Bengals Booth Podcast: A Change Would Do You Good

now in charge of the Bengals linebackers. And speaking of change, nearly everybody in that group is new to the Bengals this year. Those conversations are coming up. The Bengals Booth Podcast is presented by Prime Sport, the official fan, travel and hospitality partner of the Cincinnati Bengals. And here's a quick reminder that you can have the latest edition of this podcast delivered right to your own tablet or computer by subscribing on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, or pod Bean.

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Chrome Soft is my current favorite. If you would like to try one, just get a tea time after me and search the woods to the right on any hole that requires a driver. Now, let's get to football. My first conversation this week is with one of eight unrestricted free agents who signed with the Bengals in the offseason, offensive lineman Xavier sua Philo, who reportedly got a three year,

nine million dollar deal. Xavier was a two time All American at UCLA before being selected with the first pick of the second round in the twenty fourteen NFL Draft by Houston. After coming off the bench as a rookie, Xavier started for three seasons at left guard for the Texans before joining the Cowboys as a free agent. He began each of the last two years in Dallas as

a backup before moving into the starting lineup due to injuries. Now, the six four, three hundred twelve pound lineman is a Bengal and is expected to replace John Miller as Cincinnati's starting right guard. I spoke to Sue Philo this week from his home in Arizona. Xavier described the free agent process this time around and how things came together with the Bengals. It was a pretty quick process. You know, got done and really the first day, and it was

awesome relief. It was really grateful for it. But once your contract is up with a team and you're not quite sure what happened and you hit the market, you know, anything can happen. I've done it twice, and so you know, I was just very very excited that, you know, the Bengals called and can't wait to get out there. After you signed, I asked Zach Taylor if he expected you to be the starting right guard, and he didn't hesitate in saying yes. How do you approach the season knowing

that the job is there for the taking? Well, that's the ship is. You know, the kind of faith that you're coach has to you. That's awesome. But you know, coming out there, you know that you said that it's there for the taking, you have to take it. You know everything's turned that way, and I know that it's not going to be easy, you know. Ever, coming in to a new place with a new system, with other players to compete, you know, And so that's what I'm

planning to do. And I'm very, very excited. We're visiting with Xaviers Sue a Philo. You're twenty nine years old, so you're not exactly old, but it's a very young offensive line. Trey Hopkins is twenty seven. Everybody else is twenty five or younger. Will you look to lead this group? Yeah, I hope to, um lead by example and see how it goes. Like I said, I'm coming in new and you know, there's a lot of guys. You know. You

mentioned Trey. You know, Stay's a good player, and he's a center, you know, and um, you know, being the starter and running that room. You know, I'm sure he'll continue to do what he's good at, you know. And so for me, I just like to come in and uh, you know, learn, earn everybody's respect, and then uh compete and win games. Xavier suffered up broken fibulous in the next to last game of the year. Broken bones. He'll obviously, but were you worried about the timing in the final

year of your contract? You know, I wasn't too worried about it. I was just worried about the recovery. You know, I've never broken a bone before, knocked on wood and so um, you know, I have faith, and uh, I just thought the timing was it just kind of sucked. You know, boning in the offseason. You know, it's nothing that somebody wants, but it also is part of our

game and injuries happen. And firm believer, and you know, basically it's kind of how you manage those and mentally and physically, you know, kind of determined on exactly how quickly your rehab goes and how I guess tolerable it is. You have primarily played on the left side in college and in the NFL, the anticipation is the right side in Cincinnati. Have you practiced much on the right side? And how big of a challenge is that as a guard?

As a guard, switching side isn't always easy. But you know, fortunately for me, I've had to wrap it both sides. And even though like you mentioned, I've primarily played on the left side and cause in the NFL in games, I've done a lot of reps and taking a lot of work on the right side, especially in practice, in some preseason and stuff, and so you know, getting comfortable there in a game, you know, something that's going to have to be by experience. But I definitely so good there.

End up getting in a right handed stands to do things on the right side. Is It's not foreign to me. The Bengals were very successful in the second half of the season last year with a pin and pull rushing attack. Had really paved the way for Joe Mixon to have a big second half. Does that fit your strengths? Hey, I'm an offensivelnement. I love running the ball. We always do, and we know that. You know, a lot of stress gets taken up the quarterback and the rest of the offense.

You know, if you're able to run the ball successfully, and so starting with the big guys up front, part of protection is being able to run the ball. And having a big chunk back that I fixed in. You know, it definitely helps. I've been fortune the buck for some good facts in my career, so you know, to me, that's very important. And I love running the ball too.

We're spending a few minutes with Xavier suet Filo. The Bengals were among the most active teams in the NFL and free agency, including signing your former Houston teammate DJ Reader. What are the Bengals getting in him? And a great player and a great person, you know, I just remember any came in and just kind of how he was, you know, a real easy going, laid back person off the field, but on the field, very very, very competitive, and I'm excited to have him as a teammate again

in this year's draft Savior. Six of the bengals seven draft picks were captains in college. And when I look at your background, I see Eagle Scouts, team captain of UCLA, somebody who served others in a two year Mormon mission. It seems like that stuff's very important to you. Yeah. Absolutely, it's being service oriented. It's definitely who I was raised to be by my folks, and I'm grateful to him

for it. Growing up, getting your Eagle Scout was kind of a rule in my family, especially for the young men, and so it started off as something I had to do, ended up finishing it as something that I was excited to do. So it means a lot. How have you

been training during this pandemic? You know, I have some stuff at home, but I also go to a you know, I live in Phoenix, in the Phoenix area, and there's been a couple of gyms and a couple of rehab facilities that have been deemed essential and they've been privately owned and are opened, and you know, through proper social distancing and cleansing and all that kind of stuff, I've been able to keep working out and keep listening way to keep rehabbing it. So I've been fortunate in that sense.

Gonna have to, you know, Mike, any time due to the pandemic, how challenging has it been to try to learn the offense and get to know your teammates from afar? That is the challenge right there, you know, learning the offense, I've been fortunate. You know that it's you know coming pretty easy. You know, playing going on seven years. You know, a lot of you know a lot of the football

stuff that extras and os is very similar. Um it's just identified differently or they use different words in different terms, and so a lot of that is memorization. But getting to know my teammates, you know, I that's something I feel like, Um, it's a little harder virtually obviously, but I don't think I have a problem, you know, sitting right in just being able to talk ball, talk football. See how things hit people's heads differently, you know, they're

formed a way of thinking communication. It's it's been cool. And you know, I've I've I knew Billy Price before I got signed by Cincinnati. I went to school with Alex Redman, you know, obviously I know DJ and so it's some familiarity that way, especially in the offensive line room. Uh but you know there's always room, you know, to get to know him better, and we will once we get this thing rolling. How did you get to know

Billy Price? You know, Billy I met Billy Um when he was training for the Combine out here in Phoenix as well, and I've always kind of, you know, kept in touch with him, you know, and he was one of the first people to to text me congratulations, you know, when I got drafted or when I got signed with the with the Bengals, and so seeing him in the meetings you know every day too is as always as

always a few more questions for Saviors A Philo. What are your impressions of Joe Burrow, whether it was from watching him on TV or any contact you might have had since man. You know what, I haven't met him yet obviously in person or or virtually. You know, he's been in our team meetings, but I just excited to have him. You know, he's the truth, you know, as someone you know, some people could say he's had as an exciting career college career as anyone can have in

a memorable one too. You know, I'm just excited for him to, you know, come in and be in the NFL and and have that same type of success. And I only wish the best for him, you know, especially now that I have the opportunity of block for him. Xavier, your father is of Samoan descent, and I understand that's led to a connection to former Bengals Ray Mala Luga

and Domata Peco. Is that correct, right? So, you know, I'm not sure if it's you know, what it is, but you know, in the NFL, there's quite a bit off someone, quite a bit of tongue in, you know, and then everyone just kind of gravitates towards each other. You know, it's almost pretty common to seek out, you know, if there's any pald Agians on the other team after the game. But I played against Don't Talk when he was in Cincinnati, and he's always been cool to me.

And I know he's a lot older than me, but when I was a young player, especially him being a veteran, you know, he was just always real good to me, you know, whenever we played against them, and you know, just asking me things after the game, you know, just about you know, my family, who they are and how they're doing, you know, just taking an interest that way. And so I know he played there for a long time, and so I've always you know, been thought that was

neat and Ray. I watched Ray it, you know, when he was at USC, like we all did, and you know, he just wanted like he had a heck of a career over there. And him being someone like you know, in USC being as popular as they were at that time, you know, it's really neat to you know, you know,

get to see him. And likewise, I played against Ray, you know, in the NFL while he was was Cincinnati too, and so you know, he reached out to me as well when I signed with the Bengals and told me when I got out there, you know, to give him a call and maybe grabbed some lunch and he can, you know, just kind of you know, teach me a little bit about there and you know, maybe the Kentucky side or the Cincinnati side, and so just very neat and very cool the you know, to met those guys

and nipples happened to, you know, be with the Bengals for a significant amount of time. Final question for newcomer Xaviers Sue a Philo. Tell us a little bit about your family and how you've been coping with COVID nineteen restrictions. I've been married five years to my wife, Heather. We met when we were in Utah. She played volleyball at YU. We have two kids. We have a four year old son named Lennox, and I have a two year old

daughter named TVN. Tan's birthday's next month, my son's birthday is a month after, and sometime in between there, my wife's expected to give birth to a new to another boy, so we're just getting ready for that. And during this pandemic has been really cool, you know this, And even though I've been able to work out, it's been really cool to spend a lot of time with my wife and kids. You know, as you know, during the season it can get hard especially with work and even with

OTAs and so having a virtual offseason. You know, it's been Obviously it's different enough being in there as the team, but it's been nice, you know, spending as much time of my wife and kids as I have. And I'm sure, well I'm sure they would say the same, you know, even though some days I'm not sure about my wife wants me to go to work around but I yeah, it's just been really neat and living in Phoenix out here,

you know, we've been safe and really really blessed. Actually, you know, I know it's a lot of folks are having a hard time, you know, out there, and so it's an interesting time in our country, and I you know, and I'm just we're just fortunate. I think that extra family time has been the silver lining for many of us. And we certainly wish you the best. With the baby boy on the way, that's very exciting and we're excited

to have you with the Bengals organization. So thank you with the time, and I look forward to meeting you face to face. Yea, sir, thanks for having me man, I'm really excited. Xavier has appeared in seventy eight career games, including three playoff starts for Houston. Before we get to the next guest, here's a quick reminder that you can take your Bengals pride to the next level in twenty twenty with an official Bengals fan package from Prime Sport.

One of the most obvious areas where the Bengals must show improvement this year is the play of their linebackers. Nick Vigil and Preston Brown, who started the first eight games last year, are both gone, and so is linebackers coach Tim Lucaboo, who left to become the defensive coordinator

at Boston College. The bengals new linebackers coach is fifty year old Al Golden, who spent ten years as a college head coach at Temple and the University of Miami before spending the last four seasons as an assistant coach with the Detroit Lion Al. I know the wide receivers coach Bob mcnell was on your staff at Temple. Was that connection significant in leading to your opportunity with the Bengals, Well, it certainly was, but there were others as well. Coach

Callahan and I were together in Detroit. Jimmy Turner, I used to work with him at the Boston College football camp when I was up at Boston College, so really I crossed paths with the You know a lot of these guys in the past or had mutual friends, but certainly Bob was instrumental in this whole process. You're new to the Bengals, and so are the guys in the linebackers room. Of the nine guys you have, Jermaine Pratt and Jordan Evans were basically the only two that played

for Cincinnati last year. How big of a challenge is that for you? Well, I don't know if it's any different challenge wise. I think you know, the defense starts over every year, and you know, from Matt standpoint, we're just trying to implement and install based on what Cincinnati d last year. Where Lucy's you know, the defense going this year, and then you know, our job is to kind of fill in that chasm really between where our

goals are an execution. So we're spending all of our time, you know, basically trying to iron out the details and find some corrections. And the veterans in the certainly the veterans in my room have been really really instrumental, and uh and moving it forward, let's discuss the personnel, beginning with free agent signy Josh Bines. It's a nine year vet, he's got a Super Bowl ring, he's got a National

Championship ring from his time with Auburn. How important was it to add a seasoned veteran like Josh Bines, experienced, proven winner, leader, very bright, a vocal leader at the last strument. So I think from from that standpoint, he brings a lot to the room. And I wasn't here last year to contrast, but certainly I can tell you just moving forward that he's been pivotal, uh in the standard that he's setting, in what he demands of the younger guys, and the example that he said. So it's

been it's been great having him. It really has been. So that even shows in Zoom meetings. Oh, there's no doubt in terms of the Zoom meeting. You know, sometimes guys can play their way, you know, out of a mistake on the field, through instincts or where the ball hits. But when you're running the Zoom meetings or you're asking

him questions, there's really nowhere to go. And I think what Josh does better than most is he's confident in his answers and he's not afraid to ask why so, Um, he makes you a better coach, he makes his peers better, he makes our defense better. He's come up with some good ideas as well, and uh, and we're not afraid

to implement game as we move forward. We're chatting with linebackers coach Al Gold and Jermaine Pratt wound up playing forty one percent of the snaps last year as a rookie and started the final eight games of the year. What stands out about Jermaine when you watch him on tape. The one thing is, you know, he plays big. He's a big man. He could play inside or outside. He's got a good long speed and I think from that standpoint,

he's got versatility. So I think the one thing that is jumping off, you know right now in terms of the offseason program is you know, he's just much more confident in his answers according to everybody that that's been with him, you know. So I think the year things are slowing down a little bit for him, which should translate the faster play on the field. So we're excited about Jermaine and he's had a good off season. We

just got to continue to maintain that. He struck me as a guy last year during his rookie season that was all ball, I mean, love football, wanted to get better. Do you sense the same I do. I'm excited, you know, I'm excited to work with him and uh, he was a young man. I had a chance to interview, you know, the previous year coming out and uh. You know, now I have a chance to really, you know, sit down with him and uh and work with him. And I'm looking to you know, get get with him face to

face here and then your future. Now. Three of the seven draft picks were linebackers, beginning with third rounder Logan Wilson out of Wyoming, a three time captain there. What are you getting in Logan Wilson? I think Logan has the ability to play four downs, um and uh and and really, when you look at the pool of talent coming out of college anymore, it's hard to find guys that are two h forty plus souh. He's a two

forty pound throwback linebacker on early downs. But man, he played so much coverage uh at Wyoming and covered the field really well. So he gives us versatility there uh, not only inside but outside. H has coverage responsibilities. And then obviously if you think he's a candidate to help us on special teams, so we're really a bright kid. He's working hard at it, he's learning well, and we're excited to work with him moving forward. The game has

obviously changed. How critical is coverage ability for a linebacker in the current NFL? Well, I think it's it's it's really hard because you know, we used to say guys that couldn't cover were two down players, but the reality is those guys now are one or one and a half down players because second and long, you know, there's so much pass in our league now. So I think that kind of transitions into why we felt so confident about a team Davis Gaylor and Marcus you know, Bailey

and taking them when we did. So. Both of these young men are also four down candidates. They're guys that can play on early downs, they can play in the sub you know, certainly they could be out there in two minute situations. You love to match up with them on a tight end or a running back, and I think Darren Simmons and Cult are going to love them in the special team's room. So again we're excited about that,

that entire group. And then Marcel Spears, an undrafted free agent, another kid that can play all the downs, and we're excited about him as well. So again it's a it's a good group to work with. They're working hard, they come prepared every day, and I think the tone that has been set by the older guys, you know, Austin Khalatro and Josh and Jordan Evans, I think those guys have done a great job following up on a Keen

Davis Skaith, your fourth round pickout of app State. He's two hundred and twenty four pounds, so he is a little bit undersized. How did he convince you that he's big enough to be effective in the NFL. Well, he's a striker, you know, so he's explosive and can strike. I think you got to find, you know, ways to use them on early downs. As I mentioned earlier, he'll be someone that should stand out in space the self package, and again I just think he's tough. He can see it.

You know, he hasn't played inside a bunch. He was kind of a nickel alley player at app State. But when we had him in the Senior Bowl. Number One, he was a leader. Number two he was smart. And three he really started to see and fit the run as the week evolved, and I thought that was a great sign for him. We're visiting with linebackers coach Al Gold and Marcus Bailey, the seventh round pick out of Purdue. In your mind, would he likely have been a second

or third rounder if he didn't tear his ACL last September. Yeah, Again, I won't get into that speculation about where he would have went. All I know is we had him significantly higher than where we took him. So when we saw him there, we saw a great value. And he has not disappointed. He's a bright young man, very confident. He prepares and learns well. So we're excited about him. But we worked hard on him, We really did. We researched

a lot of background on him. We studied his junior year, We studied, you know, his senior year, the couple of games that he played. We waited for Pro day drills, if you will, to start coming in prior to the draft. They came in probably about a week prior to the draft. In addition to that, we got every man coverage shot that we could in his career just to evaluate his man coverage ability or his ability to cover in space.

And I think the confluence of all those things just let us down the road of you know, this is a guy that we want to we want to have on our team and work with. So we're excited about Marcus. You managed to get in a one on one workout with Marcel Spears, the undrafted free agent out of Iowa State before the coronavirus restrictions kicked in. How pivotal was

that in evaluating his potential? It was pivotal for whatever reason. Um, I went right from the combine and UH and did a kind of a mid Atlantic swing that first week, and then that second week I did kind of a midwest UH swing, if you will, and UH, I wanted to see him in Aims. We couldn't pull it off, and then I asked him if I could see him at his high school and work him out. And there was a lot of logistics there that we had to

work through, and I had to change my flight. I was coming from Madison, I believe the day before I was in Wyoming. So everything worked out, but certainly as I was flying that last forty eight hours. I had a feeling there was an end, there was an endgame coming up, you know, so I was really excited to get ten in person evaluations done in that first few weeks following the you know, the combine and UH and

Futrel Kendall. Futrel was one of those as well. So, you know, I think it paid great dividends for us because Logan was on that group, Utrell was on that group, Spears was in that group, and obviously we had a keen down at the Senior Bowl, so we had experienced with all those guys. Your schedule out has been crazy

since these coronavirus restrictions hit. You had just joined the organization, you were at the Senior Bowl, the scouting combine, and then shortly after that everybody's forced to shelter in place. How have you dealt with getting a new job under these circumstances. Very I'm very fortunate. You know, Zach was great prior to the combine. Zach, you know, made time

for us to evaluate everybody. So really it was the first time that I've gone to the combine having evaluated every linebacker that was there, so the world were no surprises. I had specific targets in mind. I had guys that I needed to spend a lot of time with. I think from that standpoint, that was invaluable. And then went on the road right after the combine for for two weeks, and then when it stopped, we transitioned into football and

preparation for the draft. But the draft was already done, so I was able to move in our minds the draft. The linebacker board was basically set, so I was able to start to transition into the football side of it, which has been great. And and then we've just been

juggling ever since. You know, I think everybody you know feels comfortable with how we're doing it in terms of zoom and different meetings, and we've had we've had a really good schedule, intense, you know, more intense with the rookies. You know, we're really challenging the vets. And then whatever time is left over, we're either meeting as a staff or breaking down you know, combinations of the staff, or just working on our own. So we've gotten a lot

of work done. We're going to need every bit of this next month to you know, to finish everything. But I think I think would be in a good place, you know for reach from unders final question for Al Golden you played on some great teams at Penn State and you are a captain under the legendary Joe Paterno. What are some of the biggest lessons that you learned from coach Paterno that you use in your coaching career.

Joe was the ultimate in empowerment. You know, he wanted to build, you know, young men that would not only be successful you know, in the classroom, but also you know, in the community and on the field of competition. And I think the way you kind of uh classify that is that he was the ultimate empower So I think from from that standpoint, I've learned how to empower young people and teach them how to how to adapt or how to figure things out and you know, not make

excuses and not worry about things they can't change. And I think from that standpoint that was always a great lesson. And the used always say to us, you know, run scared, and what run scared men, was that you just you prepared, you prepared, you prepared right up until the last moment, and then once the ball is kicked off, you'll feel

great about where you are and from that standpoint. Basically, what we're doing right now is trying to We're running scared, you know, we're acting like we don't know when this thing is going to change, and we're just we're just working like crazy every day because we don't know, you know, what the future holds. But we're not going to waste this time that we have. And I think I'm blessed to have these this group of linebackers to work with every day. It's been so much fun. It's a great

way to wrap it up. All. I appreciate the time, and I look forward to meeting you in person. All right, same here, hopefully so rather than later. Okay, we'll talk soon. My thanks the Xavier, Sue, Philo, and Al Golden. And that's going to do it for this episode of The Bengals Booth podcast, brought to you by Prime Sport, the official fan, travel and hospitality partner of the Cincinnati Bengals.

If you haven't done so already, please subscribe and if you have a minute, give it a rate or share a comment that helps more Bengals fans find this podcast. I'm Dan Horde, and thank you for listening to The Bengals Booth podcast