Speaker 1: Hig and everybody.
Speaker 2: I'm Dan Hord and thanks for downloading The Bengals Booth Podcast,
Speaker 2: the Chicgo Chic Go edition. As the Bengals rest their
Speaker 2: starters in Week two of the preseason and lose to
Speaker 2: the Chicago Bears twenty seven to three. Coming up radio replays,
Speaker 2: locker room comments and postgame analysis from Dave Lapham. Then,
Speaker 2: in this week's Fun Facts Conversation, you'll get to know
Speaker 2: the Eagles scout on the Bengals roster, rookie linebacker Muma
Speaker 2: Jong Meta. The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you
Speaker 2: by pay Core, proud to be the Bengals official hr
Speaker 2: software provider, by Alta Fiber, future proof fiber Internet designed
Speaker 2: to elevate your home, business, and community to a new level,
Speaker 2: and by Kettering Health the best care for the best fans.
Speaker 2: Kettering Health is the official healthcare provider of the Bengals.
Speaker 2: Now here's a quick reminder that you can have the
Speaker 2: latest edition of this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet,
Speaker 2: or computer by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's
Speaker 2: the greatest thing since Lou mal Nadis Chicago Style Pizza.
Speaker 2: Muma Jong metas from the Chicago area, and when we
Speaker 2: recorded our fun Facts interview this week, I asked him
Speaker 2: where I should eat during our stay in the Windy City.
Speaker 2: His answer Lou Malnatis. It's Chicago's best known deep dish
Speaker 2: pizza franchise, and it did not disappoint. It's pizza that
Speaker 2: requires a knife and fork to eat it, featuring gooey mozzarella, cheese,
Speaker 2: chunky tomato, sauce, and lean sausage all on a flaky,
Speaker 2: buttery crust. I could happily live on the crust. I'm
Speaker 2: sure there are locals that consider it to be touristy,
Speaker 2: but if you're visiting Chicago and want to try authentic
Speaker 2: Chicago style pizza, then do what I did and listen
Speaker 2: to Muma Jong Meta. Lou Malnadis was a deep dish delight.
Speaker 2: Now let's get to football. In the radio replays from
Speaker 2: Saturday's loss to the Bears Week two of the preseason,
Speaker 2: and we are in downtown Chicago where today the Bengals
Speaker 2: starters will take the day off and the backups will
Speaker 2: look to shore up roster spots. Improved they are ready
Speaker 2: when needed as the Bengals take on the Chicago Bears,
Speaker 2: and it is time for the pig skin to fly.
Speaker 2: Here at Soldier Field, second down and five Bengals at
Speaker 2: the twenty two of Chicago Sdrick Jackson motions out to
Speaker 2: the left woodside, waits for the shotgun snap.
Speaker 1: He has the ball.
Speaker 2: It's a Blitz gets rid of it as he's hit
Speaker 2: and it's intercepted as the ball fluttered right into the
Speaker 2: hands of a Chicago linebacker who picked it off and
Speaker 2: ran it out to the twenty six yard line, intercepted
Speaker 2: by amon Ogbon Bamega. After the big hit on the
Speaker 2: Blitz on loganwood Side.
Speaker 3: Eric Washington, I'm pressuring. I don't think they can pick
Speaker 3: it up. He brought more one more they could than
Speaker 3: they could block.
Speaker 2: Turnover big one third down in goal from the seven.
Speaker 2: Caleb Williams back to throw again, looking scrambling, gets away
Speaker 2: from a sack, spins around, rolling left, pointing toward the
Speaker 2: end zone. Now he takes off and runs and jumps
Speaker 2: into the end zone for a Chicago touchdown.
Speaker 3: For what he did when he created when he spun
Speaker 3: away and made the opportunity for himself to get outside.
Speaker 3: Two Bengals defensive linemen fell to the ground so you
Speaker 3: can't pursue anybody when you're on the ground.
Speaker 2: This will be a fifty four yard try from the right.
Speaker 2: Hash Rico, the rookie punter, puts the ball down. The
Speaker 2: kick is on its way and has plenty of distance,
Speaker 2: and it is good and the Bengals in the half
Speaker 2: with three points. As the clock hits zero on a
Speaker 2: fifty four yard field goal by Evan McK pherson, Traveon
Speaker 2: Williams checks back in a running back, first time we've
Speaker 2: seen him on the field in a while. Here comes
Speaker 2: another blitz. A pass is intercepted and streaking down field
Speaker 2: before being knocked out of bounds by Treveon Williams. Was
Speaker 2: Terrell smith second pick of the day for the Chicago Bears,
Speaker 2: and he goes out of bounds in Bengals territory around
Speaker 2: the forty two yard line. Third and goal from the four.
Speaker 2: Dante Pettis motions from left to right and lines up
Speaker 2: in the slot. Pagent surveys the Bengals defense. He drops
Speaker 2: back to throw, Beagent floats it into the end zone
Speaker 2: and it's caught by Pettis for the touchdown. Josh Newton
Speaker 2: the nearest defender, but Dante Pettis, an NFL veteran with
Speaker 2: seventy one regular season catches, got opened in the back
Speaker 2: right corner and caught the TV shotgun snap pagent to throw.
Speaker 2: He lofts it toward the end zone, wow, and it
Speaker 2: is caught by Pettis, who takes it in near the
Speaker 2: forward right pylon for Chicago Touchdow Bombardi waiting for a
Speaker 2: shotgun snap. Three receivers out to the right, one out
Speaker 2: to the left. Rocky leaps to catch the shotgun snap,
Speaker 2: try to run with the ball, loses the ball, and
Speaker 2: the Bears say they have it at the fifty and
Speaker 2: they do. Rippin takes a knee and that will be
Speaker 2: the final snap of this game. The Chicago Bears the
Speaker 2: first NFL team to three wins this preseason. They are
Speaker 2: three and ozero, and they won the last two by
Speaker 2: dominant margins. They beat the Bills in Buffalo thirty three
Speaker 2: to six. They beat the Bengals in Chicago today twenty
Speaker 2: seven to three, and the rain has returned here at
Speaker 2: Soldier Field. There obviously weren't many Bengals highlights in those
Speaker 2: radio calls, but the game wasn't all bad for starters.
Speaker 2: The Bengals second string defense completely shut down the Bears
Speaker 2: starting offense, led by number one overall draft pick Caleb Williams.
Speaker 2: In the first quarter. Chicago's first three drives were three
Speaker 2: and out, but three yard pass interference call on Bengals
Speaker 2: rookie Josh Newton early in the second quarter led to
Speaker 2: a Bear's field goal, and Chicago took advantage of penalties
Speaker 2: and turnovers for the rest of the day. The Bears
Speaker 2: won the turnover battle three zip and scored after all
Speaker 2: three of those takeaways, and Cincinnati committed eleven penalties for
Speaker 2: one hundred and twenty three yards. Chicago committed four for
Speaker 2: thirty eight. The Bengals running game wasn't great, but it
Speaker 2: was better, as they rushed for eighty two yards on
Speaker 2: twenty five carries. John Metta was the leading tackler for
Speaker 2: the second game in a row with seven and Chris
Speaker 2: Jenkins had his first preseason sack, and Jermaine Burton was
Speaker 2: used extensively as return specialist. His first punt return went
Speaker 2: for twenty three yards but got wiped out by a
Speaker 2: face mass penalty. Both of his kick returns went for
Speaker 2: twenty nine. Now let's hear what head coach Zach Taylor
Speaker 2: had to say, as he spent a few minutes with
Speaker 2: Dave Lapham after the game.
Speaker 4: So you don't have to be a football physicist or whatever.
Speaker 4: Three turnovers, three giveaways, no takeaways, eleven penalties for hundred
Speaker 4: and twenty three yards.
Speaker 5: That adds up to a tough day.
Speaker 6: Yeah, it overshadowed some positive things. But this is football
Speaker 6: and we got to learn from it as a team.
Speaker 6: And that's what twenty three looks like. When you get
Speaker 6: dominated penalties, dominating field position, dominating turnovers, hasting to do it.
Speaker 6: Talent has undo it scheme. It's just a mindset and
Speaker 6: an awareness level that we didn't have today. And I
Speaker 6: was disappointed, particularly in the second half.
Speaker 4: The first three three possessions your number two's as such,
Speaker 4: going against their number ones. Three straight three and outs,
Speaker 4: I mean no first downs. I mean the game started
Speaker 4: off pretty well on that side of the football, a.
Speaker 6: Lot of positives, I mean three thrad's for the announced defense,
Speaker 6: the offense moved the ball, got into scoring range, and
Speaker 6: we just blitz pick up a turnover. Those things bid
Speaker 6: us there, and really we should have been in a
Speaker 6: much better situation with the lead, playing with the lead
Speaker 6: and all the things that comes with that.
Speaker 4: They were very aggressive in how they were blitz and
Speaker 4: they were bringing people from the back end. They were
Speaker 4: they were pretty aggressive. I mean, was it anything that
Speaker 4: was unexpected prepared for all of that.
Speaker 6: It was as simple as it gets, and we didn't
Speaker 6: do a good job handling it, and that was disappointing.
Speaker 5: Good on them.
Speaker 6: They just kept repeating the same nickel pressure over and
Speaker 6: over because we kept proving we weren't going to pick
Speaker 6: it up. And uh, that's that's that's on the communication
Speaker 6: up front the quarterback, and we got to do much
Speaker 6: better job there.
Speaker 4: How did your your young bucket at center performed? Lee
Speaker 4: took every snap basically in the game, didn't he he did?
Speaker 6: Yeah, well we'll see, you know, we'll be able to
Speaker 6: watch tape and have a better evaluation.
Speaker 4: How about Jenkins, he came up with a sack. He
Speaker 4: looked like he was holding his own in there, going
Speaker 4: against the number ones.
Speaker 5: I mean that was encouraging as well.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean he was part of a front that
Speaker 6: really held into four yards rushing through those first three drives.
Speaker 6: I had the reverse that got out on us, But
Speaker 6: I thought that there were some positive things from him
Speaker 6: and the rest of that defense.
Speaker 5: What about returning kicks?
Speaker 6: Bert, Yeah, you got to use these preseason games to
Speaker 6: evaluate all your guys and in different places to play
Speaker 6: him and see how they can help the team. And
Speaker 6: so we just wanted to get in their evaluation in
Speaker 6: the return game with him on some things.
Speaker 4: So any injuries to speak up, did you get out
Speaker 4: of it fairly clean? After what took place during the
Speaker 4: joint practice.
Speaker 6: We'll see there's a couple of things that we're gonna
Speaker 6: have to manage, you know, And so we'll get a
Speaker 6: better feel for that tonight and tomorrow morning and have
Speaker 6: more word on that tomorrow probably.
Speaker 4: And then you've got practice on Monday. I'm sure that
Speaker 4: won't be a grinder as such, because you got you
Speaker 4: got a big joint practice again on Tuesday, don't you.
Speaker 5: Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 6: We got still an opportunity on Monday to get better
Speaker 6: and improve on some things and then really ramp up
Speaker 6: for Tuesday against the Coals.
Speaker 5: To be a funday coach. I appreciate your time as always.
Speaker 1: You got it.
Speaker 2: The bengals only points came on Evan McPherson's fifty four
Speaker 2: yard field goal with rookie punter Ryan Rico doing the
Speaker 2: holding on the final play of the first half. Last week,
Speaker 2: Money Mack missed a fifty eight yard try to end
Speaker 2: the half.
Speaker 5: It was good to get that one to go through.
Speaker 7: I get the confidence roll a little bit, get the
Speaker 7: first one under our belt. It's good for Ryan to
Speaker 7: get out there too in those situations. It's funny how
Speaker 7: I played out similarly to last week, but I'm glad
Speaker 7: that this time we were able to execute what was
Speaker 7: the field like. This field has always been kind of
Speaker 7: weird every time that I've been here. They laid the
Speaker 7: SOD I think on Thursday, so it seems everywhere had
Speaker 7: to make sure you don't plan on it because it
Speaker 7: was shifting. I'm good buddies with their kicker, Cairo, and
Speaker 7: I was watching him warm up and he planted right
Speaker 7: next to a seam and so I'd kind of flap
Speaker 7: up and down. So I was really just making sure
Speaker 7: that I was planning in the middle of those sawd You.
Speaker 2: Haven't signed a contract extension. We understand it's really not
Speaker 2: a topic yet until you do, but clearly the organization
Speaker 2: is excited about the opportunity to extend this in the
Speaker 2: near future.
Speaker 8: Yeah, for sure, and I'm excited about it.
Speaker 7: We'll see whenever I sign it, we'll get a press
Speaker 7: converage together, get to talk about.
Speaker 8: It a little more.
Speaker 7: But no, I'm excited, and I'm grateful for the Brown
Speaker 7: family and everybody that worked on this steal. It really
Speaker 7: means a lot that they showed how much they value me,
Speaker 7: and it just gives me some confidence to go into
Speaker 7: the season just knowing that this is where we're going
Speaker 7: to be for the next couple of years. So, you know,
Speaker 7: I'm excited.
Speaker 2: It's reportedly a three year contract extension for sixteen point
Speaker 2: five million bucks, and it's expected to be signed before
Speaker 2: the Bengals return to practice on Monday. Now time for
Speaker 2: the radio guys recap map. I think going into this game,
Speaker 2: we thought, all right, it might not go all that well.
Speaker 2: The Bears are going to play starters, the Bengals are not.
Speaker 2: In the first quarter, the Bengals second string defense did
Speaker 2: a phenomenal job against Caleb Williams and a really talented
Speaker 2: Bears offense. To me, that's the best thing that happened
Speaker 2: in this game.
Speaker 4: Agreed three straight three and outs. I thought they really
Speaker 4: showed very very well. I mean, they had Caleb Williams
Speaker 4: on his heels, you know, and then as the game progressed,
Speaker 4: he started making plays and started building his confidence. He
Speaker 4: was on stoes, he was he was playing pretty well.
Speaker 4: But I agree with you. I thought, in the early
Speaker 4: stage of the football game, the number two is more
Speaker 4: than held their own against the Chicago Bears defense.
Speaker 5: He has a lot of talent.
Speaker 4: I mean, they got a really good quarterback, three wide
Speaker 4: receivers that are threats, tight end, running back. I mean
Speaker 4: they're they're pretty darn good. And uh for three possessions,
Speaker 4: no first outs, three three and outs, I think they
Speaker 4: only had four yards total on their first three possessions,
Speaker 4: something crazy like that. So it shows what these guys
Speaker 4: are capable of. And I thought, you know, guys like
Speaker 4: Chris Jenkins gets his first NFL sack, he was a disruptive.
Speaker 4: I thought he was a good a good force inside.
Speaker 4: On the other side of the football, I thought Matt
Speaker 4: Lee did the yeomen's work, you know, in the offensive line,
Speaker 4: took every snap in the in the football game, and
Speaker 4: I think he probably won a heck of a lot
Speaker 4: more than he than he didn't.
Speaker 5: And there's always going to.
Speaker 4: Be plays that you want to have back I don't
Speaker 4: care what position you play, and I don't care what
Speaker 4: level of football you play. So I think those two
Speaker 4: young guys probably took advantage of opportunities pretty darn well.
Speaker 2: Josh Newton's had an excellent camp, but he's a rookie.
Speaker 2: They're going to be ups and downs, and he had
Speaker 2: some downs in this game. A very costly pass interference
Speaker 2: penalty gave up one of the touchdown passes. So there
Speaker 2: were some learning moments, to put it nicely, for Josh
Speaker 2: in this game.
Speaker 4: There were And here's the real true test of a rookie.
Speaker 4: How's he gonna respond. There's no way this kid's going
Speaker 4: in the tank. He's got too much you know, going
Speaker 4: for him, intelligence, competitiveness, desire.
Speaker 5: He'll learn.
Speaker 4: Like you said, there's lessons to be learned, and he'll
Speaker 4: learn them and he won't make the same mistake twice.
Speaker 4: And we'll come back against the Colts and probably you know,
Speaker 4: make plays. And that's the sign of if you've got
Speaker 4: a football player that can last in the National Football League,
Speaker 4: going against the best of the best, you know, every
Speaker 4: single week and every single day in practice. I mean,
Speaker 4: they're going to be moments where, man, what the heck
Speaker 4: was wrong today. I couldn't do anything right, and then
Speaker 4: there are going to be moments that you know, it's like, man,
Speaker 4: I can't make a mistake out here. Everything I'm doing,
Speaker 4: I'm guessing right, I'm playing well. It's like it's crazy
Speaker 4: how it'll how it'll go. But the guys that you know,
Speaker 4: compartmentalize both of it. Don't don't assume that the great
Speaker 4: days are going to be strung together a bunch, and
Speaker 4: don't assume that, you know, make sure the bad days
Speaker 4: don't reoccur. And those are the guys that kind of
Speaker 4: make it for a while.
Speaker 5: The Bengals have issues at offensive tackle.
Speaker 2: Marius Mimms out for several weeks with a strained pectoral,
Speaker 2: Deontae Smith out for the rest of the year with
Speaker 2: a knee injury. Orlando Brown Junior and Trent Brown did
Speaker 2: not start in this game. So the starting offensive tackles
Speaker 2: were guys that they really project to be guards, and
Speaker 2: as you might expect, the Bears were able to capitalize
Speaker 2: on that.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I thought, I thought Kirkland had a pretty solid day.
Speaker 4: I remember Ford getting bull rushed once and you know,
Speaker 4: there was some some situation there. Like I said, though
Speaker 4: it's like, you know, you play sixty snaps, which the
Speaker 4: offense did, there's going to be a handful that you're
Speaker 4: not proud of. You just hope that they're not catastrophes,
Speaker 4: they're not tragedies. So yeah, it was it was. It
Speaker 4: was makeshift in the offensive line.
Speaker 8: For sure.
Speaker 5: You got a rookie rookie center.
Speaker 4: Gillam played a left guard left guard spot, and you
Speaker 4: know Ford was out there at at right tackle and
Speaker 4: Hill was at the right guard position. So you had
Speaker 4: a lot of guys, you know, playing spots that they
Speaker 4: don't normally take a lot of reps out, which is
Speaker 4: a good test because you know, if you're not quote
Speaker 4: starting offensive lineman, you have to play multiple, you know,
Speaker 4: minimum of two positions, and you have to play if
Speaker 4: you can play garden tackle, you have to work to
Speaker 4: be able to play garden tackle on both sides of
Speaker 4: a line of scrimmage. If you can play center, you
Speaker 4: got to make sure you can play center and both guards,
Speaker 4: you know, and so you have to give some position
Speaker 4: versatility to the coaching staff for you to be a
Speaker 4: candidate to be one of the you know, nine guys
Speaker 4: that make the final roster or ten or whatever it
Speaker 4: may be.
Speaker 2: Played their starting quarterback, the first pick in the draft,
Speaker 2: Caleb Williams. For a half, the Bengals starting quarterback was
Speaker 2: their number three QB, Logan Woodside.
Speaker 5: How do you think he did?
Speaker 4: I think, you know, there were some ups and downs
Speaker 4: to his players. Well, the thing I like about him
Speaker 4: is man I mentioned it during the game. I saw
Speaker 4: him at various spots in the hotel, whether it be
Speaker 4: in a meeting room all by himself or the cafeteria
Speaker 4: all by himself, whatever, just putting an extra time, I mean, grinding,
Speaker 4: you know, making sure that he was going to take
Speaker 4: full advantage of this opportunity. I thought he played really
Speaker 4: well in the first preseason game. I thought he was stellar.
Speaker 4: Really he played a heck of a football game. I'm
Speaker 4: sure there's a lot of things that he'd like to
Speaker 4: have back, you know, in this football game, the opportunities
Speaker 4: didn't quite present themselves, you know, as much as they
Speaker 4: did in the first matchup that he had. But he's
Speaker 4: a pro. He's a pros pro. I mean he's going
Speaker 4: to go about it the exact same way. He'll study
Speaker 4: the tape the same way that he did. He'll attack
Speaker 4: the playbook the same way that he did and get
Speaker 4: ready to have a you know, a better performance against
Speaker 4: the Indianapolis Colts and the joint practices in the game.
Speaker 2: Assuming that Jake Browning's injury isn't too serious and we
Speaker 2: don't think it is, your number three quarterback can be
Speaker 2: one of two things. A developmental guy somebody had drafted
Speaker 2: maybe try to you know, develop into being a backup someday.
Speaker 2: Or it can be a veteran guy that you trust
Speaker 2: if something were to happen, you know, you've got a
Speaker 2: guy waiting in the wings. It feels to me like
Speaker 2: Logan Woodside fits that second description pretty well.
Speaker 5: I couldn't agree with you more.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, I think I think that it's it's
Speaker 4: like he's been around long enough where you kind of
Speaker 4: know what you have, you know, from a developmental standpoint.
Speaker 5: But you like it for the reasons that you're talking about.
Speaker 4: If you know, if all hell breaks loose and you
Speaker 4: know you're a you're put in a situation that you
Speaker 4: never thought you'd be in a million years. You can
Speaker 4: have a guy that has been under fire, has been
Speaker 4: exposed to it at the at the NFL level, and
Speaker 4: as mature and you know can handle everything, the good,
Speaker 4: the bad, and the ugly. That's invaluable deposition, no question
Speaker 4: about it.
Speaker 2: Evan McPherson drilled the fifty four yard field goal to
Speaker 2: account for the Bengals only points. And Ryan Rico got
Speaker 2: a lot of punting opportunities in this game. With Grab
Speaker 2: Robbins out and we don't know about his status for
Speaker 2: the start of the regular season. I would think a
Speaker 2: lot of opportunities for Ryan Rico is only a good thing.
Speaker 4: Yeah, definitely. And you know there were some mixed results there.
Speaker 4: I mean, he got lucky, he got good bounce, I
Speaker 4: should say on one of them that ended up being
Speaker 4: a fifty plus yard punt that really wasn't that And
Speaker 4: then his hangtime probably wasn't what he wanted. He can
Speaker 4: kick him to the moon, so he was probably, I
Speaker 4: don't know, maybe pressing a little bit. You know, this opportunity, man,
Speaker 4: it's here. I got to take full advantage and you
Speaker 4: learn from that. Now it's you know, when you are
Speaker 4: punting against the Colts, you know next week, just relax,
Speaker 4: trust your technique. You've done it a million times, You've
Speaker 4: done it for years. Don't change anything. Just go out
Speaker 4: and be the best you can be with what you
Speaker 4: know how to do. And I think he's gonna be fine. Yeah,
Speaker 4: because like you said, I mean, you know, hip flex
Speaker 4: is no joke for anybody a kicker. I mean, those
Speaker 4: those things. It's hard to put a timetable on him,
Speaker 4: you know, and if you're trying to come back too early,
Speaker 4: it can be a lingering, nagging thing. I mean, those
Speaker 4: things are not pretty sometimes.
Speaker 2: Charlie Jones should be back from his kneebrews soon. In
Speaker 2: the meantime, we might have found out something about Jermaine
Speaker 2: Burton as a return threat. He looked good both as
Speaker 2: a punt returner and as a kick returner today and
Speaker 2: he did not do that in college.
Speaker 4: I thought that he made really good decisions, and that's
Speaker 4: you know, the biggest percentage of the battle is being
Speaker 4: decisive and making a quick decision. And I thought he
Speaker 4: did that. And he got upfield, he got north and
Speaker 4: south as quickly as he possibly could. And man, he's explosive,
Speaker 4: he's sudden, he's got a strong body. I mean, all
Speaker 4: the all the attributes that you like about him as
Speaker 4: a as a receiver, he checks all those boxes as
Speaker 4: a as a return guy as well. I mean he's
Speaker 4: dynamic in space. You know, catches the ball well, I
Speaker 4: mean tracks it well. He's got a lot going for
Speaker 4: him in that regard. He's still learning the offense. It's
Speaker 4: not as easy to learn it as maybe some people realize.
Speaker 4: But this could be a way to get an immediate
Speaker 4: return on a third round draft pick by using him
Speaker 4: in that role. Yeah, when a guy has has that
Speaker 4: kind of I mean back in the day, David Verser
Speaker 4: was a guy first round pick out of Kansas, and
Speaker 4: it's like, you know, he was struggling to learn everything
Speaker 4: that needed to be learned and where the quarterbacks could
Speaker 4: totally trust him that he was there. So you know what,
Speaker 4: let's have him go back there and return kicks me
Speaker 4: it takes one back for a touchdown, you know. I mean,
Speaker 4: those guys that have have those those rare innate physical attributes,
Speaker 4: you got to utilize them somehow, and that'd be a
Speaker 4: good way to do it.
Speaker 2: The results on the field weren't great on this extended
Speaker 2: road trip to Chicago. Obviously, they had a couple of
Speaker 2: very costly injuries in Thursday's joint practice, but there were
Speaker 2: some good team bonding opportunities. The guys had some nice
Speaker 2: dinners out. They had the Rookie Talent show at the
Speaker 2: team hotel. So some of the things that you don't
Speaker 2: get a chance to see necessarily were good on this trip.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and you know what it is valuable to Dan.
Speaker 4: It's like when you're at a joint practice like they
Speaker 4: had and the weather's so terrible and all that you
Speaker 4: sit around and.
Speaker 5: You talk about it, what was good, what do we
Speaker 5: need to do better? You know, and then you can
Speaker 5: joke about it too. Man, you look so terrible in
Speaker 5: that ray.
Speaker 4: I mean, you can have some fun with guys and
Speaker 4: it can be a learning experience, a fun experience, a
Speaker 4: bonding experience. I mean, you can always make a chicken
Speaker 4: salad at a chicken as best you can.
Speaker 2: That's a good note to wrap up on, and see
Speaker 2: you for the joint practice on Tuesday.
Speaker 5: Look forward to that, sir.
Speaker 2: We'll see the starters back on the field in that
Speaker 2: joint practice against the Colts on Tuesday afternoon. The final
Speaker 2: preseason game is Thursday night at home against Indy. Kickoff
Speaker 2: is at eight o'clock. The Bengals Booth podcast is brought
Speaker 2: to you by pay Corp, Proud to be the Bengals
Speaker 2: Official hr software provider by Alta Fiber future proof Fiber
Speaker 2: Internet designed to elevate your home, business and community to
Speaker 2: a new level, and by Kettering Health the best care
Speaker 2: for the best fans. Kettering Health is the official healthcare provider.
Speaker 1: Of the Bengals.
Speaker 2: Now it's time for this week's fun Facts conversation, where
Speaker 2: you get to know the person under the pads. Time
Speaker 2: for some fun facts with a Bengals rookie who has
Speaker 2: the most difficult last name to spell since Shushman Zada,
Speaker 2: Mumma Jong Meta.
Speaker 1: How did I do good? I said it?
Speaker 8: Okay, Yeah, you said it?
Speaker 1: Okay, that's all right.
Speaker 2: I want to start with your parents, who sound like
Speaker 2: pretty remarkable people. Your mom was a Fulbright scholar, which
Speaker 2: is extremely prestigious. Both of your parents have PhDs, which
Speaker 2: is obviously an extremely high level of academic achievement. What
Speaker 2: do you admire and respect about your folks?
Speaker 8: My dad has three masters?
Speaker 9: Just the record fell out the record. No, what do
Speaker 9: I admire and respect them? About my parents? I mean
Speaker 9: they are great people. Also just the it's nasty and
Speaker 9: the perseverance to.
Speaker 8: Leave their country at a young age.
Speaker 9: I mean a little bit about them. So they were
Speaker 9: from Cameroon, but just because of the political socioeconomic situation
Speaker 9: in Cameroon, as someone who's English speaking, so it's there's
Speaker 9: English speaking and French speaking people. Just the schools aren't
Speaker 9: as welcoming for Uncle Phone people in Comeroon. So they
Speaker 9: went to Nigeria. So they left, They left their family,
Speaker 9: They went to Nigeria, a different country for university, and
Speaker 9: I think that was when they're eighteen nine ten. From
Speaker 9: that point on, they were pretty much on their own.
Speaker 9: My dad's dad died when he was super young. He
Speaker 9: was the first in his household. My mom's dad died
Speaker 9: when she was also pretty young. She's the first in
Speaker 9: her household. So they were just, I mean, trailblazers their
Speaker 9: whole life. Went to Nigeria, got their degrees, came back.
Speaker 9: My dad was like, Okay, I'm going to Liverpool to
Speaker 9: get my PhD. While my mom was raising me and
Speaker 9: my brother. At some point, you know, she gets breast cancer.
Speaker 9: She's applying for full Bite. She beats cancer the first time,
Speaker 9: accepts the full Bright scholarship to Texas.
Speaker 8: A and m moves us, my dad, all.
Speaker 9: Of us across the world, goes into remission, she's doing
Speaker 9: her PhD, finishes her PhD, beats cancer the second time.
Speaker 9: My dad's supporting us with his university job that pays nothing.
Speaker 9: And then like they are trailblazers to the max. And
Speaker 9: so like you know, I play art sport, we play
Speaker 9: hard sport. There's a lot that goes into it. There's
Speaker 9: a lot of you know everything, great diversity, but like,
Speaker 9: was it really you know, what's that adversity I faced
Speaker 9: in this sport compared to what they really had to do.
Speaker 9: People ask if I had to bet on myself as
Speaker 9: an undrafted guy. I did, But they had to bet
Speaker 9: them on themselves to move across the world. You know,
Speaker 9: we had a really nice life over there, and they
Speaker 9: they put that on pause almost through it a way
Speaker 9: for something better, for a better investment. And so they,
Speaker 9: my parents are remarkable people and I owe a lot
Speaker 9: of who I am to them and honestly to my
Speaker 9: older brother too, who who has shaped me into the
Speaker 9: man I am today.
Speaker 1: Have you ever been back to Cameroon?
Speaker 5: Yeah?
Speaker 9: So, like I said, I was born there, went there
Speaker 9: again in twenty twelve and haven't been back since. There's
Speaker 9: a civil war right now, unfortunately, so I have not
Speaker 9: been back since.
Speaker 2: Because it's safe to assume that grades came first in
Speaker 2: the Jong Meta household.
Speaker 9: Grades came first. Grades came first. If you want to
Speaker 9: go see your friends, what are grades looking like? At
Speaker 9: one point, my dad was uh telling me that, hey,
Speaker 9: if you you know, you get a C minus and
Speaker 9: ap COWC, you're we're gonna quit football. You know, we're
Speaker 9: gonna turn your cleats. And so, I mean, it was
Speaker 9: always grades first, and it was hard then, but you
Speaker 9: know now you look back and it's just like they
Speaker 9: were just trying to teach me the important and priorities
Speaker 9: and what's really important.
Speaker 8: And uh, I mean obviously it worked out. You know,
Speaker 8: if I had gotten that sea and I had to
Speaker 8: quit football, let's suck. No, that would really suck. But
Speaker 8: you know, it motivated me and got to B minus.
Speaker 8: So grades always came first, for sure.
Speaker 2: We're visiting with Bouma Jong Matta. Unlike most of your
Speaker 2: Bengals teammates, you did not grow up with a football
Speaker 2: in your hands. How and when did you get involved
Speaker 2: with this sport?
Speaker 9: Yeah, freshman year of high school got involved. You know,
Speaker 9: we had a uh, basically we had this I went
Speaker 9: to a really big high school, right four thousand kids,
Speaker 9: and so as part of the transition from eighth grade
Speaker 9: to ninth grade, they had they would always do like
Speaker 9: these symposiums pretty much just like kids know, like hey,
Speaker 9: this was with the squad to offer, and so they
Speaker 9: sent some kids from the high school to my junior
Speaker 9: high to do an art symposium, like completely random. And
Speaker 9: one of the kids there was names cam Green. He
Speaker 9: uh he they had just won state and basketball. They
Speaker 9: had just won state in football and basketball, and he
Speaker 9: was on both teams. He had his letterman on and
Speaker 9: I saw him from Afar. I was like, man, I
Speaker 9: thought he was the Closes dude. But I was like, man,
Speaker 9: I want to be like him.
Speaker 8: Seriously, no jokes, something as simple as that.
Speaker 9: You know, if he hadn't taken art as a just
Speaker 9: an easy credit his senior year, like maybe I wouldn't
Speaker 9: be playing football.
Speaker 1: You know, I didn't wearcket.
Speaker 9: Or yeah, if you didn't whar the letter you know,
Speaker 9: if he was just a guy like no letterman jacket.
Speaker 8: You know who knows if I'm playing football?
Speaker 9: So now, but I saw him from Afar and I
Speaker 9: was like, man, I want you know, that's the type
Speaker 9: of dude, I want to be like so, and that
Speaker 9: that moment, that day, that small day, led me on
Speaker 9: this nine year plus journey.
Speaker 8: And it's crazy.
Speaker 2: Once you started playing, what about this sport captivated you?
Speaker 8: Yeah, I mean.
Speaker 9: The first thing was I wasn't very good at it,
Speaker 9: and that that was like frustrating because it was like
Speaker 9: I should be like I get my butt kicked, I
Speaker 9: feel like I'm getting the hang of this, but I'm
Speaker 9: so I'm still sucking. And I think that's really what
Speaker 9: it was. So like I was drawn for like maybe
Speaker 9: some more superficial reasons, but what kept me going was
Speaker 9: just the ability to get better like that, just the
Speaker 9: chase of like, Okay, all right, I'm working on this.
Speaker 8: I'm working on this.
Speaker 9: Okay, boom, it's shown up. All right, cool, now I'm
Speaker 9: working on this. I'm working on this. There was a camaraderie,
Speaker 9: the team aspect of it, Like there's very like, I
Speaker 9: don't know, team sports are awesome.
Speaker 8: You know.
Speaker 9: I did discus in high school, and there's a team
Speaker 9: element to that, but like you're the one in the ring,
Speaker 9: you know, and the team element comes out when maybe
Speaker 9: your points come together for the team. But like it's
Speaker 9: a solo sport. I've done solo sports, but I love
Speaker 9: team sports. I love team sports. There's nothing like them.
Speaker 9: The camaraderie, the brotherhood, the development of the men, you know,
Speaker 9: to the man I became and becoming as I played
Speaker 9: the sport, and the longer I played, the more I
Speaker 9: realized how much football was like life. You know, so
Speaker 9: many of the things you see in football happen in life,
Speaker 9: and and.
Speaker 8: The lessons are there.
Speaker 9: You just have to look a little closer to see him,
Speaker 9: and closer I looked them, I was like, man, this
Speaker 9: there's nothing like the sport.
Speaker 8: So it's a blessing to be here. I'm very excited.
Speaker 2: You went to high school in the Chicago area. You
Speaker 2: excelled on the field and in the classroom, and at
Speaker 2: the end of your high school career, the Ivy League
Speaker 2: schools came calling, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, et cetera. Considering your parents'
Speaker 2: academic achievements. Did they push you toward the IVY League?
Speaker 5: No?
Speaker 9: One thing I love about my parents, they never really
Speaker 9: pushed me for football. There's they actually pushed me against
Speaker 9: the like we don't know if we don't know, if.
Speaker 8: This is the answer. And then you know what. You know,
Speaker 8: once college was free, They're like, all right, we're good
Speaker 8: for it. No, I mean.
Speaker 9: They were like, yeah, go wherever makes you happy. And
Speaker 9: you know, I ended up being Wisconsin, which was a
Speaker 9: great decision.
Speaker 8: I loved. I loved Wisconsin.
Speaker 2: And a great school. You spent five years there. What
Speaker 2: was your favorite part of your college experience?
Speaker 8: Oh, my goodness, this is a whole other interview.
Speaker 9: Wisconsin is an amazing place because it's like it's it's
Speaker 9: kind of the epitome of what I think. Like I
Speaker 9: don't know, I think what college should be. It's like
Speaker 9: work hard, play hard. That's how I am. They kids
Speaker 9: over there are so smart. I mean I remember.
Speaker 8: So there's that. There's that. There's the it's two hours
Speaker 8: away from my house.
Speaker 9: So like so many of my so so many high
Speaker 9: school KI went there, but like not too many where
Speaker 9: it felt like.
Speaker 8: I was in high school.
Speaker 9: But like enough where you walk around you're seeing, oh,
Speaker 9: you're running to people like you haven't seen it in
Speaker 9: a while. So I have friends who like we go
Speaker 9: out together. You know, they were in Greek life and
Speaker 9: maybe I'm going out once a week and they're telling
Speaker 9: me stories of throughout Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday.
Speaker 8: I'm like, oh my goodness.
Speaker 9: And then final this time came around and U and
Speaker 9: they started talking about school. I'm like, okay, like what
Speaker 9: are you studying?
Speaker 8: We're going down the line. One of them is a
Speaker 8: biomedical engineer.
Speaker 9: One of them's uh, one of them is neurobiology. One
Speaker 9: of them this, that, this, and this was, uh this
Speaker 9: was my girl group friend my girl friend group. So
Speaker 9: like they were all in the sororities and they were
Speaker 9: like active in Greek life and partying and doing this,
Speaker 9: and it was like like that was what Wisconsin was like,
Speaker 9: super smart kids who were down a good time to
Speaker 9: have a good time, but who were also about their
Speaker 9: business and it was a great combination.
Speaker 8: Loved it there.
Speaker 1: Some kids can pull it off. That wasn't a lot
Speaker 1: of them.
Speaker 2: So, following a great career with the Badgers, you weren't
Speaker 2: selected in this year's draft, but it sounds like the
Speaker 2: Bengals made it clear for months that they would be
Speaker 2: interested in signing you as a college free agent.
Speaker 9: Was that the case, Yeah, I I caught me by
Speaker 9: surprise the Bengals, you know, so you know, my agent's like, yeah,
Speaker 9: some teams just like the stand of the radar. You know,
Speaker 9: I spoke with them. I spoke with them at the
Speaker 9: Hula Bowl. I think I spoke with them at the
Speaker 9: East West Ron game. I spoke with Ronnie Ragula like
Speaker 9: maybe two weeks before the draft.
Speaker 5: That was it.
Speaker 9: But they didn't seem any more interested or less interested
Speaker 9: than any other team. So it's kind of surprised when
Speaker 9: I got the call, but I was. It was like
Speaker 9: a pleasant surprise. I love Cincinnati into a ton of
Speaker 9: Reds games. I'm a baseball fan now because of them.
Speaker 8: I love the.
Speaker 9: Vibes of the city. The locker room culture here is unreal.
Speaker 9: The linebacker room is great Logan Jermaine, Akeem Joe. I
Speaker 9: mean the great guys have learned from Like there's a lot,
Speaker 9: uh you know, great pieces on the offense and defense
Speaker 9: like this is. There's so much going for this team
Speaker 9: that I love that. I'm just blessed to be here
Speaker 9: every day.
Speaker 8: So I was kind of guarded when they called me,
Speaker 8: but I was like, let's go, let's ride.
Speaker 2: So we're chatting the moment, Jong Meta. In your preseason debut,
Speaker 2: you led the team with ten tackles and two pass deflections.
Speaker 2: Did you feel like you showed you belong.
Speaker 8: Yeah, that's an interesting question. I feel like I feel
Speaker 8: like you know.
Speaker 9: I think, first of all, it is a blessing to
Speaker 9: play well on Saturday, Like that's awesome.
Speaker 8: Anytime you play well, it's like a great feeling.
Speaker 9: But also there's a realization that you know, it's about
Speaker 9: the body of work. You know, no one remembers the
Speaker 9: one hit Wonders. You know, a bunch of songs that
Speaker 9: I've listened to from artists where man, it's only that's
Speaker 9: the only song, Like it was cool back back then,
Speaker 9: But what about now, you know? And what I mean
Speaker 9: by that is it was great to play well, But
Speaker 9: at the end of the day, what can I do
Speaker 9: to continue to add? You know, I think you show
Speaker 9: that you belong not by what you do on any
Speaker 9: one day, but what you do over.
Speaker 8: The course of time.
Speaker 9: And my whole mindsett since I got here in April
Speaker 9: or May or it's felt like I've been here for
Speaker 9: a year. But try I belong every day by my preparation,
Speaker 9: how I take care of my body, you know, how
Speaker 9: I am in the meeting rooms, what the vets you're doing,
Speaker 9: I'm doing. I'm taking care of my You know I
Speaker 9: already said I but I'm taking care of my body
Speaker 9: before after practice, like all those things. In my mind
Speaker 9: is showing that I belong in great to go out
Speaker 9: there and play really well.
Speaker 8: But at the end of the day, it's what have
Speaker 8: I been doing in practice?
Speaker 9: What I have I been doing in OTAs, in training camp,
Speaker 9: all that stuff. I think it's the body of work
Speaker 9: that contributes to that.
Speaker 2: You're an Eagle Scout, meaning you earned at least twenty
Speaker 2: one merit badge. Is what does rank of Eagle Scout
Speaker 2: represent to you?
Speaker 8: Yeah?
Speaker 9: Scout is trustworthy, loyal, honest, helpful, friendly, kind, courageous, obedient, cheerful, brave, thrifty,
Speaker 9: and reverent.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 9: So we used to recite that all the time. But no,
Speaker 9: I mean being an Eagle Scout was is cool. My
Speaker 9: dad said it would help me get in college.
Speaker 8: Football helped me get into college.
Speaker 9: But the skills I learned boy scouts, I think actually
Speaker 9: have transferred into the type of person I am today
Speaker 9: and the leader I am just because in boy scouts
Speaker 9: are dealing with all types of people and trying to
Speaker 9: combine together for one common goal, sort of like football,
Speaker 9: except the things that keep people together in football are
Speaker 9: slightly different than the things that keep people together in
Speaker 9: a boy Scout unit. But I loved my experience there
Speaker 9: and I love camping now because of it. Then, yeah,
Speaker 9: random fun the fact I tell people like some of
Speaker 9: my teammates have.
Speaker 8: Kids, I'm like, how mean babysit for you? I'm an
Speaker 8: eagle scout like I have that going for me. So no, yeah,
Speaker 8: that's something I did in my past life.
Speaker 2: You majored in business with a focus in finance, banking
Speaker 2: and investment. Do you know what you would like to
Speaker 2: do after football?
Speaker 8: Yeah, hopefully in you know, fifteen twenty.
Speaker 9: No, I'm gonna go the next chance I get, you know,
Speaker 9: hopefully next offseason or whenever the time comes. I'm gonna
Speaker 9: finish my masters. I have one more semester left my
Speaker 9: master's in the finance, and then probably pursue that route,
Speaker 9: do some some on that end.
Speaker 2: Final fun fact for Muma Jong Matta, This one's kind
Speaker 2: of deep. If you could meet anyone in history, living
Speaker 2: or deceased, who would that person be?
Speaker 8: Oh uh, probably Jesus.
Speaker 9: And then if I could like be like your phone
Speaker 9: a friend, like get Buddha, get Buddha on the line. Yeah,
Speaker 9: I mean definitely been growing in my faith probably yeah,
Speaker 9: since honestly since college.
Speaker 8: So I'd love to meet Jesus. Uh and then maybe
Speaker 8: a nonspiritual answer.
Speaker 9: No, I'm gonna submit that. That's my final answer, Jesus and then.
Speaker 2: Buddh And it's a very good answer. I appreciate your time.
Speaker 2: Hope you have another great game this week and best
Speaker 2: of luck in the future.
Speaker 8: Appreciate you, Thank you.
Speaker 2: Booma has done very well in the first two preseason
Speaker 2: games as he looks to earn a spot on the
Speaker 2: fifty three man roster or the Bengals sixteen man practice squad.
Speaker 1: That's going to.
Speaker 2: Do it for This episode of the Bengals Booth podcast
Speaker 2: brought to you by pay Core, Proud to be the
Speaker 2: Bengals official hr software provider, by Alta Fiber, future proof
Speaker 2: Fiber Internet designed to elevate your home, business, and community
Speaker 2: to a new level, and by Kettering Health the best
Speaker 2: care for the best fans. Kettering Health is the official
Speaker 2: healthcare provider of the Bengals. If you haven't done so already,
Speaker 2: please subscribe to this podcast and if you have a minute,
Speaker 2: give it a rating or share a comment that helps
Speaker 2: more Bengals fans find us. I'm Dan Hord and thanks
Speaker 2: for listening to the Bengals Booth podcast