Speaker 1: Hi, everybody on Dan Horde and thanks for downloading The
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth podcast. The Who's Gonna Run This Town to
Speaker 1: Night addition, as the Bengals wrap up their first week
Speaker 1: of training camp by drawing nearly twenty nine thousand fans
Speaker 1: to Paul Brown Stadium for a practice on Back Together Saturday.
Speaker 1: Around the NFL coming up, you'll hear from Money mac
Speaker 1: Evan McPherson, whose sixty five yard field goal ended that practice.
Speaker 1: NFL insider Ian Rappaport was among the spectators, and I'll
Speaker 1: get his thoughts on the defending AFC champs. And then
Speaker 1: a broadcast partner, Dave Lapham, joins me as we share
Speaker 1: some observations on the first few days of training camp.
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast is presented by Ultimate Bengals. Download
Speaker 1: Ultimate Bengals ahead of the upcoming season. It's free to
Speaker 1: play next level fantasy football with fantastic Bengals prizes. Get
Speaker 1: it now on the App Store and Google Play. And
Speaker 1: here's a quick reminder that you can have the latest
Speaker 1: edition of this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet,
Speaker 1: or computer by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's
Speaker 1: the greatest thing since the Bengals AFC Championship rings. It's
Speaker 1: obviously not the ultimate prize, but the Bengals distributed spectacular
Speaker 1: rings last week to celebrate the organization's third trip to
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl. The top of the ring features the
Speaker 1: Bengals orange and black b logo, with a diamond cut
Speaker 1: black stone behind it to make that logo pop. Above
Speaker 1: and below it are ten orange sapphires, symbolic of the
Speaker 1: franchisees ten division titles. Eighty diamonds sparkle on top of
Speaker 1: the ring, including a series in the shape of a football,
Speaker 1: and seventeen more diamonds around the top edge in an
Speaker 1: alternating pattern with seventeen orange sapphires. The Lamar Hunt AFC
Speaker 1: Championship Trophy is on the side of the ring, surrounded
Speaker 1: by three more or in sapphires, signifying Cincinnati's three conference titles,
Speaker 1: and on the inside of the ring you'll find the
Speaker 1: scores of the bengals three postseason wins. For the players
Speaker 1: and coaches, it's a richly deserved reward for all they
Speaker 1: accomplished last season, and also a reminder that a bigger
Speaker 1: prize is within their grasp. Last year, on back together. Saturday,
Speaker 1: the Big Open practice that the Bengals hold at Paul
Speaker 1: Brown Stadium. Evan McPherson ended the day by attempting a
Speaker 1: sixty yard field goal. He had the distance but missed
Speaker 1: it wide left. This year, he ended the event with
Speaker 1: a sixty five yard attempt and drilled it with plenty
Speaker 1: of room to spare. It was the latest impressive feat
Speaker 1: by the kid with a bionic foot. Including the postseason.
Speaker 1: Last year, McPherson made twelve field goals of fifty or
Speaker 1: more yards. Dave lappom and I caught up with him
Speaker 1: Saturday immediately after that sixty five yard blast. Did you
Speaker 1: know that sixty five yard opportunity was coming? Yeah? No,
Speaker 1: I definitely did. We've talked about it and just kind
Speaker 1: of It's kind of what we did last year too,
Speaker 1: was just kind of putting foot on a show for
Speaker 1: the for the fans and everybody that showed up. So
Speaker 1: I didn't know it was coming. We didn't know how
Speaker 1: far we were gonna go. We're just gonna kind of
Speaker 1: judge it off of how we were feeling on the
Speaker 1: wind and everything. How did that feel felt good? No?
Speaker 1: I hit it really well. Um probably hit it as
Speaker 1: about as good as I could have um and the
Speaker 1: guy stating under the upright said it was it had
Speaker 1: a couple more yards on its all felt good. Anything
Speaker 1: if I hit that that same ball maybe like seventy
Speaker 1: he said it had been good from seventy. But who knows.
Speaker 1: Sweet nice way to cap this practice. I mean, obviously
Speaker 1: everybody out here is still buzzing from the Super Bowl trip,
Speaker 1: and to see you do that sends everybody home happy. Yeah, definitely,
Speaker 1: and I think it I think everybody should be excited
Speaker 1: for the season. I say, well, you know, they saw
Speaker 1: a good team out there practicing the day, and they're
Speaker 1: going to see a good team play here in as
Speaker 1: a next week or a couple of weeks against Arizona
Speaker 1: thirteen days, thirteen days, there we go. What'd you think
Speaker 1: of the reception when you walked out? People went nuts? Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's just awesome just to have that support
Speaker 1: from the fans, and it gives me confidence going into it.
Speaker 1: You know that everybody's behind me if no matter what happens.
Speaker 1: So all right, you've got a sixty five yarder in practice.
Speaker 1: If it comes up in a game, you know you
Speaker 1: can do it. Exactly, No We're prepared for it, so
Speaker 1: it's gonna be the right situation for sure. Last year
Speaker 1: I saw McPherson make a sixty two yarder during pregame
Speaker 1: warmups in Denver, and later that day he set the
Speaker 1: franchise record with a fifty eight yarder in the game.
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth podcast is presented by Ultimate Bengals. They're
Speaker 1: free to play fantasy football game. This past season, Ultimate
Speaker 1: Bengals awarded a weekly winner during the course of the
Speaker 1: year with tickets, autograph merchandise, and money can't buy experiences
Speaker 1: all up for grabs five Ultimate Bengals in the app
Speaker 1: Store and Google Play. NFL Network insider Ian Rappaport was
Speaker 1: in attendance at Paul Brown Stadium on Saturday, and I
Speaker 1: caught up with him for about ten minutes just before
Speaker 1: practice got under way. Ian, what are your biggest questions
Speaker 1: about the Bengals coming off the Super Bowl appearance. I
Speaker 1: don't have nearly as many questions as I did last year.
Speaker 1: I mean, if you think about it, like the defense,
Speaker 1: assuming Jesse Bates shows up before Week one, defense is
Speaker 1: basically the same, right, I mean, you lose Ogan Joby,
Speaker 1: but like you can make up for those seven sacks
Speaker 1: somewhere else, probably like some talent in the back end. Otherwise,
Speaker 1: like everyone's basically the same offensive line will be better.
Speaker 1: So it's not like I have a ton of questions,
Speaker 1: like his Ted Carriss can be able to be like
Speaker 1: a starting center or whatever. Like Le Collins is what
Speaker 1: he is, like a really really really solid tackle. Like
Speaker 1: I don't even have any questions there. Joe Burrow sounds like,
Speaker 1: get a great offseason and I health one, which is
Speaker 1: most important. He'll probably be a little bit better too,
Speaker 1: So questions like I don't know, I really don't have
Speaker 1: very many. Honestly, that's pretty telling. I mean in most
Speaker 1: camps there's usual at least something that you wonder, Okay,
Speaker 1: did they solve that problem or whatever. It doesn't sound
Speaker 1: like this particular team has a bunch of those. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, the offensive line would be sort
Speaker 1: of the target. But like it's not like they drafted
Speaker 1: guys and then we'll see like the guys they signed,
Speaker 1: you know, like I know what Lyle Collins is. I've
Speaker 1: seen him start for seven years or whatever. It is
Speaker 1: like Ted Kerres, same thing, Kappas, same thing. Like I
Speaker 1: don't know, like I'm not. I don't. I guess maybe
Speaker 1: you worry about the wonder about the fit a little bit,
Speaker 1: but like I'm really not, Like I think they should
Speaker 1: be fine. Like last you know, the only sort of
Speaker 1: thing would be everyone's gunning for him, but like that's
Speaker 1: not really a tangible thing, and like I feel like
Speaker 1: everyone's gunning for everyone in the NFL anyway. So I
Speaker 1: don't know. Do you think the Jesse Bates contract impass
Speaker 1: could be a problem. No, I don't think it'll be
Speaker 1: a problem. I don't think it'll be a problem this year.
Speaker 1: You know, you'd like to get it done. He is
Speaker 1: a homegrown, great guy, great player. Those are the guys
Speaker 1: you'd like to pay. They just didn't get it to
Speaker 1: a point where it got done. And you know, I
Speaker 1: know there are several other teams that didn't get deals
Speaker 1: done for their franchise guy either. Some did, some didn't.
Speaker 1: It's too bad because you'd always like to you'd always
Speaker 1: like to handle it. But as far as like on
Speaker 1: the football field, you know, assuming he shows up for
Speaker 1: a week one, which historically almost everybody has, you might
Speaker 1: take a couple of weeks to get into the flow,
Speaker 1: like okay, maybe, but you got a first rounder who's
Speaker 1: been taking all those reps might end up being a
Speaker 1: positive because that's a lot more steps for Dax than
Speaker 1: you're expecting. Ian rap report is our guest. Burrows many
Speaker 1: great pat tribute. What stands out to you the most.
Speaker 1: He's a great dresser. He's pregame pre game outfits are tremendous.
Speaker 1: He gives you know he doesn't care, we'll just dress
Speaker 1: to the nine thing, go out and perfore him. I
Speaker 1: always respected that. No, But I think the thing about
Speaker 1: Burrow is really the same thing that it's been before
Speaker 1: he became a pro, is that he's always been a pro.
Speaker 1: Like It's not like, how's he going to react to
Speaker 1: the NFL Like he's been an NFL quarterback. He just
Speaker 1: did it in college, like he ran the show at LSU.
Speaker 1: He does the same here. He's got total understanding of
Speaker 1: the offense. He's got really good accuracy. He is able
Speaker 1: to get what he wants in like a sort of
Speaker 1: not offensive way, which I think if you're a leader,
Speaker 1: half the thing is getting what you want without everybody
Speaker 1: hating you. Nobody hates Joe Burrow. Everybody loves Joe Burrow.
Speaker 1: Um there's a lot to like. I mean, there's a
Speaker 1: lot to like. You know, it's interesting because when you
Speaker 1: joke about his wardrobe choices, it does kind of reinforce
Speaker 1: how comfortable he is in his own skid. That's part
Speaker 1: of his leadership, I think. Yeah. I mean, I don't
Speaker 1: know about the parental level of this podcast, but I
Speaker 1: would say he gives no face, like he really doesn't,
Speaker 1: and he addresses how he wants to. And he's bold,
Speaker 1: and he's a little brash, and he'll wear a big
Speaker 1: chain and I'll wear stupid glasses at a press conference,
Speaker 1: and I'll throw over three and fifty yards and like,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of things that he does. They really
Speaker 1: have to be great to do, which is great because
Speaker 1: he is great and so like he could literally do
Speaker 1: anything you want. Everyone's like he's earned it. You know,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of star par on this team right
Speaker 1: now with Burrow, Chase Higgins, mix and etc. How about
Speaker 1: under the radar guys or under rated guys? Is there
Speaker 1: anybody on this team that you think, you know what,
Speaker 1: that guy's a big difference maker for the Bengals and
Speaker 1: nobody really talks about him. I would say, you know,
Speaker 1: I'll be curious if Hayden Hurst fills that this year.
Speaker 1: You know, CJ was so good and so perfect for
Speaker 1: the Bengals, got more money somewhere else, which is awesome,
Speaker 1: Like that's that's what you want. And I'll be really
Speaker 1: curious to see where Hayden Hurst fits in. You know,
Speaker 1: It's not like people were like beating down his door
Speaker 1: in free agency. He's been really productive a couple of
Speaker 1: different times, but has never really really commanded top dollar.
Speaker 1: And I'm not I don't really know why. He just
Speaker 1: hasn't freeting. He doesn't work for everyone. Sounds like the
Speaker 1: early returns are really positive. He is a great athlete.
Speaker 1: He is a great athlete, so might give you a
Speaker 1: little more than CJ gave you, maybe just as far
Speaker 1: as like stretching it a little bit. So I'm really
Speaker 1: fascinated to see what that edition was. What stands out
Speaker 1: to you about how Duke Tobin built this roster over
Speaker 1: the last couple of years and turning a team that
Speaker 1: had the number one pick in the draft to a
Speaker 1: team that was some minute and a half away from
Speaker 1: winning a Super Bowl. Yeah, I mean it's hard to
Speaker 1: get any better than what they've done, you know, and
Speaker 1: like Duke as a guy, I've always had a lot
Speaker 1: of respect for everyone around the league. Does um, you know,
Speaker 1: there was a string of years where it kind of
Speaker 1: all came apart and I don't even know that it
Speaker 1: was really like, you know, was it player evaluation, Like
Speaker 1: I didn't maybe some missues, but like not even really
Speaker 1: that many honestly, just it was a good run that
Speaker 1: sort of went the wrong way, you know. I think
Speaker 1: the coaching change helped and they had to start back
Speaker 1: up from the bottom. And he is patient, He is
Speaker 1: very savvy. Picks picks have been really good and when
Speaker 1: the Vangals never spending free agency, but when they've done,
Speaker 1: you know, with the with one exception Trey Wayne's which
Speaker 1: he just wasn't healthy, Like that's what what are you
Speaker 1: gonna do? It wasn't healthy. Um, every guy they've chosen
Speaker 1: has fit and has been an instant impact guy, Like
Speaker 1: it's hard to have that good of a hot streak,
Speaker 1: but he think about it, that's really what they've done.
Speaker 1: Great drafting, well timed free agents and like a year
Speaker 1: before they were good, he and the coaching staff kind
Speaker 1: of helped establish the Bengals is like a place players
Speaker 1: would want to be. Obviously, it wasn't always like that,
Speaker 1: so that kind of stands out. I think there's a
Speaker 1: bit of a national narrative out there that the Bengals
Speaker 1: might have been a little bit lucky or flukey last year,
Speaker 1: whatever term you want to use. Do you think there's
Speaker 1: any validity to that. I haven't really heard that, because
Speaker 1: everyone has respect for where they are. Like, if you
Speaker 1: look at it, this roster, this is a good roster,
Speaker 1: Like it is a like find the weak spot, you know,
Speaker 1: like the offensive line was it, and then spent a
Speaker 1: lot of money to share it up, like find the weakness.
Speaker 1: So it didn't feel fluky. And I think maybe because like,
Speaker 1: you know, there are quarterbacks who are productive a good
Speaker 1: obviously Joe's good, but everybody likes him and it feels
Speaker 1: like nationally thinks he's cool and wants him to succeed.
Speaker 1: So like, I didn't get the sense everybody thought it
Speaker 1: was a fluke. I think everybody got the sense of, like,
Speaker 1: these guys deserve to be here because like, are they
Speaker 1: a little too young? Maybe, but like they didn't know
Speaker 1: anything last year, so they just kept winning. You know.
Speaker 1: The whole thing was really cool. To watch. How do
Speaker 1: you assess the AFC North the weekend of training camps?
Speaker 1: You know, I would say Steelers, I'd like to know
Speaker 1: a little more about, to know who their quarterback is. Otherwise,
Speaker 1: I mean, the Browns are gonna be interesting, depending on
Speaker 1: how long Deshaun Watson suspended. Otherwise it's going to be
Speaker 1: kind of the same. And when Ravens will be good,
Speaker 1: Bengals will be good. You know, like it might be
Speaker 1: a little different early the Steelers take a while to
Speaker 1: find their footing and the Browns don't have DeShawn, But
Speaker 1: like by the end, my guess is that everyone's kind
Speaker 1: of around in that playoff mix. In December, final question
Speaker 1: for Ian Rapp Report. How valuable is this time of
Speaker 1: the year for you going from camp to camp, developing contacts,
Speaker 1: reconnecting with contacts. I mean, it's amazing. It's it's you know,
Speaker 1: hard on the body, it's hard on the life because
Speaker 1: you say, I'm going away for twenty days. It is
Speaker 1: so essential and besides just being important for work, Like
Speaker 1: you know, I'll come and I'll meet young coaches that
Speaker 1: I've never met, Like I sat with Dan Pitcher for
Speaker 1: fifteen minutes because I heard great things, and it's one
Speaker 1: of the reasons I'm here. I heard great things people
Speaker 1: like you should meet this guy. So I came here
Speaker 1: to talk with Zach and Duke and whoever, but also
Speaker 1: meet Dan Pitcher because as far as someone who's going
Speaker 1: to be an offensive coordinator maybe head coach, like he's
Speaker 1: on the list, you know. So that's why this is
Speaker 1: important for me. So it's hard, like logistically, it's hard.
Speaker 1: Body wise, it's hard. It is a lot of fun,
Speaker 1: and it's insanely valuable. You probably got four critical texts
Speaker 1: during this ten minute conversation, so I really appreciate your time.
Speaker 1: I will check in one second and pray, thank you man,
Speaker 1: thanks for having me. Dan Pitcher is the Bengals thirty
Speaker 1: five year old quarterbacks coach, and I'm not surprised to
Speaker 1: hear that his name is getting around as a future
Speaker 1: offensive coordinator or even head coach. Finally, time to check
Speaker 1: in with Dave Lapham as we share some thoughts on
Speaker 1: the first week of training camp. Lap or four practices in,
Speaker 1: none of them in full pads. So it's very early
Speaker 1: to make any definitive sort of statements at this point.
Speaker 1: But have there been any standouts in the early going.
Speaker 1: In your opinion, I think a lot of guys have
Speaker 1: started camp off pretty well. Dan, I have been impressed.
Speaker 1: I was impressed at OTAs with Kwamie Laster, his you know,
Speaker 1: precise and smooth out running of ballio ability. I don't
Speaker 1: think he's going to run away from anybody, but I
Speaker 1: do think that he gets separation, you know, he lowers
Speaker 1: his hips and gets in and out of cuts well.
Speaker 1: And a guy I gotta like him caught my eye
Speaker 1: and I think he's done a pretty good job in
Speaker 1: the early stage as a training camp. I will say
Speaker 1: that all three of the the rookie defensive acts, we
Speaker 1: heard about their speed and it's transplated on the football
Speaker 1: feed field. Sometimes guys that run fast forwardies and you
Speaker 1: don't see it on functional football speed. But these guys
Speaker 1: you do, you know, and and they're they're covering a
Speaker 1: lot of ground out there, and I think they've all
Speaker 1: got all got bright futures. There's uh, there's no doubt
Speaker 1: about that. Dax Hill, Cam Taylor Britt. You know, they
Speaker 1: these guys have have really have really shown shown me
Speaker 1: that that they've they've got football speed. Tyson Amerson as
Speaker 1: well on the Toledo um speed and football speed, both
Speaker 1: which is good trade On Williams, I thought it's had
Speaker 1: a very good start to his training camp. Another guy
Speaker 1: in the secondary that I liked in is is DeVante Hood.
Speaker 1: This this guy's long, you know, and he's got he's
Speaker 1: got some ability. I think, you know, he's got I'm
Speaker 1: not talking about all these guys making the team necessarily,
Speaker 1: but definitely on the practice squad with an opportunity to
Speaker 1: develop them for you know, for their NFL careers. At
Speaker 1: the linebacker level. Got Clarence Hicks to me, looks like
Speaker 1: he's got a little bit of suddenness and twitched to him. Um,
Speaker 1: I want to see see more of him. It's been
Speaker 1: good to see a keen Davis Gaither working his way
Speaker 1: back to I think a pretty you know, pretty effective
Speaker 1: linebacker for the for the Bengals. From a physical standpoint,
Speaker 1: he can really run offensive lineman. It's it's very hard
Speaker 1: to judge, like you said, without pads on Dan, but
Speaker 1: I think I think that group is going to be
Speaker 1: noticeably better when when things get underway, and in fact,
Speaker 1: in my opinion, this football team roster wise from a
Speaker 1: year ago, is much better now than it was a
Speaker 1: year ago, and the biggest reason in my mind is
Speaker 1: because of the improvements they've made in the offensive line
Speaker 1: um that that has taken a you know, well over
Speaker 1: the top. I think, so those are those are a
Speaker 1: few guys. I think Zach Carter has has shown that
Speaker 1: he's got the ability to to be that three technique
Speaker 1: that Ogan Joeby provided. I'm not saying to the level
Speaker 1: of Logan Joeby provided right away, but I think he's
Speaker 1: He's got a good sized body on him, he's got
Speaker 1: very good first step quickness, he's got you know, give
Speaker 1: off to him. I think I think he's another one
Speaker 1: that has had a fairly good, fairly good start to
Speaker 1: training camp. But now that the ramp up stage is over,
Speaker 1: practice without pads, now we'll find out a little bit
Speaker 1: more about the interior or the upfront guys, the offensive
Speaker 1: and defensive line, and linebackers and tight ends and people
Speaker 1: of that. ILK. I'm glad you mentioned rookie Zach Carter
Speaker 1: and Larry Ogan Jobie because I think Larry Ogunjobi's absence, departure,
Speaker 1: whatever term you want to use, is maybe the kind
Speaker 1: of least talked about story on this team this year.
Speaker 1: He played sixty four percent of the defensive snaps during
Speaker 1: the regular season. Last year it was forty five percent
Speaker 1: for b J. Hills. He added up again one o nine,
Speaker 1: so sometimes they played together, but Ogan Joby got the
Speaker 1: bulk of the snaps next to DJ Reader. That's an
Speaker 1: important job. Those guys have to have somebody that goes
Speaker 1: in there and gives them, you know, a blow from
Speaker 1: time to time. Josh Tupa can do that and does
Speaker 1: it pretty well, particularly in run stopping situations. But it'd
Speaker 1: be nice to have a guy that can go in
Speaker 1: there and provide a little pass rush and hopefully Zach
Speaker 1: Carter can be that guy. I agree, Dan, and um,
Speaker 1: you know the thing You've got DJ Reader and Tupaul
Speaker 1: and those guys are you know, they're big space eater guys.
Speaker 1: And what Ogan Joby did, and I think what what
Speaker 1: Carter is going to be able to do is invert
Speaker 1: the line of scrimmage, you know, with that explosive penetration
Speaker 1: kind of thing. You know, they give these type of guys,
Speaker 1: give them that scenario. And that's that's tough when when
Speaker 1: you get the the line inverted against you and you're
Speaker 1: trying to you know, establish the line of scrimmage. It's
Speaker 1: it can be a definite challenge, so that that role
Speaker 1: is an important one and I think they might have
Speaker 1: a candidate that could, you know, can feel that. Overall, Dana,
Speaker 1: I've been extremely impressed with the Bengals defense. The low
Speaker 1: red zone defense yesterday was suffocating. You know. The offense
Speaker 1: never scored a testdown on a snap from inside the
Speaker 1: ten yard line on a single snap. And like I
Speaker 1: said earlier, the team speed has increased with these young
Speaker 1: guys on the back end. They're fast. This defensive football
Speaker 1: team is fast, period, and they cover a lot of
Speaker 1: ground out there. I think defensively they're going to pick
Speaker 1: up where they left off. And you look at it
Speaker 1: in the playoffs, seven different guys combined for eight interceptions,
Speaker 1: So Louiana Rum was getting contributions everywhere, you know, in
Speaker 1: terms of making players on the football. And that's what
Speaker 1: it's all about. It's all about the ball, man, It's
Speaker 1: all about protecting the ball. It's all about taking it away.
Speaker 1: On the other side, of those nine takeaways and only
Speaker 1: two giveaways plus seven in the class was the single
Speaker 1: most important reason they got to Super Bowl fifty six.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about hayden Hurst. He's not quite as big
Speaker 1: as c J Uzama. I don't necessarily think that he's
Speaker 1: faster running in a straight line than CJ. They're probably
Speaker 1: pretty comparable, but he's more fluid. CJ was more robotic
Speaker 1: in his cuts. You could kind of see when the
Speaker 1: cut was coming in advance. Hayden Hurst is very fluid.
Speaker 1: I think he's off to an excellent start. And I
Speaker 1: think CJ was twentieth in the NFL last year in
Speaker 1: receiving yards among tight ends a little bit under five
Speaker 1: hundred yards. I think hayden Hurst could could add one
Speaker 1: hundred or two hundred yards to that in this offense.
Speaker 1: I totally agree with your assessment about, you know, the
Speaker 1: route running aspect of it, the fluidity of it getting
Speaker 1: in and out of cuts. You know, Fredikof wasn't gonna
Speaker 1: run by anybody, but Fred Blitnikoff would get separation and
Speaker 1: against really good defensive backs, they had great quickness and
Speaker 1: speed because he would get in and out of his
Speaker 1: cut so sharply and so precisely, he'd have it. You know,
Speaker 1: he'd gained a step right there. And hayden Hurst has
Speaker 1: that type of route running a bit he runs routes
Speaker 1: like a whiteout. He's got that type of that type
Speaker 1: of physical ability I think in a big body like that.
Speaker 1: So I do think that's going to be an underrated thing.
Speaker 1: I think people aren't talking about it as much as
Speaker 1: like you were when you were talking about Ogan, Joeb
Speaker 1: and Carter. You know that that aspect of it. With
Speaker 1: the three receiver sets, the eleven personnel that the Banks
Speaker 1: are going to run a high percentage of the time,
Speaker 1: Hayden Hurst is going to get some very favorable matchups
Speaker 1: for a guy his talent and ability. So I think
Speaker 1: that's going to be something to monitor as you know,
Speaker 1: not only training camp goes on, because I'm not sure
Speaker 1: how many snaps he's going to get in preseason games,
Speaker 1: but definitely as the season progresses. To me, it's going
Speaker 1: to be very interesting his value if at the end
Speaker 1: of the line of scrimmage he can be able to
Speaker 1: handle himself with outside linebackers and looking down on defensive
Speaker 1: ends and some of the physicality things. CJ was pretty
Speaker 1: good in that area, you know, in terms of solidifying things.
Speaker 1: If you have a line of scrimmage, if Hayden Hurst
Speaker 1: can provide that that CJ did, as well as the
Speaker 1: advantage that he gets with his route running ability to
Speaker 1: have something pretty good there. I made an appearance on
Speaker 1: the NFL Network on Saturday, and they asked me about
Speaker 1: the vibe at training camp, and I described it as
Speaker 1: unfinished business and passed along an anecdote from cornerback Trey Flowers.
Speaker 1: I was talking to him at his locker the other
Speaker 1: day and mentioned the AFC championship rings and he said
Speaker 1: he hadn't even opened the box. He doesn't even want
Speaker 1: to see it until they went a real Super Bowl
Speaker 1: Championship ring. Then he'll go back and look at an
Speaker 1: AFC Championship ring. Do you get a kind of an
Speaker 1: unfinished business vibe? Is that a good way to describe it?
Speaker 1: Or is there something else that stands out to you?
Speaker 1: I do? I do get that. There's there's no doubt.
Speaker 1: I think that they realized that they were right in
Speaker 1: the midst of an opportunity that doesn't present itself very often,
Speaker 1: and they didn't quite get it done. So they I
Speaker 1: do think that they're feeling that unfinished business feeling, and
Speaker 1: unfortunately franchises felt that three times now, and I can
Speaker 1: I can relate to Trey Flowers. I've kind of pretty
Speaker 1: much did the same thing with the ring I got
Speaker 1: as a player, and I really haven't won it. I
Speaker 1: haven't won that ring um And I'm not sure how
Speaker 1: much aware of the ring that we got as a
Speaker 1: broadcast team for Super Bowl fifty six, but it was intentional.
Speaker 1: As a player, It's like, oh no, this isn't a
Speaker 1: big prize. This is a consolation prize, and I'm not.
Speaker 1: I was proud of the fact that we are to
Speaker 1: see champions, but bemoaning the fact that we didn't win
Speaker 1: the big the big banana. So I do think there's
Speaker 1: a lot of that with this uh, with this football team.
Speaker 1: The other thing though, that it hits me. You know,
Speaker 1: we've been in the locker room. COVID protocols are gone,
Speaker 1: so we're back in there and able to uh, you know,
Speaker 1: mingle with players. That locker room is phenomenal. I mean,
Speaker 1: there is no jerk factor whatsoever, not a sniff of
Speaker 1: it anywhere. And they they they're all they're all got
Speaker 1: each other's backs, they're all pulling for each other. No,
Speaker 1: you know, it's all about with us. It's not I me.
Speaker 1: You know, there's no selfishness in there. It really is
Speaker 1: about as good as I've seen. And you know, they're
Speaker 1: all high character guys. They're all you know, captains and
Speaker 1: multiple captains and um it's and during the course of
Speaker 1: the season. I mean, heck, look at the Bengals. They
Speaker 1: lost two home games in a row to the Charges
Speaker 1: and forty nine ers and overtime to be seven and
Speaker 1: six halfway through December. So you're not thinking going to
Speaker 1: Super Bowl fifty six. But that character and everything, you
Speaker 1: handle adversity better, you know, instead of finger pointing and
Speaker 1: you know it's not me, it's you. Everybody said, Okay,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna do my job a little bit better and
Speaker 1: do and handle things. And they caught fire at the
Speaker 1: right time. And that I think those kind of intangiles,
Speaker 1: those kind of variables are going to take your long way.
Speaker 1: L Collins hasn't practiced yet because of a sore back.
Speaker 1: We talked to him in front of his locker a
Speaker 1: couple of days ago. Did that conversation settle any concerns
Speaker 1: you might have had about his health going forward? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I've been around teammates that have had, you know, minor
Speaker 1: disc issues where it's pinching a nerve kind of thing
Speaker 1: all four L five and you know, some numbness in
Speaker 1: the leg or whatever the case may be. And they
Speaker 1: have alleviated themselves the way he's moving around and he's
Speaker 1: the way he's able to work out already. I don't
Speaker 1: see any real major issue in terms of him, you know,
Speaker 1: missing two months or something like that. I think he's
Speaker 1: going to be back in a couple of weeks. I
Speaker 1: think he will be taking reps out there before training
Speaker 1: camp is totally over with. By that, I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: camp quote breaks before the preceding games are all concluded.
Speaker 1: But it's the exact same thing. He'll he'll get the
Speaker 1: work that he needs, I think to be ready to
Speaker 1: play against the Pittsburgh Steelers and the opener in my estimation,
Speaker 1: and I'm excited to see the right side, center, right guard,
Speaker 1: right tackle. I'm excited to see those guys out there,
Speaker 1: you know, working together against a good defensive unit like
Speaker 1: the Pittsburgh Steelers in that opener. It's going to be
Speaker 1: it's going to be a very good first test. There's
Speaker 1: no doubt about it that that group is pretty strong.
Speaker 1: He's he's going to have his handfull of TJ. Watt.
Speaker 1: Now that guy is the energizer bunny. He keeps going
Speaker 1: and going and going. But I think Collins is going
Speaker 1: to be up to the task. It's going to be
Speaker 1: a very interesting, interesting battle of watch on the edge there.
Speaker 1: I think we all assume that Jesse Bates is going
Speaker 1: to report at some point, probably in time for a
Speaker 1: week one of the regular season. But if not, would
Speaker 1: Dax Hill be fine based on what you've seen so far? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, I think I think that it's it's hard
Speaker 1: to drill a hole in a rookie's head and pour
Speaker 1: all the experience that Jesse Bates has got now. So honestly,
Speaker 1: I mean, Jesse second round pick himself, you know, high
Speaker 1: second round pick, and uh, you know, it took him
Speaker 1: a little while. It takes everybody a little while. So
Speaker 1: I don't think that we can expect Dax Hill to
Speaker 1: be as as comfortable as Jesse Bates might be in
Speaker 1: the early stages of the season with everything that's going
Speaker 1: on around it, because it will be so new to
Speaker 1: Dax and more old hat to Jesse, as Jesse will
Speaker 1: have seen more at that point in time in terms
Speaker 1: of what the NFL has got to offer from a
Speaker 1: formation standpoint, and play, creativity and excellence of the athletes
Speaker 1: and all that that goes along with it. There is
Speaker 1: some adjustment there, but I think he's a quick study
Speaker 1: and I think he's got ability to adapt and adjust
Speaker 1: to his environment pretty done quickly. Is he gonna make mistakes? Hell, yeah,
Speaker 1: everybody makes mistakes, but I think he's gonna you know,
Speaker 1: it's doctor to crush him if he makes a mistake.
Speaker 1: He won't. He won't stay lost in space. He's gonna
Speaker 1: bounce right back and uh and make plays. I think
Speaker 1: he's that type of player. I do think they've got
Speaker 1: a really good player in Dacksville, and I think they've
Speaker 1: got another one and Tyson Anderson. The organization has done
Speaker 1: a pretty good job over the years of doubling down,
Speaker 1: you know, Chad and the TJ and you know, doubling
Speaker 1: down up positions where you can only get one, you
Speaker 1: get a couple, and they might have done at this
Speaker 1: time at the safety position in the draft. I've been
Speaker 1: very impressed by Ted Carriss with his energy, his enthusiasm,
Speaker 1: his smarts, his leadership, etc. I wasn't here in your
Speaker 1: playing days, but I bet you were like that back
Speaker 1: in the day. Do you feel a little bit of
Speaker 1: a bond with Ted carriss I do feel, you know,
Speaker 1: a little bit of a bond with with Ted. He's
Speaker 1: a very Uh He's an easy guy to gravitate toward because,
Speaker 1: like you said, he is so enthusiastic and energetic about
Speaker 1: the game. He's got a real high football intelligence quoting.
Speaker 1: There's no question he's got to football IQ that that
Speaker 1: you that you look for. And you know, I'm sure
Speaker 1: some teammates are like, oh man, this guy is this real?
Speaker 1: That's him every day. He just loves football. He loves
Speaker 1: exactly every aspect of you know, being there. He loves
Speaker 1: getting ready, preparing, he loves the grind of the preparation. Uh,
Speaker 1: he loves everything about it. And I'm sure you know
Speaker 1: there are things that you know I'm not I'm not
Speaker 1: real keen on that, but overall, when you lay your
Speaker 1: head on the pillow, I'm sure I remember feeling his way,
Speaker 1: even in the throes of training camp, in the in
Speaker 1: the dog days of training camp, when your body's saying
Speaker 1: what the hell are you doing to me, and you
Speaker 1: know you're mentally fatigued and everything else, I remember laying
Speaker 1: down and saying, you know what this is tough, but boy,
Speaker 1: am I glad I'm here. This is exactly what I
Speaker 1: wanted to do. I'm the luckiest guy in the world,
Speaker 1: and this I don't want to be anywhere else. And
Speaker 1: I'm sure and Ted Carress feels, you know that that
Speaker 1: way about it, and and I think fortunately they've they've
Speaker 1: put their bat on the ball in evaluating and sifting
Speaker 1: through players that have that exact feeling. There are a
Speaker 1: lot of guys in that locker room that have that
Speaker 1: type of feeling, and Ted Carriss is He's one of
Speaker 1: the leaders of the pack. There's no question about it.
Speaker 1: We have now seen what a sixty five yard field
Speaker 1: goal looks like in person, after Evan McPherson booted one
Speaker 1: on Saturday to end the big practice at Paul Brown Stadium.
Speaker 1: The NFL record is sixty six, set last year by
Speaker 1: Justin Tucker. I don't know if Evan McPherson is ever
Speaker 1: going to get a shot to tie that or break that,
Speaker 1: But do you think that he will become the first
Speaker 1: Bengals kicker to boot one from sixty plus at some point?
Speaker 1: I do? I do. I think there's going to be
Speaker 1: an occasion where, you know, it'll it'll come up. It
Speaker 1: won't come up often, but there'll be an occasion where, yeah,
Speaker 1: you know what we have to we have to try
Speaker 1: this sixty one yard field goal, and he can make it.
Speaker 1: We've seen him make it, so yeah, let's let's let's
Speaker 1: go for it. There will be a game, a circumstance
Speaker 1: where he will have an opportunity to probably get that done.
Speaker 1: And the thing about his sixty five yard that stunned
Speaker 1: me is is the trajectory, the instantaneous height that he
Speaker 1: gets on the football. I mean, man, he elevates that
Speaker 1: thing so quickly. You know, instead of thinking, I know
Speaker 1: I have to hit the low for the drive to
Speaker 1: drive the football, he's still I mean nobody, that thing
Speaker 1: is unblockable, and it traveled the distance that it traveled.
Speaker 1: It's just phenomenal. It's he is. He is a very
Speaker 1: very unique talent. There is, there's no question about it.
Speaker 1: And I probably that one probably would have been good
Speaker 1: from I'd say sixty seven, you know absolutely, I mean
Speaker 1: if not seventy. Yeah, that was pure. That was very pure,
Speaker 1: and uh just makes you scratch your head. Boy, he's
Speaker 1: got an explosive right hip and right leg. There is No,
Speaker 1: it's good. Dynamite caps in there, man, I think I said,
Speaker 1: I said what I was thinking when he hit it.
Speaker 1: If it's good, he's bionic and bionic hip and a
Speaker 1: bionic leg on that right side. It's crazy. We haven't
Speaker 1: seen Joe Burrow yet. There's no official timetable, and when
Speaker 1: he's going to come back and start practicing. Do you
Speaker 1: have a feel for how much time he can miss
Speaker 1: before it would actually hurt him or hurt the team
Speaker 1: in any way? I think that, you know, a couple
Speaker 1: three weeks. I really think he could miss um. And
Speaker 1: we're already a week into it. I'd say it's going
Speaker 1: to be a couple more weeks. And I'm not saying
Speaker 1: that he won't be out there. I'm sure he'll be
Speaker 1: out there, you know, taking the mental reps and going
Speaker 1: through things with his teammates and bonding that way, and
Speaker 1: everybody will be excited to have him out there, there's
Speaker 1: no question about it. But the two things that you
Speaker 1: know come to my mind is you got to you
Speaker 1: gotta make sure that it's healing properly, and you avoid
Speaker 1: at all cost infection. And it's not like his appendix
Speaker 1: rupture or burst or anything. There wasn't any infection on
Speaker 1: the front, But I'm talking about after the fact. You
Speaker 1: go through the procedure, and I mean, hecky had an
Speaker 1: organ taken out of your body, and you know your
Speaker 1: body has to respond or recover, and you don't want
Speaker 1: it to have to then handle an affection. So that
Speaker 1: that's one thing, and then the other thing is let
Speaker 1: it heal. Because the way Joe throws a football, he
Speaker 1: uses his core. You know every quarterback does. I mean,
Speaker 1: they're They're torking and twisting that core pretty darn significantly,
Speaker 1: and you know, you want to you want to make
Speaker 1: sure that the healing is is uh far along, so
Speaker 1: far along that you don't even have to worry about,
Speaker 1: you know, anything that that may be disrupted because of that,
Speaker 1: you know, severe torque or that severe twisting of your
Speaker 1: of your body that you have to do to throw,
Speaker 1: you know, to goose that ball down the field, and
Speaker 1: those de throws. You have to talk it pretty good.
Speaker 1: So they're going to err on the side of caution.
Speaker 1: Let's put it that way. They're not going to rush
Speaker 1: him back. I know, I'd be stunned if they If
Speaker 1: they bring him back too ston I think if they're
Speaker 1: gonna probably have to put a harness on jail. He's
Speaker 1: gonna say I want to go out there and get going,
Speaker 1: and they may hold him out for another day or
Speaker 1: two after he says, you know, I'm ready to go,
Speaker 1: and I bet that will happen. You know, he'll probably
Speaker 1: be saying to the media at some point, I'm ready
Speaker 1: to go. They just won't let me go yet. And
Speaker 1: that's that's what I envision happening. All right, final thing,
Speaker 1: going to circle back to the AFC Championship ring. We
Speaker 1: were so grateful and appreciative to be included on the
Speaker 1: list by the Brown family to receive rings from last year.
Speaker 1: Here's my question, how did your grandkids like your AFC
Speaker 1: Championship ring. Yeah, they were, they were very impressed. Uh
Speaker 1: they came up to visit after I had left to
Speaker 1: go down to down to practice the day after, picked
Speaker 1: them up and uh yeah, they they big smiles. They
Speaker 1: were sporting those rings on their on their hand. The
Speaker 1: rings looked pretty big on those little hands, that's for sure,
Speaker 1: look like the TV sit hanging off their hands. But yeah,
Speaker 1: they were. They were like, Wow, this is unbelievable, and
Speaker 1: they were pretty excited. About it. Big smiles on the faces.
Speaker 1: That's for sure. That's going to do it. For this
Speaker 1: episode of The Bengals Booth Podcast, presented by Ultimate Bengals.
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Speaker 1: fans find us. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for listening
Speaker 1: to The Bengals Booth Podcast