Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Horde and this is the
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth Podcast That's So Raven edition, as we look
Speaker 1: back at a frustrating loss in Baltimore that saw the
Speaker 1: Bengals lose for the fourth time in the last five
Speaker 1: games to fall to five and five this season. In
Speaker 1: the battle for the sixth and final playoff spot in
Speaker 1: the AFC, five teams have five and five records, and
Speaker 1: here's how they currently stack up based on the tiebreakers.
Speaker 1: The Ravens currently have the final playoff spot, followed by
Speaker 1: the Bengals, Dolphins, Colts, and Titans. The Bengals wins over
Speaker 1: Miami and Indianapolis could come in very handy. On this
Speaker 1: episode of the podcast, you'll hear radio replays from the game,
Speaker 1: locker room interviews with several key players, and Dave Lapham
Speaker 1: will join me for postgame analysis. Plus, in this week's
Speaker 1: fun Facts Interview, I'll talk to rookie cornerback Darius Phillips
Speaker 1: on a wide variety of topics in hooting the two
Speaker 1: people in history he would most like to meet. I
Speaker 1: think his answer will surprise you. All of that is
Speaker 1: straight ahead, But first, here's a quick reminder that you
Speaker 1: can have the latest edition of this podcast delivered right
Speaker 1: to your phone, tablet, or computer by subscribing on iTunes, Stitcher,
Speaker 1: or pod Bean. It's the greatest invention since caffeine. I've
Speaker 1: had an eventful weekend calling. You see basketball at home
Speaker 1: on Friday night, you see football in Orlando on Saturday night,
Speaker 1: and the Bengals game in Baltimore on Sunday afternoon. I
Speaker 1: love it. It's what I dreamed of doing as a kid,
Speaker 1: and I kind of think of the challenge of getting
Speaker 1: from game to game is my own version of the
Speaker 1: Amazing Race. But I haven't had a lot of sleep,
Speaker 1: which is why caffeine is my drug of choice. Now,
Speaker 1: let's get to the game. With Joe Flacco missing practice
Speaker 1: all week with a hip injury, the Bengals knew they
Speaker 1: were like a face former Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Lamar Jackson.
Speaker 1: In his first NFL start in three years at Louisville,
Speaker 1: Jackson passed for more than nine thousand yards and ran
Speaker 1: for more than four thousand yards, and his ability to
Speaker 1: run was the big concern. According to Bengals linebacker Hardy Nickerson,
Speaker 1: when you go up against the Lamar Jackson, you know
Speaker 1: Cam Newton. A guy like that, like a Mike Vick,
Speaker 1: you always got to be ready for it. But even
Speaker 1: if they knew it was coming, the Bengals couldn't stop
Speaker 1: Jackson and the Ravens on their opening drive eleven plays,
Speaker 1: all runs, including five runs by the quarterback, for forty
Speaker 1: six yards. The end result an early seven nothing lead.
Speaker 1: Waits for the shotgun snap on second down and goal
Speaker 1: from the seven, Jackson hands it off Collins trying to
Speaker 1: bounce it wide toward the sideline. He will run toward
Speaker 1: the pylon and score a Baltimore touchdown. Man, I didn't
Speaker 1: think that was gonna bounce well enough. Looked like the
Speaker 1: Bengals were in position, but they didn't set a strong
Speaker 1: enough edge. Montest Burford kind of barking at his guys,
Speaker 1: who's setting the edge defensively. Jackson finished the game with
Speaker 1: twenty seven carries for one hundred and seventeen yards, a
Speaker 1: new rushing record for a Ravens quarterback. Here's Vinny Ray.
Speaker 1: Most of us have seen him in college. You know
Speaker 1: the highlights. But we saw a couple of games of
Speaker 1: him getting ready in the last couple of days in
Speaker 1: the preseason, and we see he's good. He's a good quarterback,
Speaker 1: goes through his reads and he is unbelievable quickness and
Speaker 1: as you see, I think his best qualities is toughness.
Speaker 1: So um good quarterback is gonna be a tough player
Speaker 1: to play against me. Is just what Bengals fans wanted
Speaker 1: to hear. Baltimore's lead didn't last. Early in the second quarter,
Speaker 1: Andy Dalton hit Tyler Boyd and Joe Mixon on back
Speaker 1: to back passes for twenty nine and twenty one yards,
Speaker 1: leading to a tying touchdown. Sam Hobbard in at fullback
Speaker 1: first in golf from the one they get it and
Speaker 1: he fights his way across the goal line. Touchdown, Bang
Speaker 1: goals as Joe Mixon plowed over Jefferson and took it
Speaker 1: into the end zone for the score. That was one
Speaker 1: of very few productive runs for the Bengals. Mixon finished
Speaker 1: with fourteen yards on twelve carries. Giovanni Bernard had five
Speaker 1: yards on two carries. In the final two minutes of
Speaker 1: the half, the Ravens scored twice. A twenty eight yard
Speaker 1: field goal by Justin Tucker made a ten seven, then
Speaker 1: the Bengals punted it back to Baltimore with twenty two
Speaker 1: seconds left, and Jackson was able to scramble around for
Speaker 1: an eternity before throwing a twenty three yard pass to
Speaker 1: John Brown that put the Ravens within the long field
Speaker 1: goal range of Justin Tucker. Here's Marvin Lewis on the
Speaker 1: defensive breakdown the field goal before halftime. He scrambles would
Speaker 1: come out of coverage. That's a huge play. You know,
Speaker 1: we can't do that. And you know they had a
Speaker 1: couple other opportunities there and you know where they had
Speaker 1: to end up punting it. But those are the things
Speaker 1: you got to learn. When you're playing a quarterback that runs,
Speaker 1: you gotta just you know, you gotta take care of
Speaker 1: your job that the other guys chase the quarterback. Tucker
Speaker 1: drilled a fifty six yard field goal to end the half,
Speaker 1: his ninth in a row from fifty plus, and the
Speaker 1: Ravens head a thirteen seven lead. In the third quarter,
Speaker 1: Baltimore's twenty one year old quarterback finally made a rookie mistake.
Speaker 1: Jackson rolling to the right now, he wants to take
Speaker 1: off and run now he throws intersected by Sean Williams.
Speaker 1: Williams at the forty five of Baltimore the forty to
Speaker 1: the thirty five, and he will be tackled by Lamar
Speaker 1: Jackson around the thirty three yard line. The Bengals capitalized
Speaker 1: on the great drive start to take their first lead
Speaker 1: of the day. Dalton, waiting for the shotgun snap catches
Speaker 1: at the nine, drop straight back through the flamental that
Speaker 1: is caught for a touchdown, hauled in by Matt Lengal,
Speaker 1: his second career touchdown catch, his first and a Bengals uniform.
Speaker 1: Cincinnati has tied it pending the extra point. Randy Bullock
Speaker 1: made the pat to put the Bengals up fourteen thirteen,
Speaker 1: and here's legal and hauling in that touchdown catch with
Speaker 1: no defenders nearby, knew there was gonna be nobody there.
Speaker 1: I thought I might be getting the ball, but I
Speaker 1: didn't realize until after that. It was like a little
Speaker 1: ten yard bubble I had there. So I'm just glad
Speaker 1: I could catch it and fall down and score touchdown.
Speaker 1: That was a thirty two yard touchdown drive, and the
Speaker 1: Bengals got great field position again on their next drive
Speaker 1: when the Ravens went for it on fourth and one
Speaker 1: in their own territory. On fourth down and one from
Speaker 1: the forty five yard line. Bengals crowd the middle, Jackson
Speaker 1: trying to knife left. I don't think he got it.
Speaker 1: The Bengals defense begins celebrating, and three and a half
Speaker 1: minutes later, the offense was celebrating thanks to John Ross.
Speaker 1: Dalton fakes a handoff. He's gonna love it deep toward
Speaker 1: Ross in the end zone and it is a touchdown.
Speaker 1: A great catch for John Ross as he somehow maneuvered
Speaker 1: up and over Marlin Humphrey to reel in the twenty
Speaker 1: two yard TD How about that a contested catch by
Speaker 1: John Russ. It was not only a terrific contested catch,
Speaker 1: but Ross showed great awareness to get both feet down
Speaker 1: in bounds for his fourth touchdown on a total of
Speaker 1: eleven receptions. I saw where it like when I filled
Speaker 1: the balls. I lived down and made sure I got
Speaker 1: both feet in, you know, before anything if he tried
Speaker 1: to drag me out or something like that. Because I
Speaker 1: caught it and he also had his hand on the boss,
Speaker 1: I wanted to make sure you know that I've definitely
Speaker 1: got my feet in, you know, so it'll be a touchdown.
Speaker 1: Calb regardless, the Bengals had an eight point lead with
Speaker 1: five forty five left in the third quarter, plenty of
Speaker 1: time for Baltimore to stick with the running game, and
Speaker 1: that's what the Ravens did with the combination of Jackson
Speaker 1: and a two hundred and thirty eight pound undrafted rookie
Speaker 1: out of Rutgers named Gus Edwards. Second and three for
Speaker 1: the Ravens at the eleven yard line, tenth play of
Speaker 1: the drive for Baltimore, Sneed goes in motion. It's a
Speaker 1: handoff to Edwards, breaking through tackles and taking it into
Speaker 1: the end zone for a piece of cake touchdown eleven
Speaker 1: yards for Gus Edwards. Hardy Nickerson Whift on an early
Speaker 1: tackle attempt. Edwards added a two point conversion run to
Speaker 1: tie the game at twenty one, and finished with one
Speaker 1: hundred and fifteen yards on seventeen sledgehammer carries. Most football
Speaker 1: fans have never heard of the guy, but Vinnie Ray
Speaker 1: had no about him. I'm no about him since for
Speaker 1: a long time, since he was like in grade school.
Speaker 1: He's from New York City, so I've been known about him.
Speaker 1: He's a tough guy, runs hard, big guy. The game
Speaker 1: was tied going to the fourth quarter when the Ravens
Speaker 1: drove fifty five yards on ten runs and only two passes.
Speaker 1: It led to a twenty four yard field goal by
Speaker 1: Tucker and a twenty four twenty one lead. The Bengals
Speaker 1: answered with a nice drive of their own, highlighted by
Speaker 1: a thirty two yard pass to Tyler Boyd on third
Speaker 1: and twelve, but the drive stalled at the Ravens thirty
Speaker 1: three and Randy Bullock is not justin Tucker. He missed
Speaker 1: a fifty five yard field goal wide right that would
Speaker 1: have tied the score. The offense put us in position
Speaker 1: to get to kick there, and we got to, you know,
Speaker 1: how to make the kick. That's part of it, you know,
Speaker 1: and it's unfortunate that Randy missed a kick there. The
Speaker 1: Bengals had one more chance, getting the ball at their
Speaker 1: own ten yard line with two forty five to go.
Speaker 1: The situation was eerily similar to last New Year's Eve,
Speaker 1: when the Bengals got the ball at their own ten
Speaker 1: with two forty three to go and drove ninety yards
Speaker 1: to beat the Ravens on Andy Dalton's forty nine yard
Speaker 1: touchdown pass to Tyler Boyd, but with aj green out,
Speaker 1: the Ravens put two defenders on Boyd, and on fourth
Speaker 1: and three, Dalton threw instead to Cody Kor. It hit
Speaker 1: him in the hands for what could have and probably
Speaker 1: should have been a first down, but Kor failed to
Speaker 1: make the catch and the Ravens ran out the clock
Speaker 1: for twenty four twenty one win. Here's Tyler Boyd. We
Speaker 1: got to win now. We can't. We can't, can't. We
Speaker 1: can't take no more loss. If we want to be
Speaker 1: great and we want to go to the postseason, then
Speaker 1: we gotta win. In Marvin Lewis's first game since taking
Speaker 1: over defensive coordinator duties, the Ravens rushed for two hundred
Speaker 1: sixty five yards on fifty four carries, the most rushing
Speaker 1: yards the Bengals have given up in marvin sixteen years
Speaker 1: as head coach. Baltimore added one hundred and fifty passing
Speaker 1: yards for a grand total of four h three, but
Speaker 1: the Bengals did hold Baltimore to twenty four points, eight
Speaker 1: less than teams ravaging against Cincinnati going into the game.
Speaker 1: Not exactly defensive dominance, but there was improvement with Marvin
Speaker 1: calling the shots. According to linebackers Hardy Nickerson and Vinny Ray,
Speaker 1: I think he did he did a good job today,
Speaker 1: you know, getting us the calls. We're coming to the sideline,
Speaker 1: we're talking about stuff where we're making adjustments, and then
Speaker 1: we're you know, the adjustments are working. So it's it's
Speaker 1: one of those things where I think he's he's going
Speaker 1: to be more comfortable next week. But to not do
Speaker 1: this since when two thousand and two or something like that,
Speaker 1: and to come out on call plays, I thought he
Speaker 1: did a hell of a job. I love going out
Speaker 1: there and playing for him, you know, I know he's
Speaker 1: in the fight there with us. He's right there on
Speaker 1: the field, and so we gave all Vontes goes out there.
Speaker 1: He's not even one hundred percent going out there fighting
Speaker 1: for every tooth and mail. Up next another rookie quarterback,
Speaker 1: number one overall draft pick, Baker Mayfield and the Cleveland Browns.
Speaker 1: Now time to bring in my broadcast partner Dave Lapham
Speaker 1: for postgame analysis, and we begin with the Bengals getting
Speaker 1: run over. Gus Edwards had fifteen carries for sixty four
Speaker 1: yards on the season. Today he had seventeen four hundred
Speaker 1: and fifteen six point eight a carry seventeen yard long,
Speaker 1: and he had that touchdown run where he ran through everybody.
Speaker 1: Lamar Jackson confidence with twenty seven rushes one hundred and
Speaker 1: seventeen yards four point three year carry twenty one yard average.
Speaker 1: They average four point nine per rush, fifty four rushes
Speaker 1: of the football twenty sixty five yards. They only ran
Speaker 1: at nineteen times. It was the opposite in the first game.
Speaker 1: They threw at fifty five and ran at twenty two.
Speaker 1: They just turned the tables and put the Bengals in
Speaker 1: a meat grinder. Put that running game. And then on
Speaker 1: the other side, Bengals had sixteen carries for forty eight yards.
Speaker 1: You take away Andy Dalton's twenty yards scramble. Fifteen carries
Speaker 1: for twenty eight yards less than two yards a pop.
Speaker 1: Not going to beat anybody running the ball like that,
Speaker 1: particularly when the other team is rushing him down to
Speaker 1: your throat for two hundred and sixty five yards. So
Speaker 1: the difference in today's game was the running game. For
Speaker 1: the first time in the Marvin Lewis era. Against Baltimore,
Speaker 1: he lost the game where he was plusing the turnover department.
Speaker 1: They were plus one and they had a fourth down stop,
Speaker 1: so two of the drives for the Ravens didn't end
Speaker 1: in a kick and that kept him in the game.
Speaker 1: If not for those getting short fields out of those,
Speaker 1: the Bengals would have been in real trouble. So you know,
Speaker 1: there's miles to go before they arrest in terms of
Speaker 1: you know, staying in your gap, coming off the blocks,
Speaker 1: making tackles, and Jackson, even when he was in the pocket,
Speaker 1: bought time with his quick feet. You know, he doesn't
Speaker 1: see the field well. If you take away the running
Speaker 1: game and make him throw it, he's going to struggle.
Speaker 1: There's no question about it. Bengals couldn't do that today.
Speaker 1: They didn't make him one dimensional. A team that's going
Speaker 1: to be able to make him one dimensional is He's
Speaker 1: going to have his issues. But you know, I think
Speaker 1: Joe Flacco is more of an NFL quarterback than he
Speaker 1: is right now. But boy, I would not hesitate to
Speaker 1: use him more in the wildcat and run the wildcat,
Speaker 1: not just in the red zone. I'd run the wildcat
Speaker 1: anywhere you want to run the wildcat, just to change
Speaker 1: the temple of the game as a as a as
Speaker 1: an offset to Joe Flacco what he does stand in
Speaker 1: the pocket and throwing the ball down the field. Laugh,
Speaker 1: the Bengals are the first team to face Lamar Jackson
Speaker 1: as a starter at the NFL level. Was that a
Speaker 1: disadvantage for the Bengals? You know, I think that it
Speaker 1: was a little bit. Dan and I think Marty morning Wig,
Speaker 1: the offensive coordinator who had Michael Vick at Philadelphia, and
Speaker 1: Greg Roman, who basically is the assistant head coach and
Speaker 1: coaches the tight ends. He had Colin Kaepernick with the
Speaker 1: forty nine ers, so they had an understanding, I think,
Speaker 1: of what to do with the infancy stages of Lamar Jackson.
Speaker 1: But the Bengals had stopped the run with any modicum
Speaker 1: of success, it might have been a whole different ball
Speaker 1: game because I'm not sure he could have executed the
Speaker 1: passing attack that they wanted executed. I mean, when he
Speaker 1: had to throw the football, he was holding the ball,
Speaker 1: running around, creating, trying to create opportunities. He looked like
Speaker 1: Johnny Man's eldom. He had Texas A and m you know,
Speaker 1: just that's hard to pass protect for a guy like that.
Speaker 1: But he extended a lot of plays and he made
Speaker 1: plays when he had to. But I mean that running
Speaker 1: game was just was just dynamic, and you got to
Speaker 1: tip your cap to them, for sure. And I think
Speaker 1: the Bengals knew that that was gonna what was gonna unfold,
Speaker 1: and I think they're probably bitterly disappointed that they didn't
Speaker 1: do a better job of making him one dimensional and
Speaker 1: have to throw the football. They had maybe three series
Speaker 1: after the first touchdown drive where oh, it looks like
Speaker 1: now they're gonna handle, But then the Ravens adjusted to
Speaker 1: the adjustments and off they went again. Lap It was
Speaker 1: Marvin Lewis his first game since taking over as defensive
Speaker 1: coordinator for Terrell Austin. Did you see improvement with are
Speaker 1: in calling the defense. I think the biggest progress I
Speaker 1: saw were the guys I think felt more confident in
Speaker 1: what they were supposed to do and how they were
Speaker 1: supposed to do it. I didn't see any personnel issues,
Speaker 1: running guys on and off the field like a fire drill,
Speaker 1: and you know, just barely getting guys in in time,
Speaker 1: and then you know, getting to the line of screams,
Speaker 1: not even getting lined up, looking at each other like
Speaker 1: you know, what's the call, what's the final verdict, and
Speaker 1: then boom, the ball snapped and you're on your heels.
Speaker 1: I didn't see that. I thought, you know that the
Speaker 1: management part of that was a heck of a lot
Speaker 1: better managing personnel substitutions and getting calls in early enough
Speaker 1: where guys could communicate and all that. But man, they're
Speaker 1: going to do a much, much, light years better job
Speaker 1: beating blocks, getting off blocks, and tackling people. I mean,
Speaker 1: they're still horrendous tacklers on the defensive side of the football.
Speaker 1: When the Bengals beat Baltimore back in Week two, Aj
Speaker 1: Green cut three touchdown passes. Tyler Eifford was still healthy
Speaker 1: back then. I kind of have the feeling that if
Speaker 1: Aj Green had played today, the Bengals might have won
Speaker 1: the game. But that's meaningless. He didn't, but clear they
Speaker 1: need him back to make a playoff run down the stretch. Yeah,
Speaker 1: there's no question. I mean, when AJ's in the game,
Speaker 1: the vertical passing game, you know, was there. I thought
Speaker 1: today for the most part, it was a horizontal passing game,
Speaker 1: you know, just stretching it. I thought the Ravens stretched
Speaker 1: the field horizontally with their running game. The Mengals are
Speaker 1: trying to do with their passing game a little bit.
Speaker 1: They didn't. John Ross did make a good play on
Speaker 1: a deep ball. He found the football and Humphrey didn't.
Speaker 1: But you know that those were few and far between,
Speaker 1: and Tyler Boyd's finding out what it's like to be
Speaker 1: a primary target now in a passing game. And I
Speaker 1: agree with you. I mean, you know, in that first game,
Speaker 1: every tight end had two catches and more in that
Speaker 1: football game. Ifford had a couple, Croft had a couple.
Speaker 1: You know, CJ. Zama had three. So that multiple tight
Speaker 1: end package was starting to really show not only running
Speaker 1: the football but throwing it. Now they're all on inje reserve.
Speaker 1: So with that particularly effort out and AJ Green out,
Speaker 1: this offense looks so much different than the offense played
Speaker 1: Thursday night in Week two at Paul Brown Stadium. I
Speaker 1: mean AJ Green had three touchdown catches in less than
Speaker 1: seventeen minutes. You know, those first three catches were all touchdowns.
Speaker 1: And yeah, he's obviously he's the best player on that
Speaker 1: side of the football. When you're down your best player,
Speaker 1: you're gonna feel it. I don't know if Justin Tucker
Speaker 1: is the best player for the Baltimore Ravens, but he's
Speaker 1: the best kicker in NFL history. Randy Bullock missed a
Speaker 1: fifty two yarder that could have tied it in the
Speaker 1: fourth quarter. You're not going to have a high percentage
Speaker 1: from fifty plus, at least most kickers don't, but justin
Speaker 1: Tucker does. He drilled a fifty six yarder at the
Speaker 1: end of the half. Those three points turn out to
Speaker 1: be the difference of the game. And in on that play,
Speaker 1: Jackson's buying time scrambling around back there. The Bengals drop
Speaker 1: coverage thinking that Jackson's gonna be sacked. You can't drop coverage.
Speaker 1: I mean, you can't do that. You just can't leave
Speaker 1: your guy open. And maybe trying to go pressure the quarterback.
Speaker 1: That's not your job. Other people are pressing on the quarterback.
Speaker 1: Let them do their job. You stay with your job.
Speaker 1: And that path allowed it to be a fifty six
Speaker 1: yard fieldal opportunity, and Tucker, you know, made him pay.
Speaker 1: He was two for two from fifty and beyond. And
Speaker 1: uh the Bengals were oh for one and in a
Speaker 1: three point game. That's that's the difference in the football game.
Speaker 1: But there there are a lot of a lot of reasons.
Speaker 1: You know, they lost the football game. The kicking game
Speaker 1: you know, being won. But I mean, to get out
Speaker 1: rushed like they got out rushed. I mean that's that's
Speaker 1: basically high school mispatches when you look at that kind
Speaker 1: of rushing, you know, or Alabama playing in Division two
Speaker 1: or something like that. At the collegiate level, you don't
Speaker 1: see that kind of disparity very often in the National
Speaker 1: Football League. In today's NFL, teams don't run it fifty
Speaker 1: five times, you know, for two hundred and sixty five yards.
Speaker 1: But the Ravens did what they had to do. And
Speaker 1: I give him credit. I mean, the offensive line knew
Speaker 1: they had to run block the best they've ever done it,
Speaker 1: and they had a one two punch George Edwards. Who
Speaker 1: the heck is George Edwards sixty four yards rushing on
Speaker 1: the season. He stepped up and he had his coming
Speaker 1: out party today, and uh as did Lamar Jackson. As
Speaker 1: a runner at the quarterback position, He's still far from
Speaker 1: being anywhere near polished as a pastor. Thanks Lap. Up
Speaker 1: next the Cleveland Browns, who had to buy this week,
Speaker 1: and we'll come to Paul Brown Stadium with a record
Speaker 1: of three six and one. We'll see if Hugh Jackson's
Speaker 1: knowledge of his former team helps the Bengals beat the
Speaker 1: Browns for the eighth consecutive time. Now time for this
Speaker 1: week's fun Facts segment, where you get to know the
Speaker 1: person under the pads, in this case, the third of
Speaker 1: the Bengals three fifth round draft choices this year. Time
Speaker 1: for some fun facts with Bengals rookie Darius Phillips from Detroit, Michigan.
Speaker 1: From the heart of the city or from the suburbs
Speaker 1: the heart of the city, tell me a little bit
Speaker 1: about growing up in Detroit. Growing to Detroit's kind of
Speaker 1: I'll say as a while, but it's kind of. It's
Speaker 1: really like depending on who you surrounds us off with.
Speaker 1: You know a lot of people branch off like going
Speaker 1: to high school, middle school, so you surround up with
Speaker 1: some people that want to want to do succeed in life,
Speaker 1: where he surrounds of some people that want it that don't. Luckily,
Speaker 1: you'll surrounded myself with with people that want that wanted
Speaker 1: to help me get to the next level and go
Speaker 1: to college. For some of your favorite athletes going out,
Speaker 1: I was into basketball before I got into football, so
Speaker 1: I'd say Lebron James m Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook. Then
Speaker 1: when I got into football, probably switched over to like
Speaker 1: Calvin Johnson receivers. Now I played offense for I started
Speaker 1: playing defense, so it was mostly receivers. I didn't when
Speaker 1: you look at DBS. We're doing fun facts with Darius
Speaker 1: Phillips and any brothers and sisters. Um, yes, I have
Speaker 1: one biological sister and I have um three guy sisters
Speaker 1: and two god brothers. So I have I'll say my
Speaker 1: immediate family is small, but my extended family is bid.
Speaker 1: Sounds took a big group rooting for you though. Yeah. Come,
Speaker 1: they come to almost every game. I think last week
Speaker 1: was the first game they missed. Talking to Darius Phillips,
Speaker 1: I went to Syracuse. My broadcasting partner, Davel Appam went
Speaker 1: to Syracuse. You almost went to Syracuse, right, Yeah, that
Speaker 1: was actually my first, um, my first offer coming out,
Speaker 1: it was Syracuse. Uh, Wheely went to Robshaw and he
Speaker 1: was coaching the Tyrone week then he was coaching there.
Speaker 1: Then I guess the coaching staff at Syracuse got hired
Speaker 1: believe for the Bills. Correct, Moron went to the Bill. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So then when they went to the Bills, Um, they
Speaker 1: didn't pull my scholarship, but the coach coming in he
Speaker 1: didn't like contact me, So I just decommitted. You wound
Speaker 1: up at Western Michigan instead in Callamazoo, Michigan. Was that
Speaker 1: a little bit of a culture shock going from Detroit,
Speaker 1: the heart of the city, to callama Zoo. Um. I
Speaker 1: want to say it was a coaching shock, just because
Speaker 1: I don't know Detroit wild. But I wasn't into like
Speaker 1: all of all of while stuff, So when I went
Speaker 1: down there, it was just I say, they were more friendlier.
Speaker 1: So that probably was more the most shocking thing that
Speaker 1: was friendly. People's friendly. As you mentioned you worldwide receiver.
Speaker 1: You played wide receiver there your freshman year. Could you
Speaker 1: have made the NFL as a wide receiver? Me? Just
Speaker 1: because of me? I would say yeah, But Coach Fleck
Speaker 1: put me into the office several times telling me if
Speaker 1: I wanted to make to the NFL, I would have
Speaker 1: to switch. And eventually he made this decision and I
Speaker 1: couldn't be more happier. Now it certainly worked out well.
Speaker 1: But did you resisted at first making the switcher your
Speaker 1: sophomore year to the the cornerback? Um? Y'all resisted? Um? Because
Speaker 1: when I first found out Donald sellerscar he was leaving.
Speaker 1: He was leaving. We had a spot opening. We was
Speaker 1: at a basketball game and he came to me and Toby.
Speaker 1: They was gonna switch me to the the corner, and I
Speaker 1: didn't want to do it. First day, I think it
Speaker 1: was winner conditioning. They hit me down there with the
Speaker 1: corner trying to backpedal. I couldn't do none of that,
Speaker 1: so they excused me back to the corner, I mean
Speaker 1: the receiver. Then I would say, like a week later,
Speaker 1: sushed me back to the corner. When you were a
Speaker 1: junior in Western Michigan, you were a key member of
Speaker 1: a team that went thirteen at old and made it
Speaker 1: to the Cotton Bowl before losing to Wisconsin. Best four
Speaker 1: months of your life? Um? Yeah, I'll say it was
Speaker 1: the best for my months of my life. Um. Still
Speaker 1: keep in contact with a lot of them guys, and
Speaker 1: it was just we was just I'll said. The thing
Speaker 1: that was different from that team, we were just close family.
Speaker 1: You know. The culture was we knew he was gonna
Speaker 1: go out and win. We knew we was everybody's gonna
Speaker 1: do the job, and we just got it done. You
Speaker 1: hold an NCAA record for return touchdowns with twelve, five
Speaker 1: kick returns, five pick sixes, a punt return, and a
Speaker 1: fumble return. It's got to be pretty cool to hold
Speaker 1: an all time college football record. Um, yeah, I think
Speaker 1: it's pretty pretty cool. But I don't. I don't really
Speaker 1: tell anybody, so I don't think nobody on the team. No,
Speaker 1: I don't. I don't be going around just telling people
Speaker 1: that I do. But it's it's a compliment for me
Speaker 1: and myself and my family just knowing that I got
Speaker 1: a record in such a great game in Cuba football.
Speaker 1: You need me to go walk around the locker room
Speaker 1: right now and send your praises. People should know that
Speaker 1: that's incredible. Yeah. Yeah, I'm just quiet, quiet person, So
Speaker 1: I don't really do that, all right. Darius Phillips doesn't
Speaker 1: brag about himself, so I'll do it for him. You
Speaker 1: played in the MAC, but some of your biggest games
Speaker 1: happened when Western Michigan took on big name schools. One
Speaker 1: hundred yard kick return against USC, one hundred yard kick
Speaker 1: return against Chicken Stayed. Did you look at those games
Speaker 1: as an opportunity to prove what you could do? Whenever
Speaker 1: we played big schools, I always had a chip on
Speaker 1: my shoulder just because I didn't get the offers from
Speaker 1: the big schools. And just during the week we are
Speaker 1: just here. Oh yeah, we're gonna, they're gonna, We're gonna
Speaker 1: blow them out that week because we was in the MAX.
Speaker 1: So I just took pride in and planning the MAC
Speaker 1: and going out and and showing that as talent in
Speaker 1: any conference, no matter what conference you're win. Darry she
Speaker 1: lost her mom far too soon before your senior year
Speaker 1: of college. How did you cope. I'll just say, just
Speaker 1: surrounding myself with my teammates saying and my family and France,
Speaker 1: you know, just them keeping their hands around me and
Speaker 1: just trying to stay focused for her. My sister just
Speaker 1: had a niece and I mean a daughter, so my
Speaker 1: niece and just trying to be a positive road out
Speaker 1: of her life fan so show her it's different parts
Speaker 1: of life, just being in Detroit. So you're drafted by
Speaker 1: the Bengals in the fifth round this spring. Describe your
Speaker 1: draft experience. It was tough coming into the draft. I
Speaker 1: mean the road to the draft just because I had
Speaker 1: bumps and bruises that was from the previous season, so
Speaker 1: I couldn't really do nothing at the combine, couldn't do
Speaker 1: nothing at the Singer Bowl. Then I finally got to
Speaker 1: UM I guess compete at the pro day and I
Speaker 1: went in there and did everything I can. Then got
Speaker 1: the call. All my family gets up in Klimuzoo, so
Speaker 1: we're all happy and celebrated that day. Then I just
Speaker 1: went back to training. I guess like two or three
Speaker 1: days later is that phone call from the Bengals the altimat.
Speaker 1: It happened when I was downstairs in my rooms and
Speaker 1: everybody was upstairs, so and nobody really knew. I just
Speaker 1: went when they called me, I had just went upstairs
Speaker 1: and just turned the TV. There was already playing it.
Speaker 1: I just turned it up, and when it happened, everybody
Speaker 1: just surprised. They didn't know that I had talked to somebody.
Speaker 1: Now you pretended you didn't know already. Yeah, you went
Speaker 1: upstairs and sat down. Were still later, So then when
Speaker 1: they called my name, it got loud and were just
Speaker 1: happy to celebrated a few more fun factor Darius phill Ups,
Speaker 1: You're not extremely wealthy yet, but for a young man
Speaker 1: right out of college, you're doing pretty well. Did you
Speaker 1: splur join anything, did you treat yourself to anything? After
Speaker 1: he signed to the Bengals. The only thing I would say,
Speaker 1: I treated myself too as the car UM. That's the
Speaker 1: only thing I already explores out of the car where
Speaker 1: you get UM? I got a twenty eighteen challenging and well,
Speaker 1: everybody now telling me I'm gonna need something different for
Speaker 1: the winning up here, So I gotta see what I
Speaker 1: gotta do to get a different car or a different
Speaker 1: tire or something. If you could meet anybody in history,
Speaker 1: who would it be. I don't know, probably Thomas Jefferson,
Speaker 1: Thoma Jefferson, probably either him or elba Ostin, just to
Speaker 1: figure out how they how they minds were. Oh no,
Speaker 1: all right, you're off the hot seat. Appreciate the time,
Speaker 1: best of luck the rest of the year. Thank you,
Speaker 1: appreciate it. And that's going to do it for this
Speaker 1: episode of the podcast. If you haven't done so already,
Speaker 1: don't forget to subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, or pod Bean
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Speaker 1: Bengals fans find this podcast. I'm Dan Horde, and thanks
Speaker 1: for listening to The Bengals Booth Podcast.