Speaker 1: I get everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: the Bengals Booth Podcast. The Monday morning you should look fine. Addition,
Speaker 1: as we get your work week started with an in
Speaker 1: depth look at last night's preseason lost to the New
Speaker 1: York Giants. Coming up, you'll hear radio replays, postgame comments
Speaker 1: and analysis form my broadcast partner Dave Lapham. Then, in
Speaker 1: this week's fun Facts segment, you'll hear from a Bengals
Speaker 1: defensive lineman who has already played in twelve professional football
Speaker 1: games this year. The Bengals Booth Podcast is presented by
Speaker 1: Ultimate Bengals. Download Ultimate Bengals ahead of the twenty twenty
Speaker 1: two season. It's free to play next level fantasy football
Speaker 1: with fantastic Bengals prizes. Get it now on the App
Speaker 1: Store and Google Play. And here's a quick reminder that
Speaker 1: you can have the latest edition of this podcast delivered
Speaker 1: right to your phone, tablet, or computer by scribing wherever
Speaker 1: you get your podcasts. It's the greatest thing since the
Speaker 1: Statue of Liberty. The Bengals team hotel this weekend in
Speaker 1: Jersey City, New Jersey, provided a beautiful view of the
Speaker 1: New York City skyline and if you stood in the
Speaker 1: right spot, you could see the Statue of Liberty in
Speaker 1: the New York Harbor. It's not only a magnificent structure
Speaker 1: and a symbol of freedom to people all over the world,
Speaker 1: but it has personal meaning for me. As a young boy.
Speaker 1: My grandfather arrived in the US on a boat from Sweden,
Speaker 1: and it was among the millions of immigrants whose first
Speaker 1: stop in the US was Ellis Island, just a short
Speaker 1: distance from the Statue of Liberty. Now time to recap
Speaker 1: Sunday night's game at MetLife Stadium. Here's a stat for you.
Speaker 1: On the bengals first four possessions. Their average drive start
Speaker 1: was the Giant's thirty five yard line. They stopped the
Speaker 1: Giants on fourth and one near midfield. New York's first possession,
Speaker 1: then came up with a takeaway on the second, second,
Speaker 1: and fourth. The Bengals forty three play action fake. Here's
Speaker 1: a throw and it is intercepted by a diving Dax Hill.
Speaker 1: He's back on his feet running toward midfield and he
Speaker 1: gets tackled at the fifty. It was a high pass
Speaker 1: intended for tight end Daniel Bellinger. It glanced off his
Speaker 1: fingertips and Dax Hill laid out to make a diving
Speaker 1: interception after nearly having an end zone interception in his
Speaker 1: debut last week. The Bengals first round draft pick came
Speaker 1: away with that spectacular I NT on Sunday night. Here's
Speaker 1: fellow safety Michael Thomas Scott limifer kid, I mean, athletic,
Speaker 1: very fast, So it's great a celebration even every day
Speaker 1: at practice. But to be able to go make those
Speaker 1: splash plays coming away with that diving interception today, I mean,
Speaker 1: that's game change. And that's why you know, I told him,
Speaker 1: you play in these preseason games, go show him what
Speaker 1: he gots, Go prove like why you're here. And for
Speaker 1: him to go make a play like that, I mean
Speaker 1: in the showcases talents, even in the preseason game. I
Speaker 1: mean especially you almost had won the first preseason game
Speaker 1: we played, which would have been phenomenal for him to
Speaker 1: come away with the interception today. Um, and he's just
Speaker 1: taking a nixt step to improve his game and so
Speaker 1: he'd be, you know, a game changing player in his NFL.
Speaker 1: Cincinnati turned hills pick into points as a fifty yard
Speaker 1: field goal by Evan McPherson made it three nothing at
Speaker 1: the end of the first quarter. Most of the Giant starters,
Speaker 1: including quarterback Daniel Jones, played into the second quarter, and
Speaker 1: a short touchdown run gave New York a seven three lead.
Speaker 1: But for the third straight possession, the Bengals got the
Speaker 1: ball in tremendous field position to no kicks off, it's
Speaker 1: returnable for Evans. Catches at the three, running slowly now,
Speaker 1: he accelerates to the twenty twenty five thirty, up the
Speaker 1: sideline to the forty, being chased by gun. The kicker
Speaker 1: came come out of eyes Evans all the way down
Speaker 1: to the twenty two yard line. A tremendous return by
Speaker 1: Chris Evans. No flagdown, so unlike last week where he
Speaker 1: had a couple of big plays called back due to penalties.
Speaker 1: Chris Evans flips the field with a great kickoff return.
Speaker 1: Cam Brown saved the touchdown that was a seventy three
Speaker 1: yard return. Unfortunately, the offense promptly went backwards, losing two
Speaker 1: yards before kicking another field goal. The Bengals were down
Speaker 1: seven to six before getting the ball right back. McPherson
Speaker 1: kicks it short board, charging forward, catches at the five,
Speaker 1: up the near side numerals to the twenty boss knocked
Speaker 1: out hits loose at the fifteen. We've got a pile
Speaker 1: near the fifteen yard line. Who's got the strongest hands
Speaker 1: and risks Bengals were saying they got it at the
Speaker 1: bottom of that pile. That would be massive. Michael Thomas
Speaker 1: forced the fumble and was thrilled that KeAndre Jones recovered
Speaker 1: it for the Bengals at the fifteen yard line. We're here,
Speaker 1: Darren talking about it all the time, and you get
Speaker 1: underneath that pile. He's just like, I don't want to know,
Speaker 1: I don't want to hear anybody, but you do whatever
Speaker 1: you gotta do to me. So you come out of
Speaker 1: the pile of that boss. I mean, I'm glad our
Speaker 1: guys were able to get on it. If I could
Speaker 1: be completely honest, I had no idea the ball came out.
Speaker 1: I just wanted to make the tackler and put a
Speaker 1: good hit on him. Then, but that's a theme. Then
Speaker 1: we all want to go get the ball. Year's main
Speaker 1: pritt say it every day, pray, it's all about the ball.
Speaker 1: Got to get the ball game. Tang that plays on
Speaker 1: special teams like we want to take the next step
Speaker 1: with this unit. But once again, the offense didn't fully capitalize,
Speaker 1: gaining just two yards in three plays. Evan McPherson kicked
Speaker 1: his third field goal and the Bengals led nine to
Speaker 1: seven at the half after managing just two first downs
Speaker 1: in the first two quarters. The Bengals left starting quarterback
Speaker 1: Brandon Allen in the game to start the second half,
Speaker 1: and the offense finally clicked, putting together a seventy five
Speaker 1: yard touchdown drive. Three receivers right, one out, wide, to
Speaker 1: the left. They give it to Tray Williams and he
Speaker 1: busted into the end zone, standing up for the Bengals touchdown.
Speaker 1: That two yard run by Trevion Williams gave the Bengals
Speaker 1: a sixteen seven lead going to the fourth quarter, but
Speaker 1: the Giants scored on three straight possessions, a field goal
Speaker 1: made at sixteen to ten before New York took the
Speaker 1: lead with nine minutes to go. Webb catches the shotgun
Speaker 1: snap looking left, throws crossing route, caught by Bockman. He's
Speaker 1: at the ten. The five dives for the pylon. Did
Speaker 1: he step out first? No, it's a touchdown for the Giants.
Speaker 1: Webb added a two point conversion run to give the
Speaker 1: Giants an eighteen sixteen lead, but with Jake Browning in
Speaker 1: a quarterback, the Bengals answered with an eighty three yard
Speaker 1: drive to go back in front with roughly three minutes
Speaker 1: to go. It's a hand off the jack Quz Patrick
Speaker 1: lowers the shoulder pads and takes it into the end zone.
Speaker 1: Touchdown Bengals with three h five to go. I'm telling
Speaker 1: you he scores in touch football. With a twenty two
Speaker 1: to eighteen lead, the Bengals went for two. Browning back
Speaker 1: to throw. Now, he takes off, scrambling right, floats into
Speaker 1: the end zone and it's dropped by Quamie Lassitor. A
Speaker 1: perfect throw for a two point conversion, and Lasseter flat
Speaker 1: out dropped what should have been a two point score.
Speaker 1: Oh man, he took his eyes off. It was unfortunate
Speaker 1: for Lasseter, who otherwise had a terrific game with seven
Speaker 1: catches for ninety one yards. Now it was up to
Speaker 1: the defense to protect the lead. From the fifteen yard line,
Speaker 1: the Bengals up by four. Here comes a blitz Web
Speaker 1: throws caught at the ten Bachman gets away from Delante
Speaker 1: Hood and runs it into the end zone for the
Speaker 1: go ahead touchdown. That TD with thirty five seconds to go,
Speaker 1: gave the Giants at twenty five twenty two win. Here's
Speaker 1: rookie Cordell Volson, who played the entire game, had left guard.
Speaker 1: We just got to close the game out. We had
Speaker 1: an opportunity there in the third quarter to go up
Speaker 1: two scores, and you know, we didn't do it. We
Speaker 1: gotta take advantage of the opportunities that we have, and
Speaker 1: when we have the opportunity to put a game out
Speaker 1: of reach, we have to go and do it. The
Speaker 1: star for the Giants was wide receiver Alex Bachman, who
Speaker 1: did a pretty convincing Cooper Cup imitation with eleven catches
Speaker 1: for one hundred twenty two yards and two touchdowns. But
Speaker 1: the best individual performance on either roster was turned in
Speaker 1: by Bengals linebacker Clay Johnston, who had twenty tackles twenty
Speaker 1: including a quarterback sack. When I approached his locker after
Speaker 1: the game, two nearby teammates looked at me and said
Speaker 1: twenty with on their voices. Johnston was hunched over on
Speaker 1: his chair. There was a purplish welt on the back
Speaker 1: of his right shoulder and two deep cuts above his
Speaker 1: right knee where it looked like he had been stabbed.
Speaker 1: It had to be painful. But what hurt Clay the
Speaker 1: most was the final score twenty tackles. I'm not sure
Speaker 1: I've ever seen that before in a preseason game. You
Speaker 1: are clearly exhausted, But how do you feel about the performance.
Speaker 1: I'm not even trying to be that guy, but I
Speaker 1: wasn't get enough. We screwed up on the two minute
Speaker 1: they went down and they just scored, So that wasn't
Speaker 1: good enough. Special teams wise. It was probably my worst
Speaker 1: game I had, But I mean I was just trying
Speaker 1: to I was trying to just fly around do the
Speaker 1: best I could. I was thankful they let me play,
Speaker 1: and I just gotta keep getting better. I thought we
Speaker 1: had it and we just kind of gave it up
Speaker 1: in that two minute period. We should have helped the
Speaker 1: offense out in that period. Just kind of it was
Speaker 1: a dagger to the heart right there. That hurt. I
Speaker 1: hurt my feelings even in a preseason game. You feel
Speaker 1: it pretty strong. Huh yeah, because I mean I'm out
Speaker 1: there with guys and we might not be playing together forever,
Speaker 1: and so it's like, I mean, I love playing with
Speaker 1: those guys and just playing football. I mean, it's football
Speaker 1: is fun, and I'm just grateful to even be out there.
Speaker 1: I'm thankful to coaches let me play, and I just
Speaker 1: wish you could have finished it. When I have trouble
Speaker 1: sleeping to night after that one. I'm guessing you probably
Speaker 1: had twenty tackles in a game at the high school level,
Speaker 1: but this doesn't happen very often in the NFL. Well,
Speaker 1: I played a lot too. I think I probably played
Speaker 1: sixty snaps. I mean so, but I mean, honest to god,
Speaker 1: I really, I really don't even care. Like I I
Speaker 1: was more devastated with the two minute and my special
Speaker 1: team's performance. From an individual standpoint, I was, I mean,
Speaker 1: I was proud. We were fighting. We just gotta finish.
Speaker 1: You just gotta finish. But I gotta. I gotta watch
Speaker 1: special teams take Yeah, it was. That was not good enough,
Speaker 1: but I made I was exhausted, buttons fun. I enjoy it.
Speaker 1: I'm thankful Clay had practiced the other day. You've had
Speaker 1: a good hit on somebody, and I heard Mike Hilton
Speaker 1: say that guy can't even help it. He just always
Speaker 1: hits people hard, even when he doesn't want to. What
Speaker 1: does that mean? To you when teammates, you know, show
Speaker 1: you that kind of respect and love. Well, I just
Speaker 1: I mean, we're in training camp, so I'm like, okay,
Speaker 1: it's physical, it's time to play play play ball, and
Speaker 1: I do need to protect our teammates because there's a
Speaker 1: lot of times I get a little excessive, Like if
Speaker 1: I'm running to the ball across the field, I'm like
Speaker 1: my mind, I'm like, okay, I'm gonna hit somebody ain't
Speaker 1: running this far to night. But I know I shouldn't
Speaker 1: do that, and this is something I gotta fix. But yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: as I approached your locker tonight, a couple of your
Speaker 1: teammates looked at me and said he had twenty. Right,
Speaker 1: he had twenty. Even if you're disappointed because of the
Speaker 1: outcome and you know your own self critical oppression of
Speaker 1: your special teams play, you gotta appreciate the respect that
Speaker 1: you earned in this locker room with your effort tonight.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, that's that's all you want to do, is
Speaker 1: you want to win the respect to your teammates, and
Speaker 1: you want to you want to play for him. They're
Speaker 1: your brothers on your right and left side, and so
Speaker 1: I just I want to win like I was. I'm
Speaker 1: pissed off we didn't come out with the even though
Speaker 1: it's preseason, I don't care. Like we had an opportunity
Speaker 1: in the two minute period and we didn't capitalize, And
Speaker 1: that's not be us. I ain't trying to be that
Speaker 1: guy that's like woe was me or this wasn't good enough.
Speaker 1: I really like mean that, Like it's like I'm more
Speaker 1: pissed off than anything about the special team's beforemance. Like
Speaker 1: that affects me and I know I'm gonna have to
Speaker 1: go watch that and get reamed, and but I mean,
Speaker 1: that is what it is. But I'm grateful to play
Speaker 1: with all these guys, like they keep me going and
Speaker 1: hopefully I can keep them going. I love your attitude,
Speaker 1: appreciate your time. Thank you very much, Thank you. I
Speaker 1: appreciate it. That's linebacker Clay Johnston. Now let's hear from
Speaker 1: Zach Taylor, who spent three minutes with Dave Lapham after
Speaker 1: the game. So just give me your initial assessment. What
Speaker 1: are your thoughts. Miss opportunities. You know, we had great
Speaker 1: field positions in the first half. We didn't capitalize on
Speaker 1: opportunities in the second half to build a better lead
Speaker 1: than we had and just just really one big play
Speaker 1: away from one of the game. Yeah, I mean, I
Speaker 1: don't think I've ever seen an average drive start differential
Speaker 1: as crazy as it was in the first half of
Speaker 1: the football game. But you had some individual performances. Obviously,
Speaker 1: every week there's individual performances that you can look at
Speaker 1: and say, you know, that's that's a job pretty well done.
Speaker 1: I'll tell you what, man, you got play Johnson is
Speaker 1: a gamer. That kid. He was exhausted out there, and
Speaker 1: he just kept getting up off the ground and making plays.
Speaker 1: He was in on about everything you saw, you know,
Speaker 1: and so I'm sure he'll get a good rest tonight.
Speaker 1: That's Clay. You know. He plays with his hair on
Speaker 1: fire and doesn't know any other way. Yeah, he really, Uh,
Speaker 1: he really stood out to me. What about offensively anybody
Speaker 1: jump out at you that I know you haven't had
Speaker 1: a chance to digest it, even take another look at
Speaker 1: it or anything. But anything that transpired that you thought
Speaker 1: was pretty impressive. Kwami last or did some really good things.
Speaker 1: You know. I had a lot of one on one
Speaker 1: situations he made the most of thought the quarterbacks were accurate,
Speaker 1: giving him some good balls he could he could go
Speaker 1: with and made the first guy miss oftentimes and had
Speaker 1: some big plays in the passing game. You know, when
Speaker 1: when a team blitz is like like they do, um,
Speaker 1: you're going to have an opportunity you and see what
Speaker 1: kind of how your quarterback handles pressure, how your backs
Speaker 1: handle blitz, pick up, how your receivers and run routes
Speaker 1: against man coverage. It's going to be a pretty good
Speaker 1: evaluation piece, isn't it for you? It was good, you
Speaker 1: know we It wasn't a high volume of pressure. You know,
Speaker 1: is we's all plenty of snaps his own coverage, some
Speaker 1: main coverage, and so you get a chance to see
Speaker 1: everyone how they handled the different types of looks we
Speaker 1: got from the defense, and I thought overall they did
Speaker 1: a decent job of it. Third down it was problematic,
Speaker 1: I think at one point, I know it was one
Speaker 1: for ten. I think at one point the only third
Speaker 1: down conversion was that touchdown touchdown run that that you had.
Speaker 1: But started generating some third down opportunities that were successful
Speaker 1: down the stretch. Yeah, we were just shooting ourselves in
Speaker 1: food with the penalties early on, and we're in third
Speaker 1: and real long, and so that's gonna be tough to
Speaker 1: overcome once we we tightened the distances. I thought we
Speaker 1: did a better job of converting there later in the game.
Speaker 1: And you know, some of the third downs you're calling
Speaker 1: in four down territory, and so to get to a
Speaker 1: fourth and one, it's not a conversion on offense, but
Speaker 1: it gave us an opportunity to go two for two
Speaker 1: on fourth and one, you know. So you know, I
Speaker 1: thought we put ourself in a better position there in
Speaker 1: second half. You had us a young offensive lineman go
Speaker 1: against the number one defense of the New York Football Giants,
Speaker 1: which is decent. I mean, they got they got some
Speaker 1: players there. How do you think they held up. We'll see,
Speaker 1: you know, we'll get a chance to valuate the tape.
Speaker 1: We obviously didn't have a ton of production in the
Speaker 1: run of the past game in the first half. But
Speaker 1: I'm sure that we'll see some good things and then
Speaker 1: some some things that we gotta prove on as well.
Speaker 1: And finally, coach and most importantly, got out of it
Speaker 1: without any kind of an injury. Knock on what it
Speaker 1: seems like. I didn't notice anything that was out of
Speaker 1: the ordinary. Did everything go okay in that regard I'm
Speaker 1: sure there's always a couple of things that will pop up,
Speaker 1: but for the most world came out cling appreciate time
Speaker 1: as always, thank you. After Lap talk to Zach, he
Speaker 1: spoke to me in this week's Radio Guys recap. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: Lap a touchdown with thirty five seconds to go gave
Speaker 1: the Giants to win, but there were some good things
Speaker 1: to talk about in our post game wrap up. Let's
Speaker 1: start with Clay Johnston. I don't ever remember seeing a
Speaker 1: guy have twenty tackles in a preseason game. Do you
Speaker 1: sixteen unassisted? That's unbelievable. And he's exhausted, there's no question
Speaker 1: about it. I mean, he played, He's a warrior man.
Speaker 1: He played his heart out, there's no question about it.
Speaker 1: He'll sleep good tonight and he'll sleep good tomorrow. You know.
Speaker 1: That's what That's what professional football players are made of.
Speaker 1: That's what they're supposed to do. That's why he's going
Speaker 1: to be playing in the National Football League for a while.
Speaker 1: I mean, not only does he have talent, but he
Speaker 1: has the mindset and the desire to maximize that talent.
Speaker 1: And I took my cap to him. That was not
Speaker 1: an easy thing. He did tonight binding stretch of the imagination,
Speaker 1: Giants moved the ball in the fourth quarter and that
Speaker 1: allowed them to win the game. I thought the Bengals
Speaker 1: pass rush was kind of absent during that stretch and
Speaker 1: that gave Devis Davis Webb the time he needed to
Speaker 1: scan the field and make plays. Yeah, I agree, and
Speaker 1: I do think that the every Giant's quarterback had had mobility,
Speaker 1: you know, and an ability to get out of pocket
Speaker 1: and escape the pocket extend created plays. I mean, that's
Speaker 1: an athletic group. There's there's no question about it. Bottom
Speaker 1: line is that the Bengals missed opportunities early in the
Speaker 1: football game. I mean they put themselves, you know, behind
Speaker 1: the eight ball with the great field position that they had,
Speaker 1: just didn't didn't take advantage of things in the early
Speaker 1: stages of third down conversions. It was like, I remember
Speaker 1: one for ten at one point. The only third down
Speaker 1: that they converted as a touchdown run by Williams. So
Speaker 1: they really struggled in that area staying on the field,
Speaker 1: and they found themselves in too many third and eight, nine, ten, twelve,
Speaker 1: fourteen type situations, and that was that Those are tough conversions.
Speaker 1: I don't think defensive coordinator coordinator Don winked Martindale blitz
Speaker 1: twenty one times like he did last week against the Patriots,
Speaker 1: but that's always part of what he does. How'd you
Speaker 1: think the offensive line handled that tonight? Yeah? I thought
Speaker 1: I thought at times it was it was it was okay,
Speaker 1: And I agree, I don't think he went nuts in
Speaker 1: terms of the blitz. I mean they did run when
Speaker 1: he did blitz. They did run quite had been a
Speaker 1: man coverage. Will be interesting to evaluate the tape and
Speaker 1: see how the receivers um, you know, got separation and
Speaker 1: beat man coverage, how the backs picked up blitz pick
Speaker 1: up responsibilities and all the things that go along with it,
Speaker 1: how the quarterbacks handled the pressure. But he probably ran
Speaker 1: a little bit more zone than I thought he might.
Speaker 1: You know, I thought he didn't. He didn't bliss quite
Speaker 1: as much as uh as I anticipated, and uh and
Speaker 1: he mixed it up a little bit. Um. Yeah, so
Speaker 1: credit credit to Wink. How about Dax Hill played a half?
Speaker 1: I believe interception six tackles the interception with spectacular He
Speaker 1: is certainly a guy that's living up to the first
Speaker 1: round hype. There's no question. I mean, he's a he's
Speaker 1: a playmaker. I mean, he he gets football, he sees it,
Speaker 1: he understands it. You know, he's a I think he's
Speaker 1: going to be a guy that is going to be
Speaker 1: a defensive leader for sure. Guy's going to look to
Speaker 1: him to make plays. He's gonna he's gonna change the
Speaker 1: complexion of games. He can do a lot of things,
Speaker 1: very versatile. They can use them in so many ways.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's a heck of a tool for Loui
Speaker 1: er Room of having his tool belt. There's no doubt.
Speaker 1: I know he spoke with Zach Taylor after the game.
Speaker 1: Anything stand out from that conversation, he was pretty disappointed. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, the only good news that that came out
Speaker 1: of it. There's no real significant injury to speak of
Speaker 1: in that regardless, all there's always going to be bumps
Speaker 1: and bruises that you know, you don't even realize until
Speaker 1: the next morning when you wake up from something like that.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure that Clay Johnson is gonna Johnson's gonna realize.
Speaker 1: I think if he's he's just he's totally fatigued and
Speaker 1: exhausted or injured or both. He's gonna have to rust
Speaker 1: that body though a little bit, and there's gonna be
Speaker 1: quite a few guys. A lot of guys took took
Speaker 1: a bunch of snaps tonight. The left side of the
Speaker 1: offensive line took every every offensive snap there was out there. So, um,
Speaker 1: a lot of guys are gonna sleep well. I'm sure
Speaker 1: on a plane ride home they're going to be sleeping well.
Speaker 1: He said in the pregame show, you wanted Cordell Volsen
Speaker 1: to go the distance at left guard, that's the way
Speaker 1: they elected to go. Yeah, so they and they kept
Speaker 1: him working with the same guy identity, and you know,
Speaker 1: he worked with Hill at center, and you know, so
Speaker 1: he got some reps that he could feel comfortable with
Speaker 1: guys on on either side of him a little bit.
Speaker 1: And uh, you know, I talked to him after the
Speaker 1: game too, and it's you know, it's awful early to
Speaker 1: try to make an evaluation on how you played. But
Speaker 1: he was very thankful of the opportunity to play against uh,
Speaker 1: you know, the caliber player that the New York Giants
Speaker 1: have in that first defensive unit. You know, so that's
Speaker 1: a that's a good experience, that's a learning experience for him,
Speaker 1: for sure. Do you look at it as a positive
Speaker 1: that the Bengals did not play starters. The Giants did
Speaker 1: for at least a quarter and at the end of
Speaker 1: that quarter, the Bengals had the lead. Yeah, they did.
Speaker 1: They had the lead that it could have and should
Speaker 1: have been a bigger lead because you know, I've never
Speaker 1: seen field position to one advantage to that to that extent.
Speaker 1: I mean, it was crazy. The Bengals had, you know,
Speaker 1: short fields to take advantage of, and the Giants were
Speaker 1: on long field situations. And uh, the Bengals did have
Speaker 1: a lead, but it could have been it could have
Speaker 1: been a lot more, and uh just didn't capitalize on
Speaker 1: every opportunity that was available, that's for sure. Big practices
Speaker 1: coming up on Wednesday and Thursday with the Rams rolling
Speaker 1: into town before next Saturday's game. Yeah, there's no doubt.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's it's a it's an opportunity for with
Speaker 1: the offensive line. If you're going to decide on five
Speaker 1: guys to work against a group, that's a pretty good
Speaker 1: group to work against. And a guy named Aaron Donald's
Speaker 1: pretty good with the news flash, this guy's good and
Speaker 1: uh and they're well put together their scheme well, so
Speaker 1: it'll be it'll be a good week's work. There was
Speaker 1: no question about it. For the guys up front and everybody.
Speaker 1: I mean, they're that defensive football team. They have, you know,
Speaker 1: guys in the back end that can cover, They've got
Speaker 1: pass rush, and when you've got that combination, you know,
Speaker 1: it's like the hand fitting the glove. One takes care
Speaker 1: of the other and man, it's a it's a good
Speaker 1: defensive football team to work against. For sure. In your
Speaker 1: playing days, how would you have felt about two days
Speaker 1: of practicing against Darren Donald? Actually, Mike Reid was he
Speaker 1: was something else. Man. When I was a rookie, pass
Speaker 1: protecting against Mike Read every day was a challenge. Now
Speaker 1: this guy was the quickest human being and I'd ever
Speaker 1: gone against. And you know, I'd swear like I know,
Speaker 1: I didn't close my eyes. How did he get from
Speaker 1: there to there so fast? But Donald has got that
Speaker 1: kind of quickness, and he's a bigger body guy. Mike
Speaker 1: wasn't you know that kind of guy size wise, And
Speaker 1: you know, this guy's a freak show. I mean, you
Speaker 1: got you gotta pack it all. You're gonna bring it
Speaker 1: all against him. Get some sleep, you two man. Joe
Speaker 1: Burrow and most of the Bengal starters are expected to
Speaker 1: take part in those joint practices with the Rams. The
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth podcast is presented by Ultimate Bengals, the free
Speaker 1: to play fantasy football game. This past season, Ultimate Bengals
Speaker 1: awarded a weekly winner during the course of the year
Speaker 1: with tickets, autographed merchandise, and money can't buy experiences all
Speaker 1: up for grabs. Find Ultimate Bengals in the App Store
Speaker 1: and Google Play. Now time for this week's Fun Facts interview,
Speaker 1: where you get to know the person under the pads,
Speaker 1: and this week's guest is trying to pull off a
Speaker 1: rather remarkable feat conference and fun Facts with defensive tackle
Speaker 1: Dominique Davis number seventy two, one of the great stories
Speaker 1: in this Bengals training camp. We're three weeks away from
Speaker 1: the start of the NFL season, but you have already
Speaker 1: played a professional football season this year. You were a
Speaker 1: member of the Houston Gamblers of the Reborn USFL, so
Speaker 1: you played ten games. Nobody. Now you're trying to play
Speaker 1: an NFL season. How are you doing it? Oh man?
Speaker 1: As this is the ground. Man, I know I wanted
Speaker 1: my dream playing the NFL. You know I've been chasing
Speaker 1: that since I got drafted. I went on drafted out
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty with the Jets. I was hurt. I
Speaker 1: took a year off, man to think about is getting back,
Speaker 1: you know, just coming in a turning camp with the Jets. Man,
Speaker 1: I was just like dang, like I finally obtained it.
Speaker 1: So when I learned that I had a foot injury
Speaker 1: and stuff like that, it broke me in. The released me.
Speaker 1: So I worked so hard as you get back where
Speaker 1: I am now. You know, I did the USFLS a
Speaker 1: great opportunity and I dominated if they were all supposed
Speaker 1: to do. And you know, I got a few observers,
Speaker 1: few teams look out and I'm just blessed to be
Speaker 1: with the Bengals and they really believed in me, so
Speaker 1: they brought me in. So it's really been It's been
Speaker 1: a ground man. It's not easy. It's not easy at all. Man.
Speaker 1: I love it though. You you really gotta you really
Speaker 1: gotta love it. So I love the game, you know,
Speaker 1: I want to be one of the best. I want
Speaker 1: to train and do whatever I ask questions, you know,
Speaker 1: from dj BJ, everybody, all the starters, the team has
Speaker 1: been here, what did they do? And I want to
Speaker 1: follow them? Save footsteps so I can continue to be here,
Speaker 1: you know, and these next coming loots manson dream come true.
Speaker 1: Man for chatting with Dominique David So that you as
Speaker 1: FL season went from April to mid June. See, you
Speaker 1: had about a month to get ready for the start
Speaker 1: of an NFL training camp. How difficult is the physical
Speaker 1: and mental grind? Um, It's very difficult, man. I can
Speaker 1: definitely say that it's not for the week at all,
Speaker 1: definitely not not even just coming in and trying to
Speaker 1: stick around. But former also, you know, it's very hard.
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna lie. When I got done with the USFL,
Speaker 1: I probably took off like a week or two with
Speaker 1: my family. They wanted me to relax with them more,
Speaker 1: but I couldn't. I just knew it was I had
Speaker 1: a dream, real chance. So it is very hard, man.
Speaker 1: I'm just I'm just blessed as a thank God for
Speaker 1: putting me here. Man, give me the opportunity and the
Speaker 1: strength to continue to grind. Man. So, in your NFL
Speaker 1: preseason debut last week, you tied for the team leading
Speaker 1: tackles with five. You had half a sack. How did
Speaker 1: that feel? Honestly, I didn't even know I tired with
Speaker 1: the team. The tackles are, man, it ain't really hit
Speaker 1: me yet. Man. Honestly, I've really been this in the day.
Speaker 1: She's just going day by the day the training camp.
Speaker 1: So this is like my second turning camp this year.
Speaker 1: So I'm just really in that mold man, Like I
Speaker 1: didn't even know I had that many tackles. I was
Speaker 1: just out there playing my hardest man, just trying to
Speaker 1: survive and keep grinding. Man, it's the journey comes through run.
Speaker 1: We're chatting to Dominique Davis. Let's turn the clock back.
Speaker 1: You played at UNC Pembruck at Division two school, did
Speaker 1: very well there, as you noted, got signed as an
Speaker 1: undrafted free agent by the Jets. That you were hurt
Speaker 1: and didn't pass the physical as a result. But that
Speaker 1: was a couple of years ago. What have you been
Speaker 1: doing the last couple of years after my surgery. It
Speaker 1: took me a long time to get back. Now you're
Speaker 1: only in shape, but learn how to run, walk, all
Speaker 1: those functional things that we do every day. It was
Speaker 1: very hard. So it took me almost a year just
Speaker 1: to learn how to walk and run again. You know,
Speaker 1: how to break up some of that scar tis when
Speaker 1: all that, those type of things. So that's really what
Speaker 1: I was doing, doing that spending time with my son
Speaker 1: because I knew at the end of the day and
Speaker 1: I was going to capture my dream. So I wanted
Speaker 1: to spend as much too that time to spend as
Speaker 1: must time with family because in a moment like this,
Speaker 1: how I'm gonna be able to see him? So that's
Speaker 1: what killed me going Man, based on what I've read,
Speaker 1: you are the classic late bloomer type story. You're a
Speaker 1: big man now, three hundred and twenty five pounds, But
Speaker 1: what were you wish a high school senior. High school senior,
Speaker 1: I was like six foot two forty five, Yeah, I was.
Speaker 1: I was basically a defensive man, and then when I
Speaker 1: got to college, I just blew up through fourteen, eight,
Speaker 1: three or five. So, as I mentioned, you were with
Speaker 1: the Houston Gamblers at the USFL earlier this year, but
Speaker 1: it was Houston and name only. The whole league was
Speaker 1: based in Birmingham, Alabama. Eight teams all practicing playing games
Speaker 1: in Birmingham. Was that odd just being with this massive
Speaker 1: group of teams and players. Yeah, it was definitely I expected, man,
Speaker 1: it was definitely odd, but I adjusted to it, you know,
Speaker 1: being up getting at the Turning film. We don't spending
Speaker 1: in our own houses and stuff like that, so that
Speaker 1: kind of made it less odd and you know, but
Speaker 1: it was weird just playing at one stadium man Birmingham.
Speaker 1: But it was definitely a blessing. You know, played a
Speaker 1: lot against a lot of guys, a lot of NFL people,
Speaker 1: people that was playing last year, and it was a
Speaker 1: great experience. Man, doing fun facts that Dominique Davis. On
Speaker 1: March twentieth, you sent out a tweet that read back
Speaker 1: from the Dead. It included some pictures of you on
Speaker 1: a practice field doing some football drills. Is that how
Speaker 1: you feel as a football player, like you're back from
Speaker 1: the dead? Yes, sir, I feel like right now, you know,
Speaker 1: it's a resurgence. You know. I felt like I took
Speaker 1: some time off and a lot of people forgot about me,
Speaker 1: and you know it's basically signalized, you know, dead to
Speaker 1: the world. So now I'm getting back out here and
Speaker 1: I feel like I'm resurgeon and back from the dead. Man.
Speaker 1: I was just continue to work and come back a
Speaker 1: lot and continue my dreams. Man. I believe twenty one
Speaker 1: guys that played in the USFL this year. Are in
Speaker 1: NFL camps right now, including your Bengals teammate t Gray Scales.
Speaker 1: What is the bond like between all of you as
Speaker 1: you try to pull off this incredible feat of playing
Speaker 1: ten professional games from April to June and starting right
Speaker 1: back up and playing in the NFL. It's really a
Speaker 1: blessing to have somebody that too, is just playing with
Speaker 1: another league come along, went to because he knows me.
Speaker 1: We were cool then, we were hanging out then and
Speaker 1: then coming in and you know, honestly, you see how
Speaker 1: it gets down. It's very mental and physical. You know,
Speaker 1: it's a grind from going one season and nobody we've
Speaker 1: known anything and they're going straight to the NFL. So
Speaker 1: he picked me up. Man, let's keep going, keep doing it,
Speaker 1: keep doing a thing. So he's a he's a big
Speaker 1: motivator for me right now. Man, he's definitely watching over
Speaker 1: a come on league, let's go, you know. So it's great, man,
Speaker 1: it's a great feeling. Can you describe what it was
Speaker 1: like the charge out of the tunnel last Friday night
Speaker 1: for your first NFL preseason game? It was unreal. It
Speaker 1: was very unreal, Like it's just an a mean of
Speaker 1: trying to stay focused and then it's like you want
Speaker 1: to cry at the same time, like he's just you
Speaker 1: just wanted it so bad and you finally get it.
Speaker 1: What you gotta keep going. It's so hard, just a
Speaker 1: mix up motion. Man, I wanted to cry, but I
Speaker 1: just couldn't. I just know how to stay focused, get
Speaker 1: ready and try to dominate in this game so people
Speaker 1: will know who I am and and like you said,
Speaker 1: she my name or surging. When camp first started, was
Speaker 1: there a little bit of an awe factor being around
Speaker 1: guys you've watched on TV in the Super Bowl and
Speaker 1: so forth, and now being your teammates. Yeah, definitely, all
Speaker 1: like looking at some of these guys. That's like I
Speaker 1: watched I was sitting on the college last year seeing
Speaker 1: the Zoe so Jermaine Pratt, he's a hill, the's a reader.
Speaker 1: I always watching these guys. So to come int locker
Speaker 1: room and you know these some of these people know
Speaker 1: your name and it's crazy to me, you know, I
Speaker 1: get a little star struck sometimes. Man. Still, I'm always
Speaker 1: got start. I've always been star sted. Well, there's no
Speaker 1: difference out in the roster between seventy two and anybody
Speaker 1: else there. You're one of the guys. You've earned this
Speaker 1: best of luck and I appreciate your time. Let's serve
Speaker 1: thank you appreciate it. That's kind. Nae Davis Dominique had
Speaker 1: two tackles on Sunday night against the Giants. That's going
Speaker 1: to do it for this episode of The Bengals Booth Podcast,
Speaker 1: presented by Ultimate Bengals. Download Ultimate Bengals ahead of the
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Speaker 1: more Bengals fans find us. I'm Dan Horde and thanks
Speaker 1: for listening to The Bengals Booth Podcast