Bengals Booth Podcast: Friday Can't Come Fast Enough

two season. It's free to play next level fantasy football with fantastic Bengals prizes. Get it now on the App Store and Google Play. And here's a quick reminder that you can have the latest edition of this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet, or computer by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's the greatest thing since seeing live music. As you can probably tell from my brief

singing appearance is at the start of this podcast. I like a wide variety of music, and one of the things I missed most during the pandemic was seeing concerts. I caught Elvis Costello this week and planned to see Lake Street Dive next week. So if the title of an upcoming episode is pump it up or call off your dogs, you'll know why. Now let's get to my first guest. If you love great feature stories about NFL players and coaches, there's nobody out there doing better ones

than Tyler Dunne. He's written for newspapers and Bleacher Report in the past, but now he has his own website, golongtd dot com. There's plenty of free content there, including a story this week about one of the Bengals starting cornerbacks. Tyler. You posted a great profile on Eli Apple on Monday morning. The title was Eli Apple sends peace and love to his haters. Did you come to Sense Daddy specifically intending to write about him or did that just kind of

happen when you got here? Good question, because it just kind of happened, honestly, great access. I got to start there. The Cincinnati Bengals. They they're great to us media folks versus a lot of other teams out there. So to have those two opportunities to get some players in the same day. I just saw Eli in the locker room earlier in the day and figured, hey, we should catch up because I talked to him ahead of the Super Bowl.

You know, after that Kansas City game when he was riding the high baby, you know, he took it to the Chiefs. He let Tyreek Hill know that was like prime peak. Eli Apple figured, you know, what, a lot has happened since we talked, So let's touch base and you know, kind of a mental check. You know, we all kind of saw the world come crashing down at Eli Apple, so I wanted to see how he was doing it. He's doing great. He's doing great. He certainly does not back away from, as you put it in

the title, the haters. I mean, he seems to embrace being this Twitter villain that other NFL players have no hesitation in calling out. I've never seen anything like this, And I mean you've covered this game longer than me, and you know, granted their Twitter has only been around since what oh nine, twenty ten, but I've never seen

players collectively rag on a guy like this. It's it's not like he had these unspeakable mistakes or gaffs or these He didn't really do anything different than what we've seen from any player ever in big games. But for every reason, like you know, he Mike Hilton said, the best, and he does run his mouth. He likes to talk. It's part of the reason they love him. You know.

He's kind of that that soundtrack for the secondary where they've got a lot of gnarly dudes that want to kick your butt and let you know, you know, outcasts, guys that other teams gave up on. They play with an EDGI. I love it. I mean, I think the secondary is more equipped to face these quarterbacks in the AFC than anybody. But he is. When he talked right, when he talking, things don't go well, players are ready

to pounce. And by god, did they pounce. It was gosh, what a lot of players who were sitting at home on their couch for the Super Bowl. We should add, right, I mean Tyreek Hill, McCole, Hardman, Lamar Jackson, Rashad Bateman across the board, guys enjoying the game from the comfy confines of home, not in the game. You know, we can maybe we can make that clear had had their fun. But I think Eli Apple took it in stride. You know, he posted a message on Instagram shortly after that game

just saying he'll be back. And then when we caught up Dan it was just, you know what, everybody's going through problems, everybody has things going on into their life, peace and love. I'm in a good place. And he really did say, like he turned that corner just out of that game. I thought it would have been earlier, you know, maybe when the Giants gave up on him, or the Saints or he's bouncing around, But he said he really kind of rode that roller coaster up until

that ram Super Bowl game. So I take him at his word. I think he's in a really good place mentally into this twenty twenty two season. Done is our guest. He's a writer in podcast. You can find him at golongtd dot com. I want to get to some more of your training camp observations in just a bit, but I also want to first look back at some of the other profiles that you've written about Bengals players in recent months. You wrote a great Joe Burrows story in

January before the playoff run. The title was Joe Burrow is the most Dangerous man in Football. It was terrific. From all of the people that you talked to in writing that story. What stood out most to you about Joe the game was never too fast for him, and you really appreciate that when you watch other training camps and other quarterbacks, especially young quarterbacks where I mean we

all saw it on Sundays last year. Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson, justin Fields, I mean, players who dominated college football, Heisman Trophy playoff games. They made it look easy. I mean, Lawrence was unbelievable at Clemson. Fields was unbelievable at Ohio State. Remember getting socked in the jaw, gets up, throws a touchdown and then the pros come and everything's too fast. Everything. I mean, we can, you know, blame urban Meyer all we want. He was a disaster, I get it, but

Lawrence deserves some blame too. It just seems like they're all kind of skittish to some degree, and rightfully so it's a different speed. And I saw that Steelers training camp, you know, before you know seeing you guys are at Sincy with Kenny Pickett where I mean he's got the red jersey on, you're not gonna get hit, but there is that hesitation. And I'm not poking fun of Kenny Pickett. I think all young quarterbacks are pretty much like that

in the NFL. But Joe Burrow never was, and he probably had the most poor sim of an offensive line if any of these guys as a rookie, he's getting snot beat out of him, but he never seemed hesitant. I mean, you're watching this guy way more than me, But when you have that kind of vantage point of

comparing to other guys, it's stunning. Kurt Warner first kind of opened my eyes to it, where he noted early on and Joe Burrow's pro career, like, this guy is going through his progressions one to two to three to four, and he takes his lap layups. He's not relying on his athleticism. He has it, he can move, but he's not bailing out of plays. And that's what it takes

to win a super Bowl. To get to a Super Bowl where you've everything tightens in the playoffs, you know, the windows get smaller, there's pressure in your face, everything, everybody knows everything about you. You're gonna win with your head a lot more than you're gonna win with athleticism. And I think that's why Joe Burrow and year two gets to Super Bowl, where a lot of these other

quarterbacks are insanely athletic. They can't. They can't. I mean, and I love Lamar Jackson, He's incredible, but I think Burrow is more dangerous than Lamar Jackson because he can can win with his brain and that's what it takes in January. But yeah, it's he's the most dangerous man. It's not a surprise, right he his dad was a college football coach. He's been around this since he was a little kid, studying films since he was little, so he was always ahead of the game. It starts way

back as far as you can remember. That's great insight about Joe Burrow. And the thing that I always say about these young quarter backs. If I'm watching an NFL game on TV, and they have the skycam over the field, right, and they line that cam up behind the offensive line, so you're kind of seeing the play from above the offense, so almost like the way the quarterback would see it, but higher and behind them. Any completed pass that's not a screen as a miracle to me, because you've got

these three hundred pound behemoths in their face. The defense is shifting all over the place. Their world class athletes, the receivers you're trying to hit are moving at an incredible rate. How do these quarterbacks do it? I mean, it really is a remarkable skill to be able to complete passes that aren't screens in an NFL game. That's so perfectly put man like it is people don't realize they're watching at home because it just seems so stagnant.

But pre snap, I mean, everything is disguised. Defenses are really preserving their plans and their tensions until the absolute last split second before the ball is snapped. And like you said, they're all running four threes, they're all two hundred fifty pounds, all take your heads off, and you have a quarterback in the middle of that, nahem who can dissect us all and process at all so incredibly fast.

Is rare. I mean, you don't see this. And I think that's why we're gonna see him playing for super Bowls for a really long time, because that's something that's only going to get better. I mean, the fact that he can process things that quickly this soon. I can't think of a comparison. I mean, Payton Manning did, Aaron Rodgers had the benefit of sitting for a few years. Tom Brady even sat for a year. I can't think of many quarterbacks who are able to think the game

this fastest. Soon. Tyler Dunn is our guest. You can follow him on Twitter at tie Done. That is Dunne. I want to reference one more story that you've written about a Bengals player in the last year, and that was your story about Tyler Boyd. Tremendous story, a great look at his impoverished hometown, Clareton, PA, what it was like for him to grow up there. But there was one thing about that story, not specifically about Tyler, about Tyler Boyd that stood out to me, and that is

this is November fifth of last year. The Bengals have played eight games. They're five and three. You right at the top of that story. Believe it or not, the Bengals are ready to contend. What did you see eight games in that maybe the rest of the NFL world did not. Well. If you say that stuff enough, you're gonna be right once in a while, all right, that's all. I can't even play Noster damas that no. I mean I think that the fact that this offense had you

could tell it. They've had three stud receivers with a Joe Burrow and really with a I'm sure we'll get into it, a little bit of a defense that has an edge to it, And yeah, it just seemed like a confident, blissful, blissfully ignorant team, which is a great team to be, right when you don't know what you don't know and you're out there playing and talking trash and you know you've never been here before. I think

there's a value to that. You're not overthinking it. There's really no pressure, gosh, you know, and that I think this would have happened probably after the story ran. You know better than me. But you know what play really sold me on the Bengals was again they actually lost right against San Francisco. And I think the quarterback coach Pitcher was telling me about this. He probably told you

about it too. Joe Burrow is scrambling right and Jamar Chase is kind of in the scrambled Joe with them, and Jamar Chase is running one direction and Burrow throws it the other direction to the corner, just knowing that he's gonna cut and get that pieline, which you don't see veterans make a play like that. It was diabolical almost for him to throw the ball as Jamar Chase is running the other direction. I was really sold after

that play. Right after that description from a quarterbacks coach is going to be a head coach somewhere very very soon. It's like, yeah, they've got something special cooking here. That was a ridiculous play. Fourth down as well, so it's do or die. You're scrambling, you're in trouble. Chase is running in the opposite direction on the back line of the end zone. You throw it hoping that he'll pivot see the ball and run it down and burrow through

it with perfect timing, perfect touch. And Chase is so damn good that he made the play. That really was a memorable More, isn't like from your banner's point, like when you're seeing that up above, Yeah, that was insane. I mean, obviously we're doing the live play by play, so you're following. Your eyes are following the ball as

the play by play announcer, So I'm following Burrow. It's really only after the fact, when I go back and talk to people and look at the replay that I see that Jamar Chase is running in the opposite direction. His head is not turned. He just sent that he would spin around at that moment and be able to find the ball, stay in bounds and make the catch. It was a ridiculous play. It's a play you only see like Aaron Rodgers, DeVante Adams with a decade of reps,

you know, Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrison. It's that kind of stuff out of a first year player and a second year player. So you know, you can pay those two guys. I don't care what else happens on that roster though. They'll be okay, they'll compete, trust me, they will. I don't think there's any doubt they will pay those two guys. Tyler Dunn is our guest. Your specialty is the in depth profile what we used to get in the back of Sports Illustrated on a weekly basis from guys like

Frank de Ford or Gary Smith. Those stories aren't out there much anymore. How do you pick your stories and build the relationships with players and coaches that allow you to tell them? Man, I really appreciate that because that's definitely the goal, right. I just think it's getting squeezed out of sports media coverage. It's a lot of you know, fast food, quick stuff today memes and gifts and tweets and takes and trying to zag away from the zigging.

I think it's just relationships. It's it's not any different than life and any any walk of life. It's just getting to know people across you know, I guess different lanes where I know a lot of agents, I know a lot of players, I know a lot of teams, and you just kind of scouts coaches and you add it all up and you just try to learn as much as you can and at some point a light bulb might go off and it's like, Okay, this is

a story. This is something worth kind of digging into a little bit, whether it's you know, behind the scenes kind of story and we've done those, you know, the New York Giants, which might show an ugly side of a team that wasn't very pretty as things were kind of going south for then towards the end of last season and they're about to fire everybody, or you know, the stuff we're talking about player profiles and kind of humanizing the game. So it's, you know, it's just getting

to know people and just being curious. I always think, like, what are people talking about at the bar? Like if you're at the bar, with your buddies, just having a couple of IPA's, Like what would just get you? What would get you talking? It's probably not. You know, you might talk about your fantasy teams and you know the fact that you're running back needs seventy seven yards to win your game that night. Not really interested in that stuff.

It's like, it's those holy, you know what moments. I've never heard that before, right like this that that is bizarre, that's crazy, and I want to know more. And I guess the teams for your listeners. I had one of those moments on this trip with another Cincinnati Bengals player, so we'll have that story later this month. But uh, and it does take you know, just great PR departments at times too. And I gotta get a lot of love to the Bengals there where they're incredibly helpful. They

just get it. They want good storytelling, and that's not always the case as well. I can see why players would open up to you because your respect for them is obvious in what you write. You know, respect for the toughness and commitment it takes to play professional football. Man, thanks a lot. It's I mean, like a lot of us all played back in the days to some degree, and it just is a different It's just a different game and it just takes, god, it takes a different

level of violence. Yeah, I think I'm trying to think back. Chris Borland obviously stepped away from football really young, and it kind of shoot the football world. This was my first story of Bleach Report when I was there, and he even Chris Borland, I loved how he put it. He said, football is just different. It's like a drug.

Because if you're a linebacker out there, as he was for Wisconsin and San Francisco, you know, if I if I botch my assignment, if I do something wrong, the player next to me might get be lined and be down for the count with a concussion or something. Right like that takes a different level of togetherness and teamwork and intelligence in the moment that Hey, I love basketball, hockey. There's a lot of good to other sports, but football is just different with the angles that these guys are

hitting each other. So yeah, I mean, if these players are out there head that, I make no bones about it. I'm a pretty pro player guy and go along. I think these are the ones out there risking their bodies, risking their brains, and a lot of them come from places like Tyler Boyd where it's how in the hell did you get out of that place? And football can be such a beacon of hope for them and their families. Yeah, I just can't get enough of it, and I'm glad

that readers enjoy what we're putting out. All right, let's get to your training camp visit. So after you're in the locker room talking to Eli Apple and others, you attended practice on a day where the Bengals defense dominated. It was an ugly day for the offense. It's been the only one this camp that looked like that, thankfully, and obviously Joe Burrow is not taking part in practice yet. But what did you come away thinking about the defending

AFC champs after attending that practice? Yeah, I mean it's it's hard to really rip the offense, right. I mean, if any team loses their quarterback for an extended period of time and they're reliant on the quarterback, they're probably toast coverts and packer teams. Was like that, Aaron Rodgers goes down and you're cycling through Scott Tolzine and Matt Flynn and you're barely getting by. So yeah, they want

Joe Burrow out there. So that's you know, priority number one, and it's it's gonna be hell for any team that loses a talent like that. But I think you can take a lot from that defense. And I feel like we're not talking about it enough rightfully. So we've kind of obsessed nationally from a standpoint of Tyree Killer to

the Dolphins Russell Wilson to Denver Devantae Adamsgas. You know, all these teams loaded up at pass rusher to get after these quarterbacks and all, by the way, the Bills are Super Bowl favorites and the Chiefs are kind of remaking their offense. And this Bengal secondary made Patrick Mahomes look like a bomb. I mean that second half, he had a twelve quarterback rating. I mean he struggled to complete a pass. There was pressure in his face, The

coverage was tight. All those Bengals dbs were picking up on their routes. They knew it was coming. And we'll see what happens with Jesse Bates. That's a big one. Do you want him out there? But even in the draft, the Bengals covered their bases a little bit anticipated him potentially missing some time. I think you want him out there. But with or without Bates, this is a secondary to me that is more equipped to at least get by

and contain these explosive offenses. Hey, I live here in Buffalo that this this Bills team is a lot of fun. They're gonna put up a lot of points. They couldn't stop a nose bleeded arrowhead. I mean, it was I love that game as much as everybody else, but if you love defense, it was kind of ugly. There wasn't much defense being played, right. I mean, the Bengals will play a little defense, and up until that last drive in the Super Bowl, they were doing enough to win,

and then that last drive happened. We can't just skim pass that. There's no look passes and Cooper Cup doing things. But I think in today's NFL, with every rule again against you, and the flags get thrown all over the place, and the league trying to get into your brain and make you be a hesitant player out there, or whether you're a pass rush or a linebacker. dB. Since he's kind of thread of that needle, they figured out how to be aggressive on the back end and make the

necessary players they have to make. I think those turnovers weren't flukey. Towards the end of this season. I think that can stick. You've been on an NFL training camp tour. So when you come through Cincinnati and you see Chase Higgins, Boyd Hurst, Mixon and others, is that the best skill position talent you've seen on one team? It's right there with Buffalo. You know, I think that you'd probably say

Cincinnati even has the edge. And I know it sounds like I'm pandering here on your show, right, I promise I'll say the same thing on WGR you're in Buffalo, I promise, Hey, in all honesty, I think Joe Mixon is better than any of the Bills running backs. They've got good depth there, good variety of players, but I think Joe Mixon is the separator. That's me on my podcast. He is, I mean, he is a top five running

back at least. Really, he's right there. So and then when you look at the weapons, I mean, Jamar Chase Digs, that's a toss up. You can make a case for either one. Dave Davis could do some big things for Buffalo, but you've seen it a little bit more out of te Higgins and then in the slot I do a show with Isaiah McKenzie, had go along and he's gonna replace Cole Beazy. Hey love Isaiah McKenzie. He's to no fault of his own. He just hasn't been used that much.

That's on the coaching staff, not him. But we've seen it on a Tyler Boyd. I mean, he just has a lot more productions. So I think you'd say Cincinnati for firepower. Dawson Knox is more proven, has a longer track record than hayden Hurst, but hayden Hurst has had a tremendous camp and was a first round pick for a reason. So it is quite a group, no doubt. That would probably be the one slight Bill's edge there.

You're right, all right. So for folks who are not familiar with Golong, tell them what your website is all about and how they can find it and subscribe. Beautiful yep, Golong tv dot com. You can just sign up. You know, you can pay for a full subscription if you'd like. It's gotta think of my charge, right, eight dollars a month, fifty year. But also there's free options, so I encourage everybody you know. You don't have to pay a dime. Just plug in your email hop on that free list.

You'll still get a ton of stories. And if you like it and you want to get everything you can create at any time to a full subscription, then I just had this idea here because I really love this talk and I love Bengals fans are a lot of fun. If anybody does subscribe out there, just hit me up on Twitter, shoot me an email, reach out however, and we'll send you a Golong shirt. So I got a few of those I still got. I just saw it downstairs.

We got a whole box of shirts. So I want to try to build up a little bit of a Bengals following because it's just a fun ass hell team and it's a cool logo. It'll be a good shirt. Oh thanks, Yeah, it's my buddy as an artist here in Western New York and he does all my artwork and he's incredible. But but yeah, i'd even answer your question. I guess a lot of long form journalism features profiles. Q and A's podcast just really try to kind of go beyond just the clicky stuff on social media and

sit down and really get to know these players. So I'm just you know, I'm incredibly thankful that these guys are willing to sit down and then talk about their lives and dig a little deeper, because it definitely takes two to tango. Well, Bengals fans can find the Eli Apple story, they can find the Joe Burrow most dangerous man in football. You wrote about Tyler Boyd. As I mentioned last November. I think there was a Mike Kilton profile before the Super Bowl. So there's a ton of

great Bengal stuff there right now. Again, go LONGTD dot com. Tyler Dunn has been my guest again. You can follow him at Twitter. Get those shirts tie done at Tie Done, t y d U n n E. We look forward to whatever that thing is you're gonna write about the Bengals. Another great Bengal story coming in next month. And I really appreciate you time today, Thank you, Thank you, Dan, loved it. We should do it again, and hey, you're always welcome on our podcast. We'll do a little home

and home. Now. Let's transition to Friday's preseason opener against the Arizona Cardinals. Joe Burrow obviously won't play and that probably would have been the case even if he hadn't had appendicitis. So the Bengals starting quarterback will be Joe's back up for the past two years, Brandon Allen. We've seen him quite a bit. Brandon started six games for the Bengals over the last two seasons, but we haven't seen the next quarterback who will get into the game.

Jake Browning. Jake is a former University of Washington star who once finished sixth in the Heisman Trophy vote. You're spending two years on the Minnesota Vikings practice squad. He was cut after the preseason last year and joined the Bengals practice squad. His NFL playing experience consists of five preseason games over the course of three years. Jakie joined the team after the preseason last year. How eager are you to play in a game again? And how important

our preseason games for somebody in your role? Yeah, I mean for me, I've been on peace squads for a couple of years now, and you know, I haven't played a ton of the preseason, didn't play a ton of rookie year, didn't have in my COVID year, and then played a little bit last year. So I think anytime you put as much time into something that have you just want to play and be able to put it on tape and and let all the hard work hopefully show in the game and in a setting that you

know everybody can see. So yeah, I'm excited to play in this offense. You know, I was able to watch Joe all of last year and watch Brandon and you know, kind of learned from them and see how explosive this offense can be. And so I'm excited to be able to actually line up and put some pads on, actually play real football in this offense. So excited as you know that you did get some time with the Vikings in the preseason last year. Did you have a preseason highlight?

Was there a moment that was, you know, particularly enjoyable for you? Uh? Not particularly. I mean I did get cut, so I didn't go like, uh, probably as good as I would have hoped. So, you know, I think anytime you have a preseason where I kind of wish you would have played a little bit better or kind of saw some things and learned some different things. Uh, you're kind of chumping out the bit to see it back out there and give it another swing. So that's kind

of where I'm at. But now I didn't really have like a highlight per se anything like that. It was more definitely learned some some harder lessons and hopefully learn from those and and uh, you know, do better this training camp in this preseason. Jake Browning's our guest quarterback Joe Burrow couldn't practice early in camp after his app in deck. To me, that's meant a lot of reps

for you. How has that helped you? Yeah, I mean I haven't taken it didn't take any reps in the offense, you know, last year obviously because we're in the season, but uh yeah, it's helped a lot. Be able to get some reps in practice, work through some different things on different plays, and hopefully that shows in the preseason. You were on the practice squad last year, so you were in the meeting rooms with Burrow. You obviously watched the team's run to the Super Bowl. What stood out

about Joe? I mean, I think he, uh, you know, obviously prepares and dolls and does all those things, but I think a lot of quarterbacks do that. I think he's got pretty unshakable confidence, and I think that showed some of those big moments. You know, he's not afraid to put the ball up there and let Jamar make a play or let t make a play. And you know, I think they always say like play within the moment, stay in the moment, and I think he does a

pretty good job of that and plays confident. I'm sure people listening to this remember you from your time at Washington is the four years starting quarterback, but I want to turn the clock back before that to your days in Fulsome California. One of your offensive lineman was Jonah Williams. Pretty remarkable coincidence. Did Jonah help you adjust and get

comfortable here in Cincinnati? Yeah, I had to try out here, I think, if I remember correctly, it was on a Tuesday, So I get him Monday and it was you know, went to dinner with him. So it's kind of nice to see a familiar face, you know, the first time I got here. So yeah, anytime you got some high

school teammates. There's a couple of us playing in the NFL now that we're on that team, and Jonah definitely helped me a lot in high school, helped us throw the ball a ton, So that was pretty nice when he showed up. Yeah, I mean, I think anytime you walk into a locker room and you're brand new, you know, to see some familiar faces. I know him from high school.

I know Drew Sample from college. So just just to know a couple of people, so you know, it's just completely the brand new person is always kind of nice, full familiarity. California's a big state. You set most of the career passing records there, ninety one touchdown passes your final year of high school. Did you guys ever run? Did you have running plays? Uh? Yeah, I think we pretty much knew the first half and then the second

half we'd run the whole time. But uh yeah, I mean, like you said, I had Jonas and my left tackle stot help a lot, had a really good coaching staff with Troy Taylor and Chris Richardson who are now at Sack State, probably Fresques, and uh, you know, I think I think I was up the right place at the right time. I obviously had some ability, but I think anytime you're putting up some numbers like that, there's a lot going on around you. That's that's pretty nice to have.

So left tackle a couple of really good receivers, really good defense, really good old line, and a good system. So yeah, fun memories, but uh, you know to hoping to have a good preseason and and those are those are kind of in the past, but cool things. Probably when I'm done playing. We look forward to seeing you against the Cardinals. Best of luck in the game throughout the preseason. Thank you appreciate it. That's quarterback Jake Browning

after Brandon Allen and Jake Browning play. We could also see former Loveland High School and Ball State quarterback Drew Plitt, who joined the team at the start of training camp following Joe Burrows appendack to me. The Bengals Booth podcast is presented by Ultimate Bengals, the free to play fantasy football game. This past season, Ultimate Bengals awarded a weekly winner during the course of the year with tickets, autograph merchandise, and money can't buy experiences all up for grabs. Find

Ultimate Bengals in the app Store and Google Play. Now time for my weekly training camp update with Dave lapham Lap. There was a practice this week where the defense dominated, the offense struggled, and the offensive line in particular struggled. Did you have days like that? Does it happen to everybody aside from Anthony Munio's at some point? Yeah, it does.

I mean I do think you know, even Anthony, as great as he was, he'll tell you there are guys, you know, He'll probably say Bruce Smith, you know, was a guy that he had had to bring his best against. And there's always somebody or something that occurs where you don't have as good a day as you would hope. Are antics paid in individually or collectively and most important collectively? UM? And that that was the key. That was the key factor. Like you said, there were you know, too many guys

didn't have a very good day. And when you combine all that together, it's like we talked about before, it's like making that fist. And when those five components aren't acting, you know, like an automatic reflex when I'm working with each other, it can be it can be a tough day. And then what you do is you, you know, go back to your techniques, go back to ground zero and UM and start over again and put together a rebound day, which is what they tried to do. And I thought

there were a lot better the following day. Should we even really be evaluating these guys that closely until they get the five that are going to play together for the first time. Yeah, I think that's a valid point. There's there's no no two ways about it. And when you uh, you know, you've got now not only do you not have eyes like Ac, but now Smith is down.

I mean, now you've got chemodenergy going out and playing some tackle, showing the versatility position versatility you know that he has, and you've got you know, you get guys just like with any injury, the trickle down effect. As Devin Cochran taken Snapster, he may not have anticipated he was going to be taken at the beginning of training camp, but these are opportunities. I mean, that's why you have training camp. That's why you bring in the number of

players you bring in. And when you bring the guy in, you know, you hope you did a good enough job scouting him and evaluating his talents that he belongs. And really, i'd say, for the for the most part, there's you know, almost ninety guys in camp here and I'd say a very very high number do belong. There's no two ways

about it. But the rubber meets the road. Like you said, when everybody is up playing together against another opponent, you know somebody that doesn't wear the same jersey that you're wearing. Because the offensive line has struggled in recent years, we tend to evaluate a day like that as bad for the offense as opposed to whoa great for the defense. Trey Hendrickson is going to give a lot of people headaches like he did a few days ago, no question. I mean, he is an elite pass rusher. He's got

boundless energy, he's got endurance, he's got intelligence. It was a couple of one on ones that I was watching with him. It's it's like, all right, who's going to be more patient than the other. Who's going to wait before they commit their hands? And the tackle is doing a pretty darn good job of being patient, waiting, waiting, and then Trey made that initial move that you thought, okay,

well here it is. So then he commits and brings the hand to counter it, and Trey just is athletic enough to pull it back and give a counter move. And it's like, son of a gun man, this guy's good. He's smart, he's athletic, he's got primary moves, he's got secondary moves. Who he's a he's a load, you know, and they had to end up chipping them already a couple of times here in practice, you know. And then on the other side of things, Sam Hubbard has taken

advantage of that. So the h boys are doing a bang up job. There's no question they're they're they're really good at the edge, and they've got other guys that are showing themselves a little bit too. I mean, it's going to be very interesting to see once preseason games start. I don't think we're going to see Henderson and Hubbard. If we see him at all, it's going to be

very very little. So the battle to who's going to make up the back end of that roster from the edge rush standpoint is going to be very very interesting to watch. We're talking after Sunday's practice. Former Bengals defensive coordinator and Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer was in attendance today. You happen to be nearby when Mike Zimmer got Sam Hubbard's attention to tell him how much he enjoys watching him play. Yeah, and Sam was, you know, kind of

swelled him up a little bit. And Sam was very appreciative, and Zim doesn't throw those kind of compliments out, those big bouquet compliments very very readily. You know. I mean, he's he's a he's a guy that he's a man's man, and he's a great football coach in every sense of the word. But he does appreciate guys like Hendrickson and Hubbard. He said, man, those are those two guys off the edge, and now they give you everything they've got every snap.

Don't think I'm like absolutely coaching. I remember talking to Mike Ziner about this many many times when he was defensive coordinator for the Bengals and said, you know, the good defenses you've had over the years, what's the common denominator? He said, corners, edge rushers. When you have corners and edge rushers, particularly in today's NFL, but he said, any era of NFL that I was coaching in that was big.

But in today's era in the NFL, if you have corners and edge rush guys, you get yourself ingredients to have a heck of a defense. And I think the Bengals are pretty good in that regard. Joe Burrow watch continues today. He apparently picked up a football and people noticed it, so that was, you know, jokingly big news. But in all series, he stood and watched practice for much of the day today instead of watching it from

the back of a cart. I don't want to pretend that this is walking on water, but it's another sign that he is gradually moving toward being able to practice again. Well, I know that standing and watching practice is a lot harder than sitting in a cart watching practice. We can attest to that when you're on your feet for two plus whatever it is hours. So I think he is advancing. I do think that there's there's no question about it. And when he was walking, it wasn't as gingerly, you know,

he had his normal gait back to him. So it tells me that everything's healing. And that pulling that you feel, you know sometimes during that healing process, I think is subsiding. So those are all good signs, but I'm not sure. I'm not sure when we're going to see him back

taking team snaps and that kind of thing. We may see him throwing a football and doing other things and gradually ramping up as such, but in terms of getting in the huddle, calling a play, going to the line, of scrimmage with his teammates and executing and checking off and audibling and all the things that you have to do and to mentally executing them to be able to physically execute it. I wonder, I wonder when that's going

to be. And at this point there's no panic, no rush, So I let him just advance to progress at the rate that he's doing. I'm fine with that. The training camp, we always look closely at the rookies, see who looks like he might be able to contribute right off the bat. Dax Hill clearly will be able to contribute from day one. I think of the rest of the class, the two paths rushers have stood out the most to me, Zach

Carter and Jeffrey Gunter. I agree. I think I think Zach Carter is going to make make a little bit of noise inside. I mean, he seems to have that natural feel. It's just it's funny. Some guys just have a natural instinct to counter almost they predict the move is going to happen almost before it happens. Conrad so quickly and he's got that that kind of ability. Now it hasn't been starting Lineman, but I've seen him in matchups with guys that are trying to win backup positions

were they don't lay a glove on him. I mean he's he's got the edge now making him miss totally. So he has an explosive first step, there's there's he's going to get off as they say, there's no question about it. And he's a big body guy too. I mean he's, you know, pushing three hundred pounds. He'll be able to to uh, you know, stop the run and the three technique as well as put pressure on the quarterback. But when you have a size quickness combination like that man,

he can be a disruptive force. You can have him inverting the line of scrimmage in the running game and the passing game like Ogan Joby did for him. So at practiced today, Drew Sample is out there with a pretty heavy leg brace on after hurting his knee. It

doesn't sound like anything too serious. He could be back within a couple of weeks, but it does exacerbate a position group where you've got a clear cut number one receiving target and Hayden Hurst when healthy, you've got a clear cut good blocker in Drew Sample, and then a lot of other guys that are battling for the third spot practice squad spots. That's a pretty unsettled position group after those verse two. Yeah, it really is. And fortunately

Drew Sample. You know, it doesn't sound like his foot was on the ground planted and he got hit and it caved in that way that that would have been some extensive damage going over a pile. Maybe it was off the ground and then you get kind of a whiplash effect, you know, if somebody hits your leg and you still have a strain of a ligament, but not if it was planted and smashed and now you've got a real problem. So he kind of dodged a bullet

I think a little bit there. But in his absence, if it's a couple of weeks, you know, you've got other guys that are trying to, you know, jockey for position. I think Will Box as a guy that probably is the front runner, you know, to move up and to get more snaps um, you know, after hayden Hurst, particularly in this in this first football game, you're gonna see tight ends that I'm not sure how much you're gonna

see hayden Hurst. You're gonna see the battle of the tight end starts to rage, and you know we're gonna be looking at guys like Willcox, you Banks, rig guys that are household names, you know, for Thaddius Moss. Uh So it's gonna be it's gonna be very interesting to see, you know who who steps up. Scotty Washington is another one that's a you know, is a former wide receiver that's bulking up showing to try to play the tight

end position. So you've got a real that's going to be a very very interesting battle that goes on in that that Arizona Cardinal preseason game. It's like their super Bowl. I mean, they're fighting for their professional lives. So you know a lot of people are like, yeah, you know those games they don't mean anything. Means the hell of a lot to these guys. I mean, they're they're chocking

for position in a very significant way. And because they know that it's not just these guys, it's the other teams around the National Football League maybe letting go of their number three tight end, potentially their number four tight end who may have more NFL experience than these guys do.

So they need to show that, you know, they can fit this system and do well within it, because they're going to be other guys out there on the waiver wire during the course of training camp that muddy the waters competitively, competitively for these guys as well as well. I don't know if any of the undrafted wide receivers will make the fifty three man roster. They're pretty setted wide receiver, but those guys are battling for practice squad spots. Certainly there's going to be a one or two of

those guys on the practice squad. Kwami Lasseter number eighteen makes several catches every day. It seems he also looked good in the OTAs. Kendrick Pryor number nineteen didn't stand out to me at all in the OTAs, but in the last several practices it seems like he's been coming on. Yeah, I agree, I thought Laster. Laster kind of caught my eye.

Even in an ots You just see a guy with his body mechanics and the way he runs and the way he runs routes and sinks his hips and gets in and out of those cuts and gets in and out of him sharply and doesn't round him and things of that nature, and it's like, oh jeez, you know that guy. That guy is a is a very precise and very poisoned route runner. So you know you wanted to see him when the pads came on, and he's

he's still responding, responding pretty well. And that's that's another group that has you know, Trent Taylor is somebody that you know people are trying to unseat, but they know what he can do. The coaches have a handle on what Trent Taylor can do, not only as a as a receiver and block people and catch football, but as a put returner. And and that's where the job is going to be. I think one and lost who's going to show themselves as a good return guy. Kawami Laster

has that that ability as well. But you're right, I mean Prior has stepped up and made plays. He's he showed him off. I think Stanley Morgan is a lock, you know, to be on the roster. Sorenson has got to you know, he's a dark dark horse. But the thing is what happens is in training camp you've shown you blung. Then all of a sudden in a preseason game, somebody steps up and makes a player two and it's like, wow, boy, when the light goes on, when the competition really starts,

Let's see if it happens again. And then if you can string a couple or three together, three preseason games together, that's how guys come out of nowhere and make NFL rosters.

So it has to start in the first preseason game, though, And really the biggest thing is handling that pressure of all, right, I know I have to make a play, but I can't try to do too much, because when I try to do too much, it's going to backfire and it'll probably end up the other team will make a big play because I'm trying too hard and I'm going to do something that's going to lead a defensive back to make a play against me, and then all of a sudden,

there the whole thing blows up in my face. So those those battles are always very interesting to watch as well. But you know, Mike Thomas is a is a guy that's a special team staple um, you know. And then the Big three is very big and looms very large. They're not going anywhere. Eli Apple had a few days earlier this week where he didn't take part in any team period because of a minor injury. He was back out there today with the first string. What do you

think of the camp that Eli Apple is having? Extremely competitive, you know, and uh and I think, you know, probably some of the time coaches and general managers and ownership are like, don't take it too far, you know, don't take anybody to the ground or um, you know, let's let's not have any have any injury. But he is stepping up to the challenge of taking taking on guys like Chase and um and matching up well, you know,

and competing and everything's a contested, competitive scenario. And um, I think that last year did wonders for that guy's confidence. I mean, he is to me, he looks like not a different football player, but a much more confident football player. There's no question about that. I think he really feels like he's part of this thing. He feels like he was a big part of the success they had last year and rightfully show so he should feel that way.

So I think they got themselves a guy that you know is going to be a cornerback, like Mike Zimmer talks about that can be a factor and you know, allows the edge rush to even get there. It's almost like the hand fitting glove. The edge rush sometimes will hide a little you know, blemish that they have in the secondary or vice versa. The secondary is smothering all rights routes so much that the rush will have an extra half second to a second to get there, and

they get there and they finish it. So I think he may be part of that equation. We are five days away from our first preseason broadcast. Do you know the Arizona Cardinals third string, because we're gonna have to run from it is it's going to be you know, you know what's interesting. It's like, yeah, I'm gonna I'm gonna learn it because, like I said earlier, to these guys, this is huge. This is huge, and uh, you know,

I always, I always enjoy good football competition. So it's not like it's going to be one team's number ones against another team's number threes and it's like, hey, you know this and this will be like a big boring honor um will it? Will it be? I hope it's a competitive contest. I hope there are I love good football.

I hope there are good football players made. And you know, I'm going to respect the fact that these guys are out there fighting tooth and nail to survive for another week in an NFL training camp, and that's what it's all about. It's going to be to them. It is going to be like go time and showtime. The worst of those one hundred eighty players is a great football

player just to be out there bingo. I mean, there's there's a lot of guys in the Canadian Football League, the XFL, the USFL who wish they were in a training camp right now competing for an NFL roster. And that's the thing, like we talked about before, Practice reps are all taped, you know, and it's going to have all that tape, but there's nothing like game tape. And

these guys know that. So the more snaps are out there, they know that the more opportunities they have to show that they belong in the professional realm of football somewhere. If it's not with Cincinnati or Arizona, is it with another NFL team, is with another pro league that may not be as the highest level that the NFL is. Obviously, these guys are fighting for their professional football lives and it's going to be interesting to watch them fight and

scratch Friday's game starts at zeven thirty. Our pregame coverage on the Bengals Radio Network begins at six pm, and by the time you get up on Saturday morning, there will be a new episode of this podcast waiting with radio replays and postgame analysis. That's going to do it for this episode of the Bengals Booth Podcast, as presented by Ultimate Bengals. Download Ultimate Bengals ahead of the upcoming season. It's free to play next level fantasy football with fantastic

Bengals prizes. You can get it now on the App Store and Google Play. And if you haven't done so already, please subscribe to this podcast and if you have a minute, give it a rating or share a comment that helps more Bengals fans find us. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for listening to The Bengals Booth Podcast