Speaker 1: Hi again everybody on dan Horde and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast. The this time I'm walk into
Speaker 1: new Lands. Addition, as the two and three Bengals look
Speaker 1: to get back to five hundred as they face the
Speaker 1: two and three Saints inside the Caesar Superdome. Coming up,
Speaker 1: former Bengals wide receiver t J. Hushman Zada tells us
Speaker 1: how the Bengals can fix the problems they're having on offense.
Speaker 1: Eli Apple discusses letting his play do the talking as
Speaker 1: he returns to the Big Easy. I'll discuss criticism of
Speaker 1: the Bengals play calling with Dave Lapham and finally it's
Speaker 1: our No the Faux segment as we visit with the
Speaker 1: voice of the Saints, my Coss. The Bengals Booth Podcast
Speaker 1: is presented by Bengals Picks and Ultimate Bengals. They're free
Speaker 1: to play with tickets and signed merchandise up for grabs.
Speaker 1: Find both inside the Bengals app. Now here's a quick reminder.
Speaker 1: You can have the latest edition of this podcast delivered
Speaker 1: right to your phone, tablet, or computer by subscribing wherever
Speaker 1: you get your podcasts. It's the greatest thing since the
Speaker 1: chargrilled oysters at Drago's. One of my good friends in
Speaker 1: the broadcasting business is Todd Graffanini, the radio voice of
Speaker 1: the NBA's New Orleans Pelicans. Todd was born and raised
Speaker 1: in New Orleans, and several years ago when I was
Speaker 1: visiting the city, he told me that I had to
Speaker 1: try the chargrilled oysters at Drago's. When I told Todd
Speaker 1: I didn't really like oysters, he said, I don't care.
Speaker 1: It's the single best bite of food you'll have in
Speaker 1: the city. So out of respect for Todd, I took
Speaker 1: his advice and they are amazing. Plus they come with
Speaker 1: this sauce that you sop up with fresh bread, and
Speaker 1: that might be the best part. So if you are
Speaker 1: going to the game this week, take Todd's advice and
Speaker 1: get the chargrilled oysters at Dragos. I'm drooling just thinking
Speaker 1: about it. Now. Let's look ahead to Sunday's game. Through
Speaker 1: five weeks, the Bengals offense has underperformed. Cincinnati is next
Speaker 1: to last in the league in yards per play and
Speaker 1: tied for sixteenth in scoring. The Bengals have scored twenty
Speaker 1: or fewer points in all three of their losses so
Speaker 1: what's the fix? I discussed it with one of the
Speaker 1: best wideouts in team history this week. The Bengals have
Speaker 1: had many great receivers over the years, but nobody caught
Speaker 1: more passes in a single season than t J. Hushman
Speaker 1: Zada one hundred and twelve back in two thousand and seven,
Speaker 1: and the former Pro Bowl receiver joins us now TJ.
Speaker 1: Opposing defenses are trying to take away the deep ball
Speaker 1: from Cincinnati this year by playing two deep safeties all
Speaker 1: of the time, and it's been effective. What's the answer
Speaker 1: to beating that coverage? Run the ball. Just run the ball,
Speaker 1: and not only will it open up the passing game,
Speaker 1: it's gonna make it easier for the offensive line the
Speaker 1: block in the passing situations because now they can't just
Speaker 1: rush up the field. Word about playing the pass, They
Speaker 1: got to kind of hold their gaps to play the run.
Speaker 1: So just run. You can run the ball effectively and
Speaker 1: get four to five yards a pop. They're gonna bring
Speaker 1: a safety down and like everybody does, you call two
Speaker 1: to three plays at the line of scrimmage. If Joe
Speaker 1: Sings sees a single high, now we can throw it.
Speaker 1: If it's too high, just run the ball and hope
Speaker 1: you can get four to five yards. You have been
Speaker 1: watching Joe Burrow closely since his las few days. You've
Speaker 1: got a couple of daughters that have played softball there.
Speaker 1: What do you see when you watch Joe right now?
Speaker 1: I mean, he's still the same player. You gotta think
Speaker 1: you have surgery in the preseason. Nobody really plays the
Speaker 1: preseason anymore, and so in essence, the first two to
Speaker 1: three games, he's just trying to find himself and get
Speaker 1: in the groove of playing football. But there's times also
Speaker 1: when you're watching them first couple of games, Joe's holding
Speaker 1: onto the ball because he wants to create the big play.
Speaker 1: And sometimes it's like, Okay, let me just check it down.
Speaker 1: Let me throw this hitch route, let me throw this
Speaker 1: five yard en route or whatever it mean. Let me
Speaker 1: throw this drag route. So maybe later on down the
Speaker 1: game it opens up the stuff behind it. But there's
Speaker 1: at times you watched and he's held onto the ball
Speaker 1: and he gets sacked or he may get hit, and
Speaker 1: it's all the offensive line, and Joe knows part of
Speaker 1: that is on him. But he's trying to create the
Speaker 1: big play because he did that last year, and he
Speaker 1: created the big play after his record setting rookie year,
Speaker 1: Jamar Chase is getting double team down just about every route.
Speaker 1: How do you get your star receiver the ball when
Speaker 1: that's the case. I mean it's simple, man, That's what
Speaker 1: I said earlier. If they're able to run the ball effectively,
Speaker 1: they're they're not going to be able to double them.
Speaker 1: And when he's not doubled, I mean, it sucks. You
Speaker 1: just gotta make when you're not double, you gotta make
Speaker 1: the play because when you start to get double, it's
Speaker 1: a badge of honor. You like, you really like that.
Speaker 1: You're like, oh man, they really respect me. But then
Speaker 1: it becomes annoying, like Bruv playing me one on one.
Speaker 1: But that's a respect thing for him. But also, if
Speaker 1: T doesn't go down with that angle injury, te Higgins
Speaker 1: gonna kill there. You can't double everybody, and so when
Speaker 1: you have T Higgins, you have Tyler Boyd. Those guys
Speaker 1: can force that double team to come off chasing. If
Speaker 1: they don't. You see what you saw with the Miami Dolphins.
Speaker 1: Te Higgins gets off and has a big game. And
Speaker 1: if they're willing to lose the game because you want
Speaker 1: to stop chasing going off and t does, and so
Speaker 1: be it. Let's talk about the third member of the
Speaker 1: Cincinnati three way, Tyler Boyd. When I watch eighty three,
Speaker 1: I see a lot of eighty four from back in
Speaker 1: the day. Great hands, really tough against the coverage over
Speaker 1: the middle, etc. This week, Zach Taylor and Brian Callahan
Speaker 1: said they feel they need to get Tyler Boyd involved more.
Speaker 1: Do you agree, Yeah, anytime you can get the ball
Speaker 1: to other guys, it's gonna open up who you really
Speaker 1: want to get the ball to. And so yeah, Tyler
Speaker 1: boy we're similar in that respect. I think I probably
Speaker 1: talk a little more trash during the game and he does,
Speaker 1: unless the camera doesn't show it as much. But again,
Speaker 1: the Bengals, it's a dilemma because they have so many weapons.
Speaker 1: When when I was playing, it was Chad myself and
Speaker 1: we would run the ball. It was Chris Henry, but
Speaker 1: we didn't really utilize our tight end. Reggie Kelly was
Speaker 1: in essence a sixth offensive linemen, whereas now they will
Speaker 1: utilize the tight end. So now it's more more mouths
Speaker 1: the feed, so to speak. They just got to figure
Speaker 1: out a way to make this work. The two and three.
Speaker 1: But each game has come down to the last possession
Speaker 1: of last kick, and so I'm not I'm not too
Speaker 1: much worried about them getting into the playoffs. I'm not
Speaker 1: too much worried about them turning this around. They just
Speaker 1: got to figure out a way how to get big plays,
Speaker 1: keep Joe off his back, and they'll be fine. We
Speaker 1: are chatting with former Bengals wide receiver t J. Hushman Zada,
Speaker 1: now the co host of the Airing It Out podcast.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about the other side of the ball. The
Speaker 1: Bengals defense has given up five touchdowns in five games.
Speaker 1: When you watch this defense, do you consider to be
Speaker 1: one of the best in the NFL? They're very good.
Speaker 1: Defense is very good. And you got to think about
Speaker 1: it is when you say who's the best out to me,
Speaker 1: when I think deep, when I think the Bengals nationally,
Speaker 1: people are gonna think Jesse Bates. Outside of that, it's like,
Speaker 1: as Sam Hubbard is it, Trey Hendrickson, The Bengals have
Speaker 1: a collective unit where they all can just really play.
Speaker 1: They built a team defensively that it doesn't just rely
Speaker 1: on one player having to get pressure on the quarterback
Speaker 1: or one dB having a shutter receiver down. They just
Speaker 1: play collectively as a unit. But the defense they're doing
Speaker 1: this last year, it's not a secret. That's why I
Speaker 1: wanted to resign Jesse Base because I think he's very
Speaker 1: important to this team. But when you see who they drafted,
Speaker 1: it's like, h Jesse, you might not be here long.
Speaker 1: But it's a business one. But they were doing this
Speaker 1: last year, so it's not a surprise to me. It's
Speaker 1: not a surprise at all. They had to New Orleans
Speaker 1: this week, a very loud place to play. The Saints
Speaker 1: are two and three under the new head coach Dennis Allen.
Speaker 1: Do you have a couple of keys that immediately come
Speaker 1: to mind when you look ahead to Sunday, man the
Speaker 1: Saints are gonna play really good defense. It's a reunion
Speaker 1: with Andy Dalton, so to speak, So you know, I'm
Speaker 1: sure he'll probably be under center for the Saints with
Speaker 1: Jameis Winston still hurt. Keep your composure. That stadium is
Speaker 1: probably that Seattle Seahawks Kansas City Chiefs, so they're probably
Speaker 1: the three loud of stadiums that I can recall playing in.
Speaker 1: So you just gotta keep your composure. Make sure you
Speaker 1: know where Cam Jordan is every single play because he
Speaker 1: can wreck every play throughout the entire entirety of the game.
Speaker 1: And the Saints don't. They don't really double guys. If
Speaker 1: you watch them play defensively, they put Marshawn Laddimar on
Speaker 1: your best guy and say beat him. They did it
Speaker 1: with Justin Jefferson. They didn't double him when they play
Speaker 1: the Bucks. They don't double Mike Evans. So maybe this
Speaker 1: can be a game Jamar can look at it and say,
Speaker 1: Dennis Allen doesn't double guys. He puts Marshawn Lattimore on
Speaker 1: him and say you got him. So maybe this will
Speaker 1: be a game that Chase can get off in. You
Speaker 1: mentioned Cam Jordan. You just had him on your podcast.
Speaker 1: Do you see that Cam Jordan versus Lall Collins matchup
Speaker 1: possibly being the biggest matchup of the game. Yeah, no,
Speaker 1: disrespect to Collins. They're gonna have to make sure they
Speaker 1: give him help. Hearing there, Cam Jordan, he's just too
Speaker 1: good of a player, man, and you can't block him
Speaker 1: one on one. You have to account for him. You
Speaker 1: don't want a team's best players to beat you. And
Speaker 1: Leo Collins probably he can block him by himself. I
Speaker 1: don't even want to find out. I don't want to
Speaker 1: get that crowd into the game. I don't want to
Speaker 1: get him into the game. I'm not letting your best
Speaker 1: player on that front seven beat me and s Cam Jordan.
Speaker 1: I got to take him out the game, all right.
Speaker 1: A couple more topics for T. J. Hushman Zada. What
Speaker 1: did you think of the white helmets and the white
Speaker 1: unis on Thursday Night football? Man? It was so clean.
Speaker 1: We've always had the white helmet in any equipment room
Speaker 1: even when I was playing, just could never wear it.
Speaker 1: But nah, that was I got so many message that's
Speaker 1: that's probably the codest uniform in the league, that all white.
Speaker 1: No question, it was nice, real nice. Tell him to
Speaker 1: send me a jersey. I would definitely pass along the message.
Speaker 1: You did a really cool thing prior to the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: You helped a range for an eighty six year old
Speaker 1: lifelong Bengals fan to get tickets to that game in
Speaker 1: Los Angeles against the Rams. What motivated you to do that?
Speaker 1: Somebody sent that to me and I had already given
Speaker 1: my tickets to my uncle, and so I didn't have
Speaker 1: a way to get any more tickets and so, like
Speaker 1: I said, a friend of mine sent that to me,
Speaker 1: and I forget it was a Saturday. I do remember
Speaker 1: that it was a late Saturday night and I looked
Speaker 1: at the Instagram. He sent it via Instagram and I
Speaker 1: looked and I was just laying in the bed, and
Speaker 1: for some reason, I was like, you know what, let
Speaker 1: me go back to this clip. So I went and
Speaker 1: watched it, and I was and I showed my wife,
Speaker 1: and my wife kind of got like sad about it.
Speaker 1: So I clicked on the link and I found the
Speaker 1: name and I just DMed her and I said, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna call you tomorrow, and then she DM me right back.
Speaker 1: But I went to sleep because it was like midnight here,
Speaker 1: so it's probably three o'clock and Cincinnati. I called her
Speaker 1: the next day. She didn't it was Lizzie. She didn't
Speaker 1: believe it was me. We talked. I was like, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna try to get some tickets for you. I called
Speaker 1: the NFL. They said they'll try to help, and in
Speaker 1: the process, I called the Bengals and Alex Simons and
Speaker 1: so Alex was tremendous in helping me, because the NFL
Speaker 1: would have also helped but Alex was able to help
Speaker 1: me through the Bengals, and so I bought them two tickets.
Speaker 1: A lot of times we kind of take for granted
Speaker 1: as players, the sands that come to the games, they
Speaker 1: want your autograph, they want a picture like who we
Speaker 1: excuse my language, that you want this from us, and
Speaker 1: you kind of take that for granted. And so I
Speaker 1: think that's the least we can do. At least, that
Speaker 1: was the least I can do. You supported me all
Speaker 1: the years that I played there. If I could help
Speaker 1: you and I was able to help you, I'm more
Speaker 1: than willing to do it. But this is the problem though.
Speaker 1: Now everybody is like, hey, can I get tickets to this?
Speaker 1: Can I play? What do you mean I can't continue
Speaker 1: to do this now? Well, if they go back to
Speaker 1: the super Bowl, that's a different level. You can't just
Speaker 1: constantly be firing out. TJ helped me up with tickets.
Speaker 1: That is a different level. But I'm gonna be honest,
Speaker 1: I think in the next halful of years they got
Speaker 1: a chance to be a frequent visitor there. I really do.
Speaker 1: I couldn't agree with you more. And the Joe Burrow era,
Speaker 1: I'm confident they're going to get back TJ. This has
Speaker 1: been great. Always appreciate your time and your insight. Continued
Speaker 1: success with the Airing It Out podcast and we look
Speaker 1: forward to catching up again sometime down the road. Thank you,
Speaker 1: I appreciate it. We'll give back in the w columnarth
Speaker 1: that we beat the Saints as this week. Trust and
Speaker 1: believe it. TJ certainly sounds confident. Here's hoping the Bengals
Speaker 1: back it up on Sunday. The Bengals Booth podcast is
Speaker 1: brought to you by Kettering Health, the official healthcare provider
Speaker 1: of the Bengals. With more than one hundred twenty care
Speaker 1: facilities and fifteen hundred care providers, Kettering Health is committed
Speaker 1: to guiding you to your best health. Visit kettering health
Speaker 1: dot org to learn more. Six games ago, Zach Taylor
Speaker 1: had the Bengals one defensive stop away from winning a
Speaker 1: Super Bowl. This past Monday, a significant portion of the
Speaker 1: fan base question whether he should give up play calling
Speaker 1: duties that comes with the territory when you go for
Speaker 1: it on fourth and goal or try a couple of
Speaker 1: gadget plays inside the five yard line that don't work.
Speaker 1: This week, Joe Burrow was asked about the Bengals play calling.
Speaker 1: Every play is designed to work if we execute it
Speaker 1: the right way right and so you can talk all
Speaker 1: you want about the play calling, but at the end
Speaker 1: of the day, players have to go on execute the
Speaker 1: play of the way it's supposed to be executed, and
Speaker 1: if we do that, the play is going to work.
Speaker 1: It's always tough in those situations because if you go
Speaker 1: for it on fourth down, you get it, you look
Speaker 1: like the smartest dude in the world. And you don't
Speaker 1: get it, you know you're gonna take some heat. Those
Speaker 1: are the gambles that we face every single week in
Speaker 1: this profession. Didn't go our way this time. We've had
Speaker 1: several that have. As I've said in a couple of
Speaker 1: places this week, there is a statue dedicated to the
Speaker 1: Philly Special outside of the stadium and phil Adelphia up
Speaker 1: since it helped the Eagles win a Super Bowl, it
Speaker 1: did not work out quite so well for the Bengals
Speaker 1: in Baltimore. I asked my broadcast partner Dave Lapham about
Speaker 1: play calling this week on the Bengals Game Plan show,
Speaker 1: call is executed properly, you get what you were hoping
Speaker 1: you were going to get. Look wise, everybody's like, oh
Speaker 1: my god, genius. It's called at the perfect time, the
Speaker 1: perfect play. Everybody goes crazy. So it's like the highest
Speaker 1: highs when it doesn't work, where you have a Simon
Speaker 1: Arrows up front and you have multiple defensive players penetrating
Speaker 1: and that kills a shovel pass. If one penetrates, you're
Speaker 1: in trouble. Three penetrated, you're done, and put a fork
Speaker 1: in it. And it's like, well, that's the stupidest thing
Speaker 1: in the world. Well, in hindsight, you wouldn't do it,
Speaker 1: obviously if you knew that's the way it was going
Speaker 1: to turn out. But there's two responsibilities. There's the play
Speaker 1: call by the coach. Then there's the execution called by
Speaker 1: the players. And probably, you know, you could argue it
Speaker 1: might have been better plays to call. You can definitely
Speaker 1: argue the execution had to be much better than it
Speaker 1: was on the on the Philly Special, you just had
Speaker 1: a great player make a great play. Marcus Peters drop
Speaker 1: coverage on Jamar Chase, just drop coverage on him to
Speaker 1: run at Tyler Boyd, and he cut on him so
Speaker 1: quickly Tyler Boyd couldn't even react to throw the ball away.
Speaker 1: You can throw it away. You're on a pocket. You're
Speaker 1: basically the quarterback. You're the passer the ball in your hand,
Speaker 1: but you know it's the reverse pitch back. You're on
Speaker 1: a pocket. Throw it away, and now it's third down
Speaker 1: from the two yard line instead of the fourteen. But
Speaker 1: they get, you know, twelve back on third down on
Speaker 1: the third down play and try to shovel pass. I
Speaker 1: think two gadget plays in a four play sequence from
Speaker 1: the two yard line is probably are actually three plays
Speaker 1: because you weren't at the two yard line after the lost.
Speaker 1: But two gadgets in three play sequence is probably a
Speaker 1: little a little over the top. And if I'm an
Speaker 1: offensive lineman in that situation, I don't come to the sideline,
Speaker 1: you know, complaining about the play call. I come to
Speaker 1: the sideline and find out what happened, why it didn't work.
Speaker 1: And on top of that, even more so, I say
Speaker 1: to my fellow offensive lineman, boys, we got to pick
Speaker 1: it up first and goal to two. We don't run
Speaker 1: the ball one time. They have no confidence in us
Speaker 1: up front. They will not put the owners the responsibility
Speaker 1: on us getting pushed enough where we can gain two
Speaker 1: yards in three snaps. You know, not even thinking about
Speaker 1: the field goal potential. We have three downs to get
Speaker 1: two yards and they're not running the ball one time.
Speaker 1: We suck. We have to get better. We have to
Speaker 1: do a better job up front. That's what I would do.
Speaker 1: I would, I would, you know, call the group together
Speaker 1: and say, we got to perform better. We have to
Speaker 1: get the confidence of our coaches and our teammates, you know.
Speaker 1: And that would be my reaction. I'd be upset that
Speaker 1: they didn't feel that they could um call a run play.
Speaker 1: I would I would feel like, what the what the
Speaker 1: hell got to be able to run the ball one
Speaker 1: time in that situation and obviously they didn't feel like
Speaker 1: they could trust us to do it. That would be
Speaker 1: a reaction I might have as an offensive lineman, and
Speaker 1: I might ask the coaches about it a little bit,
Speaker 1: like you know, and you know, they would probably go
Speaker 1: back to the wall in this situation, third and one,
Speaker 1: fourth and one, it didn't work out. They could probably
Speaker 1: give you reasons why, and they the amount of time
Speaker 1: that they put into situational football going on in short
Speaker 1: yard and stuff is extraordinary. And it's not just they
Speaker 1: don't just take a play out of the playbook, you know,
Speaker 1: extraneously and say I'm gonna throw that, I'm throwing that
Speaker 1: up against the here. It's it's all, it's all planned,
Speaker 1: and you know it's it's unfortunate because that you go
Speaker 1: on that a fifth team play drive, taking eight minutes
Speaker 1: off the clock and going over eighty yards and you've
Speaker 1: got squad dow shot of it. That is a killer.
Speaker 1: That's a dagger. It's not only that you don't put
Speaker 1: points on the board, but what it does to your emotion,
Speaker 1: your psyche and all that stuff was Man, that's tough.
Speaker 1: Or from Lap a bit later in the podcast. The
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you by Paycorps. More
Speaker 1: than twenty nine thousand customers trust Paycorps to help them recruit, pay, engage,
Speaker 1: and retain employees. Learn more at paycorp dot com. Sunday's
Speaker 1: game is going to be a homecoming of sorts for
Speaker 1: what seems like half of the team. Joe Burrow, Jamar Chase,
Speaker 1: Tyler Shelvin, and L. L. Collins played at LSU and
Speaker 1: Chase is from the New Orleans area. Wide receiver Mike
Speaker 1: Thomas played at Southern Miss, which is less than two
Speaker 1: hours away, and then you have the former Saints on
Speaker 1: the Bengals roster, Von Bell, Trey Hendrickson, and Eli Apple.
Speaker 1: Apple is not going to get a warm reception on Sunday.
Speaker 1: After playfully getting into it with Saints fans on social
Speaker 1: media earlier this year, I talked to him this week. Eli.
Speaker 1: The team is two and three. All three losses are
Speaker 1: on walkoff field goals. What kind of emotional toll does
Speaker 1: that take? It hurts hurt, especially as a defense. I
Speaker 1: feel like we were responsible for those because we've got
Speaker 1: to get off the field at the end of the
Speaker 1: game and closes better goals back to the Super Bowl
Speaker 1: and stuff like that. If you want to win big games,
Speaker 1: you gotta know how to close teams out. So that I
Speaker 1: I saw it, that that met us for us. Despite that,
Speaker 1: I think we can all say that the defense has
Speaker 1: played great. You guys have not allowed an opposing offense
Speaker 1: to score more than twenty points yet no touchdowns allowed
Speaker 1: in the second half. What do you think the defense
Speaker 1: is doing best. We're a good bendal break defense. I
Speaker 1: feel like we've been great in a red zone, but
Speaker 1: we still have areas where we can clean up communication wise,
Speaker 1: So it's just got to concede the build. Personally, you
Speaker 1: have not allowed a touchdown catch yet. How do you
Speaker 1: feel about your level of play right now? It's been solid.
Speaker 1: I think there's more opportunities to make plays. It's got
Speaker 1: to be aggressive and no one I can pick those
Speaker 1: chances to go get the ball. We're chatting with the Eliapple.
Speaker 1: Describe your relationship with Luanna Rumo. It's a great relationship.
Speaker 1: It's a great relationship. He's a great coach and well
Speaker 1: no we go away back, So he's just one of
Speaker 1: my favorite people to be around, you know, just a great,
Speaker 1: genuine person. He has a lot of belief in you.
Speaker 1: How has that impacted your time here in Cincinnati? Oh,
Speaker 1: a big time, big time does a lot for my
Speaker 1: confidence and from the believe in me gives me the
Speaker 1: ability to go out and just kind of played my game.
Speaker 1: I want to go back a couple of weeks to
Speaker 1: the Thursday night game against Miami. Tyreek Hill issued a
Speaker 1: verbal challenge before the game. You did not respond. You
Speaker 1: let your play do the talking. He had one catch
Speaker 1: for seven yards when you were in coverage. How did
Speaker 1: you feel about it? It is what it is. I mean,
Speaker 1: I'll take every week like that, like I ain't gotta
Speaker 1: have a receiver, same thing. I just in my head,
Speaker 1: I feel like that's how everybody you know views me.
Speaker 1: So that's just how it is. You play with that
Speaker 1: chipping your should regardless of who's saying whatever, who it is,
Speaker 1: you just gotta wake up and know you gotta go dominate.
Speaker 1: You didn't respond before the game, you didn't really respond
Speaker 1: much after the game. Does that represent a change? No,
Speaker 1: it's about It's about the team. I'm more over. You
Speaker 1: know last year was what it was, But I know
Speaker 1: this year is about for me as a unit doing
Speaker 1: I can, you know, bring wins and that's all I'll
Speaker 1: care about. This Sunday, the Saints come at you with
Speaker 1: a receiving trio that's about as good as any in
Speaker 1: the NFL. Former NFL Offensive Player of the Year, Michael
Speaker 1: Thomas your former Buckeye's teammate Jarvis Landry, five time pro bowler,
Speaker 1: Chris Olave, first round pick out of Ohio State. He's
Speaker 1: off to a great start. Is this one of the
Speaker 1: most formidable trios that you will face? No, certainly is
Speaker 1: every week is a new challenge. So it's got to
Speaker 1: get up and watch a film and be ready. You're
Speaker 1: heading back to New Orleans. You spent a couple of
Speaker 1: years there, played an NFC Championship game there. He got
Speaker 1: into it a little bit with Saints fans back in January,
Speaker 1: among other things. You took a shot at New Orleans food.
Speaker 1: What kind of reception do you expect this week? It's
Speaker 1: always loud there, so I expect it to be rock here,
Speaker 1: and I just want to go in there with a
Speaker 1: great mentality to go out and dominate it. I love
Speaker 1: New Orleans food, just not your cup of tea. NA.
Speaker 1: It's great. It's a great food if that's what you like.
Speaker 1: They got everything, if you know, if you like that stuff.
Speaker 1: You're two and three, but you're just a game out
Speaker 1: of first place in the AFC North. How do you
Speaker 1: look at the overall picture through five games? It's early.
Speaker 1: It's early, man, so so I keep going, keep chopping,
Speaker 1: appreciate your time as always, Thank you. Eli. Eli is
Speaker 1: a key member of a Bengals defense that is holding
Speaker 1: opposing quarterbacks to a seventy two point one passer rating
Speaker 1: that's fourth best in the NFL behind Buffalo Philadelphia. In
Speaker 1: San Francisco, this week's opponent, New Orleans is allowing a
Speaker 1: passer rating of ninety one point five. Now let's take
Speaker 1: a look at the injury factor this week. Bengals left
Speaker 1: tackle Jonah Williams had to be helped off the field
Speaker 1: in the second quarter last Sunday night, but came back
Speaker 1: and played well in the second half. Jonah didn't practice
Speaker 1: on Wednesday, but hopes to play on Sunday. That's what
Speaker 1: I'm working for, you know. I dislocated my kneecap. So
Speaker 1: it's like a matter of trying to a just take
Speaker 1: it day by day and I'm intreatment all the time,
Speaker 1: just trying to get it feeling good. So I knew
Speaker 1: on Sunday, you know how sore was it online day?
Speaker 1: It's pretty rough. Yeah, it's pretty rough. Take over for sure. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean on Sunday night football and a divisional opponent
Speaker 1: on the road. Like I just I felt like it
Speaker 1: had to be out there and it was non contacts
Speaker 1: buckled on me planning my foote weird kneecap slipped to
Speaker 1: the side of my leg came back and it felt
Speaker 1: like buckley and which is usually a bad sign. But
Speaker 1: when the doctor was feeling it and said all them
Speaker 1: like important ligaments felt strong. Then I you know, that
Speaker 1: was a relief. So after that, it was just trying to,
Speaker 1: you know, see if I could play, and I felt
Speaker 1: like I could, and so that's what I did. Two
Speaker 1: former offensive lineman Dave Lapham and Joe Walter can relate.
Speaker 1: Fortunately for him, it dislocated, and that's not fortunate, but
Speaker 1: I mean it could have been worried if dislocated and
Speaker 1: came back in sublocks that came back in, so it
Speaker 1: didn't do any damage collateral damage to ligaments, tendons and
Speaker 1: all that. And have you ever dislocated anything. I just
Speaker 1: located my elbow and we're playing up in Green Bay
Speaker 1: and I go to cut off of big Mike McCoy,
Speaker 1: this big defensive tackle, a big load, and I'm scrambling
Speaker 1: and he falls on my arm and I got my
Speaker 1: him planted and so he just bends my arm the
Speaker 1: wrong way and pull him. It's just locates and I'm
Speaker 1: like on the ground, like and I can't get it
Speaker 1: to go back in. You know, it didn't sublos. So
Speaker 1: they come out and they grab my thumb and pinky
Speaker 1: and they're like, we're gonna reduce it, you know, and
Speaker 1: they snapping the thumb and pinking. It doesn't go back.
Speaker 1: I'm like, and they said, give us one more shot.
Speaker 1: I say, that's it. One more shot, and and they
Speaker 1: got it to go back in to go to the
Speaker 1: sideline and they tape it up like a cast, you know,
Speaker 1: a sixty degree angle. Tiger comes up to me. You're playing,
Speaker 1: ain't you, I said, Tiger. I hadn't really thought about
Speaker 1: it yet. Man, I just gotta, you know, repaired here.
Speaker 1: I gotta put back and play, I said, I'm not
Speaker 1: sure the way I gotta. I can't get in the
Speaker 1: stance and playing right guard. I'm not sure. Put your
Speaker 1: left hand down, damn it, you're playing. It puts me
Speaker 1: right back in there. But you're back up. That bad
Speaker 1: couldn't have gone I know, I know. It's it's like
Speaker 1: he was. He was out there for a couple of
Speaker 1: three plays, and what's going very well. Tiger ran He
Speaker 1: ran me out there pretty quick, and it's it's like,
Speaker 1: but that's the key is if it doesn't start mine, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, stuck in the soft tissue or whatever, and
Speaker 1: did a little damage to that soft tissue stuff so
Speaker 1: it wouldn't sub block's back. You know, his slid I
Speaker 1: guess you know, you don't want it to happen for sure.
Speaker 1: And the thing is that they told me we're gonna
Speaker 1: have to tape it up the rest of the year now,
Speaker 1: because you know, once it happens, it's gonna it's gonna
Speaker 1: dislocate easier. You know, if you're if you're in protect
Speaker 1: like I'm I'm trying to pass block like a one
Speaker 1: armed paperhanger. I'm trying to hit my record in the
Speaker 1: middle of the chest with one end right, and he's
Speaker 1: like just zering in on the one bad wing and
Speaker 1: means just coming on that side, you know. And so
Speaker 1: it's like if you if I tried to jam, it
Speaker 1: might have dislocated on And so that's, Um, I admire
Speaker 1: the guy for doing what he did, and you know,
Speaker 1: going in there and sucking it up. Really, you know,
Speaker 1: because you're talking, you're talking about the foundation your legs.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's vitally important. I mean, like that's the
Speaker 1: first thing. Your hands and arms the second thing. But
Speaker 1: that is number one. And um, he still looked like
Speaker 1: his book was pretty damn good. I mean, he's very
Speaker 1: aclemic kid out about that. Before we get to the
Speaker 1: Saints injuries and they are numerous. We remind you that
Speaker 1: the Bengals Booth podcast is presented by Alta Fiber future
Speaker 1: proof fiber Internet capable of delivering multi gigabit speeds designed
Speaker 1: to take your home, business, and community to a new level.
Speaker 1: Elevate your connection with all Ta Fiber. On Wednesday, the
Speaker 1: following players did not practice for New Orleans due to injuries.
Speaker 1: Their top three receivers Michael Thomas, Chris o'lave and Jarvis Landry,
Speaker 1: along with four time Pro Bowl cornerback Marshawn Lattimore. Quarterback
Speaker 1: Jamis Winston, who missed the last two games with backend
Speaker 1: ankle injuries, was listed as a limited participant. We discussed
Speaker 1: the Saints injuries with their radio voice, My Costs, when
Speaker 1: he joined us on the Bengals Game Plan Show, but
Speaker 1: we started out by getting his thoughts on the Saints
Speaker 1: Swiss army knife Taysom Hill. Last week, the former by
Speaker 1: U quarterback rushed for one hundred and twelve yards and
Speaker 1: three touchdowns through a twenty two yard touchdown pass, returned
Speaker 1: three kickoffs in place of the injured Deontay Hardy, and
Speaker 1: even recovered a fumble on the punt coverage team. On
Speaker 1: a fake punt by Seattle. I thought one of the
Speaker 1: best lines that Tayson had was postgame when they were
Speaker 1: talking about him doing different things, and he just said,
Speaker 1: you know, I just work here, and that's really what
Speaker 1: he did, from returning kicks to recovering a fumble. I
Speaker 1: guess the biggest chance for us was that we had
Speaker 1: We had not seen him throw, we had not seen
Speaker 1: him really hand off much when he does his QP
Speaker 1: power right or left, which he did to Kamara which
Speaker 1: picked up a first down, and then of course the
Speaker 1: pass and just running the ball in general. He has
Speaker 1: been so effective, but now there's a finally, there's kind
Speaker 1: of this new wrinkle where you really don't know what
Speaker 1: he's going to do back there, and so it was.
Speaker 1: It was truly amazing, especially when he started returning kick
Speaker 1: it off, because this is not a guy who is
Speaker 1: not unfamiliar with the injury category. He has spent most
Speaker 1: of his college career and pro career running into walls
Speaker 1: and continues to do so. It was it was an
Speaker 1: extraordinary performance. He's a very humble, genuinely nice person who's just,
Speaker 1: you say, lays it out there. His body comes in
Speaker 1: like sixth of where it counts on the list. So
Speaker 1: Hill has got a sixty yard touchdown run one of
Speaker 1: his five touchdowns, tied for fourth most in the NFL rushing.
Speaker 1: And then on the flip side of it, of his
Speaker 1: twenty one carries, four are on third and one and
Speaker 1: he's converted every one of them. So they'll go to
Speaker 1: him to convert the short stuff, he'll bust the long stuff.
Speaker 1: I mean, this, this guy is crazy. We were just
Speaker 1: talking earlier about the big play of the explosives. He's
Speaker 1: got a sixty yard touchdown run. You have four different
Speaker 1: receivers that have a reception of forty yards or more,
Speaker 1: but you've given up a sixty seven yard touchdown run,
Speaker 1: a sixty seven yard touchdown pass, a sixty eight yard
Speaker 1: return on an interception. I mean, how many explosives have
Speaker 1: the opponents gotten. You've got a lot of explosives going
Speaker 1: offensively for the Saints. Hasn't been equally as big of
Speaker 1: an explosion by the opponent. Mostly that came in the
Speaker 1: last couple of weeks. Clearly last week was the worst
Speaker 1: that it has been. I think it was six explosives
Speaker 1: of thirty two or more and three of them were touchdowns.
Speaker 1: Blockett had a forty and a thirty two yarder, so
Speaker 1: last week was kind of the worst display of that.
Speaker 1: The Saints have been pretty consistent. They've get a couple
Speaker 1: of really it's it's been taste them, taste them out
Speaker 1: of fifty seven yard touchdown run earlier this year, and
Speaker 1: then the sixty yarder, the two, eight and nine yard
Speaker 1: so a lot of the explosives other than Cambarts fifty
Speaker 1: four yarder, they haven't been in bunches. They've been just
Speaker 1: kind of here and there. And they've also been behind.
Speaker 1: They've been behind every game except for one where they
Speaker 1: led Tampa three nothing at halftime. So they've they've thrown
Speaker 1: the ball more and lends itself to a few more
Speaker 1: bigger players. Plus twenty, But you're right about the problem.
Speaker 1: You can have all the plus twenties you want, but
Speaker 1: if you give up an equal amount of twenty pluses,
Speaker 1: you're in trouble. And we saw that last week with Seattle.
Speaker 1: The radio voice of the Saints, Mike Hassi, is our guest.
Speaker 1: Jamis Winston has missed the last couple of games with
Speaker 1: back and ankle injuries. I guess he was limited in
Speaker 1: practice today. The Red rifle. Andy Dalton has started in
Speaker 1: his place, led the team to a victory last week.
Speaker 1: What's your best guess, Mike, who do you think will
Speaker 1: be the starting quarterback on Sunday? If I'm guessing and
Speaker 1: that's clearly what it is, I would say that's the
Speaker 1: Saint stick with Andy Dalton. He's doing exactly what this
Speaker 1: offense needs him to do, playing not conservative, but just
Speaker 1: taking what the defense gives him. Jamis has not practiced
Speaker 1: in two full weeks, didn't practice in London, didn't practice
Speaker 1: last week. Limited again today. I just would he could,
Speaker 1: but I would think that will learn a little bit
Speaker 1: more this week. If he doesn't really practice tomorrow or Friday,
Speaker 1: he might build full Friday. But if he's limited again tomorrow.
Speaker 1: The way Dalton has played, he's had the one interception
Speaker 1: in the one fumble, I would be surprised if they
Speaker 1: went with Jamis unless he was just back full steam
Speaker 1: ahead tomorrow and himself was not a concernment. If you
Speaker 1: asked me right now, whatever day this is Wednesday, I
Speaker 1: would say it'd be Andy Dalton. And he's got a
Speaker 1: history of not screwing it up. You know, there's no question,
Speaker 1: And I look at Winston. He's got four touchdowns, five interceptions,
Speaker 1: and all of them have occurred in the fourth quarter.
Speaker 1: The good and the bad involved. Yeah, I mean it's crazy.
Speaker 1: Um what about the game is brutal for him? Yeah? Yeah.
Speaker 1: On defense, obviously, Cam Jordan is a star, a superstar.
Speaker 1: But Davenport on the other side, watching a little bit,
Speaker 1: he's impressed me. This kid. This kid's a legit player.
Speaker 1: And and but the guy that has been unbelievable to
Speaker 1: watch Warner Every every run, this guy's making the tackle.
Speaker 1: He wears number twenty. What's the history of that that
Speaker 1: he's started at some level as a member of the secondary.
Speaker 1: I know he went to Ohio State, but I mean,
Speaker 1: every run play, this guy is involved in making the stop.
Speaker 1: He's unbelievable. He's a tackling machine. He has been, and
Speaker 1: I will say it's a surprise. He was his second
Speaker 1: round pick, but he didn't he was kind of banked
Speaker 1: up and we didn't his team at all really in
Speaker 1: training camp. So this has been the Blosian since the
Speaker 1: start of the season. And he's got Damario Davis beside him.
Speaker 1: That helps a great deal. But he has just he's
Speaker 1: just been wherever the ball has been. He makes the
Speaker 1: right choice, makes the right lane, great in coverage, forces fumbles.
Speaker 1: You're right, he has been. I mean with forty seven
Speaker 1: tackles and most of them solo tackles. He's been a machine. Now,
Speaker 1: after you said, wow, did you guys see this coming,
Speaker 1: the answer to be no. He had a pretty solid
Speaker 1: rookie year, but because we didn't see much in training camp.
Speaker 1: But it'd be hard to expect the explosion that we've seen.
Speaker 1: A concerning the Saints have, of course, is not Pete.
Speaker 1: It's behind Pete and how they will cover. You know
Speaker 1: your receivers, We're not. We're sure about Latimore to be
Speaker 1: surprised if he played Paulson, Adivo, Marcus May j T.
Speaker 1: Gray all limited. That's a pretty banged up defensive secondary
Speaker 1: right an aperture Warner has been exemplary thus far. The
Speaker 1: voice of the Saints, Mike Hassi, is our guests. There's
Speaker 1: my final question, Mike. The Dome is a notoriously difficult
Speaker 1: place for opposing teams to play, considering the Burrow Chase
Speaker 1: Lsu connection and to a lesser extent, Lele Collins. Will
Speaker 1: it be less hostile than usual for the Bengals, I
Speaker 1: think it'll be less hostile early, very early, but once
Speaker 1: they kind of get into the game, I don't it
Speaker 1: was twenty there's a twenty nineteen season, the twenty twenty
Speaker 1: championship game. LSU fans are a big part of Saint
Speaker 1: Sans and Saints LSU, and I there's I think it'll
Speaker 1: be a small factor early, but after that it'll be
Speaker 1: loud and anti borrow and anti gas. At least in
Speaker 1: my mind, just because of how important it is for
Speaker 1: this football team, they'll pay their respects early. But other
Speaker 1: than that, when this game kicks off with teams two
Speaker 1: and three Saints trying to get the Saints plays so
Speaker 1: poorly at home, I think the crowd will will I
Speaker 1: won't say they won't turn, but they'll they'll be where
Speaker 1: they need to be. That's black and Gold. Faith. Appreciate
Speaker 1: your time. Thanks for carbon time for us. You've been outstanding.
Speaker 1: And my question is injuring the you mentioned injury and
Speaker 1: the secondary beaten up. I'm looking at the injury report.
Speaker 1: Seven guys didn't practice, seven more limited, and the wide
Speaker 1: receiver corps seems to be, you know, decimated a little
Speaker 1: bit by injury as well. Is it is it equal
Speaker 1: to which is the most concerned wide receiver injury factor
Speaker 1: or back end in the secondary injury factor. Well, I
Speaker 1: think someone told the Saints that there's some type of
Speaker 1: prize for the number of people on your Wednesday injury
Speaker 1: report because it grows from eleven the twelve it's fourteen now.
Speaker 1: To me, the bigger concern would be secondary. I think
Speaker 1: Jarvis Landry was very close to playing last week, I think,
Speaker 1: but Thomas is getting much closer. I don't think we'll
Speaker 1: see Deontay Hardy, but in the secondary, I'll be surprised
Speaker 1: about Lattimore. I think the bigger concern is the secondary
Speaker 1: right now because somewhat because of Jamar Chase and Mike
Speaker 1: Thomas and Tyler Boyd and Te Higgins. So I think
Speaker 1: there's more concerned in the secondary because these receivers. Jarvis
Speaker 1: didn't play lest week, Michael didn't play last week. We
Speaker 1: feel like they're closer to being ready, whereas I'm not
Speaker 1: quite sure because some of the secondary injuries are newer,
Speaker 1: and not having a Lattimore and not having we did
Speaker 1: that Marcus May last week, it puts a lot of
Speaker 1: pressure on that on those those safeties when you when
Speaker 1: they're they're starters. Now you're talking about backup, so I
Speaker 1: would say the secondary is a bigger concern. Thanks to
Speaker 1: Mike cous And, here's an invitation to join us at
Speaker 1: the Wings and Rings location and Crest Few Hills, Kentucky
Speaker 1: for the Bengals pep Rally show this Friday from three
Speaker 1: to six. Cornerback Trade Flowers will join us in the
Speaker 1: final hour and we'll have plenty of giveaways throughout the show.
Speaker 1: That's going to do it for this episode of the
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth Podcast, presented by Bengals Picks and Ultimate Bengals,
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Speaker 1: and thanks for listening to The Bengals Booth Podcast.