All right, let's do this weekend here, three hours of sports talk, no complaints. Things to get to Bengals and Bears Sunday, Paid Course Stadium. Let's welcome in our first guest, who's all over Bengals coverage for ESPN and ESPN dot Com. That would be Ben Baby and Ben, do you anticipate we'll see Joe Flacco under center come Sunday?
Yeah, Hey, Lance, I would imagine that you do see Flacco on Sunday. Now, the Bengals didn't want to go out and definitively say that Flacco was going to be the starter. I think they still want to see what it's going to look like over the course of the weekend. But talked is Zach Taylor today, If Dak Taylor said that everything that they needed to see for a guy who could play on Sunday the Bengals saw on Thursday. I saw him out there today at practice. Was talking
to head trainer Matt Summers. Looks comfortable out there, you know, said, you know, he felt pretty good going into the week. So I would imagine right now the Flacco will be the guy when the Bengals play on Sunday.
How about Trey Hendrickson.
Yeah, that seems a little less likely. Lance, I think you're gonna see Trey Hendrickson and Logan Wilson potentially on the sidelines, both listed as doubtful. Both guys did not practice all week. You know, Hendrickson tried to go out there and play on that hip. He reaggravated it in that game. Wilson, he Logan Wilson, he suffered a calf injury. Tried to he played through it, suffered it on kickoff return.
I was told this week, and so now, especially with guys who have those lingering issue injuries, maybe a chance for them to get healthy during the bye week and don't want them to get nicked up this week. So we'll see if the Bengals, you know, if they don't play, if they can withstand not having both of those guys against a depleted Chicago team.
Ben Baby ESPN and ESPN dot Com checking in tonight talking Bengals Bears. You broke the news last night. McKinley Jackson has asked for a trade. What's the latest on that. How has Zach responded to that?
Yeah, you know, we talked to Zach today and Zach was asked about that report that we had last night. You know, he said he likes McKinley Jackson in the big message that he's given to him and that he told us is just for him to keep working. They believe that, you know, with Mike Pennell now no longer on the roster, he got his release granted and now he's at Kansas City, they feel like that'll open up
an avenue for McKinley Jackson. That being said, though, you know, in talking to those around that situation, you know, I got this said that McKinley and knowing him since he got here in Cincinnati last year, he's always truck me as someone who wants to do everything he can to go out and help the team win. I've actually never heard a guy talk so much about making such a lasting legacy on the game the moment they got the door. I think Jamar Chase is the only other one I
heard talk in that manner. So I've never questioned what kind of drive McKinley Jackson has. I think when you see the change that's happened over the offseason, they go from Loui an Arumo to Al Golden, you know, it just hasn't seemed to fit what Jackson does so far. In the coaching staff it said, you know, publicly, they've said, listen, we wanted him to to try to get those reps, but he hasn't been able to get them so far. And I think he just wants an avenue to contribute
to the team. And I think that's where you know our report yesterday, that's that's kind of how that materialize.
Been with the multiple issues on the defensive side of things. Is this defense fixable this season? In season?
I think you're gonna have to try to figure that out. You know, when you look at it, they the injuries up front are not good. But at the end of the day, that can't be an excuse. It can't be an excuse that you had young linebackers. You know, you have to find a way to figure this out. There's a reason they went from Loui an Romo, Louis Arumo to Al Golden. The hope was that Golden was going to be able to get the most out of these young players, and so you're gonna have to find a
way to fix these things. We talked to Al Golden this week and he felt like in terms of the run game. They felt that they were guys in gaps ready to make plays. It's just the matter of making those plays. And I think if those if those linebackers and they can continue to get acclimated to NFL game speed and getting those reps on the fly, that's their best chance. But I'm gonna be honest, Lance, that is
asking a lot of rookies. I don't know, you know, for rookie linebackers to come in and play at that level, For samr. Stewart to come in have to be on ir you know, with an ankle injury then come back in. You know, you're asking a lot of some of your young players. And so what it doesn't always look like for Garrett Carter and Demetrious Night. That makes sense because not often do you see linebackers get thrust into the spotlight so early in their careers. Jermaine Pratt, I remember
when he replaced Preston Brown in twenty nineteen. That was about halfway through the year. Logan Wilson split reps with Josh Bynes before fully take him over as a starter in twenty twenty one. And so when you look at it, it's not a shock to see sometimes it doesn't always look right, and that's kind of a decision the coaching staff has made, will that you know, be beneficial for
them in the long run. I think that remains to be seen, and I think, quite honestly, it's gonna be a tough hole to claw and.
Ben A just figures while all this is going on on that side of the ball, now, the offensive line and the run game has come on in recent weeks.
Yeah, it is interesting when you look at it how much going under center Lance has really helped them offensively. You know, throughout the year they leaned a lot on pistol formations where that running back is right behind the good quarterback and shotgun. But much like in twenty twenty three when Kate Browning was a quarterback, when they went to under center, they've been able to open up so many things. You look at the run game, how many
explosive runs they're getting. They've been able to work play action really well, and a lot of that just sometimes stems from the look that you get from under center, which the Bengals they've done sometimes under Joe Burrow, but really when they have their backup quarterbacks in place, you know they've they've went under center more and it's been successful. So you know, I think you can attribute a lot of that to you know, they've kind of simplified the
simplified things in the run game. Guys are really blocking well. They've identified solutions in that regard, and I think that's going to be Joel's you know, best help on Sundays. They can go out get the run game established. As much as I hate that phrase, and really do well. That could help him protect that shoulder and get to the bye week.
So bye week coming up, Trade deadline coming up. We know where they are right now. I mean, how how considering all that, how big is Sunday? I mean, is it hyperbole to say Sunday is a tipping point for this thing?
I honestly, I think you could easily say that. I think you feel a lot better at four and five than you do three and six. You're just a game back of five hundred, and it honestly makes that Jets game so much more painful, because if you were able to beat New York and beat Chicago going into the bye you'd be over five hundred. Instead, you're still trying to call back at that mark. But when you're three
games under five hundred and just the game back. That's a big difference in terms of how you feel going into that bye week. With Pittsburgh still on the schedule. You know, you'll see what you can get from Baltimore, and then you've got three pretty winnable games at the end of the year. You've got Arizona, Cleveland, and Miami, and we saw what Miami looked like last night. So getting a win tomorrow, finding a couple of wins in
the middle of the schedule that could be beneficial. And I think the playoffs are still not out of the question if you can find a way to win on Sunday.
Last question, let me go back to the offense if I could, do you anticipate more of an effort to get Tea involved on Sunday.
I think that they're going to try to figure that out. You know, it's interesting that did not come up a lot this week, But when you look at kind of how the game materialized, obviously you're going to try to lean into getting the ball into Jamar's hands as much as possible. But you know, Tea, especially if depending on what the Bear's cornerback situation looks like, you know that could be a really good opportunity to get some one
on ones for Jamaar Aty Higgins. And the beauty of Tea is that, you know, and I've said this for years, is that he's got such great length, He's got such good ability to catch the ball at the highest point, win thows one on one. The big physical receiver who's a good route runner. If you've got a quarterback who can get it in his vicinity, he's such a huge asset for any offense. And so, you know, we didn't hear from Tea this week, which is a little like
difficult this season. But you know, he's a guy that's always struck me as someone who wants to contribute and do whatever he can. He's not one to call for the ball and ask for it explicitly, but I, you know, give him the look the targets looked like. I wouldn't be surprised if you see taking with a more balanced target share on Sunday against the pairs. Ben.
How can listeners read and follow along with everything you got going on with the.
Bengals, Yeah, Lance, he's got a lot of stuff going on on ESPN dot Com. Obviously, we've launched our direct to consumer product, our ESPN flagship, which you can find on smart TVs and the update of app on your smartphone. The Sports Center for You page has a lot of great stuff, a lot of good daily insight on what this Bengals team is going to look like. And this is going to be you know, and I've been on
this beat now for seven years. This could be the most fascinating year that we have on this beat because I think this franchise could be going It's a very interesting direction depending on how this season goes.
Oh man, I just got chills when you said that. Hey, it's Friday night. There's a lot going on. I really appreciate you making time. I always enjoy our talks.
Heany sounds good, Thank you?
Take care. There you go, Ben Baby, Why the hair stood up on my arms? On that final line? He dropped about the things that could be going on with this franchise. Let's figure out what's going on with the Bears franchise. How's that for a segue? We'll head to the Wendy City talk with my guy, David Kaplan of ESPN one thousand. Ask him about that Bear situation, expectations at four and three, right now, Caleb Williams and more
after We Check News. RNL Carrier Sports Talk presented by Kelsey SCHABELAE seven hundred WLW