sixteen.
Speaker 1: This is something special in this city's history. I think
Speaker 1: you have to go back to Greg Cook Local. You
Speaker 1: see product drafted by Paul Brown, big excitement, you know,
Speaker 1: Greg Cook, oh local boy making good Chillcothee Ohio University, Cincinnati,
Speaker 1: drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals, and he had star written
Speaker 1: all over him. Just you know, like Joe Burrow didn't
Speaker 1: win a Heisman Trophy or a national championship obviously, like
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow did, but just a physical specimen and then
Speaker 1: tragic injury obviously ended his career very prematurely, and the
Speaker 1: franchise recovered and brought Ken Anderson into the fold. But yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, this guy's you talk about buzz it's constant buzz. Well.
Speaker 1: He is coming off what many have called the greatest
Speaker 1: season by an individual in college football history. He completed
Speaker 1: seventy six percent of his passes five thousand, six hundred
Speaker 1: and seventy one yards, sixty touchdown passes, only six interceptions.
Speaker 1: If he used the NFL Quarterback Rating system, his numbers
Speaker 1: last year compute to one forty three point seven. Nuts
Speaker 1: and ridiculous. It's nuts, it's nuts. What is it? One
Speaker 1: fifty seven point ages pun fifty eight points say is
Speaker 1: a perfect So he was one forty three point seven.
Speaker 1: That's that's that is nuts against that competition level. I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, we're not talking about little sisters of the
Speaker 1: poor year. We're talking about the SEC and then we're
Speaker 1: talking about getting into the National championship tournament, you know,
Speaker 1: and playing the best teams in the in the country,
Speaker 1: and he shredded everything. So it's uh, that's the thing
Speaker 1: is he did it week after week after week. It
Speaker 1: wasn't any one hit wonder And the consistency of his
Speaker 1: level of play to raise the bar to where he
Speaker 1: raised it to and to reach it so many weeks
Speaker 1: in a row against again, more than formidable competition most
Speaker 1: weeks is truly remarkable. He had just a spectacular year.
Speaker 1: He's twenty three years old. He has already been named
Speaker 1: one of the Bengals captains going into the season, chosen
Speaker 1: by his teammates as one of their captains. That was
Speaker 1: the first topic of conversation today when Joe Burrow met
Speaker 1: with Cincinnati area reporters to look ahead to send Day's
Speaker 1: game against the Chargers. You know, that was one of
Speaker 1: my goals coming in. I really didn't expect to be
Speaker 1: a captain. Um, but you know, I'm I couldn't be
Speaker 1: happier to represent our team in our offense. Um. You know,
Speaker 1: we have a lot of guys that that could have
Speaker 1: been up there, but UM, I'm happy that that that
Speaker 1: my team decided that I should be the one to
Speaker 1: get that honor. Oh, You're known for the grind and
Speaker 1: preparing for games. By being your NFL debut, is this
Speaker 1: unlike anything you prepared for before. I mean, obviously it is,
Speaker 1: but I try not to, you know. I just just
Speaker 1: come in and work like I always do. UM lots
Speaker 1: the film, like I need to prepare, like I need
Speaker 1: to UM. So I try not to focus on all
Speaker 1: the pressure stuff. UM. I feel like I'm going to
Speaker 1: be ready to play. I feel like I'm going to
Speaker 1: play well. And you know I'm not not ready to
Speaker 1: play yet. I saw a few more days preparation that
Speaker 1: that need to come in. But I'm feeling pretty good
Speaker 1: right now. When you look at the tape of the Chargers,
Speaker 1: what jumps out at you? Is there anything that they're doing?
Speaker 1: It's like WHOA just all of a sudden, you know,
Speaker 1: hit you hit you like a ton of Brooks. Obviously,
Speaker 1: they have BOTHA and Ingram, two of the best pass
Speaker 1: rushers in the league. So we're gonna have to um.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna have to get the ball out of my
Speaker 1: hands quickly and know what I'm looking at. If I
Speaker 1: don't know what I'm I'm looking at every snap, it's
Speaker 1: gonna be a long day. Um, those guys will get
Speaker 1: get to me quick. And you know, I know the
Speaker 1: old line will be ready for it, and I don't
Speaker 1: know I'll be ready for it as well. You and
Speaker 1: Zach Tayler have both said the ultimate goal here is
Speaker 1: to win a championship. How long have you been a
Speaker 1: person who's focused on championships? Did that start at LSU
Speaker 1: in high school? When did that start? That's the goal
Speaker 1: whenever you're playing anything. I started when I first started
Speaker 1: competing in sports. M If you're not striving for a
Speaker 1: championship for perfection, what are you? What are you doing
Speaker 1: it for? That's you know. I'm not. I'm not out
Speaker 1: there to win Go five hundred and you know, squeak
Speaker 1: into the playoffs. I'm here to win games and win championships.
Speaker 1: Music to the ears of Bengals fans. Not here to
Speaker 1: win games, He's here to win championships. Exactly what he
Speaker 1: did last year at LSU at Athens High School, good
Speaker 1: enough to have the stadium renamed for him Joe Burrow Stadium.
Speaker 1: He'll have a statue in front of the stadium at LSU.
Speaker 1: After national championship and winning the Heisman Trophy, and now
Speaker 1: he is trying to turn a franchise around that hasn't
Speaker 1: been to the playoffs in the last four years, and
Speaker 1: I think he's I think he's up to the task,
Speaker 1: I really do. You know. The thing about him, Dan,
Speaker 1: I think is he was raised right. I mean, his
Speaker 1: parents did a remarkable job, and his dad obviously a
Speaker 1: very successful football player, football coach, Jim Burrow. You know,
Speaker 1: he has created almost the perfect combination of player person.
Speaker 1: I mean, this kid understands people. His people skills are
Speaker 1: off the charts, so that that would stand him instead
Speaker 1: in any walk of life. And you know, to be
Speaker 1: elected captain as a as a rookie quarterback is a
Speaker 1: significant thing. But he's he's experienced beyond his years, There's
Speaker 1: no two ways about it. But he just has a
Speaker 1: great feel for how to respect people, treat people. His
Speaker 1: people skills are off the charts, and I think his
Speaker 1: teammates are going to do everything they possibly can to
Speaker 1: support him, and he is going to do the same
Speaker 1: for them in every way feasible. Joe Burrow is going
Speaker 1: to have a lot to say about how much improvement
Speaker 1: the Bengals make, but so is Jonah Williams. The offensive
Speaker 1: line has really struggled over the last four years, and
Speaker 1: they are counting on him to solidify left tackle for
Speaker 1: many years to come. No question, Dan. It was a
Speaker 1: revolving door personnel wise at the left tackle position, as
Speaker 1: we know last year, and a couple of guys that
Speaker 1: filled that spot aren't even in the NFL this year.
Speaker 1: They did what they could. They gave everything they had
Speaker 1: to coach Jim Turner, but it just wasn't good enough,
Speaker 1: you know, and they had problems there. And Jonah Williams
Speaker 1: is a guy they took with the eleventh pick in
Speaker 1: the draft in twenty nineteen to anchor that position and
Speaker 1: give continuity and just solidify that spot. And that's what
Speaker 1: they're hoping that he does. When you're drafted eleventh in
Speaker 1: the draft, you're drafted to shut down guys one on
Speaker 1: one pass rush guys. Well, he's going to be facing
Speaker 1: two great ones in his first you know, one hundred
Speaker 1: hours of his professional career, Joey Bosa and Miles Garrett.
Speaker 1: Joey Bosa, like Joe Burrow was saying earlier today in
Speaker 1: his media press conference, he knows what Joey Bosa is
Speaker 1: all about. In terms of a technician. It's going to
Speaker 1: be technique against technique, technician against technician. Joey Bosa has
Speaker 1: tremendous hands. He can get people's hands off of him.
Speaker 1: Offensive lineman has to have good hands, a good hand
Speaker 1: placement to try to jam and keep his shoulders back
Speaker 1: and his shoulders and chest away from the defensive lineman.
Speaker 1: Joey Bosa does a good job of rushing with tremendous
Speaker 1: strength and the body lean and using his hands to
Speaker 1: break down the offense of lineman's hands and get to
Speaker 1: the shoulder pads in the chest of the offensive lineman.
Speaker 1: So it's going to be literally hand to hand combat
Speaker 1: out there at that you know, left tackle right defensive
Speaker 1: end position. And I do not believe that Jonah Williams
Speaker 1: is going to be out there one on one all
Speaker 1: day long. I think they'll slide the line his way.
Speaker 1: Some I think they'll have a tight end over there.
Speaker 1: Some they're gonna chip with the running back. Some but
Speaker 1: they're gonna be snaps where Jonah Williams and Joey Bosa,
Speaker 1: the Jay Boys are going to be going one on one,
Speaker 1: head to head. And really the biggest thing Dan is
Speaker 1: defensive players have to earn the opportunity to pass rush.
Speaker 1: They have to get the offense in third and seven
Speaker 1: or more. The offense has to make sure the defense
Speaker 1: doesn't earn those opportunities. So the best thing to do
Speaker 1: is to be balanced and have a running game where
Speaker 1: you're gonna run at Joey Bosa, some anchor him some
Speaker 1: you know, and make it where he's just not teeing
Speaker 1: off If he's teeing off on Jonah Williams on every
Speaker 1: third down. If every third down is third and long,
Speaker 1: oh could be a long afternoon. If every third if
Speaker 1: most of the third downs are third and short to medium,
Speaker 1: we've got a shot. And that's what it's going to
Speaker 1: be all about. It's going to be can they can
Speaker 1: they run the football? A running game helps the offense,
Speaker 1: it helps the defense, keeps them off the field, a huge,
Speaker 1: huge ripple effect there. Jonah Williams and his fellow offensive
Speaker 1: linemen are well aware of the fact that the world
Speaker 1: doesn't think that highly of the Bengals offensive line, to
Speaker 1: put it nicely, and Jonah also knows that the old
Speaker 1: linemen have the opportunity to try to start changing their
Speaker 1: reputation this week. It's definitely something that motivates us. But
Speaker 1: I think, as I've said before, it's not so much about,
Speaker 1: you know, trying to prove everyone wrong. It's just trying to,
Speaker 1: you know, give Joe confidence and help this offense execute
Speaker 1: and with that will gain respect as a unit um
Speaker 1: And I think that you know, that's that's a mindset
Speaker 1: that everyone has, is we're excited about this offensecute and
Speaker 1: me us five to our job and trust that you know,
Speaker 1: the six will do theirs. If the offensive line can
Speaker 1: just be solid, they don't have to be the best
Speaker 1: offensive line in the NFL. They just can't be among
Speaker 1: the worst. Absolutely, if they can climb to average. If
Speaker 1: they can be an average offensive line, watch out because
Speaker 1: they do have weapons. And if Joe Burrow in twenty
Speaker 1: eighteen didn't have the year he had in twenty nineteen.
Speaker 1: And one of the biggest differences they put five out
Speaker 1: in routes. They had five offensive lineman and Joe Burrow.
Speaker 1: If they rush five, they had five to pick it up.
Speaker 1: If it was the six guy coming, Joe Burrow knew
Speaker 1: he had to get the ball out of his hand
Speaker 1: before the guy got there, or make the guy miss
Speaker 1: and create an extend to play So if the Bengals
Speaker 1: offensive line can do that, if they at times can
Speaker 1: put five out in routes and let Joe do his
Speaker 1: thing where he so quickly quickly diagnoses defenses. He's a
Speaker 1: problem solver, an excellent problem solver, and knows where to
Speaker 1: go with the football right away if he can get
Speaker 1: the football out of his hand pronto, which he's great at,
Speaker 1: and they can, you know, not have to have tight
Speaker 1: ends and running backs and all that help and upfront
Speaker 1: and the offensive line. It's it's it's going to be
Speaker 1: a dynamic offense, there's no question. But in order to
Speaker 1: do that, you're gonna have to be in favorable situations.
Speaker 1: Again with you have to have some sort of a
Speaker 1: running game. You can't be one dimensional and put five
Speaker 1: out every single pass play in the National Football League,
Speaker 1: defensive coordinators will be drooling. Aj Green is expected to
Speaker 1: be in the starting lineup for the Bengals on Sunday.
Speaker 1: The question is can he stay on the field this year.
Speaker 1: There's a website lap called Sports Injury Predictor dot com.
Speaker 1: I have no idea what their track record is, how
Speaker 1: legitimate it is, if there are doctors involved or whatever,
Speaker 1: but the website Sports Injury Predictor dot com says there's
Speaker 1: a ninety three percent chance that AJ Green will get
Speaker 1: injured at some point this year, and they project him
Speaker 1: to miss five games. He missed every game last year.
Speaker 1: He's missed twenty nine over the last four aj has
Speaker 1: done everything humanly possible to put his body in position
Speaker 1: to try to answer the bell for all sixteen this year.
Speaker 1: He certainly has dan. I mean, he had a remarkable
Speaker 1: offseason of conditioning and I've said it a few times.
Speaker 1: He came back and looked looking like an Olympic caliber athlete.
Speaker 1: He looked like he was going to be part of
Speaker 1: the Olympic sprint team. Phenomenal, and his route running is extraordinary.
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow made mention of it earlier today during the
Speaker 1: course of the press conference that AJ Green is such
Speaker 1: an explosive route runner. He's such a precise route runner.
Speaker 1: He knows exactly, you know where he's supposed to be
Speaker 1: when he's supposed to be there, and I mean, he
Speaker 1: just makes such a huge difference. There's there's just no
Speaker 1: two ways about it. He's upper crusted in the National
Speaker 1: Football League and you have to you can't leave Aj
Speaker 1: Green one on one. If you do, you're asking for
Speaker 1: You're cruising for a bruising. There's no doubt about it.
Speaker 1: So if if aj Green can stay healthy for sixteen
Speaker 1: games like he did for a bunch of seasons early
Speaker 1: in his career, I mean he was he was about
Speaker 1: you know, you just check him off every single week.
Speaker 1: AJ Green's going to be in the starting lineup and
Speaker 1: then he's had a spell here of some bad luck
Speaker 1: and hopefully the football gods reverse it and let him
Speaker 1: go back to earlier in his career. If he's able
Speaker 1: to play sixteen games, he's going to put up significant numbers.
Speaker 1: He's gonna make Joe Burrow's life a lot easier, Joe
Speaker 1: Mixon is gonna like his life better. Tyler Boyd. It
Speaker 1: has a trickle effect, a ripple effect, and AJ Green
Speaker 1: is extremely important. You know three and twenty one in
Speaker 1: the last twenty four games that AJ Green missed. That
Speaker 1: tells you something. In his career, when he's played, the
Speaker 1: Bengals are sixty six forty four and one. That means
Speaker 1: they've won sixty percent of the time when he's played.
Speaker 1: When he hasn't played a single snap, seven wins, twenty
Speaker 1: five losses, one tie they've on twenty two percent of
Speaker 1: the time when he hasn't played now at all. He
Speaker 1: hasn't practiced that much after tweaking his hamstring early in
Speaker 1: training camp this year, so head coach Zach Taylor was asked,
Speaker 1: how carefully do you have to watch his snaps this
Speaker 1: Sunday against the Chargers. We're fortunate right now we have
Speaker 1: you guys. We're deep at receiver, and we feel like
Speaker 1: there's a lot of guys that can step in there
Speaker 1: and be a primary receiver. And obviously AJ Green's Aj Green.
Speaker 1: There's no replacing him. But our guys have had a
Speaker 1: strong training camp and and Bob mcnell and Troy Walters
Speaker 1: have done a great job preparing those guys to where, um,
Speaker 1: you know guys can step up. And it's really a
Speaker 1: time where you call a play and you don't necessarily
Speaker 1: have to look to see who's out there to make
Speaker 1: sure what player you're calling. It's you're fully confidence that
Speaker 1: all those guys can execute their jobs. You've waited a
Speaker 1: very long time to coach Aj in a game. Have
Speaker 1: you thought about what that feeling is going to be
Speaker 1: like on Sunday? And how excited are you to have
Speaker 1: him as an asset. He's a tremendous weapon and you know,
Speaker 1: he really attacks, you know, to attack defenses, and he's
Speaker 1: somebody they got to be concerned about. And not only that,
Speaker 1: but is he a great weapon, but he takes the
Speaker 1: pressure off all the other receivers, you know, to go
Speaker 1: and just make plays as they come to him. And
Speaker 1: so he's just a tremendous weapon. Half, it is a
Speaker 1: deep group at the wide receiver position. However, AJ Green
Speaker 1: is not the only guy who's had injury issues during
Speaker 1: training camp. That's also been the case for John Ross
Speaker 1: and t Higgins. It has I mean they haven't been
Speaker 1: in the huddle together at all, you know, so you know,
Speaker 1: it is a little bit of a concern. Obviously, when healthy,
Speaker 1: that's the strongest position group in the offensive side of
Speaker 1: the football. I think the defensive line is arguably and
Speaker 1: probably unquestioned the strength of the defense in terms of
Speaker 1: position groups. So yeah, I mean, this this core, if
Speaker 1: if healthy, if intact, can put up some significant numbers.
Speaker 1: There's no two ways about it. But with a rookie quarterback,
Speaker 1: to to make him have to throw, if he has
Speaker 1: to throw the football, if Joe Burrows throwing the football
Speaker 1: to these guys because he wants to. It's gonna put
Speaker 1: up big numbers if he's thrown to him because he
Speaker 1: has to. It's gonna be a little bit different spin.
Speaker 1: And that's uh, that's up to each and every one
Speaker 1: of the receivers, uh, the offensive line, the running backs,
Speaker 1: everybody to execute the run game the pass game. They've
Speaker 1: got plenty of weapons, but they have to be you
Speaker 1: have to do both. Dan at some point during the
Speaker 1: season and a football game you have you're gonna have
Speaker 1: to run the football well against tough odds. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's like this is this is an incredible situation, but
Speaker 1: you've got to go run the football now. And the
Speaker 1: same thing throwing the football. You're gonna have tough situation
Speaker 1: where you're you're you're gonna have to throw the football
Speaker 1: to come back and and you know, get back into
Speaker 1: a football game. So those are the that's when the
Speaker 1: rubber meets the road. That's when it separates the men
Speaker 1: from the boys. Can you run the football when you
Speaker 1: have to? Can you throw the football when you have to?
Speaker 1: When you're doing both when you want to Easy Street
Speaker 1: JJ told reporters on Thursday that his hamstring is one
Speaker 1: hundred percent and that he has been practicing full speed
Speaker 1: this week. Geno Atkins, on the other hand, has not
Speaker 1: been practicing due to a shoulder injury, and his status
Speaker 1: for Sunday's opener appears to be up in the air
Speaker 1: now time for this week's no the Faux Segment. Joe
Speaker 1: Ready used to cover the Bengals for the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Speaker 1: Now he covers the Chargers for the Associated Press. In
Speaker 1: Los Angeles, Joe joined Dave Lappam and me on the
Speaker 1: Bengals Game Plan Show and we started our conversation by
Speaker 1: discussing the Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn. Acquitted himself quite
Speaker 1: well on Hard Knocks. What kind of a guy is
Speaker 1: Anthony Lynn? Good guy, very very blunt at times, but
Speaker 1: he gets it across in a way that is not
Speaker 1: it all feel bad after after he does it. I
Speaker 1: think he has many similarities to Marvin in terms of that.
Speaker 1: Anthony's one liners with the media, I will say, are
Speaker 1: better than Marvin. He's a little more joking with the media,
Speaker 1: which I think is good at times. But I think
Speaker 1: much as Hard Knocks and two thus nine did a
Speaker 1: good job of acquitting Marvin to a national audience. I
Speaker 1: think that, you know, especially with everything that was going
Speaker 1: on in society and everything, Anthony came out very well
Speaker 1: on this edition of Hard Knocks. Yeah, I thought he
Speaker 1: was the star of the show this time around. Or
Speaker 1: talking to Joe Ready, Joe, the Chargers were five and
Speaker 1: eleven last year, after going twelve and four and winning
Speaker 1: a playoff game the year before. Do you think this
Speaker 1: year's team is closer to twelve wins or five wins?
Speaker 1: I think closer to twelve wins, Dan. I think when
Speaker 1: you look at last year, nine of the eleven losses
Speaker 1: were by eight points or fewer. And there there are
Speaker 1: a few factors that I that I will put on
Speaker 1: that their third down defense teams were converting at a
Speaker 1: fifty to fifty five percent clip, and if you can't
Speaker 1: get off the field on third down, it's going to
Speaker 1: be a very long day for you. And also eight
Speaker 1: red zone turnovers that led the league as well, and
Speaker 1: they didn't generate a enough. They gave it away more
Speaker 1: than a few times with fumbles and Philip rivers in
Speaker 1: late game situations, but they didn't take it away enough either.
Speaker 1: I think that it might be closer than the two
Speaker 1: thousand and eighteen team in terms of changes with the
Speaker 1: offense and a quarterback that'll be a lot better. And
Speaker 1: I think this defense is a lot better at linebacker
Speaker 1: in the secondary than last year. Boy eight red zone turnovers.
Speaker 1: I know Rivers had eighteen in receptions and man, but
Speaker 1: you're right the takeaways there. There were ten interceptions and
Speaker 1: three funebre recovers. Thirteen takeaways in a sixteen game season
Speaker 1: for a defense that statistically tied for six in the NFL,
Speaker 1: fifth in the league defending the pass. But they just
Speaker 1: couldn't take the football away with those pass rushers, two
Speaker 1: Pro Bowl pass rushers, two Pro Bowl cornerbacks. Well, I
Speaker 1: guess they just signed one of them, but it just
Speaker 1: didn't compute. You know, Derwin James was there the whole season.
Speaker 1: Not going to have him this year, but they had
Speaker 1: plenty of players, didn't they. Well, Derwin missed. Derwin missed
Speaker 1: ten games last right due to the broken foot. Right.
Speaker 1: I think that was a big loss for him. But
Speaker 1: I think they really were thin a linebacker the last
Speaker 1: couple of years, and they've really phoned up in terms
Speaker 1: of that area. This year. They drafted Kenneth Murray that
Speaker 1: traded up with New England to get him in the
Speaker 1: first round. Former Bengal Nick Vigil is here, who has
Speaker 1: versatility at all three spots his life. What he what
Speaker 1: he's done, I think the secondary with that and Chris Harris,
Speaker 1: he's gone back to covering the slot and playing his
Speaker 1: natural position, which will be good. Casey Hayward has always
Speaker 1: been aggressive, and then you know you had that defensive
Speaker 1: line which is already good, but it has gotten a
Speaker 1: lot better with Lynvaal Joseph in the middle, which he
Speaker 1: held everything from a mack truck to a rolling coke
Speaker 1: machine by a couple players there during training camp. So
Speaker 1: he'll he'll plug up the middle on the run and
Speaker 1: also give them some pressure on the pass rush up
Speaker 1: the middle, which they really haven't had. We're talking to
Speaker 1: our buddy Joe Ready, who covers the chargers for the
Speaker 1: Associated Press in LA. It is going to be strange,
Speaker 1: Joe to see the charger Chargers trot out there with
Speaker 1: somebody other than Philip Rivers as the starting quarterback. He'll
Speaker 1: be the first time in fifteen years. We're all familiar
Speaker 1: with Tyrod Taylor who takes over. How much different is
Speaker 1: this offense going to be well. I think on third
Speaker 1: and less than a yard bill run quarterback sneaks for
Speaker 1: the first time since at least two thousand and six,
Speaker 1: and that you know Philip Philip, for as good of
Speaker 1: a quarterback he was, was a statue back. There your
Speaker 1: traditional pocket passer, not a lot on scrambling. I think
Speaker 1: you're going to see a lot more RPOs. The Tyrodold
Speaker 1: throw a lot more on the scramble. I think without
Speaker 1: having Melvin Gordon here, with Austin Ekeler with what he
Speaker 1: can do and running back running back in terms of
Speaker 1: all purpose yards and touches, I think it's a I
Speaker 1: think it's a lot more dynamic offense. But I think
Speaker 1: much as you look at with the Bengals too, there's
Speaker 1: questions with the offensive line, especially this Chargers offensive line.
Speaker 1: Mike Poundcy is questionable this week. He played in only
Speaker 1: five games last year due to a neck injury. Sam
Speaker 1: Tevy is moving to left tackle, and he traditionally, especially
Speaker 1: in pass coverage, has rated not well among offensive tackles.
Speaker 1: And if you're bad at pass protection and right at
Speaker 1: right tackle, I don't know how you're going to do
Speaker 1: a left tackle. They the right side has gotten better
Speaker 1: with Brian Bulaga and Trey Turner, but that left side
Speaker 1: still concerns me a lot. Yeah, that's an interesting dynamic
Speaker 1: when you look at Tyrod Taylor, Like you mentioned, RPO
Speaker 1: zone reads those kind of things. Anthony Lynn was a
Speaker 1: backup running back of the Denver Broncos when Trell Davis
Speaker 1: was there. Mike Shanahan, he knows about the running game.
Speaker 1: They Tyrod Taylor and Anthony Lynne were both with the
Speaker 1: Buffalo Bills when the Buffalo Bills led the NFL in
Speaker 1: rushing in twenty sixteen. To me, it stands to reason
Speaker 1: Anthony Lynn is going to want to pound Eckler and
Speaker 1: uh and Tyrod Taylor I think is going to be
Speaker 1: a factor on the ground. It wouldn't surprise me if
Speaker 1: Eckler's numbers he haf fifteen hundred all purpose numbers last year,
Speaker 1: he's only seven yards short of a thousand receiving and
Speaker 1: rush for like five fifty. I wouldn't be surprised to
Speaker 1: the numbers reverse, what do you think? I think? I
Speaker 1: don't know if he'll get too close to a thousand
Speaker 1: yards running lab um. They do have, they do have depth.
Speaker 1: They're running back and I don't see Eckler as a
Speaker 1: you know, twenty to twenty two carry carry guy game.
Speaker 1: Justin Jackson Dave they've really been impressed with, but he's
Speaker 1: been injury prone. And uh, Josh Kelly, the fourth round
Speaker 1: pick out of Ucla they really liked too, in terms
Speaker 1: of a Melvin Gordon type back. Um. I know Dan
Speaker 1: has seen seen Ucla against you see the past couple
Speaker 1: of years, but ironic thing is Josh Kelly was injured
Speaker 1: in both of those games. So really UC fans have
Speaker 1: no knowledge, have no knowledge of them. I think the
Speaker 1: one area that's inferred with Josh Kelly too is he's
Speaker 1: catching a ball out of the backfield, something that we
Speaker 1: haven't seen that I didn't see him do in Ucla.
Speaker 1: So I think, well, they carry the ball more than
Speaker 1: twenty times a game, yes, but I think it'll be
Speaker 1: almost a running back by committee set. Okay, yeah, you
Speaker 1: see didn't have to deal with Joshua Kelly when he
Speaker 1: was at UCLA, but USC did and he ran for
Speaker 1: two hundred and eighty nine yards in one game. A
Speaker 1: couple more questions for our pala Joe Ready, who covers
Speaker 1: the Chargers for the Associated Press, the Rams and Chargers
Speaker 1: Joe move into this five billion dollar palace So five
Speaker 1: Stadium this year. It's an obnoxious display of wealth. It's spectacular.
Speaker 1: Here's my question for you, though, what's the interest level
Speaker 1: in LA in the Chargers these days? I think it's
Speaker 1: I think it's growing. I think hard knocks definitely helps.
Speaker 1: But I also think that Dave having guys that Philip
Speaker 1: wasn't much of a promoter of the franchise in LA.
Speaker 1: He was, he still lived in San Diego and everything.
Speaker 1: But I think with a young roster, with a Joey
Speaker 1: Bosa who's coming out of his shell a lot more,
Speaker 1: Derwin James was, you know, face of the franchise, and
Speaker 1: I think despite injuries, they'll still let him around. Tyrod Taylor,
Speaker 1: you know, as far as a quarterback, what you want
Speaker 1: them to promote and everything. Austin Ekeler, there's definitely the
Speaker 1: sense of promotion. And I think that you know, this franchise,
Speaker 1: let's face it has been waiting for twenty to twenty
Speaker 1: five years to move into a new facility that they
Speaker 1: couldn't get in San Diego, and they were finally able
Speaker 1: to team up, you know, with the Rams here, I
Speaker 1: think there's a. I think there's a lot of excitement.
Speaker 1: It's certainly the fans in San Diego still follow them,
Speaker 1: and I think everybody's excited for a new football facility
Speaker 1: in LA whenever they get the chance to come in.
Speaker 1: And I was in their last Friday for the media tour,
Speaker 1: and it really is a spectacular facility. Almost reminds me
Speaker 1: a little bit of the Meadowlands inside in terms of
Speaker 1: the dynamic that way, but with the video board and
Speaker 1: you know, all the other amenities, I think it really
Speaker 1: changes the face of stadiums throughout the league. Joe, when
Speaker 1: you talk about the charges receivers, and I'm putting Neckler
Speaker 1: in that category, ninety two catches, nine and ninety three yards,
Speaker 1: eight touchdown catches, pretty spectacular. Mike Williams led the NFL
Speaker 1: averaging twenty point four yards reception. He had over a
Speaker 1: thousand yards receiving. But the one that a lot of
Speaker 1: players in the Bengals talk about is tremendous respect for
Speaker 1: Keenan Allen. You know, one hundred and four catches, eleven
Speaker 1: ninety nine yards last year, three street one thousand plus
Speaker 1: yard seasons with six touchdown catches in three straight years.
Speaker 1: Very consistent. They say that this guy, he makes plays
Speaker 1: no matter what the circumstances. What the situations. Give us
Speaker 1: your appraisal of Keenan Allen gave to me He's always
Speaker 1: been an underrated receiver, and I think among fans and
Speaker 1: maybe broadcasters, but I think players consider him a top five,
Speaker 1: top six receiver. On Saturday, sign an eighty point one
Speaker 1: million dollar contract and make some second in terms of
Speaker 1: average pay among receivers. So he isn't a top five list,
Speaker 1: you know, maybe the top five list. You really fun
Speaker 1: to be in. Very good route runner, very good possession receiver,
Speaker 1: very good on rats and everything. We'll get the tough balls,
Speaker 1: we'll win the matchups. Will you know will Burn will
Speaker 1: Burn cornerbacks since acs Ill said to the receiver to
Speaker 1: watch out for in this game, to us Hunter Henry
Speaker 1: is he has excelled against the AFC North in the past.
Speaker 1: And you know he's got a lot to prove in
Speaker 1: a contract here too. And for the first time in
Speaker 1: three years, he is finally healthy. Knock on wood. Hi,
Speaker 1: thanks the cj Uzama and Joe Ready, and that's going
Speaker 1: to do it for this episode of the Bengals Booth
Speaker 1: podcast brought to you by Prime Sport, the official hospitality
Speaker 1: partner of the Cincinnati Bengals. If you haven't done so already,
Speaker 1: please subscribe and if you have a minute, give it
Speaker 1: a rating or share a comment that helps more Bengals
Speaker 1: fans find this podcast. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for
Speaker 1: listening to the Bengals Booth Podcast