Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Hoard and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: the Bengals Booth Podcast. That tis that Bye and audition.
Speaker 1: As the bengals second preseason game ends in a thirteen
Speaker 1: all tie in Atlanta, Cincinnati's first preseason tie in fifty
Speaker 1: two years. Coming up, you'll hear radio replays, locker room
Speaker 1: comments from players and coaches, and Dave Lappham will join
Speaker 1: me for postgame analysis. Then, in this week's fun Facts Conversation,
Speaker 1: rookie Shaka Hayward discusses his family legacy in the NFL.
Speaker 1: You've undoubtedly heard of his cousin, Steeler's Pro Bowl defensive
Speaker 1: lineman Cam Hayward. The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to
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Speaker 1: learn more. Now, here's a quick reminder that you can
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Speaker 1: your podcasts. It's the greatest thing since an unsung hero
Speaker 1: named Jeff Brickner. The Bengals traveling party to Atlanta included
Speaker 1: roughly one hundred and fifty five people. That means a
Speaker 1: huge plane that cannot only carry that many passengers, but
Speaker 1: can also handle roughly ten thousand pounds of football equipment.
Speaker 1: You need four buses in Cincinnati and in Atlanta with
Speaker 1: police escorts to get them where they need to go
Speaker 1: on time. You need hotel rooms that are ready for
Speaker 1: everybody as soon as the team arrives, plus a large
Speaker 1: dining area, plus meeting rooms for the various position groups.
Speaker 1: You need several meals for men with very large appetites,
Speaker 1: and you need security for the players and coaches. In short,
Speaker 1: every road trip is a major undertaking, and the guy
Speaker 1: that handles all of those travel logistics for the Bengals
Speaker 1: is Director of Operations, Jeff Brickner. This is my thirteenth
Speaker 1: year as the team's radio announcer, and I can count
Speaker 1: on one hand the number of times that all of
Speaker 1: that didn't go smoothly. So, brick if you listen to
Speaker 1: this podcast, your hard work and attention to detail is
Speaker 1: truly appreciated. Now let's get to Friday Night's tie in Atlanta.
Speaker 1: I have the pleasure of calling all fifty of Desmond
Speaker 1: Ritters games at the University of Cincinnati. He led the
Speaker 1: Bearcats to wins in forty four of them. Only two
Speaker 1: quarterbacks in FBS history, Kellen Moore and Colt McCoy led
Speaker 1: their teams to more ws. Ritter has taken over as
Speaker 1: Atlanta's starting quarterback this year, and in his first action
Speaker 1: of the preseason, des was sharp as he led the
Speaker 1: Falcons on a fifteen played dru to begin the game.
Speaker 1: Atlanta actually gained one hundred and six yards, but gave
Speaker 1: twenty eight back on penalties, and yet after holding the
Speaker 1: ball for nearly ten minutes, the Falcons didn't even score
Speaker 1: third down in goal from the six. Cincinnati shifting up front,
Speaker 1: Ridder already catches a shotgun snap looking left, throws toward
Speaker 1: the end zone, pick pat it up in the air,
Speaker 1: intercepted by all said, runs back to the fifteen and
Speaker 1: gets tackled at the eighteen yard line by quarterback Desmond Ridder.
Speaker 2: Mike Hilton tipped it. Mike Hilton made a great play
Speaker 2: on it and tipped it goes airborne and once it's
Speaker 2: tipped interceptions happened.
Speaker 1: The Bengals starting defense was on the field for that drive,
Speaker 1: and while it bent, it didn't break. I talked to
Speaker 1: Osai after the game, a red zone pick. Defensive ends
Speaker 1: don't have a lot of red zone pick.
Speaker 3: Don't shout out to have pupped that boor in the air. Still,
Speaker 3: I haven't got in a sence to look at it.
Speaker 4: Man.
Speaker 1: Let me pause that interview for a moment to explain
Speaker 1: what's going on. When Osi said shout out to whoever
Speaker 1: popped the ball in the air, his teammates went nuts
Speaker 1: because the person responsible, Mike Hilton, was about two lockers away.
Speaker 1: Now let's go back.
Speaker 3: Shout out to whoever popped that bow in the air.
Speaker 2: I still have.
Speaker 5: I haven't got in a chance to look.
Speaker 1: At it, man, I can help. Who is Mike Hilton?
Speaker 3: Dig shout out to Mike Hilton the biggest, big shout out,
Speaker 3: Big shout out to Mike Hilson. Dig dig shout out
Speaker 3: to Mike Hilson. I didn't know he popped it up
Speaker 3: in the air, but big shot out to him. You know,
Speaker 3: that's his great team ball and I'm happy he was
Speaker 3: able to put it in the area. And I was
Speaker 3: able to keep hunting.
Speaker 6: And go get Yeah, you saw a lot of snacks tonight,
Speaker 6: more than your team every season. How do you feel
Speaker 6: like you're coming along this preason and pre season in
Speaker 6: terms of your comfort and where you're at in terms
Speaker 6: of how.
Speaker 2: You're playing, You're still on it.
Speaker 3: Shout out to Mike Hilton, shout shout out to Big Mike.
Speaker 1: But it's good to get a lot of reps. It's
Speaker 1: good to get.
Speaker 3: Zach Taylor, coach Zach Taylor was just saying, we got
Speaker 3: a lot of game speed, and we got a lot
Speaker 3: of situations.
Speaker 1: You got to see a lot of different situations. So
Speaker 1: that's all it is.
Speaker 3: Getting reps gives you, puts you in those situations and
Speaker 3: get you prepared for the season, that's all.
Speaker 1: So it's great to get all those reps. So I
Speaker 1: remember correctly that you had an interception out burrow in college.
Speaker 1: Shout out to Mike Hilton.
Speaker 3: But yeah, that that did happen kind of like that again,
Speaker 3: it was a tip in college.
Speaker 1: It was a tip and I was able to go
Speaker 1: get it. So yeah, with at your last interception before tonight,
Speaker 1: go yeah, yeah, pretty rare defensive they are.
Speaker 2: They are.
Speaker 3: It's hard but you know, we got great coaches, let
Speaker 3: us catch the ball every day, got great hands. And again,
Speaker 3: shout out to Mikeilson. You know he doesn't hear me,
Speaker 3: but it's okay, shout out to him. But yeah, that
Speaker 3: was that was the last one before tonight, so I'm
Speaker 3: pretty excited about that.
Speaker 1: How tiring was the opening drive? That was a ton
Speaker 1: of plays?
Speaker 2: Yeah it was.
Speaker 1: It was, Uh, you know, you you can do all
Speaker 1: you can to get in shape, but nothing.
Speaker 3: Really prepares you for a twenty play drive. So, like
Speaker 3: we were just saying, we were talking to each other
Speaker 3: on the field, they don't get in and that was
Speaker 3: kind of the mindset of our defense. You know, they
Speaker 3: can get all the yards they want to, but they
Speaker 3: don't let him get get points.
Speaker 1: So that's what we did. Great teamwork with Mike Hilton
Speaker 1: on that pack.
Speaker 3: Shout out to Mike Elton. Shout out to Mike Hilson.
Speaker 3: I appreciate him.
Speaker 1: So after out size interception, the Bengals offense finally got
Speaker 1: on the field with Trevor Simmy and getting the started quarterback.
Speaker 1: He drove the team to the Atlanta twenty three, but
Speaker 1: rather than kicking a field goal, Cincinnati decided to go
Speaker 1: for it. On fourth and two. Simmey and is ready
Speaker 1: sharping snaps it back. Simeon with good protection, throws for
Speaker 1: the end zone incomplete for Trenton Irwin right at the
Speaker 1: goal line, and the Bengals failed to convert. On fourth
Speaker 1: down and two. The Falcons got on the board with
Speaker 1: four and a half minutes left in the second quarter
Speaker 1: on a young Way coup field goal, and with less
Speaker 1: than thirty seconds to go in the half, Atlanta still
Speaker 1: had a three to nothing lead. That's when Falcons coach
Speaker 1: Arthur Smith did something he probably wouldn't do in the
Speaker 1: regular season. On fourth and five at the Bengals forty seven,
Speaker 1: he elected not to punt when that almost surely would
Speaker 1: have guaranteed a three point halftime lead. Fourth and five
Speaker 1: at the Cincinnati forty seven, the Bengals have one time
Speaker 1: out left twenty nine seconds remaining in the half, the
Speaker 1: Falcons leading by a field goal three to nothing. Two
Speaker 1: receivers left, two out to the right. Heineck is ready
Speaker 1: low snap, he catches under pressure, throws incomplete. The Bengals
Speaker 1: will get the ball near midfield with twenty five seconds
Speaker 1: left in the half and one time out to work
Speaker 1: with needing to gain about fifteen yards to give Evan
Speaker 1: McPherson a shot, and McPherson got that shot after Simeon
Speaker 1: completed back to back passes to rookies Charlie Jones and
Speaker 1: Andre Josi vash. Evan McPherson will attempt a fifty yard
Speaker 1: field goal. He was four for four last week with
Speaker 1: a long of fifty one, five for five from fifty
Speaker 1: plus during the regular season last year. Robbins is the holder.
Speaker 1: He places the ball down, the kick has plenty of
Speaker 1: distance and it is good money. Mack ties the game
Speaker 1: at three as the first half comes to an end.
Speaker 1: Simeon was seven for fourteen in the half with a
Speaker 1: passer rating of sixty two point two. Jake Browning took
Speaker 1: over in the second half and promptly drove the Bengals
Speaker 1: all the way to the Atlanta thirteen before settling for
Speaker 1: a field goal that gave Cincinnati a six to three lead.
Speaker 1: That lead lasted for less than four minutes. On first
Speaker 1: and goal inside the one, the Falcons line up in
Speaker 1: a pistol. Heinek catches a low snap, hands it off
Speaker 1: to Washington, and he goes over the right side of
Speaker 1: the offensive line for the Atlanta touchdown. The Falcons took
Speaker 1: a ten to six lead to the fourth quarter, but
Speaker 1: that was the only touchdown Atlanta scored. The Bengals defense
Speaker 1: had four sacks, nine quarterback hits, and four pass breakups.
Speaker 1: But after failing to score an offensive touchdown last week
Speaker 1: against Green Bay, it looked like that might be the
Speaker 1: case again. Third and nine, nine defenders right up on
Speaker 1: the line for Atlanta Browning back to throw. The pocket
Speaker 1: closes gets away from a sack. Browning stays behind the
Speaker 1: line side on the throw, intercepted at the forty two
Speaker 1: yard line. The pick happened with five and a half
Speaker 1: minutes left in the game. Fortunately for Browning in the Bengals,
Speaker 1: the defense not only got a three and out, but
Speaker 1: not the Falcons, forcing Atlanta to punt with roughly three
Speaker 1: minutes to go. On their twenty second possession of the preseason,
Speaker 1: the Bengals finally put together a touchdown drive clock running
Speaker 1: with two to oh seven left in regulation. Browning catches
Speaker 1: the shotgun snap, steps up in the pocket. Now he
Speaker 1: will take off and run. He's at the fifty middle
Speaker 1: of the field, forty down to the thirty seven, where
Speaker 1: he goes into a feed first slide, a nice scramble
Speaker 1: by Jake Browning. He ran for nineteen yards on that
Speaker 1: play and fourteen yards on the next play. An eighteen
Speaker 1: yard pass to Yosi vash moved the ball to the
Speaker 1: five yard line, and back to back runs by Chase
Speaker 1: Brown gave the Bengals the lead. Snap two, Browning hands
Speaker 1: it off to Chase Brown running right up the middle.
Speaker 1: It's a touchdown go. The Bengals score their first touchdown
Speaker 1: of the preseason. With fifty seconds left in regulation. They've
Speaker 1: taken a two point lead, with Evan mcpheerson coming out
Speaker 1: for the extra point.
Speaker 2: And I'll tell you Chase Brown he got He definitely
Speaker 2: crossed the goal line with the football, his shoulder, pads,
Speaker 2: his whole upper body cross that goal line. And this
Speaker 2: guy's got some thump now, he's got a low center
Speaker 2: of gravity. He gets under people's pads. That was a very,
Speaker 2: very explosive run up the gut.
Speaker 1: Brown finished with eighteen yards on nine carries and lap.
Speaker 1: Talk to him after the game.
Speaker 2: From preseason game number one to preseason game number two,
Speaker 2: what's the difference mentally and physically?
Speaker 4: Yeah, mentally, it was a huge jump specifically in protections.
Speaker 4: That was my goal this week to be you know,
Speaker 4: and all my checks on my routes, just making sure
Speaker 4: that we're keeping the quarterback clean. And that was something
Speaker 4: that I did today and you know that was That's
Speaker 4: what I was most happy about. Is just keep the
Speaker 4: quarterback up, you know, turn the chains over and just
Speaker 4: keep the offense on the field. Just give us more
Speaker 4: opportunities to put points on board.
Speaker 2: Another thing that is going to be a big factor
Speaker 2: for you of special teams. How'd that go today?
Speaker 4: No doubt.
Speaker 7: Definitely room for growth.
Speaker 4: But you know, had a kick off, a couple opportunities
Speaker 4: to return the ball, but only had that that squid
Speaker 4: at the end that I got to bring out. So
Speaker 4: definitely grow room to grow in that area. And uh,
Speaker 4: you know, I love teams. It's uh, you know a
Speaker 4: big part of the game, and you know, to to
Speaker 4: be a force in that phase, it's something I want
Speaker 4: to do this year.
Speaker 2: I mean, you've shown your ability to catch the football
Speaker 2: obviously great running back. There's you made people miss. I
Speaker 2: mean the thing that jumped out to me right away
Speaker 2: the first time I saw you on the field was
Speaker 2: your change of direction. I mean, your change of direction
Speaker 2: is unbelievable.
Speaker 4: I appreciate that something I work on a lot during
Speaker 4: the offseason, something that I got to use to my
Speaker 4: advantage in college, and I'm just trying to do that
Speaker 4: at the the NFL level.
Speaker 2: So what do you think, uh, in terms of as
Speaker 2: you look forward to preseason game number three, any early
Speaker 2: goals in mind?
Speaker 4: Yeah, just getting more comfortable. You know, this is my
Speaker 4: I'll be going to my third game with this team
Speaker 4: and honestly just being better than I was last week
Speaker 4: or you know, hence this game. So just go out
Speaker 4: there next week at the w.
Speaker 7: And and just compete.
Speaker 4: Just put put good, good tape out there, because that's
Speaker 4: a resume for everybody out here, and you know, be
Speaker 4: the last time we get to really play together before
Speaker 4: the regular season.
Speaker 2: You're a quality guy. This is this football team has
Speaker 2: got a unique chemistry to it. Did you sense that
Speaker 2: right away?
Speaker 4: Yeah, it seems like stepped in the locker room, you know,
Speaker 4: when I got to meet everybody, and then even spending
Speaker 4: time with the guys outside of the building, you know,
Speaker 4: you just realize that everybody's so close. The relationships not
Speaker 4: only on offense but on defense. You know, they're They're
Speaker 4: connected everywhere. You know, everybody's close, everybody spends time with
Speaker 4: each other. So I think that's a big part in
Speaker 4: team success on the field and just chemistry overall rounds.
Speaker 1: Touchdown run gave Cincinnati a thirteen to ten lead with
Speaker 1: fifty seconds to go, but with former Bengals draft pick
Speaker 1: Logan woodside and at quarterback, the Falcons were able to
Speaker 1: gain fifty three yards on three passes and play for
Speaker 1: the tie. Since there's no overtime in the preseason. Six
Speaker 1: seconds left in regulation, the Bengals up by three pinion.
Speaker 1: The punter is the holder to snap the placement. The
Speaker 1: kick is on its way, and it is good good.
Speaker 1: The final score thirteen to thirteen. It was the third
Speaker 1: preseason tie in Bengals history, and their first since nineteen
Speaker 1: seventy one. Here are Joseph Osai and Charlie Jones.
Speaker 5: How does it type feel?
Speaker 2: It's kind of weird.
Speaker 3: It feels kind of weird, but you know, it is
Speaker 3: what it is. Like Costillis was saying, we took a
Speaker 3: lot of positives from this game, and.
Speaker 1: These words are just going to take that and roll
Speaker 1: with it.
Speaker 5: I guess it's better than a loss.
Speaker 1: What was that about the feeling.
Speaker 8: I guess so obviously would like to get to win,
Speaker 8: but you know, ty, I guess it's better than the lost,
Speaker 8: and next week we're looking for that win for sure.
Speaker 1: Jake Browning went sixteen for twenty two that's seventy two
Speaker 1: percent for one hundred and forty yards, with no touchdowns,
Speaker 1: one pick, and a passer rating of seventy point three.
Speaker 1: He was also the Bengals leading rusher with four carries
Speaker 1: for fifty yards. Here's what he had to say after
Speaker 1: the game. Jake, it through full one for you ran
Speaker 1: for fifty. How'd you feel about your performance?
Speaker 5: Felt good?
Speaker 9: I felt like we were able to move the ball
Speaker 9: up and down, kind of stalled out a little bit
Speaker 9: in the red zone. The one really, the one pick
Speaker 9: is the throw out one back, but we're able to
Speaker 9: bounce back and have a good two minute drive at
Speaker 9: the end and extend some plays, and yeah, I feel pretty.
Speaker 2: Good about it.
Speaker 1: The touchdown drive came immediately after the interception. How important,
Speaker 1: Wizard for you to bounce back after that and play
Speaker 1: some of your best football. I mean it was important
Speaker 1: because we were losing two.
Speaker 9: But yeah, I think it's good to show like Obviously
Speaker 9: the pick was about decision.
Speaker 1: He just got too aggressive.
Speaker 9: But I think it's good to put on tape that
Speaker 9: I'll bounce back and you know, have a short memory
Speaker 9: on it. It's always good for quarterbacks. So I would
Speaker 9: say more importantly, we were losing, so under the score.
Speaker 1: We're talking to Jake Browning back to back runs on
Speaker 1: that final drive nineteen yards and fourteen yards. You showed
Speaker 1: that your legs can be an important part of your game.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 9: I mean they're just playing a lot of man and
Speaker 9: so when you break the pocket, there's no one really there,
Speaker 9: and so yeah, some of the reids, I mean I
Speaker 9: thought it was good protection and all. That was just
Speaker 9: some of the reids weren't there, maybe have a plan
Speaker 9: to do a bad look and just try to extend
Speaker 9: the offense.
Speaker 1: Hadn't scored a touchdown yet in the preseason until that
Speaker 1: final drive. Was it a relief to punch one in
Speaker 1: the end zone.
Speaker 9: Yeah, kind of like earlier. I mean, we were losing,
Speaker 9: so it was more so it's nice to take the
Speaker 9: lead at the end. But yeah, I'm always trying to
Speaker 9: score touchdown, So that was good.
Speaker 1: I took the lead with fifty seconds to go, game
Speaker 1: winds up in a tie. What's the emotion after a time?
Speaker 9: I don't know if you told me, I've never died before,
Speaker 9: so yeah, I mean, I think with preseason, you're you know,
Speaker 9: obviously trying to put out good tape in the situation
Speaker 9: I'm in and play well, so I feel like I
Speaker 9: played well. It's nice to get a lot of tape
Speaker 9: and be able to kind of see yourself in game
Speaker 9: situations so you can keep getting better and keep having
Speaker 9: things to work on and have some strengths or have
Speaker 9: some plays that went well that you can build onto.
Speaker 1: Trying to make your case to be Joe's backup.
Speaker 9: Do you think tonight helped? I don't know, just trying
Speaker 9: to play well. That's someone else's decision and not in
Speaker 9: my hand. So trying to play well, and like I said,
Speaker 9: I'm getting a lot of tape in practice and in
Speaker 9: the game and trying to make the most out of that.
Speaker 1: Where building all the good.
Speaker 9: Stuff and correcting some of the stuff I can get
Speaker 9: better at telling a solid performance.
Speaker 1: Thank you. The Bengals Booth podcast is brought to you
Speaker 1: by pay Corps. More than twenty nine thousand customers trust
Speaker 1: Paycorps to help them recruit, pay, engage and retain employees.
Speaker 1: Learn more at paycorp dot com. The only offensive starter
Speaker 1: to play in it was Jonah Williams, who got his
Speaker 1: first eleven NFL snaps at right tackle on the opening drive.
Speaker 1: I wouldn't expect the other offensive starters to play much,
Speaker 1: if at all, next week at Washington, as Zach Taylor
Speaker 1: continues to prioritize getting them to the open or healthy
Speaker 1: over getting them a taste of live action in the preseason.
Speaker 1: Zach spent a few minutes with Lap after the tie.
Speaker 10: Well, I wish we would pull it out there at
Speaker 10: the end. It was good to see, you know, defenses
Speaker 10: on the field quite a bit, especially in the first half,
Speaker 10: held them the three points. Offense was able to finally
Speaker 10: put together drive there at the end of the game
Speaker 10: to get in the end zone. And then, you know,
Speaker 10: we had some tough personnel issues to you know, we
Speaker 10: had to play basically a mult school four to three
Speaker 10: with three linebackers in the field and a little challenging
Speaker 10: with some of the coverages. Those guys had to play
Speaker 10: that they don't really major in, so just needed someone
Speaker 10: to step up and make a play. Unfortunately, they got
Speaker 10: that field goal off.
Speaker 2: So that that last drive was was ah almost Murphy's
Speaker 2: live then could go wrong? Did go wrong? Personnel a lot?
Speaker 10: Well, you're just out of dbs at that point, so
Speaker 10: you know you're putting linebackers in there, trying to make
Speaker 10: it work, trying to furthermore, no huddle to a minute,
Speaker 10: you know, trying to get the calls into them. So again,
Speaker 10: that's just good experience for those guys and we'll have
Speaker 10: a chance to coach them off in the film Rum Nomore.
Speaker 2: So your two quarterbacks looked like they stepped up their
Speaker 2: performance from last week to this week.
Speaker 10: Would you agree there was good things, you know, situationally
Speaker 10: at the end of both haves to lead us down
Speaker 10: and have to manage and in no huddle situations, they
Speaker 10: had to make some checks, they had to do a
Speaker 10: good job redirecting the protections. I thought they both showed
Speaker 10: some really good things to night.
Speaker 2: What about special teams? What did you think when you
Speaker 2: took a look at what was going on out there
Speaker 2: from a special team standpoint?
Speaker 10: Yeah, you know, we didn't get a lot of We
Speaker 10: got three punts, I think one punt return, So I
Speaker 10: thought there were some positives that showed up in terms
Speaker 10: of covering kicks, I thought that went well. You know,
Speaker 10: we had the one penalty on one of our returns
Speaker 10: that that's maybe a little questionable. You know, it was tight,
Speaker 10: But overall I thought that they performed.
Speaker 2: There were some close plays you challenge none of none
Speaker 2: of those went you went your way, unfortunately. But really,
Speaker 2: I mean some of your young guys. I thought Brown
Speaker 2: showed some things. You'll see Vass showed some things. Guys
Speaker 2: that you thought might show some things in preseason game
Speaker 2: number two stepped up and did.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 10: I thought there was positives from a lot of the
Speaker 10: guys on this team, more so than last week. I
Speaker 10: thought we played better complimentary football, just unfortunately, we weren't
Speaker 10: able to get the ball in the end zone enough
Speaker 10: to score off and win a game.
Speaker 2: What about the offensive line, the young group upfront, that
Speaker 2: they performed better for you this week than last I.
Speaker 10: Think, you know, in past pro I thought those guys
Speaker 10: had time, and certainly it's the quarterbacks job to move,
Speaker 10: you know, when when they're playing so much main coverage
Speaker 10: and matching some of our concepts, he needs a little
Speaker 10: bit more time. And so I thought they did a
Speaker 10: good job fitting off those guys up front.
Speaker 2: So when you look ahead to preseason game number three,
Speaker 2: what are your thoughts. You're basically got another week of
Speaker 2: training camp for a preseason game that's going to be
Speaker 2: followed up by a week of work. What are your
Speaker 2: thoughts as you lay out in your mind which going
Speaker 2: to do next week?
Speaker 10: Well, it's a big work week for us. We get
Speaker 10: four practices, four pad of practices, so we'll get a
Speaker 10: chance to evaluate how we want to play the game.
Speaker 10: And we've already made some decisions how we want to practice,
Speaker 10: so it'll be a great opportunity for those guys to
Speaker 10: get after it a couple times and then we'll make
Speaker 10: some decisions on how we're going to.
Speaker 2: Play the game. The real good thing, I think both teams.
Speaker 2: I didn't see anybody, you know, in major trouble. From
Speaker 2: an injury standpoint, it looked like both teams get out
Speaker 2: of this fairly healthy. Knock on wood wherever it may be,
Speaker 2: I think.
Speaker 10: So maybe there might be a couple of guys that
Speaker 10: are day to day, but other than that, I think
Speaker 10: we're pretty cool.
Speaker 2: Appreciate your time as always, Thank you.
Speaker 1: The next week's game at Washington will start at six pm.
Speaker 1: It was originally a day game, but got pushed back
Speaker 1: because Notre Dame faces Navy in Ireland that afternoon and
Speaker 1: the two games air on the same TV station in Washington.
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth podcast is brought to you by Alta
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Speaker 1: Now time for the radio guy's recap.
Speaker 5: Tie is like kissing your sister.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but it's better.
Speaker 5: Than a loss.
Speaker 2: It is better than a loss. But you know, not
Speaker 2: being able to stop them with less than a minute
Speaker 2: ago is disappointing. Obviously, a lot of guys ended on
Speaker 2: a down note as a result of that. You know,
Speaker 2: Zach was telling me in the postgame show I did
Speaker 2: with him that, you know, the personnel that was left
Speaker 2: for them to work with, they had to have a
Speaker 2: lot of linebackers out there, enough defensive backs. Some guys
Speaker 2: get nicked up and they were a little bit hamstrung
Speaker 2: and as to what they could do from a coverage standpoint,
Speaker 2: and it had taken advantage of a big time you know,
Speaker 2: obviously you're hopeful somebody steps up and makes the play.
Speaker 2: But what was not meant to be.
Speaker 1: The Bengals went nearly eight preseason quarters without scoring an
Speaker 1: offensive touchdown, but they got one with fifty seconds to go.
Speaker 1: How big of a relief do you think that is
Speaker 1: for the offense and coordinated Brian Gallaghan?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's a load off their minds and
Speaker 2: their shoulders. Eight plays, eighty yards, two minutes, twenty five seconds.
Speaker 2: Hadn't scored a touchdown in a one hundred and nineteen
Speaker 2: minutes and ten seconds and got it done. Six of
Speaker 2: eight plays in that drive went for first down. So
Speaker 2: Browning was four for forty two yards, two rushes for
Speaker 2: thirty three more. I mean he was seventy five of
Speaker 2: the of the eighty yards he accounted for. So it
Speaker 2: was a big night for brown to get his first
Speaker 2: NFL touchdown. He was very excited about that. He said,
Speaker 2: it's almost a surreal feeling. And I kind of know
Speaker 2: what he means. I mean, just playing in your first
Speaker 2: NFL game this was the second one. But doing something
Speaker 2: in the early stage of your career, even if it's preseason,
Speaker 2: it's a rush. There's no doubt. It's an adrenaline rush.
Speaker 1: Let's get back to quarterback Jake Browning. He threw for
Speaker 1: one forty, he ran for fifty between training camp in
Speaker 1: two preseason games as of right now. Do you think
Speaker 1: he is the leader? I would done think it'd be
Speaker 1: able to buy a wide margin. But if so, do
Speaker 1: you think he's the leader in the battle to be
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow's back up?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean it's it's it's coming down the home stretch,
Speaker 2: you know, And I think that you know, when you
Speaker 2: look at it. Trevor Simeon had some had some issues
Speaker 2: finishing up in the in the second half of the
Speaker 2: football game. Browning was finishing up in the second half
Speaker 2: of the football game with different personnel and you get
Speaker 2: earlier in the football game and he was able to,
Speaker 2: you know, make some play. So it's good to have options.
Speaker 2: It's good to that it's competitive. It's good that they
Speaker 2: have to make a decision, just like a lot of
Speaker 2: roster decisions that you have to make. It's not it's
Speaker 2: not a landslide, it's a it's a it's a battle,
Speaker 2: and it could come down to that very last preseason game.
Speaker 2: You know who who ends up, you know, making more plays.
Speaker 2: But I do think that they've evaluated every single you know,
Speaker 2: seven on seven, eleven on eleven, all through OTA's mini camp,
Speaker 2: training camp. I mean, they've got a water paper from
Speaker 2: an evaluation standpoint, the water tape, you know, from an
Speaker 2: evaluation standpoint. So it doesn't come down to just a
Speaker 2: drive or a series or a game.
Speaker 1: And I should make it clear. I didn't think Simeon
Speaker 1: was bad at all. He had had great drive at
Speaker 1: the end of the half to get the Bengals on
Speaker 1: the board, had a good drive on the opening possession.
Speaker 1: They went for it on fourth and too where they
Speaker 1: would have kicked the field goal, So he was pretty good.
Speaker 1: I just thought Brownie was better, and the difference is
Speaker 1: probably his legs.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I thought that that he did a really good
Speaker 2: job of taking full advantage of, you know, real estate
Speaker 2: that he could take advantage of. You know, he was
Speaker 2: lamenting the interception and he basically said what my reaction
Speaker 2: was when it took place, you know, it was just
Speaker 2: kind of press them a little bit, trying to do
Speaker 2: too much too soon. I mean, was there was still
Speaker 2: plenty of time in the game. You didn't have to
Speaker 2: try to force a play like that at that stage.
Speaker 2: And you know he was lamenting that very thing, but
Speaker 2: instead of crying in his beer, he just, you know,
Speaker 2: how do you handle adversity? That's a big key, you know,
Speaker 2: you know, is a guy gonna crumble or is a
Speaker 2: guy gonna jump up and say, I can you know,
Speaker 2: put that aside. I can departmentalize I'm gonna move on
Speaker 2: and make plays. And he did it. Credit him.
Speaker 1: Defensively, Mike Hilton and Joseph Osai combined for the big play,
Speaker 1: the interception on the Falcons opening drive. If you had
Speaker 1: to pick out, I'd kind of under the radar defensive guy.
Speaker 1: Raymond Johnson showed up in a big way. He was
Speaker 1: on the Bengals practice squad last year, but he made
Speaker 1: several impressive plays.
Speaker 2: He did, and it was probably against competition. He felt
Speaker 2: like he should step up and make those plays. But
Speaker 2: he made them, you know, and maybe next week he'll
Speaker 2: get in the rotation a little bit sooner and play
Speaker 2: against you know, maybe a cut above caliber player. That's
Speaker 2: the thing that from a coaching standpoint, it's like, you know,
Speaker 2: you're evaluating the plays and you're evaluating normally what your
Speaker 2: guy is doing, but who is he doing it against?
Speaker 2: You know, and and and that's that's a that's a
Speaker 2: tough curve sometimes, you know, to try to try to
Speaker 2: grade it fairly, But in my mind, the bottom line is,
Speaker 2: you know, either you make plays you don't, and he
Speaker 2: made he made some splash plays. I mean, he flashed
Speaker 2: in this football game.
Speaker 1: I only remember one sack. Did you feel like the
Speaker 1: offensive line was at least better than Week one?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I thought it was. I thought that, you know
Speaker 2: that they played with a lower pad level, a wider base,
Speaker 2: all the things that you want to play with. You know,
Speaker 2: when when it gets going full speed like that, sometimes
Speaker 2: you're you know, you're in a survival mode and all
Speaker 2: your technique and everything you've worked on so long just
Speaker 2: kind of goes out the window and you're just scuffling. Man.
Speaker 2: You just you're just fighting to survive. And I think
Speaker 2: they were. I thought they were more disciplined in the
Speaker 2: way they played. I thought they were penalized less. And
Speaker 2: I thought their technique and in the way they approached
Speaker 2: it was much better.
Speaker 1: The defense played a series. Jona Williams played a little bit.
Speaker 1: That was it for the starters. And I don't think
Speaker 1: we're going to see them in the final preseason game
Speaker 1: next week of Washington.
Speaker 2: It doesn't sound like it really doesn't. And honestly, to
Speaker 2: get through this game as healthy as they did when
Speaker 2: they did play everybody and let's face it, the you
Speaker 2: know the number ones were out there for fifteen snaps
Speaker 2: on defense. Yeah, on defense, I mean it was you
Speaker 2: know they were they were out there for literally two
Speaker 2: series or three series in a normal football game. And
Speaker 2: because of the player Mike Hilton and assignmid they didn't
Speaker 2: give up any points, you know, so it was the
Speaker 2: best of both worlds. I get tested cardiovascly, physically, you know,
Speaker 2: really got in the flow of how do you perform
Speaker 2: when you are fatigue mode at the end of a
Speaker 2: long drive. And there are a lot of good things
Speaker 2: that you can take from that game, from that drive.
Speaker 2: So if you're going to only play one series in
Speaker 2: a preseason, that's not a bad one to have been
Speaker 2: a part of because a lot of things took place
Speaker 2: during the course of that thing.
Speaker 1: Make sure your grandkids know that Buddy's going to get
Speaker 1: home very late after a preseason road game in Atlanta,
Speaker 1: and Buddy needs to sleep in on Saturday morning.
Speaker 2: He needs to sleep in. I know, I know there
Speaker 2: were some early games tomorrow morning, But guys, I don't
Speaker 2: know if I'm going to make it. I don't know.
Speaker 2: I might sleep through that alarm clock. I don't think
Speaker 2: I'm going to hear that alarm clock. It's it's it's.
Speaker 2: The games are in jeopardy, is all I can say.
Speaker 1: Hopefully Lap is well rested and his grandkids understand. The
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth podcast is brought to you by Bengals Picks
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Speaker 1: Now time for this week's edition of fun Facts, where
Speaker 1: you get to know the person under the pads. Time
Speaker 1: for some fun facts. A rookie linebacker Shaka Hayward. Let's
Speaker 1: start with your last name, Hayward. Yep, you are the
Speaker 1: cousin of Cameron Hayward, the six time Pro bowler with
Speaker 1: the Steelers. His brother Connor also plays for the Steelers. Right,
Speaker 1: how has the Hayward name impacted your path to the NFL?
Speaker 8: You know, I'd come from a strong family, So that's
Speaker 8: just that name, just it just brings all the things
Speaker 8: you know a man should be in our family. You know,
Speaker 8: being the the leader of the family is just just
Speaker 8: being a hard, hard nos guy, blue collar, working hard,
Speaker 8: you know, stuff like that.
Speaker 1: You're from Tequila, Georgia, about thirty miles away from Atlanta.
Speaker 1: How would you describe your hometown.
Speaker 8: It's a small hometown, but it's grown, you know, that's
Speaker 8: north side of Atlanta, Metro. Atlanta's really growing now. It's
Speaker 8: always been a good area. A lot of guys come
Speaker 8: out of their highly recruited football players come out of there.
Speaker 7: They got good football down there.
Speaker 1: We're visiting with rookie linebacker Shaka Hayward. Were you completely
Speaker 1: focused on sports as a kid or did you have
Speaker 1: any other interests?
Speaker 8: Yeah, pretty much these focused on sports. I would do football, baseball,
Speaker 8: I got into basketball a few years, and then once
Speaker 8: I got a high school, pretty much stuck with football.
Speaker 1: When it came time for college, you chose Duke all
Speaker 1: right for the athletics or the academics.
Speaker 7: You know both.
Speaker 8: You know, I wouldn't go to the school like that
Speaker 8: just to you know, play Foodvises wanted to take advantage
Speaker 8: of both sides of the of the coin there, so
Speaker 8: you know, they got great academics and football.
Speaker 1: You're majors listed as evolutionary anthropology. How would you describe
Speaker 1: that field of study.
Speaker 8: I liked it, you know, I just like learning about
Speaker 8: the history of you know, humans and you know, other
Speaker 8: animals over time and how we just developed as a species.
Speaker 5: How hard was Duke?
Speaker 8: Well, I had great academic advisors, academic advisors which made
Speaker 8: it easy for me to you know, be able to
Speaker 8: stay ahead of my classes and stuff like that.
Speaker 7: So not too bad.
Speaker 1: You were a four year starter at Duke and a
Speaker 1: two time winner of the Vincent Ray Award, which goes
Speaker 1: to the team's top linebacker. Vincent Ray, of course, is
Speaker 1: Vinnie Ray, former Bengal team Chaplain. Have you two guys
Speaker 1: hit it off since you got here?
Speaker 7: Oh? Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 8: I was talking to him throughout the you know, the
Speaker 8: draft process, and he just told me to, you know,
Speaker 8: keep working, watch a lot of film. Yeah, but we've
Speaker 8: been He's been a great mentor for me on and
Speaker 8: off the field, just about life in general. So yeah,
Speaker 8: he's been great ever since I met him and through Duke,
Speaker 8: So he's been great.
Speaker 1: You were invited to the NFL Combine ran a four
Speaker 1: five three forty, which was in the top ten among linebackers.
Speaker 1: You played in the East West Shrine Game. Tell me
Speaker 1: a little bit about the lead up to the draft
Speaker 1: and your preparation for trying to earn a spot with
Speaker 1: an NFL team.
Speaker 7: It was good, you know.
Speaker 8: I tried to do everything I could, you know, maximize
Speaker 8: my potential in the draft by like you said, having
Speaker 8: a good top ten forty, you know, not testing well
Speaker 8: and stuff like that.
Speaker 7: But when it comes down.
Speaker 8: To football, also trying to sharpen my skills because I
Speaker 8: know the combine is just testing numbers, but when you
Speaker 8: get to the league, it's more about, you know, how
Speaker 8: efficient you are as a mover. You know, it's not
Speaker 8: really how fast you run the forty. You got to
Speaker 8: be able to read offenses, you know, react to different things.
Speaker 8: So it's just tying it all together.
Speaker 5: Was it disappointing not to be drafted.
Speaker 8: Yeah, I was disappointed, but they gave me a little
Speaker 8: a chip on my shoulder definitely, you know, heading into
Speaker 8: the heading into UTA's with the Bengals to just prove myself,
Speaker 8: to prove that I'm somebody that you know, they need
Speaker 8: on the team.
Speaker 1: Had you talked to the Bengals in the pre draft
Speaker 1: process and why did you wind up signing with Cincinnati.
Speaker 7: Yeah, so I.
Speaker 8: Talked with coach Betch and coach Kovacs. I can't remember.
Speaker 8: I definitely had a zoom meeting with a coach Becher
Speaker 8: and we just talked football and he asked me a
Speaker 8: lot of good questions just about the stuff that we
Speaker 8: were in just knowing like the whole defense, knowing what
Speaker 8: the the moves were, what the possibilities were from the offensive, uh,
Speaker 8: from offense standpoints like the routes or the run game,
Speaker 8: stuff like that. We talked about a lot of you know,
Speaker 8: things that he wanted to do to work with me. Uh,
Speaker 8: you know, once I got here, and if I got here,
Speaker 8: like on with the Bengals, felt like they had a
Speaker 8: good culture, you know, talking to the UH coach, I
Speaker 8: felt like they had a good winning culture.
Speaker 7: And when I got here, everyone.
Speaker 8: Was really you know, obviously professional, but they're obviously trying
Speaker 8: to be like the best that they could and to
Speaker 8: just push each other and that just that's like the
Speaker 8: kind of environment I wanted to be around. So that's
Speaker 8: why I chose one to the Bengals.
Speaker 1: Some wild card topics now for rookie linebacker Shaka Hayward
Speaker 1: who's your all time favorite athlete in any sport and why.
Speaker 7: I don't have to go Mike Tyson.
Speaker 8: Just how relentless he was, how fearless he was, and uh,
Speaker 8: you know in the ring, and he just always talking
Speaker 8: about being in that mode, not even being able to
Speaker 8: turn it off even when he goes home, which is
Speaker 8: you know, not necessarily a great thing, but actually shows
Speaker 8: you know, like how locked in he was and how
Speaker 8: like determined he was to be just like the best.
Speaker 1: So what do you like to spend your money on?
Speaker 7: Mm I really don't like to spend the money at all.
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, that's a good trade for a rookie.
Speaker 8: If anything else, you know, take my parents to a
Speaker 8: nice place, you know, spend time with family uther than football.
Speaker 5: What was your favorite part of being a Duke student.
Speaker 8: Just connecting with the other uh students or student athletes,
Speaker 8: like on campus. You know, they're all like the best
Speaker 8: at what they do, whether that's you know, being an engineer, mathematicians, lacrosse, soccer.
Speaker 8: They're all just like the at the top of their line.
Speaker 8: So it was great being around them.
Speaker 1: It is an impressive student body. Final question for Shaka Heyward.
Speaker 1: This one's kind of deep. If you could meet anybody
Speaker 1: in history living or deceased, could be an athlete, entertainer, statesman,
Speaker 1: whoever it might be. Who would that person be? Shaka Zulu.
Speaker 1: He was a leader of the uh Zulu nation in
Speaker 1: South Africa. And you know, I I think it'd be
Speaker 1: cool because I'm named after him, so I think it'd
Speaker 1: be cool to obviously meet him. And you know, see
Speaker 1: who just pick his brand about just being a fearless
Speaker 1: leader that he was back.
Speaker 7: In the day.
Speaker 5: So Shakazula, Yep, that's right, yep, Shaka.
Speaker 1: Heyward, best of luck the rest of the preseason, and
Speaker 1: thanks for the time.
Speaker 7: All right, thank you, I appreciate it.
Speaker 1: That's going to do it for this episode of the
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Speaker 1: I'm Dan Hord and thanks for listening to the Bengals
Speaker 1: Booth podcast