Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: the Bengals Booth Podcast. Uh can't we just talk? Edition
Speaker 1: as I sit down for a series of one on
Speaker 1: one conversations with five different players, including two guys that
Speaker 1: I think Bengals fans are especially eager to hear from,
Speaker 1: Joseph Osai and Jackson Carmen. The Bengals Booth Podcast is
Speaker 1: presented by Ultimate Bengals. Download Ultimate Bengals ahead of the
Speaker 1: twenty twenty two season. It's free to play next level
Speaker 1: fantasy football with fantastic Bengals prizes. Get it now on
Speaker 1: the App Store and Google Play. And here's a quick
Speaker 1: reminder that you can have the latest edition of this
Speaker 1: podcast delivered rite to your phone, tablet, or computer by
Speaker 1: subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's the greatest thing
Speaker 1: since Barry So. I've become a little bit obsessed lately
Speaker 1: with the TV show Bear on HBO. It's in its
Speaker 1: third season and if you've never watched it, it's a
Speaker 1: half hour comedy slash drama about a hit man who
Speaker 1: joins an acting class. Former Saturday Night Live cast member
Speaker 1: Bill Hayter co created the show and plays Barry, and
Speaker 1: the cast includes Henry Winkler aka the Fons. If you're
Speaker 1: old enough to remember happy days in any case, there's
Speaker 1: nothing quite like it on TV. It's very funny, but
Speaker 1: also dark and twisted. So check out Barry on HBO
Speaker 1: or for a small fee on the various streaming services. Now,
Speaker 1: let's get to football. Remember last year's preseason opener. The
Speaker 1: Bengals faced the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers,
Speaker 1: who surprised many of us by starting Tom Brady at
Speaker 1: quarterback in the preseason opener. Here's how the Bucks opening
Speaker 1: series ended. Rookies Joseph Osai and Cam Sample are both
Speaker 1: in to rush Tom Brady on third down and ten.
Speaker 1: Giovanni Bernhardt pack in and running back lines up to
Speaker 1: the right of Brady, catches a high shotgun snap, looking
Speaker 1: scrambling and sacked. Brady brought down at the thirteen yard line,
Speaker 1: and as the Bengals sack them on third and ten,
Speaker 1: that sack went to rookie Joseph Osi, who had seven
Speaker 1: quarterback pressures on only twenty three pass rushing snaps. According
Speaker 1: to Pro Football Focus. He was the star of a
Speaker 1: nineteen to fourteen win and I spoke to Osi right
Speaker 1: after the game. We're in the locker room with rookie
Speaker 1: Joseph Osai. Part of the Bengals excellent performance in the
Speaker 1: preseason opener and in your case, a sack of Tom
Speaker 1: Brady on the Patriots opening drive. Look how big of
Speaker 1: a throw was that? It was awesome. You know, I
Speaker 1: grew up watching him play before Robin Harkhouse. He was
Speaker 1: lined up against me, So it was definitely dope seeing
Speaker 1: those guys and living a dream. But I just know
Speaker 1: we got to get back to work, so it'll be dope.
Speaker 1: We got great guys on that line all over. You know,
Speaker 1: for him to get moved, it was it was a
Speaker 1: team effort for him to get moved to me. I
Speaker 1: just happen to be in the right place at the
Speaker 1: right time, so you know, it was a great effort.
Speaker 1: I can't wait to see how he'd grow as a
Speaker 1: team throughout the season. You're being modest. I admire that
Speaker 1: technically a combined sack between you and Trey Hendrickson, But
Speaker 1: was it surreal to look down and see the goat
Speaker 1: after your first preseason sack? It was definitely dope, man,
Speaker 1: it was awesome. I looked before the place started. I
Speaker 1: looked back and I saw him and I was like, mine,
Speaker 1: that's that's Tom Brady. So it was definitely dope. But
Speaker 1: um yeah, i'd be just hopefully there's many more dose
Speaker 1: to come, you know. But as it turned out, there
Speaker 1: weren't more to come. Oh side did that interview with
Speaker 1: his right wrist wrapped up. It turned out to be broken.
Speaker 1: In the days that followed, Joseph experienced pain in his
Speaker 1: left knee that turned out to be a meniscus injury
Speaker 1: that required surgery. Joseph did not play again as a rookie,
Speaker 1: but the Bengals are hoping that he can have a
Speaker 1: big impact this year, particularly it's a pass rusher. So far,
Speaker 1: in the offseason practices, he's been working off to the
Speaker 1: side with several teammates who are recovering from injuries. I
Speaker 1: spoke to the twenty two year old this week. Joseph,
Speaker 1: Right now, we see a working out on the rehab
Speaker 1: field with Nick Cosgray. How are you doing physically physically
Speaker 1: little body wise, doing great upple body wise. We're getting
Speaker 1: there gradually, you know what I mean. I'll let you
Speaker 1: ask Nick how my progress is. But we're getting a
Speaker 1: lot of strength back, and that's one of the things
Speaker 1: we wanted to do. So a lot of progress for sure.
Speaker 1: So knee okay, risks still coming along, risk still coming along, knees,
Speaker 1: knees ready to go. What was last year like for you?
Speaker 1: I would see you come in here from time to time,
Speaker 1: going through rehab, meeting with the medical staff. Was it difficult? Yeah,
Speaker 1: it definitely was, especially I think I've said this plenty
Speaker 1: times that being the first football season I've ever missed
Speaker 1: since I started playing, it was definitely tough. But like
Speaker 1: I said, I had great people around me to keep
Speaker 1: my head up. You know. It Definitely it was tough,
Speaker 1: even with the people around me at a certain point.
Speaker 1: But you know, having those people around me and then
Speaker 1: seeing the success of the team, you know, you always
Speaker 1: want to I could see that some of these guys brothers,
Speaker 1: so um, you always want your brothers to win. You
Speaker 1: always want your your your family, your people to win.
Speaker 1: So seeing them succeed and have a lot of success
Speaker 1: definitely kept my spirit up for sure. Where were you
Speaker 1: for the Super Bowl? Super Bowl? I was right on
Speaker 1: the sideline, Yes, sir, it was it was. It was,
Speaker 1: it was, it was. It was a bit of sweet
Speaker 1: for sure. It was awesome seeing them ball out and
Speaker 1: then for us to fall short, um and see a
Speaker 1: lot of those guys shed tears. It definitely hurt, you know,
Speaker 1: and it made me want to get back even faster
Speaker 1: to try and help and and see what I could
Speaker 1: have done to to you know, give a lot of
Speaker 1: put a smile on a lot of those guys faces.
Speaker 1: So uh, it was. It was a bit of sweet
Speaker 1: for sure. We're visiting the Joseph as I. I interviewed
Speaker 1: you in the locker room after the Tampa Bay preseason
Speaker 1: game where you made that that was me. He made
Speaker 1: a great splash. And I mean I obviously had no
Speaker 1: idea that you were hurt. That was the last game
Speaker 1: he would play. What about you? Yeah, it was. I
Speaker 1: had no idea about the knee, but um, the rest
Speaker 1: we at first they thought it was a broken fracture
Speaker 1: skate forward bone when I went in during the fourth
Speaker 1: or the third quarter, I don't remember. I think it
Speaker 1: was third. So um, they would say, and I would
Speaker 1: miss three four games. And I was even crying about
Speaker 1: that because I didn't want to miss any games. I
Speaker 1: had never missed any games ever. So they come to
Speaker 1: find out, you know, with the with the X rays
Speaker 1: and you know, mriyes and stuff, that I was gonna
Speaker 1: be out for the whole season. So it was definitely
Speaker 1: a gut punch. But you know, I'm glad I did
Speaker 1: get to play in that game and enjoy the moment,
Speaker 1: you know, getting getting even though it was preseason, getting
Speaker 1: getting to be out there with those boys and play
Speaker 1: was truly enjoyed and zac break. Yes, yes, hopefully we
Speaker 1: can do it again this year. Man, that'd be dope.
Speaker 1: Did you gain anything last year just in terms of,
Speaker 1: you know, being around the team, watching the Bengals defense
Speaker 1: and the way that it operates, Sir, I learned what
Speaker 1: it takes to win. I saw how hard these guys
Speaker 1: worked and how focused they were, how locked and they
Speaker 1: were in meetings, how detailed they were even in walk
Speaker 1: croughs and on a practice field, you know, how detailed
Speaker 1: Coach Hobby was, Coach Lou and it laid the blueprint
Speaker 1: for me. So now coming in almost as a rookie,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. I'm not a rookie, thank god,
Speaker 1: but almost as I have that one game under my
Speaker 1: belt to kind of help my confidence. But coming in
Speaker 1: as a rookie, I kind of have that blueprint. I
Speaker 1: got to witness it firsthand, so I know where it takes.
Speaker 1: So if i'm if I'm ever not at that standard,
Speaker 1: I can look back and say it's not gonna cut it.
Speaker 1: We're not gonna get back to where we need to
Speaker 1: be if you're not at this standard. So that's what
Speaker 1: I gained from. Sure, your debut was so impressive. I
Speaker 1: think a lot of us feel like, man, we got
Speaker 1: a taste of what this guy is capable of. It
Speaker 1: was it similar for you? Um? For me, to be honest,
Speaker 1: it was just I was just out there playing, you know,
Speaker 1: I was out there having fun and it was It
Speaker 1: wasn't until afterwards that I realized. I looked at the
Speaker 1: stat stat line and I saw what I did, and
Speaker 1: I remember after I generaline had worn off a little bit,
Speaker 1: I remember what happened. So UM, for me, it was
Speaker 1: just playing. UM moving forward. That's when I'm gonna try
Speaker 1: to keep it. Like. I know, there's all these expectations
Speaker 1: and that could create pressure, but UM, at the end
Speaker 1: of the day, I'm trying to win, so all that
Speaker 1: stats and the pressure shouldn't bother me. I won't let
Speaker 1: it bother me. You know, that's my goal going in,
Speaker 1: but um, I just have to keep working in it
Speaker 1: to come. What are you looking forward to the most
Speaker 1: when you're back out there just playing, just playing? You know, UM,
Speaker 1: when you when you play this game for so long
Speaker 1: as I had, UM, you almost forget that it's actually
Speaker 1: a blessing to be out there on the field. You
Speaker 1: forget that people get hurt left and right every day,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, and people careers get cut short.
Speaker 1: So I'm just gonna be blessed and super thankful, thankful
Speaker 1: to God, Thankful the opportunity to just be out there. Now,
Speaker 1: that's the most important thing. I'm looking forward to, just
Speaker 1: being able to be out there with the boys playing, competing, fighting, sweating,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. And that's really it. All
Speaker 1: the other things would come. I feel like, do you
Speaker 1: have a target in terms of being back because at
Speaker 1: the beginning of training camp, beginning of the season, what
Speaker 1: is your nick? Nick has said the beginning of training camp,
Speaker 1: and that's what we're aiming for. And I think right
Speaker 1: now we're all chat well, we look forward to it.
Speaker 1: Hopefully that is the case. Great to chat again. I
Speaker 1: look forward to doing it after great performances. Again, Sarah,
Speaker 1: thank you so much. I appreciate that Josi was the
Speaker 1: Bengals third round draft pick. Last year. In the second round,
Speaker 1: they selected offensive lineman Jackson Carmen, who started six games
Speaker 1: as a rookie as he made the transition from playing
Speaker 1: left tackle at Clemson to mostly playing right guard in
Speaker 1: the NFL. This year, he's among the leading contenders to
Speaker 1: start at left guard, and he's looking to show offensive
Speaker 1: line coach Frank Pollock that he's ready to live up
Speaker 1: to his massive potential in his second NFL season. Jackson,
Speaker 1: We've heard a lot about year two in the NFL,
Speaker 1: particularly for an offensive lineman, being much easier than year one.
Speaker 1: I know we haven't hit training camp for the season yet,
Speaker 1: but in general terms, do you feel like that's going
Speaker 1: to be the case for you? Definitely? I feel like
Speaker 1: I learned a lot from my first year. I'm I'm
Speaker 1: ready to apply everything I'll learned in my second year.
Speaker 1: The left guard job, as far as we know, is
Speaker 1: up for grabs. Is that the target for you? I'm
Speaker 1: just compete as hard as I can every aspect. I'm
Speaker 1: doing whatever my coach is asking me. You'll look good physically.
Speaker 1: How have things like that done for you this offseason?
Speaker 1: Thos are going great. I had really good training this offseason,
Speaker 1: and I feel really good. My body feels good. I
Speaker 1: feel like I'm making a lot of progress, and I'm
Speaker 1: happy I feel this way, you know what I mean,
Speaker 1: Probably that my body's feeling good and functionally all those things,
Speaker 1: or visiting the Jackson Carmen. The Bengals obviously brought in
Speaker 1: some great vets to add to the offensive line. Tell
Speaker 1: me about your interaction with those guys and if you've
Speaker 1: already started learning learning things from being around them. Yeah,
Speaker 1: interacting with Ted and Alex and Leo. It's so funny
Speaker 1: because like I used to watch these guys way before
Speaker 1: I ever, you know what I'm saying, got to this
Speaker 1: level and being able to, like, you know what I'm saying,
Speaker 1: to be teammates and friends and learn like with people
Speaker 1: that like I used to watch Leo in high school,
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying, And being able to be
Speaker 1: locker room Mexicans super cool for me. So definitely I've
Speaker 1: learning a lot from these guys already. They're great guys.
Speaker 1: Even mentioning those guys, your face lit up. It seems
Speaker 1: like that's something that you look at is a huge
Speaker 1: positive for yourself and for the team. Most definitely huge positive.
Speaker 1: And you know what I'm saying, I'm looking forward to
Speaker 1: see what he's going to be coming into the season.
Speaker 1: How did you feel about your rookie year? How would
Speaker 1: you classify it? I felt like I learned a lot.
Speaker 1: It's a great learning experience. I had a lot of
Speaker 1: fun I had I was able to do, like be
Speaker 1: a part of something I was greater than myself and
Speaker 1: do things that a lot of people can't say they've
Speaker 1: done in their rookie year collectively as a team. So
Speaker 1: I was just really grateful, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: Bless So I feel about my rookie year. You're coming
Speaker 1: out back surgery going into your first year, you don't
Speaker 1: have to deal with anything like that going into year two.
Speaker 1: Does that make a big difference. I mean, whenever you
Speaker 1: have back surgery, you're always going to have to deal
Speaker 1: with like upkeep and maintenance stuff like that, and something
Speaker 1: that is a part of my regular root team. So
Speaker 1: this team went to the super Bowl exceeded pretty much
Speaker 1: everybody's expectations. What was that experience like for you? It
Speaker 1: was amazing, you know what I mean, to be able
Speaker 1: to be a part of something so like special and
Speaker 1: how because at the beginning of the year no one
Speaker 1: really expected us to do anything, and then for us
Speaker 1: to all, you know what I'm saying, come together do
Speaker 1: what we did, even though we didn't complete the end goals.
Speaker 1: Still it was really amazing. So I'm grateful for all that.
Speaker 1: So locking at some of the offensive line drills today,
Speaker 1: you and Cordell Volson we're doing some stuff together. How
Speaker 1: does that situation or you know, that vibe work for
Speaker 1: you where you're working every day with somebody where it
Speaker 1: looks like you're going to compete, be competing with that
Speaker 1: guy for the job. Yeah, man, I love it. Cordell's
Speaker 1: awesome because we look at him and looks like brown man, bodies,
Speaker 1: cut up, smart shart, all those things, and really nice
Speaker 1: guy too. So I've been really enjoying my time getting
Speaker 1: no Cordell and also likes NFL. Everything you do is competition.
Speaker 1: I'm saying, how early you show up to the building
Speaker 1: as a competition. How how well you're eating on the
Speaker 1: weekends as a competition. So everything we do is competence,
Speaker 1: says is the nature of the game, so just part
Speaker 1: of it could cut you out. Appreciate your time, Appreciate
Speaker 1: you Now. I've said it elsewhere and I will reiterate
Speaker 1: it here that I still have really high hopes for
Speaker 1: Jackson Carmen. He showed me something during training camp last
Speaker 1: year when he did extra work on his own after
Speaker 1: nearly every practice and was usually among the last players
Speaker 1: to leave the field. I'll be eager to watch him
Speaker 1: fourth round pick Cordell Volson, and perhaps others as they
Speaker 1: battle it out for that starting left guard spot in
Speaker 1: training camp. The Bengals Booth podcast is presented by Ultimate Bengals,
Speaker 1: the free to play fantasy football game. This past season,
Speaker 1: Ultimate Bengals awarded a weekly winner during the course of
Speaker 1: the year with tickets, autograph merchandise, and money can't buy
Speaker 1: experiences all up for grabs. Find Ultimate Bengals in the
Speaker 1: app Store and Google Play Up. Next, a visit with
Speaker 1: one of the Bengals' biggest stars, wide receiver t Higgins.
Speaker 1: Burrow now scrambling fires deep down field for Higgins push
Speaker 1: it over as defender catches the ball runs it into
Speaker 1: the end zone. There's no a seventy five yard touchdown.
Speaker 1: Burrow two Higgins as he knocked over jail Raps and
Speaker 1: ran it into the end zone to get the Bengals
Speaker 1: the lead. The six foot four inch receiver wrote one
Speaker 1: K on his mirror prior to last season and reach
Speaker 1: that goal with one ninety one yards during the regular
Speaker 1: season before adding three hundred and nine more in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: T had surgery on his left shoulder after the Super Bowl,
Speaker 1: so he's not practicing right now, but he expects to
Speaker 1: be ready to go for training camp. As I was
Speaker 1: watching practice today, just seeing you standing by some of
Speaker 1: the other wide receivers and dvs and so forth, you
Speaker 1: look taller to me. Are you still growing? Oh? That's
Speaker 1: crazy because everybody, every time I'm away for a few
Speaker 1: and I come back, everybody say that I looked taller.
Speaker 1: I don't know what it is, or what I'm wearing
Speaker 1: on my feet or I don't know. Everybody says I'm
Speaker 1: taller soon. Well, you did enter the NFL at a
Speaker 1: really young age, so it's not out of the question
Speaker 1: that you're still growing. Very true, Very true. It could
Speaker 1: be a possibility, But I don't know. How are you
Speaker 1: doing physically? Physically? All I'm doing well, You know, obviously
Speaker 1: a lot of people have questions about my shoulder. Um,
Speaker 1: so I'm gonna go ahead and get it straight to
Speaker 1: the point. My shoulder. I have full range of motion
Speaker 1: back and right now I'm just working on strengthening it.
Speaker 1: I'm not rushing anything. I'm being patient and you know,
Speaker 1: just taking my time with this. It's something you have
Speaker 1: to take your time with and so I can be
Speaker 1: one hundred percent. But a lot of times the season starts,
Speaker 1: you're really good as a rookie, you're outstanding in year two.
Speaker 1: What's up for year three? Um, just another another you know,
Speaker 1: good season for me. Um. Like I was saying, um earlier,
Speaker 1: I just got to be consistent. That's that was my
Speaker 1: main thing. Um. My rookie year, I wasn't consistent. And
Speaker 1: I mean I had a great season whatever, But you know,
Speaker 1: my jumping into my second year, I was more consistent
Speaker 1: with my play. And that's that's one thing I want
Speaker 1: to keep keep doing, you know, throughout my career. It's
Speaker 1: being consistent stacking games on type of games. So that's
Speaker 1: the biggest thing. So you're gonna post any numbers on
Speaker 1: a mirror anything like that again this year, Um, probably
Speaker 1: around training camp. I don't know yet. Um, I hit
Speaker 1: that thousand mark, so that's that's the standard now. Um,
Speaker 1: but I don't know yet. Maybe I'll try to do
Speaker 1: touchdowns this year. So yeah, I usually make my goals
Speaker 1: around training camp. So the salary market for wide receivers
Speaker 1: has exploded this offseason. A year from now, they'll be
Speaker 1: talking to you about that. Is that started to enter
Speaker 1: your mind? Um? Obviously I've been hearing, you know, seeing
Speaker 1: I've been seeing a whole bunch of things. Um. But
Speaker 1: you know, me and my agent has and I've been
Speaker 1: talking about none of that. I don't talk to really
Speaker 1: anybody about you know what what's to come in in
Speaker 1: the future. All I can do is focus on now
Speaker 1: rehabbing my shoulder and just just being the best version
Speaker 1: of me being the best team and that could be.
Speaker 1: You know. So did it take a while to get
Speaker 1: over the Super Bowl loss for you or did you
Speaker 1: move on pretty quickly? Obviously? You know it took me
Speaker 1: like two days. I'm like, dang, you know what, what
Speaker 1: what could I have done? What could we have done
Speaker 1: another team? Um to have a different outcome. But I
Speaker 1: mean it's just one of those that you know, you're
Speaker 1: blessed to playing one of those games. You know. So
Speaker 1: you know a lot of people don't get to play
Speaker 1: in that game. You never know. Um, the goal is
Speaker 1: to get back, but you never know. And um, but man,
Speaker 1: it's just gotta let it go out. It's just gotta
Speaker 1: let it go. Man, it's just another loss. You caught
Speaker 1: two touchdown passes in your first Super Bowl. That's a
Speaker 1: big deal. Yeah, yeah, that's crazy. That's crazy. It's like
Speaker 1: it's like it's like it's a step up. You know,
Speaker 1: my first national championship in college, I call one and
Speaker 1: then my second Nation championship, I only had one touchdown.
Speaker 1: But you know, going to the league, you know, just
Speaker 1: two touchdowns in the biggest game in my in my
Speaker 1: retired football career, and um, you know, I'm just blessed. Man.
Speaker 1: That was that was a blessing. Um. I still look
Speaker 1: back at those two those two players. Yeah, I'm yeah,
Speaker 1: I grabbed this face mask, but they didn't call it
Speaker 1: so but man, yeah, man, it was just a blessing.
Speaker 1: I didn't have to bring it up. I knew I knew,
Speaker 1: I knew it was coming. I knew it was coming.
Speaker 1: So I have a lot of people mentioned that like, hey,
Speaker 1: you should have been Oh yeah, I'm like, but they didn't.
Speaker 1: So at the end of the day, I scored twice,
Speaker 1: So this's whatever. The first touchdown pass came from Joe Mixon.
Speaker 1: That'll be a trivia question someday. How much fun was
Speaker 1: that play? Knowing that that was coming, It was a
Speaker 1: lot of fun. It's crazy we put we had put
Speaker 1: it in that week. Um, we didn't really show their practice,
Speaker 1: you know, because the media. You know, it was just
Speaker 1: the kind of like walked through it a little bit,
Speaker 1: and man, we called it. I knew what I had
Speaker 1: to do. Joe told me that how he wanted me
Speaker 1: to run that, how quick he wanted me to be,
Speaker 1: and it all worked out. Joe Mixon told you that,
Speaker 1: or Joe Burrow told you. Mixon told me that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he was being a quarterback. How it was his throat.
Speaker 1: It was actually perfect. It was a tight spiral on
Speaker 1: the run. I'm like, okay, it was just high and
Speaker 1: to where I was the only way they can get it.
Speaker 1: Should do anything fun yet this offseason? Or will you
Speaker 1: In early July? Um, I I went to Mexico. That's
Speaker 1: pretty fun. None because he just went out there, you know,
Speaker 1: just foot, the vibe, you know, being next to some
Speaker 1: blue water, you know, just having a good time. Man.
Speaker 1: So it's fun. Well deserved. Congratulations and a great year.
Speaker 1: Look forward to year three. Thank you, thank you. And
Speaker 1: for the record, I wasn't joking with Tea at the
Speaker 1: beginning of that interview. I think he's grown. It wouldn't
Speaker 1: surprise me if he's up to six five. There are
Speaker 1: two conversations remaining up next. A cornerback who made one
Speaker 1: of the biggest tackles of the season in the AFC
Speaker 1: Championship game from the one yard line with five seconds
Speaker 1: left and a half. Mahomes throws Hill catches at the
Speaker 1: six and tackled beIN bounds and the cock right. So
Speaker 1: like a very questionable decision by the Kansas City Chiefs.
Speaker 1: They threw it side bideways to Tyree Kill and the
Speaker 1: Cheetah could not get in or get out of bound.
Speaker 1: Eli Apple with a tackle at the one and the
Speaker 1: Bengals dodge a bullet as Kansas City drives to the one,
Speaker 1: runs two plays and fails to score. Eli Apple was
Speaker 1: one of the biggest bargains in the NFL last year.
Speaker 1: He was signed for about a million bucks to add
Speaker 1: depth to the secondary, but quickly took over at cornerback
Speaker 1: for the injured Trey Waynes and wound up starting fifteen
Speaker 1: games in the regular season and all four in the postseason.
Speaker 1: The twenty seven year old was rewarded with a one year,
Speaker 1: four million dollars deal in March. How did it feel
Speaker 1: to resign? No, I feel great. It feel great to
Speaker 1: be back with the guys, be back with lou and
Speaker 1: coach Teyler. Really appreciative of this opportunity just to be
Speaker 1: back and I have another year that we can build on,
Speaker 1: of course a super Bowl winning. Do you feel like
Speaker 1: you were one of the unsung heroes of the Super
Speaker 1: Bowl run last year? You know, I feel like I
Speaker 1: was just somebody that I was looking to improve every day,
Speaker 1: somebody that I really wanted to connect with the team,
Speaker 1: teammates and guys around me and learn from them. And
Speaker 1: I thought I did that pretty well going throughout the
Speaker 1: season and trying to progress every day. Now it's just
Speaker 1: about locking it every day and get better, way better
Speaker 1: than I was last year. I think if anybody looks
Speaker 1: back on some of the biggest plays from last season,
Speaker 1: your tackle just before the half and the AFC Championship
Speaker 1: game of Tyreek Hill has got to be very high
Speaker 1: on that list. Is that a moment that's become really
Speaker 1: meaningful for you? I mean, yes, it was what it was.
Speaker 1: I guess at the time I didn't realize it, but yeah,
Speaker 1: it was definitely, you know, huge. But there's a lot
Speaker 1: of plays you can pick apart the whole game, you know,
Speaker 1: especially from the defensive standpoint that made a difference. So
Speaker 1: you know, it's just about doing your job and competing
Speaker 1: hard all the time and let the results, you know,
Speaker 1: happy as they may. We're chatting with the Eli Apple.
Speaker 1: What do you do after a season? You go back
Speaker 1: and look at all of it? Or since you're doing
Speaker 1: that on a weekly basis, you know, don't you have
Speaker 1: to do that? Yeah? Yeah, Well, so being back now,
Speaker 1: we've got our whole games or iPads and stuff. So yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm I'm looking through everything and I just feel like
Speaker 1: I'm a totally different player now mentally. So it's just
Speaker 1: about building on that, getting that confidences and incorporating what
Speaker 1: I've learned from watching film just on the field field
Speaker 1: and not making those same mistakes. You know, you had
Speaker 1: a Twitter post or Instagram post fairly recently where you
Speaker 1: talked about something like the fire has been relet? How
Speaker 1: did you mean that? It's just always finding more more
Speaker 1: someone to just keep going for it, you know. Obviously
Speaker 1: super Bowls what you you know what I'm saying, as
Speaker 1: a team, strive for it. For me, it's just continue
Speaker 1: to just get that excitement to get better every day,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean? And I feel like that's
Speaker 1: what I meant, just bringing that attitude. I already had it,
Speaker 1: already have it because it's in the sim But now
Speaker 1: it's just about you know, just spreading it around the
Speaker 1: whole locker room and giving everybody got juice every day,
Speaker 1: no matter if we doing walkthroughs, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: So it was just about, you know, locking in all
Speaker 1: the details and just coming together more as a team.
Speaker 1: You know, how do you feel about the Super Bowl?
Speaker 1: You made some plays? Obviously Cup made some plays. Nah, man,
Speaker 1: That's that's the name of the game. That's the name
Speaker 1: of the game right there. But I'd like to go
Speaker 1: undefeated all the time and throw no hitter. Yeah, of course,
Speaker 1: who wouldn't. But you know, you learn from those those
Speaker 1: inter kate moments where you know you've battled little one
Speaker 1: of the best. So him and Mat Stafford a great
Speaker 1: connection obviously, and you know you put on a great performance,
Speaker 1: especially on that last drive. So I thought it was
Speaker 1: a great learning too. It's for me for the offseason
Speaker 1: and for us as a group. Know, learned from from
Speaker 1: that and just be better at finishing. You know, you
Speaker 1: did a great job, but it's always more to more
Speaker 1: to get I look back at that final touchdown. The
Speaker 1: coverage was actually good. I don't know what a dbat
Speaker 1: can do on a perfectly thrown ball on that particular route.
Speaker 1: A lot you could have played that better, way better.
Speaker 1: My leverage was way too hard on inside. He played
Speaker 1: off the ball so I wouldn't be able to get
Speaker 1: hands on so he can have some room to walk
Speaker 1: up on me and create that space and mass I
Speaker 1: could put it right on him, right on his back hip.
Speaker 1: But I thought, you know, if I was head up
Speaker 1: so outside, I would be able to be able to
Speaker 1: get hands on look back for the ball. But you
Speaker 1: know that's hindsight now and the heat of the moment.
Speaker 1: You know, things happen, So you know that's off to them.
Speaker 1: They they they did what they had to do to win.
Speaker 1: Do you enjoy sparring with the people on social media.
Speaker 1: It's a part of the game. All the fans, you know,
Speaker 1: I put them off one group of category, just you know,
Speaker 1: try to have fun with it. You don't take anything personal.
Speaker 1: I'm never really angry, even if I come off as suck.
Speaker 1: So I know a lot of people don't like it,
Speaker 1: but you know the way I interact, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean, I feel like you know, obviously, social media
Speaker 1: is a space where everybody tries to let their feelings
Speaker 1: go and display their their thoughts or whatever, or troll
Speaker 1: most people. Allityd is that specially the media. So for me,
Speaker 1: it was more of meekom than back trolling the trollers.
Speaker 1: That's how I looked at it. But it's all info.
Speaker 1: You got a locker room that appreciates what you did here.
Speaker 1: Last year, you played more snaps than any other defensive back.
Speaker 1: You feel like he found a home. I feel like
Speaker 1: every day I'm blessed to be here. It feels like
Speaker 1: home just because of the guys around and the coaches,
Speaker 1: the way they've embraced me. So I just want to
Speaker 1: concede to reward them, just my hard work in preparation.
Speaker 1: Always appreciate your time. Thank you, appreciate you. In addition
Speaker 1: to that key tackle of Tyreek Hill, Eli was also
Speaker 1: responsible for tipping a pass near the end of the
Speaker 1: playoff win at Tennessee that was intercepted by Logan Wilson
Speaker 1: to set up Evan McPherson's game winning field goal. My
Speaker 1: final conversation this week is with one of the sixteen
Speaker 1: rookie free agents that the Bengals signed right after the draft,
Speaker 1: Wide receiver Jack Sorenson, played college ball just down the
Speaker 1: road Miami University, where he earned first team All MAC
Speaker 1: honors last year by catching seventy six passes for one thousand,
Speaker 1: four hundred and six yards and ten touchdowns. So, having
Speaker 1: played at Miami, what's this experience like for you to
Speaker 1: be with the NFL team right down the road? Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, obviously, just getting a chance to play in
Speaker 1: the NFL is a dream come true. It's been a
Speaker 1: dream I've had for a long time. But getting a
Speaker 1: play not too far away from where I spent six
Speaker 1: years as pretty special. I got a lot of friends
Speaker 1: that moved to since and have jobs here. So the
Speaker 1: community and in the people that I know in Cincinnati
Speaker 1: is it's just pretty cool to play for the team
Speaker 1: that is represented by all those people. So you had
Speaker 1: a monster year last year for the RedHawks fourteen hundred
Speaker 1: yards plus ten touchdown catches. I believe did you start
Speaker 1: to think last year that you were going to get
Speaker 1: an NFL opportunity? Um, yeah, I mean it's it's obviously
Speaker 1: something of this in the back here. It's in the
Speaker 1: back of her head at some point. But for me,
Speaker 1: and I was so focused on the season, just the
Speaker 1: game that was at hand, and I wanted to go out,
Speaker 1: you know, a MAC champion again, and unfortunately weren't able
Speaker 1: to do that. But you know, I think the more
Speaker 1: you think about the stats, then the more it takes
Speaker 1: away from the team game, and the we game starts
Speaker 1: to become a me game. And and half the reason
Speaker 1: that I was able to have the success that I
Speaker 1: had was because of the support staff that was around me.
Speaker 1: I had great old line, I had a great quarterback,
Speaker 1: I had other great receivers that opened me up and
Speaker 1: gave me opportunities, and had a great coaching staff that
Speaker 1: game planned really really well to put me in positions
Speaker 1: to make plays. So the reason I had all that
Speaker 1: success was really a culmination of everybody around me doing
Speaker 1: what they needed to do. We're visiting with rookie receiver
Speaker 1: Jack Sorenson. So Jamar Chase last year had some incredible
Speaker 1: games as a rookie. I think two hundred and sixty
Speaker 1: six receiving yards in a game, which was a rookie
Speaker 1: record in the NFL. You topped that in a game
Speaker 1: last year against Ohio two eighty three, if I'm not mistaken. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean college to the NFL is a bit of
Speaker 1: a jump, but um, I mean it's just cool being
Speaker 1: not being around you know, Tea and and Trent Taylor
Speaker 1: and Trent Irwin, and you know and and Tyler Boyd
Speaker 1: and Jamar and and all these guys that you know,
Speaker 1: some of them at a young age have had a
Speaker 1: lot of success and then other ones are veterans in
Speaker 1: the league that have learned a lot of great tips
Speaker 1: and tricks on you know, how to run routes certain ways,
Speaker 1: or how to read certain coverages and where the holes
Speaker 1: are going to be. And just getting to be around
Speaker 1: that type of experience every every day is is for
Speaker 1: a young receiver a blessing um and hopefully, well, will
Speaker 1: you know, help me a lot a little the way
Speaker 1: Is it kind of jaw dropping to practice with guys
Speaker 1: like Jamar and t who are just such genetic freaks.
Speaker 1: Uh yeah, yeah, I mean I mean I wouldn't say,
Speaker 1: like Starstrucker jaw dropping. Um. I think it's like I said,
Speaker 1: it's you know, it's a blessing to be around as
Speaker 1: such a young receiver. Um, getting the opportunity from learn
Speaker 1: to learn from young guys that have had a lot
Speaker 1: of success and then some other guys that have been
Speaker 1: in the in the league for a while and have
Speaker 1: learned how to have a lot to success consistently, consistently. Um,
Speaker 1: just being around that and getting to see how they,
Speaker 1: you know, attack practices and how they attack individual drills
Speaker 1: and how they attack special teams and the consistency that
Speaker 1: they have day to day. I think that's um a
Speaker 1: great uh you know example from for me to see
Speaker 1: as a rookie. How about Burrow? Is Burrow jaw dropping? Yeah?
Speaker 1: I mean, I mean, he's he's a great qub um,
Speaker 1: but you know, just the same thing. I think. I
Speaker 1: think it's for me, you know, I'm not getting the
Speaker 1: reps with Burrow, but just getting to see him, just
Speaker 1: watch him how he goes about and his mannerisms during
Speaker 1: practice and how serious he takes it. UM. You know,
Speaker 1: for me, it's a great example as a rookie to
Speaker 1: to watch that and to you know, try to you know,
Speaker 1: take after or exemplify a couple a couple of things
Speaker 1: that he does in practice. So he's he's a great
Speaker 1: example for all of us rookies. What contact did you
Speaker 1: have with the Bengals if Annie in the pre draft process? Um?
Speaker 1: Throughout about the pre draft process, I was at the
Speaker 1: local day, UM, so I got to talk with some
Speaker 1: of the coaches and UM kind of work with some
Speaker 1: of the staff then and then just a couple meetings
Speaker 1: here and there leading up to the draft. How do
Speaker 1: you feel a guy like yourself can try to make
Speaker 1: a mark? Yeah, initially, I think for me, you know,
Speaker 1: obviously I want to contribute in the receiver room and
Speaker 1: but for me, initially, and I'm really focusing on special teams,
Speaker 1: I want to play all four special teams and UM
Speaker 1: and travel that way. And then obviously, you know, if
Speaker 1: I can contribute in any way in the receiver room,
Speaker 1: I want to do that too. But I think for me, initially,
Speaker 1: I'm going to attack and be the best special teams
Speaker 1: player for me on the team that I can be UM,
Speaker 1: because I think that's the best way I can contribute
Speaker 1: this first year. And you know, if the opportunities come
Speaker 1: at receiver, then I'm obviously gonna take goes and run
Speaker 1: with them. But um, initially, I'm going to learn as
Speaker 1: much as I can to be a sponge at the
Speaker 1: receiver position and then just try to attack the special teams.
Speaker 1: I think he noted off the top he spent six
Speaker 1: years at Miami. Was that a blessing for you to
Speaker 1: have the opportunity to have an extra year to develop? Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, I think I think it's it's a blessing
Speaker 1: and a curse. Right, you come in a little bit older,
Speaker 1: UM than most rookies, so you know it's it's not
Speaker 1: the best in that way, but UM, yeah, blessing in
Speaker 1: the sense that you know, I got I got six
Speaker 1: years to develop, UM into the player that I really
Speaker 1: felt like I could be in college and it kind
Speaker 1: of showed that last year. UM. And you know, I
Speaker 1: think I come in as a rookie with a little
Speaker 1: bit more maturity and understanding of UM, you know, how
Speaker 1: to you know, handle really long seasons and how to
Speaker 1: handle big off seasons like um, you know that that
Speaker 1: COVID gave us and just different stuff like that. You know,
Speaker 1: I've had a lot of experiences in college that had
Speaker 1: given me, you know, a sneak peek into what it
Speaker 1: might be like to be UM an NFL player. So, um,
Speaker 1: just those experiences over those six years, I think you are,
Speaker 1: you know, going to help give me an opportunity to
Speaker 1: have some success in the NFL. Are your friends and
Speaker 1: family savoring this opportunity? Yeah, yeah, I think they're. I
Speaker 1: think they're adjusting a little bit. Um, A lot of
Speaker 1: my uh, a lot of my families from Green Bay, um,
Speaker 1: so uh, you know, just trying to push some orange
Speaker 1: and black into their into their wardrobe, um slowly. But yeah,
Speaker 1: it's it's been awesome. Everybody been super supportive and really happy.
Speaker 1: This is a dream that I've expressed I've wanted for
Speaker 1: fifteen sixteen years now, so you know, everybody's just really
Speaker 1: happy for me, which is which is also a thing.
Speaker 1: Here's an interesting nugget about Jack Sorenson. He is related
Speaker 1: to Milwaukee Brewers manager Craig Counsel. That's going to do
Speaker 1: it for this episode of the Bengals Booth Podcast presented
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Speaker 1: Horde and thanks for listening to The Bengals Booth Podcast.