Bengals Booth Podcast: Guess Who's Back

Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Hord and thanks for downloading the Bengals Booth Podcast The Guess Who's Back Good Again. Addition, as Joe Burrow returns to practice twelve days before the season opener in Cleveland. Coming up, we'll hear from several teammates on the return of Joey franchise, and I'll talk to the newest Bengals quarterback, Will Greer, who was added to the practice squad after an outstanding preseason with the

I kind of was wondering what they're out there for that I saw Joe out there, obviously, I was like, okay, yeah, he's out there, no sleeve, no nothing, which is really nice to see his will throwing like he like didn't even miss a beat. So you know, they're obviously teaming the slow with him still, but it's nice to see him still slinging the ball. Like like how he used to.

Burrow's return was not necessarily anticipated by his teammates, including Jamar Chase found out when.

I got on the field. Matter of fact, I found out when I watched him put his gear on. I was like, what's he doing?

Were you concerned that he would try to come back too fast?

Tell?

Yeah, that's why I told him, don't come until we fought him, Like, I don't want you back until you know you're ready.

I mean, he looked good. You know, I didn't see no hobble or nothing.

Only I didn't see really much. And then again I did not paying attention to him as much. But for what I see, you know, he looks good. He doesn't look like he's having probaball here or nothing. So that's a good sign.

Burrow's return brought a sigh of relief to Bengals fans and changed the energy at practice. Here are Yo, Si Batch and veterans safety Mike Thomas.

It was nice.

You can deminitely feel his vibe out there, and he's already you know, not critiquing, but give you need tips. You know, watching me, I took a go route, you know, I thought I could win inside leverage I did, but he's like, you know, if you go outside, there's more places where I can.

Throw the ball. And so it's just even just little.

Things like that that you hear from the starting quarterback make you no, I always want to play football.

He kind of gives you more energy.

You know what I mean.

It kind of brings more life to the team.

And I'm not gonna talk too much about it, but I think it was a whole different vibe than all the training camp. I don't think he threw an incomplete fast today, so I mean it was fun.

Joe's return came one day shy of five weeks after he suffered his calf strain, and while he was gone, his teammates wanted to make sure they didn't miss a beat. Here are Ted Karras and t Higgins.

He looks like Joe, and he's been doing a great job in grinding camp. You know, my main goal was just had the on line unit cleaned up and polished and ready to go, so you can just plug himself in and pick up right where he left off.

I definitely feel like a gay of guy some extra juice, you know, just to go out there and just show him that that We've been working hard, even though he's been getting treated up. You know, he wanted to show him that there's nothing we ain't leave off nothing. You know, we still sat spy. We was when when he first got hurt.

So the media was only allowed to watch the first thirty minutes of practice, but according to Higgins and others, Burrow's best pass was a perfectly thrown bomb to rookie Charlie Jones.

Just a deep ball to left us, a go ball right on the money.

Didn't even have to adjust to it.

So it was definitely good to see him out there and definitely good to get a replica.

Burrow was not the only Bengal who returned from injury. Running Back Trayvon Williams was also back on the field after missing nearly a month with an ankle spraying.

It was amazing, you know, like I said, you know, I've been in there for thirty days, but Joe's been.

In there alongside with me.

So just being able to be alongside him to see, you know, the path that he's taking to get to where he's at right now as well. You know, you know, of course, you know I was came back, but I was excited just as much for.

Him too, because you know, he's ahead of the spirit for us.

You know, he's an amazing guy, and he's gonna help us, you know, make the Super Bowl push. So I'm excited to be be back out there with him.

The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you bos I Bengals Picks and Ultimate Bengals the free to play with tickets and signed merchandise up for grabs. Find both inside the Bengals app. NFL teams had to cut down their rosters this week, and I think the media should cover the process a little bit differently and focus on the roster after the practice squad is announced instead of after

I appreciate the Bengals, our coaching staff. I mean, he was just transparent and honest about the whole situation and now understood my robe. So great to be bet. Get to help my young dudes out, you know, continue to in this game, and then I gotta stay ready if opportunity to us himself. But at this point, you know, being on a team like this, being around this locker room, these guys, I mean to still be around and to still be able to help.

Them out and grow.

Like that's why I want to be in.

This point in my career with standard elevations from the practice guad. You know, at some point you're gonna play.

This shit absolutely man and uh again standard That's been my whole career. So mentally that's that Point's fine. But at the same time, helping these young guys understand, looking, don't look for three one to speak. You step up, You be a leader, even somebody you your bets, you step up you you need.

But for me, like you.

Said, the fact that we negotiated in our CBA for standard elevations, actually so many bits you know, around and extending their careers. So I'll be ready whenever that comes here.

With the business.

But at the end of the.

Day, the fact that they kept oh uncle Michael Brown and I gotta roll with this to wan, I can help these young guys, you know, like to start off their career behind note, giving them all the game that I can.

I mean, that's a blessing for me.

I know, the organization is really hopeful that you would accept a spot on the practice squad. Was there any hesitation in your life here?

No?

I mean I told you they were very transparent from me for a long time about what was gonna captain right, and I can only appreciate them for that because a lot of times you don't get that information right. And I told them honestly from my standfield, unless a team came and signed into that fifty durn Ross, I'm not doing a lateral move to go to somebody else practice squad. And you'll hope we get brought up. They were interests, but.

I got told everyone I'm not going to nobody else but say this is where I want to get.

Thomas Stanley Morgan and Sydney Jones are three veterans who will almost certainly contribute on game day at some point this season. The Bengals Booth podcast is brought to you by Kettering Health, the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. With more than one hundred and twenty care facilities and fifteen hundred care providers, Kettering Health is committed to guiding you to your best health. Visit ketteringhealth dot org to

At the end of the day, it was just it came down to the one play football or not play football, and I just said I'm gonna go play put a lot into it, so I felt good about the offense and knew that I could go put good tape out.

So.

At the end of the day, it just made it simple. So, yeah, I'm gonna go play.

What appealed about this opportunity, I.

Think the just the amount of the coaches, the quarterback experience in this building, being able to play with Joe Burrow, some of these the weapons we have. A big part for me was being on a team, but like a creditive teams and somebody that you know, had talent and was you know, a Super Bowl contender if you will, which clearly this place is, and that's that was a big part of the decision.

What were the last couple of days, Like, was it a whirlwind fielding calls from a bunch of teams?

Yeah, it was.

It was.

It was weird you being in that position, definitely, you know, fielding calls and just trying to find the right fit. It was the first time I've gotten to like choose rather than being chosen. So it's a weird process. But uh, my agent did a great job. And at the end of the day, like I said, I wanted to go to a place that I had a chance to go

A So you had great stats passing and rushing this preseason. Do you feel like you are playing the best ball of your life?

I do.

I think I got a lot more to give. But I think as you the longer you play in the NFL, the better you get with everything. And I definitely feel like I'm chrending upwards and continuing to get better. And this place was a place I felt like I was going to continue to get pushed and developed.

We're not far from where you start in college. Is there kind of a nice feeling to be back in the Midwest where things went so well?

Yeah, No, it's crazy. I didn't realize how close it was to Morgantown. It's awesome and definitely just excited.

To be here.

I hope I'm not wrong here. You look a little sleepy. Has it been like, you know, restless, last forty eight.

Hours or whatever?

No doubt it definitely has. It was up early this morning to get here in time to get the physicals and all that done to be able to practice. I'll sleep good at night.

We'll catch up.

We'll be fine here.

Greer was originally a third round draft picked by the Panthers in twenty nineteen and started two games as a rookie, but he suffered a foot injury in the second quarter of the second game. The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you by pay Corps. More than twenty nine thousand customers trust Paycorps to help them recruit, pay, engage, and retain employees. Learn more at paycoorp dot com. Now time to check in with one of the best color analysts

Dan, you remember last year we were going through something similar with a different type of ailment, all right, and that ailment I felt like, said it back a little bit more.

Even though it's legs, it's feed, it's all this.

It doesn't feel the same because that torque of throwing when you have the epidect me and everything else that goes along with it, and then you can't.

Do anything at all.

See I think with the leg I didn't you know, I'm not a doctor, won't play one on TV. But I think that overall he was able to get a lot of workouts in. I think he's been moving around more than people think. Bottom line is I just think that everything's gonna be okay.

He went through it last year.

Dan didn't feel quite himself, didn't play to his normal level in the open against Pittsburgh. It's nothing like experience is they're having gone through it before knowing what to expect. I expect to see much more of the Joe Burrow we're used to seeing come the opener at Cleveland.

What do you admire and respect about him going into year four?

Dan, He's the same guy every time I meet him. I'm not quite sure what your assessment would be because you're around him even more than we are. But what I like about him is he's very true to being Joe Burrow. And when you meet people, sometimes there's one persona versus another. After a win, after a long. Sometimes it's depending on the time of year. Sometimes it's depending on how they're playing. I could not tell you what his stats were the previous week. I couldn't tell you

He says hello. He's very polite.

He greets everyone that is in the room, not just you know, the announcers, if the producers in the room, the directors in the room, if someone else happens to be there, he greets them with a hello. He sits down and tell me if this is your experience, Hello, Hello, Hello, Hello.

He sits down and that's it. That look is go yeah, and you know, a lot of chitchat not his thing. But he's not rude. But if you're gonna waste his time with chitchat, he's not gonna be there that it's going to be. Ask your questions, let's go, and again, not rude, but very to the point. Here we go.

Off we go and then he's back to the business to tront who win games for Cincinnati.

And that is my experience as well. You described it very well. We're chatting with Charles Davis. The Bengals have the big three back and wide receiver, Chase Higgins and Boyd. They've got Joe Mixon back and running back. They do have a newcomer in the mix though, and tight end, Irv Smith Junior. What do you think of Irv and how important is the tight end in the Bengals offense.

Well, they've worked around the tight end to an extent for time. C j Uzama had a big year and parlayed that into a free agent contract with the Jets. My experience with the Bengals and what I think about how they want to run offense. If the tight end is there and available, they're going to utilize it.

I thought the second.

Half of last year hayden Hurst got utilized more as he got more comfortable and became that guy. Remember that's why hayten Hurst was drafted in the first round in the first place by Baltimore to catch passes and be that guy. If they can get the earth Smith Junior that came out of Alabama, that explosive youngster that we saw make plays. If they're getting him in Cincinnati, Oh, he has no worry about being utilized. Joe Burrow knows how to spread the ball around and you want to go cover the

I got another guy I can move the ball to.

It's just a matter of if Erthsmith stays healthy and if he's the guy that we saw coming out of college, because he just didn't stay healthy in Minnesota.

Last year, the Bengals went into the season with four new starting offensive linemen. This year, it's only one, and he's a four time Pro Bowler. Orlando Brown Junior. Is this the year that the Bengals offensive line becomes known as his strength?

I think so, because I think that they've taken care of all they needed to prior to this last move you just described.

Now, the kicker to the move is Orlando Brown Junior.

Coming in at left tackle, and Jonah Williams said, hold on a second, that's my spot. And of course there's a little bit of a how do we say it, kerf fluffel in the beginning, and you remember Jonah Williams hurt feelings, wanted to stay at left tackle. There's a pride factor in that. You know, that's where he's played his entire career. Very few times I think Dan to

I never once did. I just said, he's got hurt feelings.

I get it he wants to stay where he is, but I think he's going to look around and realize just moving to right tackle, even though it's tough playing on this team, in this offense, with this group, with a chance to go to the super Bowl, I think over time it will it will dissipate, and it has and that's been a good thing for them.

Let's turn the defense with Charles Davis. You played safety in the SEC at Tennessee. How big of a deal is the loss of Jesse Bates and Von Bell, particularly early in this season.

It's a big loss.

I don't think we can downplay it, and you're right about particularly early, because once it's for real and everything starts to move really fast, that one adjustment that's not made in the back end of the secondary that Jesse Bates or von Bell would have made with the rest of the secondary also turns into a big play because someone runs free. That tackling that von Bell provided in the middle of that defense, or coming up off the

Big deal early. Now do they have people.

Athletically that can replace them, certainly, but it's also the leadership aspect, the tone von Bell set, the moment he got to Cincinnati where everybody's ended up buying in pretty quickly. All those things have to be replaced as well. And lou Annarumo is the defensive mastermind. He needs these guys on point. He may have to be a little more vanilla early just to make sure they have their feet under them.

The illusions, as we say, with lou Ana Roumo Charles, a lot of us thought he'd be gone, thought he would get a head coaching job this offseason. Did you think that was going to happen? And what is it about lou that makes him one of the best defensive coordinators in the league.

One I thought it should have happened. Okay, and it should have happened a couple of years ago. But every time he doesn't get one of these jobs short of him saying that's not the job for me, I'm wondering what's going on with those organizations. And I know this scene seems really strong to say, but I wonder about hiring around the league, and I would sit with anyone and happily have them educate me on what they're looking for in a head coach.

Are you looking listen? We went the Oh Wow, he calls really good ball.

Plays with Cliff Kingsbury and Arizona, and I like Cliff. I covered him in college. I would hope that he would consider me a friendly person with him, whether he considered me a friend or not. But I questioned it from day one, and I'd be happy to say it, Are you kidding me?

This is why we're hiring him? That makes no sense to me.

I want to know that you're hiring someone who can command the room, command the respect of the ball club, follow what you're trying to get done, and be there to handle all the adult decisions that have to be made. If that's not Louanna Room, I don't know who else that is as soon as he walks in the room.

The respect is there. The guys want to play for him.

I've not met anyone that doesn't enjoy ultimately playing for Louanna.

Room. Are there some tough moments? Well?

When are there? Not the guy who has his name on the trophy that they all play for, Lobardi Trophy. He was not exactly a shrinking violet and what exactly? Hey, come give me a hug every day. But guess what those guys would have killed for him and those who remain on this earth.

I met one of them. You know what he told me, Dan, I.

Don't think of my father every day, who's been on twenty five years, but I think of Lombardi every single.

One in my life.

Wow, that's amazing. So the season begins in Cleveland against the Browns, and Browns went seven and ten last year, but they didn't have Deshaun Watson for the first eleven games of the season. What are your expectations for the Browns quarterback now that he's had a normal training camp and gets to start from week one.

My expectations are exactly what the Browns are and what the Browns actually expect. Twenty twenty Deshaun Watson. That's what they have to have because that's who they signed. That's who they they they brought in. That's who they said, Okay, two hundred and thirty six million dollars guaranteed, that's the guy we're getting.

Well, we all know what has happened since that time frame. We've had the holdout, we've had the.

Off field issues, the legal issues, the suspension for eleven games last year, which made their season a rap before they ever kicked the football off, even though they played hard and did the best they could for Jacoby Brissett, it's not the three and three Deshaun Watson. And I hate doing that by record. If like starting pitchers is not the same for quarterbacks. But still they went three and three with him down to stretch. But he wasn't

This is a good ball club.

When people are picking Pittsburgh to finish behind them, that tells you to respect They're starting to engender there.

Plus, it feels like there's an urgency in Cleveland.

Did they guy to get back to the playoffs, which they did during the COVID year of twenty twenty.

Charles, Bengals fans love it when you and Ian call Cincinnati games. We look forward to seeing you in Cleveland and hopefully many times throughout the course of this season.

Thanks for your time.

Can't wait to see you in Cleveland. Dan, you take care of yourself and travel safely.

Before we wrap things up, here's a reminder that our Bengals radio shows start next week on Wednesday night. It's the Bengals Game Plan Show. And we'll be on location at Patrick's Sports Bar and Grill on Crookshank Road. We'll be there from six to eight and Orlando Brown Junior is scheduled to join us in the first hour. Then on Friday of next week it's the Bengals pep Rally Show from three to six at Wings and Rings in Fairfield. Nick Scott is scheduled to be our guest from five