Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Hord and thanks for downloading The Bengals Booth Podcast. The Hit the Road Jack addition, as we take you to Chicago for an extended preseason road trip as the Bengals practice and then play against the Chicago Bears. Coming up, I'll talk to first round draft pick of Marius Mims about the pectoral injury that has temporarily stalled his rookie season. Dave Lapham joins me to discuss the latest training camp news and compare notes
about Thursday's joint practice with the Bears. And finally, it's the latest edition of my five Questions interviews as we get to know seventh round draft pick Dejon Anthony. The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you by pay Corps, Proud to be the Bengals official HR software provider by Alta Fiber future proof fiber Internet designed to elevate your home, business, and community to a new level, and by kettering health the best care for the best fans. Cattering Health is
the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. Now 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 a drive through car wash. I don't know about you, but for my entire life I have loved going through a drive through car wash. Mike's car Wash
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This is my fourteenth years the Bengals radio play by play announcer, and in that time period, the team has had some great rookies, but the two who have impressed me the most in training camp are Joe Burrow and a Marius Mims. We knew that Mims looked like an offensive lineman built in a lab, but what we didn't know is how coachable he is, how smart he is, and how well he fits in with coaches and teammates.
That's why it was so disappointing to learn after the first preseason game that A Marius has a strained pectoral muscle that is going to keep him out of action for several weeks. Hopefully he'll be back in time for the season opener on September eighth, A Marius sat down with me to discuss the injury and the impressive weeks of training camp that preceded it. All right, A Marius, You've had a little time to process the pectoral strain that's going to keep you out of action for a
few weeks. Are you bummed? Are you disappointed? What word would you use to describe your emotions? Uh?
Yeah, I was definite saying I low disappoint it just because I had auto momentualm you know, just going into you know, the preseason games and you know what I'm saying, just sharpening my tool box every week, trying to you know, get better, and then just bombed a you know, an
injury halted that. But all I can do right now is you know, rehab and you know, make sure my mental is good and like I said, stick keep sticking the trend Orlando and making sure, you know, I just you know, my mom stays sharp with the playbook and everything, and you know, hoping I can get back soon as possible.
I watched every snap from that first preseason game. I'm sure your standards are different from mine just watching it, but I didn't really see a bad one. How did you feel you played?
Yeah, man, it's it's more like I said, I take pride on myself, like like suffering, like my game and the small stuff. You know, some people might think it's a perfect game, but me after, I think it's an okay game. I felt like that was an okay game to me, just from like a technique standpoint and just just like my standard. I know I can do better because you know, that's just just hard on myself and it's like you gotta be you know what I'm saying, because I want to be a great I want to
be a great football player. So I just kind of critique myself on the small things and you know, how can I come back in next to the next day and the next weekend, you know, not make those mistakes and you know, how can I, you know, make my technique more sharper.
One of the things you learn as a rookie is to communicate with the training staff and if you're feeling a little something, tell them exactly what it is. So they can advise you how to treat it. And it sounds like you maybe tried to push through a little pectorial strain that it maybe would have been wise to take a day off.
Yeah, I definitely would have. But like I said, you know, just a recking mistake by me. And you know, right now that's a learning process and from now, you know, just like I said, just rehab hard. You know, try to get back to one hundred percent as fast as possible.
We just walked out of the locker room where your locker is next to Orlando Brown Junior. I'm sure you're trying to be a sponge around a veteran who's been to the Pro Bowl four times. Is there anything specific that you've learned already from Orlando that resonates with you?
Oh man, May Orlando will talk a lot, not even about like football all the time, just about life. You know, you know, I said, things aren't gonna go my way all the time. You know, just knowing that, you know, you know every day's not gonna be perfect, but you know, just as you take there like a step forward each day, you know, and you know, trying to not make the same thing like trying to make the same stake over again. So he's definitely He's definitely helped me out in a
lot of ways. And I appreciate Orlando for that.
You've had an excellent camp and you've almost made it look easy. I'm sure it's not. But do you feel like things have gone about as smoothly as they could up until the pectoral injury?
Uh?
Like I said, I have.
I said, I have like different expectations for myself and like it's different than everybody else's eyes. But you know, it's a lot of stuff I needed to work on, you know, just being a guy, you know, out of college who didn't have as many reps as everybody else. I wanted to take these practices and all that and these preseason games to you know, make sure you know I got over that hump, and I wanted like to put that out of everybody's like out of everybody's brain, honestly.
But like I said, and the reps that I did get and the reps that I give in the future, it will definitely keep building because right now, like I said, I'm just really mentally locking in on just like a sign of the place, keeping my mental strongs. Right now, it's being easy time for like some people you know who aren't mentally strong to just like you know, shut down.
And that's one thing you know, I refuse to do, you know, because I know my team's gonna count on me when I come back, and you know, I'm just trying to keep myself in the right handspace and just like I said, stay stay physically ready, and you know, so keep my body in the shape so where I can come back and I can perform at the top of my my game.
Honestly, football's a violent game. Injuries happen. I know you had an ankle injury last year. What else have you had in your lifetime that you've had to overcome?
It's crazy because I haven't had anything like like, I've had a knee, and I had a knee in my freshman year of arm of high school. And I had an ankle in college. So that's not that's all I like, that's all I had. And then I just this this recently, a peck. That's all like the main the main things I ever.
Had, So not much of an injury history.
Nah, I don't know where that narrative came from, but you know, I let people run with it. If they want to.
Does it annoy you that that's out there?
I don't matter, I don't, I don't really care. I know, I know, I know what I can do. I know what I'm gonna do.
So Trent Brown was available to step back in and take reps as the first team right tackle yesterday. He looks like a guy that almost could roll out of bed and block guys. How impressed have you been by him?
I knew he can do it.
Like I said, I know, I know what kind of player Trending is, no matter what, no matter what anybody else says about them, no matter what anybody think about him, I know, I know what kind of player he is. I watch I watch transfilm like you won't. You won't find that much bad fend that's out there on him. And like I said, I mean, I'm Tom. Tom Ain't know everybody take its competition, no competition. I'm literally trying to learn from this guy. I'm trying to be I'm
trying to have a long career like him. So I'm gonna I'm going I'm gonna stick to him on Orlando side, no matter what eather, whether it's me starting or him starting. So like I said, I'm glad.
I'm glad.
I'm glad I get to watch him every day in practice and him like him and Orlando and practice and just learn from those guys and get better. Like I said, I'm glad they're here. And like I said, they pushed me and I pushed them, so we just pushing each other. And like I said, all three of us together you know it can help us win. So I'm thankful for both of them being here.
I ask offensive Cordner Dan Picture about you recently. I may get the quote a little bit wrong, but he said something like you've got the perfect blend of confidence and humility, which is kind of a hard balance to find. Do you feel that that's a good description.
Yeah, I think I think culture, like I said, I love, I love co fit good people. But like I said, I just try to, you know, like stay confident because this is a game of confidence. Like if you don't have any self confidence in yourself in this game, you will not last. And like I said, it just comes from like taking reps over and over and over, agains the same reps a thousand times the same thousand times time.
That's how you get confidence in this league, Like I said, if you don't have that confidence, then you know, I mean, it's good, it's gonna be it's gonna be a long ride for you. So I just try to, you know, I said, stick to guys like Trenton Orlando who've been here and done that, and like I said, try to model my game after them, mold my technique after them, and you know, try to ask as many questions as possible, because, like I said, I'm new to it. I'm not familiar
with the game of the NFL yet. But like I said, stick them to like too, those guy sides gonna help me to become, you know, a master. Every one has all said.
And it's been really fun to watch you so far. Look forward to seeing you back on the field soon. Thanks for the time, Yes, I appreciate you. Now time for some observations from Thursday's joint practice against the Bears. The weather was miserable. It rained pretty much throughout and
at times came down hard. The Bears do have an indoor facility, but in one of these joint practices, two fields are in constant use because the Bengals offense faced the Bears defense on one field, while the Bears offense faced the Bengals defense on the other Moving indoors where there's only one field would have meant getting in half of the work or practicing for more than four hours. So the two teams practiced in the rain, and Zach
Taylor said that was a good thing. It helps them know what plays probably won't work under those conditions, and there were plenty that didn't work for both teams. On Thursday, Joe Burrow through a pair of red zone touchdown passes to Trenton Irwin and another TD to mikea Sicki, but he also threw three interceptions. Caleb Williams, the number one overall pick in this year's draft, had his first pass of the day picked off by Jermaine Pratt, but later hooked up for red zone TD strikes to DJ Moore
and Keenan Allen. What you hope to avoid in joint practices are injuries, and unfortunately two Bengals left the field on carts with apparent knee injuries, running back Chris Evans in offensive tackle Deontay Smith. The Bengals are running into depth issues at tackle. Smith is now out, Amarus Mimms has the pectoral strain and Trent Brown exited Thursday's practice
with lower back tightness. Since starters Orlando and Trent Brown aren't expected to play on Saturday, the available tackles for the preseason game are Cody Ford, who's played more guard than tackle in his NFL career, Jackson Karmen, and two undrafted players, Jackson Kirkland, who's had a good camp at guard, and Devin Cochrane. Fingers crossed that they stay healthy on Saturday.
For more on the joint practice, here's my broadcast partner, Dave Lapham lab we are drying out after a rainy day in Chicago and the Bengals joint practice against the Chicago Bears. The setup for us was such that we really could only focus on one side of the field. The defense was in action quite a distance from us, so we mostly watched the offense, and honestly, it was a tough day. The ball was slick. Joe Burrow had some difficulty on some of the longer throws. Outside the numbers,
there were a ton of drops. It might have been double digit drops. It was difficult playing conditions, and the Bears defense played well.
They did. The Bears defense played well, and we heard celebrations on the other field, and with their offense, Caleb Williams making some plays. So you know, I think that Chicago had a pretty decent day, it seemed like overall. But you know, Zach Hald talked about I'd like to have a rainy practice, rainy workout. There's something to be said for that. Remember the Cleveland game last year, how brutal it was, and just did not handle the elements whatsoever,
and so they got their wish. I mean, the hardest part of the rain occurred in the critical parts of practice, So it was it was a day to learn from for sure. And everybody has to I mean handle in the football is one thing. You have to make adjustments with your footing, even as alignment. You have to kind of put yourself over your feet a little bit more. You know, you have to basically make sure that your balance is such that you know you're not It's difficult,
it is, it's difficult transition to make. So I think everybody went through that process and and learned a lot today. And again I think, yeah, you name it, anything and everything that could go wrong in a what condition did including injuries, you know, and I mean with the injuries because of the you know, the wet fields, but have two offensive players card off the field, you know, with air casts on their legs. So you're thinking, gosh, is that stabilizing your knee as that are broken? What are
we looking at here? But you know, you lose Chris Evans and you lose Deontay Smith, guys that we're fighting for spots on the football team, if not that worst case scenario practice squad. So it was a tough day for a lot of reasons.
And that is the risk of these joint practices. Obviously you're trying to get good work against a different team, but there is a little more contact and unfortunately, injuries are probably more likely.
Yeah, you're right, and I think they did get a lot of good work and situational stuff, you know, second and five, third and different distances, you know, third down, if you convert, find if you don't, fourth down, two minute drill, red zone, low red zone, you know, move the ball from the thirty yard line. I mean, everything and anything that you could think of going against another team giving you different looks with different techniques, different personnel.
So you have to you know, you have to make adjustments out there and that's all. That's all really good work, you know. And the other thing is the entire scouting department basically for the Bengals are up here looking at the Bears players. The Bears personnal people looking at the
Bengals players. So it's you get a chance to show people live what you're about another team and how you hit umself on the field, your you know, your overall decorum, and you know body language and how you react with teammates, how coachable are you, all those kind of things. So, I mean, there's there's good reasons for players to put forth as much effort as they possibly can in days like this, and.
We shouldn't make it seem like it was all bad for the offense. Trenton Irwin had a couple of touchdown catches, Mike Casecki had a TV catch, and they broke off some really good runs. Zach Moss had a long run and Chase Brown essentially went in untouched in the red zone.
He did, and Jackson had a pretty good day making making plays as well. So you're right, it's it's never you know, like all one way in these in these type of scenarios, but you know, there's good tape to look at. There's no question about it. And I think the I think the Bengals coaches are anxious to take a look at it tonight and and see what see what's what there? And it was it was a long day, Dan, I mean they were out there from one o'clock to three twenty so and a good part of it was
dealing with the elements. Mother nature wasn't kind, so it was it was taxing, you know, in a lot of ways. And again, honestly, I've been there when a guy goes down. I mean Deontay Smith went down, and I mean you could just hear, you know, every emotion come up out of them literally, and you know he's been injured a lot during the course of his career, unfortunately, and probably frustration, pain, a bunch of things. And you know, it's sad listening to him, you know, And then you know you have
to experience something like that as teammates. And now, okay, let's go right back in huddle up here we go. You know, that makes it difficult too, when you lose a couple of guys that you know, you respect and trust and their teammates and they're going down with injury. I mean that makes it a tough part of the day as well.
And the Deontae Smith injury is significant with two preseason games to go, because a Marius Mims is obviously out, they're not anticipating the starters playing, certainly in the next game against the Bears, and I wouldn't think against the Colts. I guess maybe that could change. But now you've only got so many backup tackles available on the roster.
Absolutely, and this is where you know, guys like Ford the can can go out there. Kirkland is going to have to, you know, make be abandoned the guard deal and go out to tackle some and that was I mean, he's like riding a bike for him. Played left tackle at Washington and so yeah, I think it's time for guys to step up and show, hey, I do have position versatility. I do have the flexibility you're looking for.
You don't want it to be at the at the cost of an injury to a teammate, but you're gonna have to have other guys step up and show that they can handle the extra work.
Let's talk about some training camp news from the last few days. Jeffrey Gunter announced his retirement. Apparently, he plans to finish his college degree and move on to his life's work. As Ball Brown used to say, a guy that had moments in preseason games didn't have huge contributions in regular season games. But again, he would have played a lot in the preseason games. And now the defensive ends are gonna have to be out there for some more snaps.
Absolutely, and you know, I think he was going to be practice squad worst case scenario. It wasn't like he was gonna to be, you know, not part of the organization. But again he's he's fighting a knee issue again, and he seems to have that kind of a problem. I think after a while it becomes wear and tearing the mind and body. And at this point in time, he
wasn't into it mentally. He kind of was in funk my understanding the last couple of weeks, and you know, had made a decision, I'm gonna go get my degree, and good for him. If you're not, if you're not in the right frame of mind to play football, it can be a brutal thing to do uh to your mind and your body. So you know, will will he reconsider? Who knows? But as of right now, he's made a decision he thinks is the best for him in the long run.
Jake Browning has a rib injury. Doesn't sound like it's too serious, But in the meantime, Logan Wilson's going to be the starting quarterback in the second preseason game against the Bears. Rocky Lombardi will see some action in that game and probably the final game as well. You know, Jake proved what he could do in the final seven
games of the year last year. But knowing that Joe Burrow is going to get the bulk of the work with the first team, I'm sure Jake would have loved as much preseason action as he could have received.
Yeah, and you wonder when did the injury occur. You know, he probably is not satisfied about the performance he had
in that first preseason game. Was he fighting it there, because you know, it's very possible that he was, and it was sucking it up and wanting to get snaps because they are precious and they are limited in terms of how many times he will be I'm able to actually go under center and read defenses and get the ball out of his hand the right place and all that everything that goes along with it, So I hope you know, rib can be a lot of things, don't
you know. I don't know if it's the rib injury, if it's a you know, maybe a car listening and there's there's muscles in there, there's you know, muscles on your entire side that connect to your rib. I mean, there's all kinds of things that go on there. But it doesn't sound like it's severe, so best thing to do is shut it down and heal it up.
It did give me a thought, maybe far fetched, but toward the end of last year, when Jake Browning was playing really well, we would hear a lot of Bengals fans say they should look to trade him. He will never have value this high. And I said, that's the last thing you want to do. And inexpensive backup quarterback is incredibly valuable to have. But what if Logan Woodside goes out in these final two preseason games and lights it up. At that point, would it become a remote possibility to consider.
Well, you wonder, you know, obviously he played so well last year and he earned himself a new contract. But the worst case scenario if for Logan Woodside is there'd be another team in the NFL if it's not the Bengals that are gotten in. Look at the tape that That's the thing that guys have to remember, is you're not just competing with the quarterbacks in the room with the Cincinnati Bengals. You're competing with quarterbacks in the room
with thirty one other teams. And you know, the more good tape you put on that's circulating around the National Football League, the better chance you have continued to collect the paycheck in the National Football League. So, whether it be here in Cincinnati or elsewhere, Man Logan Wilson, you get to love the guy. Every every seems like every opportunity he gets, he steps up and capitalizes. You know, that's all you can ask for. So I know, I know his teammates have a ton of respect for him too.
This is our first conversation for this podcast since the Amarus Mims injury. What's he gonna miss while he's out with this strain pectorial?
Yeah, I mean missed a lot of a lot of reps today, you know, valuable.
Uh.
You know, Joe Burrow was talking after the game about how starting as a rookie the Bengals drafted him and he was told by Zach Taylor's gonna be the starting quarterback instead. Those reps. Reps are invaluable, and you know he's talking about in the regular season obviously, but the reps that you get in press are invaluable to get you ready for that first regular season game. He's immensely talented, there's no question about it. And I mean watching him,
you can project it. Yeah, he can play in this league, and he can play well, and he's gonna play for a long time, but you still like to have that repetition. Repetition breeds comfort level, and uh, you know he's gonna miss He's gonna miss a ton of reps and he's gonna have a potentially a short period of time to get ready for the New England Patriots, who you know, there's solid defense lay. I mean, that's not gonna be a it's not gonna be an easy challenge for him.
I think because of the amount that you have to get ready for. I mean, there's so much to prepare for with an NFL defense, and particularly in Week one, you don't know exactly what kind of wrinkles they're gonna throw out there. You know, they haven't shown anything in the preseason, so there's a lot of factors in there for him.
Bengals and Bears will meet again Saturday afternoon. Let's hope the weather is much much better because my feet are soaked.
I'm telling you, man, it was moist out there.
To say the least.
I realized after the fact that each of us called Logan Woodside Logan Wilson once during that conversation. We'll try to get it right on Saturday. The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you by pay Corps, proud to be the Bengals Official HR software provider, by Alta Fiber future proof Fiber Internet designed to elevate your home, business, and community to a new level, and by Kettering Health the best care for the best fans. Kettering Health is the
official healthcare provider of the Bengals. Now time for the latest edition of Five Questions with a Rookie as we get to know a seventh round draft pick who is having an outstanding training camp. Time for five Questions with Rookie desjn Anthony. Question number one the Bengals. All I always post video of Zach Taylor calling the draft picks to let them know that they're about to be selected, and your call was the most entertaining one this year.
Describe the scene in the background because it sounded like there was a serious party going on.
My family kind of set up my draw party to whoever came to one of my games college games, they could come to my draw party. So I had a lot of I used to have like fifty people at every Liberty game, so I had like one hundred people there. And my agent just called me literally like a minute ago, and he was like, the Bengals or Dallas rather, they gonna get you in the seventh round, And literally I got out the phone with him.
I was getting nervous, so I was sitting down.
I got up and went outside with the rest of my family because it was like a big cookout and I was just chilling. And next thing you know, I've just seen cincinn out of the Ohio go across my phone and I answered it and everybody just started yelling, and it was just one of the most amazing experiences I ever felt in my life.
You might have set the record for the most time saying the word yes sir, her words. I guess when you were talking to Zach.
I couldn't I couldn't hear them, so I knew the right answer is, yes, sir, I couldn't hear nothing.
Coach Taylor was saying. All I could hear was.
My people streaming, people crying, my auntie, and like, you know, my grandmother passed and that was one of her biggest dreams for me, Like, Dejon, just stay locked into football and get to the NFL because that's your dream and that's how bad I wanted for you. So I just could just feel her energy in the room. So I really couldn't hear nothing. Coach Taylor said, Now, one time, I didn't hear nothing. All I was just yes, sir, and then I just said I love you, coach.
All right, that's a great segue. Question number two for Dejon Anthony. Your grandmother whom you mentioned, literally dreamed that you would be an NFL draft pick. How long ago did she have that dream and did it make it a more of a goal for you?
So Grandma, she was like always supportive of everything I did. So when I left Division two and I went to Liberty, and that's when she kind of found out she had stage four cancer. So while I was at Liberty my grandma. I used to drive home every day after practice because it was only an hour and thirty minute drive, I used to drive home to go see her. And I drove home and she kind of she seeing all the campuses. She seen how good Liberty did the COVID year against
Coastal winning the Bowl, finishing seventeen. She was like when I got there, she was like, days, I had a dream. And I was like about what. She was like, you got drafted to the command like the Redskins, And I was like, no, I hope that's not right. But she was like, you're doing to the NFL, and she was like she kept every day I came home, she was like, she couldn't dream of nothing else of me going.
To the NFL.
So she had probably like teen dreams of just me going to the NFL and getting drafted. So it was that was a super super cool and it was a blessing.
And you're from Richmond to Washington would be the near NFL team.
Last ten was the news.
But my whole family dollars Cowboy fans, So that's why it was like funny at the time because everybody liked the Cowboys.
Question three for Dejohn Anthony. Your path to the NFL is amazing. You started your college career at Shepherd University, a Division two school in West Virginia. Why didn't you have any scholarship offers?
Just in high school?
I was always kind of like a good football player playing dB, but I played receiver my first three years, and then I had this transfer stuff, so I tried to go from Hermitis to Holland Springs, and they found out I didn't live in that school district. So I ended up missing the first five games of my senior year and I ended up going to Henriiko High School.
And I caught like.
Six interceptions in five games, four picks in one game, and I still didn't get no offers, so only to had two offers, Virginia State and Shepherd University.
You had non usual way to get ready for training camp this year. This is question number four. You practiced against high school kids. How did that come about? And describe what you did.
So my trainer was like, you know, running, you need to run a lot when you're getting ready for conditioning, But one thing that's going to prepare you the most is football conditioning. And I do a lot of stuff for the kids and high schoolers and middle school like out here, I did a back to school drive, took kids to the mall shopping spree.
So I love doing stuff for the kids.
So my trainer was like, we need to do some football conditioning instead of just running all the time because we was running so much. He was like, man, I'm gonna get them to stay out the weight room and we're gonna get on the field and do football conditioning with the high schoolers.
He was like, it would be super cool for you to come out there.
So I went out there and we did like at least three sessions with them guys, and we were just working.
Fifth and final question for Dayjon Anthony, tell us something about you that not many people now.
Every thing I do is like for my family, Like I love my family so much.
I had it.
I had a hard time growing up, and I fully changed because growing up I was grew up in hard parts and now like I just fully changed and trust God and my faith with God that have grew so much.
And I really just love playing football.
That's something that like I would down thefield if I could, Like, I love football so much and I'm just super blessed to be here, so but do it.
That would be the thing.
I'll tell people like, I love my family a lot and I'll do anything for him.
You're off the hot seat, appreciate your time. Best the fuck this year. That's going to do it for this episode of the Bengals Booth Podcast brought to you by paid Core, Proud to be the Bengals Official HR software provider by Alta Fiber future proof fiber Internet designed to elevate your home, business and community to a new level, and by Kettering Health the best care for the best fans. Kettering Health is the official healthcare provider of the Bengals.
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