Bengals Booth Podcast: How Do You Like Me Now

Dave Lapham joins me to discuss the decision to rest Joe Burrow this week, and lap shares his thoughts on resting as many starters as possible. My one on one player interview this week is with Isaiah Prince, who will be the Bengals right tackle in the playoffs now that Riley Reef is officially out for the rest of the year, and did Our Know the Faux segment, we'll take an in depth look at what's gone wrong for the Browns

with long time Cleveland sportswriter Tony Grossi. The Bengals Booth Podcast is presented by Ultimate Bengals, the free to play next level fantasy football game downloaded now from 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 a victory cigar. Former Boston Celtics coach Red Auerbach is credited

with starting the tradition. During the Celtics dynasty years when they won nine out of ten championships, he would light up a cigar on the bench. Imagine that once the Celtics had a game locked up. I enjoyed taking a few puffs of a victory cigar in front of touchdown Jesus when you see one at Notre Dame this year. And I loved seeing the footage of Joe Burrow and his teammates enjoying victory cigars in the locker room last week after wrapping up the AFC North. Joe famously enjoyed

one after eating LSU to the national championship. And here's hoping that there's a Super Bowl victory cigar in Joey franchise is future. Now let's get to my guests, beginning with one of the hosts of what I consider to be the best NFL studio show on TV. If you want to be the richest person in the world, there are two ways to pull it off. Number one, discover the cure for baldness or number two bottle the chemistry of the crew on Good Morning Football. And one of

the stars of the show joins us now, Kyle Brandt. Kyle, it is great to have you on. What did the Bengals show you with their win over the Chiefs last week? Dan, I'm thrilled to be on, And first of all, I wish I could have provided that other means to be in the richest man in the world to you. I'm sorry, all due respect, I wish I could be there for you. I really do. All I can do is the Good Morning Football alleged chemistry that you hype. So thank you

and listen to join you right now. It's a credible time. It's like going to the Santa Claus's house and Christmas Eve. This is like as good as it gets right now. It's unbelievable. I remember when I was in I was in my early twenties. It was a younger man in California, and man, the Chiefs were all that. The Chiefs were so cool, and they were dominating everybody and they were perfect. And this Bengals wide receiver not a lot of people knew yet, came out and said, I guarantee we're gonna

beat the Chiefs. Oh you're crazy, You're crazy. Sure enough, Chad was right. They did beat the Chiefs that day. And here we are in the wake of yet another Bengals win over a really good, almost omnipotent seeming Chiefs team, and it's absolutely pure electricity. My thoughts were for that game where there was a time the Bengals had a nice little run this year where they were the most fun to watch team in the league or the most exciting team in the league, which is fine, those are

cool titles to be helped for sure. They went from that to being, oh, my gosh, never mind the watchability or the excitement. They are actually a really, really good team. I never mind watching them. I don't think you want to play the Bengals. And we saw that happen right in front of us. It was exhilarating, it was really cool. I wrote down something you said earlier this week that

was similar to that, and here's the quote. There is an intoxication with Cincinnati, there's a feeling of oh my gosh, this is the next big thing. Describe why you think the Bengals might be the next big thing. Well, I could point out the obvious things. I could point out the young talents and the quarterback and the way that they improved this defense so much, and the players they added. But I'll tell you why because here I sit in and I'm in you know, suburban New York, outside of Manhattan.

I have an eight year old son, My son, Calvin, has spent almost all his life here in New York. And you know, we just had Christmas and Calvin has suddenly realized that there's some boys at school, maybe the older boys, who wear jerseys to school, and he wants to get some jerseys. So I said, all right, listen, we got lots of options, son, this is an important choice. You know, it's a long commitment, just a reflection of you and like who And he says, who should I get?

Who should I get? So you know, we talked about, well, listen, you can't go wrong with Tom Brady. But you're a wildly different generation. There's a lot of you know, there's Josh Allen and there's my homes and there's there's Lamar Jackson and everything. Well, I'm thrilled to tell you damn that on Christmas Eve at our home, Santa Claus came to the Brant House and he brought this night and it was waiting at the bottom of the stairs on Christmas morning for my eight year old. So you want

to talk about the next big thing? A kid born in twenty thirteen living in outside in the suburbs of New York wants a Bengals jersey with his pick from the whole NFL. This is the one he wants. This is the one Santa Claus brought. If that doesn't say next big thing, I don't know what does. That is awesome. Calvin is the sharpest dress kid at his school, There's no question about it. We're talking to Kyle brand from Goodmore Football. You do a podcast Ten Questions with Kyle Brandt.

I am looking forward to the point where Joe Burrow is your guest. I'm sure that's coming at some point down the road. What has Joe Burrow done aside from inspire your son for the Bengals franchise? Oh man so much. And bear in mind that my son is wearing that jersey at a school which is mostly New York Giants fans. Those poor kids shown up in say Quan and Daniel Jones jerseys. Calvin's walking on the hallway with his orange

tiger stripe thing. So he certainly inspired them. But you know some of the comparisons now from Burrow, they're getting to the stratosphere. I'm starting to see, you know, the word Rogers, the word Brady thrown around. Here's what he's done. We have a NonStop stream now and this golden age of offense and quarterbacks of this is the next great one, this is the next dist, this is the next dist and there's all of them, and they are really some

great young talents. Burrows seems to have transcended them. And I really mean that now. Listen. He hasn't accomplished the playoff wins, doesn't done anything. But what he's done, in my mind is he has come off in this way of like, Wow, that guy's cool. Wow, that guy's gonna be a future. It's not just all the throws down fields to the receivers to useam or any of them. The way this dude conducts himself after the game, after the loss or after the win. His pulse does not bounce.

He can easily stunt on someone or brag, or he can get angry afterwards. I have been so impressed with the way he speaks to the media, the way he talks about the media, even more so than the throw for five hundred yards and first person's story. I'll tell you one right here. This is when I knew Joe Burrow was gonna work, back in the early stages of Quarantine and now how we're all used to people doing shows at home and having the home camps like I'm

on now, It was a totally foreign concept. When we first talked to Joe Burrow. He was coming out of the draft, he was out of LSU. We thought he wasn't even ever want to pick. He's supposed to come on Good Morning Football that and we have him, you know, let's say we have him at the ten thirties mark, and he shows up at ten twenty nine, and he's ready, and he's ready to talk about everything he wants to accomplish. We, for the life of us, could not make this work. Technically,

the audio wouldn't connect, the visual was wrong. He could hear us. We couldn't hear him, then vice versa. This one on for what seemed like an hour, and Burrow just sat there and just said, sure, I'll try this. Does this work? Does this work? I can say it again, testing one, two three for the million time. This is the guy who's gonna be the number one picking the draft. This is a national champion, celebrated. I know nine out of ten other players would are like, ooh, sorry, closed

the laptop. Couldn't make it happen. He sat there in traffic. He would still be sitting there if we asked him too. He was unbelievably courteous, unbelievable hospitable even as a guest, and he didn't get nervous and he didn't get flustered, and we all laughed afterwards. Nate and Peter and K and myself were like, well, this guy's gonna win the AFC North. He sat there for an hour with us having technical issues and didn't even bat an eye, and it said something about him. And to this day I

will never forget it. And I think you see that kinde of demeanor on the field. If you can handle that, you can handle the Ravens Blitz. There's no question about it. All right, Kyle, let's go back to this year's draft. I was team Sewel. I thought the Bengals should have fortified the offensive line. I'm happy to have been wrong. You said going into the draft, you can either fix the stairs or you can buy an eight inch TV. They got the eight inch TV and Jamar Chase and

I really like an eight inch TV. What do you think? It's beautiful, ultra high death. Oh my gosh, you can play video games on it. If you ever watch The Masters on it, you'll feel like you're there at Augusta. And that was a true story, Dan, And I'm flatter that you dug that up. Last spring, we my wife and had decided we have a certain amount of money and we can do sort of like a spring cleanup.

And these steps outside our front steps front door rather, they're kind of stone, and to have them fixed you need to hire a mason, which is very expensive you to pay for them. It's reels, and it's a very practical thing. I mean, it's gonna make your house better, safer, it's gonna make you feel more comfortable. That was the left tackle pick, and that was the practical pick. Of course, protect a burrow but oh my gosh, if you take that money and what if we just live with the steps?

So what if we just trucks that they'll be okay and we spend it on that TV? And I'm like, I think, you know what I want the TV. My head says the steps, but my heart and my eyes say the TV. Can you imagine right now, listen, Penney Soul may maybe may have become you know, Anthony Munos. We don't know, We'll never know, but I know this, damn. I'm sitting on the set at GMFB today and Chris Carter, of all people who in the bur listen seat this week, is talking about Jamar and he said, now, listen, I

was there in Minnesota when Randy was there. I saw Randy have three catches for three touchdowns against the cot Dallas Cobos didn't draft him. I was there. He said, Jamar Chase is better as a rookie than Randy Moss was. We said, oh, hold on, we love jam Are we all getting caught up a night? He's better than Moss was. You were in the same huddle, Chris, he says, better, more diverse, more fleshed out skill sets that Randy was Randy, he had about four routes. He could run really fast.

Jamar can do everything. I'm saying this right now is the guy who was there as a Hall of Famer that Jamaar Chase as a rookie is better than Randy Moss was as a rookie. I think the ad TV was the right choice. I heard Chris Carter say that, and I had the same reaction. I'm like, wow, If that's coming from a guy who was Randy Moss's teammate when he had seventeen touchdowns catches as a rookie, that's a pretty strong statement. Let's assess the AFC as we

get set for postseason play. Who's the top team in your opinion? And where did the Bengals stack up close? They stack up close to the Chiefs win if they beat Kansas City in a quote unquote shootout, you think they can beat anybody. To answer your question, I think right now, I actually think the best team is the Bills, and they don't have the best record, and I don't

know if they have the best roster. If you file the AFC really closely, everybody remember first the night against New England and when Matt Jones threw three passes and the Bills had this weird loss. Then they follow it up going to Tampa and they're just getting routed in the first half. I think they went to the locker room. It was twenty four to three at a half, and Brady was just destroying them. From that moment on, the

Bills have been unbelievable. The second half of that game, Allan was the best player in the field, that they were the best team. They almost they lost an overtime come back, beat the Patriots soundly, and I just think, like this Josh Allen thing has gone nuclear since then, and listen, so have several other quarterbacks. But I've been watching the Bills a lot. They've been up and downs, they've been through I think right now they're the team

I don't want to play. But I mean it is raised within because you got these new rock stars and the Bengals the Chiefs who are still the Chiefs, and I think we all agree. I don't know, Dan, I don't want to speak for you, but if the Bengals did not punch in that touchdown, if they would have played it conservatively at the end of that game, I think the Chiefs are coming back to win. Mahomes is

still Mahomes. And it's funny about the AFC playoffs right now, and I promise I'll finish with this is we can have a whole talk about how good these teams are and how good these quarterback are and not even mentioned the team that's sitting on the one seed, which is the Titans, who have the two thousand yard rusher coming back. The AFC playoffs are gonna be wild. I still have the Bills slightly number one, and I would say that Bengals are right there in that two, three four. How

could they not be? All right? Last thing for Kyle Brant Kay Adams was here a few weeks ago as the ruler of the jungle. Are you jealous? And would you like to be the ruler of the jungle? At some point I wasn't jealous until I saw the I guess it's a throne that she was sitting on. It seemed to be some sort of Lord of the Rings meets Game of Thrones meets the Cincinnati, Ohio type stone throne, which looked really cool that I wish I could have

like in my basements. Listen the Unfortunately, I think that I didn't. I didn't get in on the stock of the Bengals when it was really low. At this point, you could have heads of state probably lining up to be the Bengals ruler of the Jungle because they're that good and that hot. I have never been to a Cincinnati Bengals game. I have never done all the champions of the Skyline, chili and all that. Of course I would love to, I would absolutely love to, But like

I said, it's like a long line at the deli counter. Now, like get a number. We will happily give you a number and look forward to having you here in Cincinnati eventually as the ruler of the Jungle, Kyle. This has been a lot of fun. I appreciate your time, keep up the awesome work, and I'm very happy for you and everyone in any way involved with the Bengals organization.

This is a great league when there's ups and downs, and right now the Bengals being up is the coolest story in football right now, and I hope the story continues for several more weeks for you guys. Man if and when Kyle comes to town to be the ruler of the Jungle. Here's hoping young Calvin comes with him rocking that Joe Burrow Jersey, the Bengals quarterback, isn't going to play this Sunday. Zach Taylor made that announcement on Wednesday.

So Cincinnati will be trying to win in Cleveland with and An Allen at quarterback, and Joe Burrow is hardly the only starter who is expected to miss the game. I discussed that and more with my broadcast partner Dave Lapham lad Zach Taylor announced that Joe Burrow is going to sit out Sunday's game in Cleveland. I'm pretty sure that other key players probably will sit out too, although he did not give any other names. Is this a no brainer in your opinion or a tough call? It's

pretty much a no brainer. I mean, I think they're gonna treat it like a buye. I think very few guys are gonna play. I think guys may have backup roles, emergency roles, but I think he's going to try to

rest every single starter he possibly can. And you know, I feel like they feel like they earned it, earned the opportunity to do that and get everybody healthy and everybody rested and ready to go against whoever that first round opponent may be, and they I think they feel good about, you know, going up there with the players that are going to be playing, They'll be motivated and going up there and trying to put forth a good performance and show that they belong in the National Football

League and belong with the Cincinnati Bengals. And a big part of what a coach's job is from a perspective of job employment is developing young players. So see how how well these young guys have developed, See if they can make some plays, get some things done, and win a football game. Joe Burrow has been on this incredible roll over the last couple of games. And you asked him the question on Wednesday. Annie hesitation to stop playing

when you're rolling the way that you're rolling. Yeah, you know. I asked about the momentum part of it, and as he worried at all about that, and he said, no, that he feels like he'll get all the throws that he needs to get in during the week of practice and maybe have a competitive too minute drill type situation

to stay sharp. And Zach Taylor feels the same way that he can get it, you know, every throw that he needs to get every rept that he needs yet with his players during the week of practice, and both of them feel like they've practiced so well. He's practiced so well, and they practice so well as a team. That's the reason that they're on the role that they're on.

You know, it carries over into game day and they feel like the only thing that will be missing is that is that final game day deal where you've worked hard all week to get ready for game day, but now you won't actually play and be exposed to injury, and all the preparation leading up to game day will all be the same. So they feel like, um, you know, they're getting the best of both worlds. As such, Joe Burrow has been incredibly impressive really from day one, but

the last two weeks have been mind boggling. Nine hundred and seventy one yards, eight touchdown passes, no interceptions. This might be the best two game stretch that any quarterback has ever had in NFL history. Is their anything about this stretch where you say, you know, I knew the guy was great, but I didn't know he could do that. I'll tell you he the clinic that he and Jamar

Chase put on, it was just amazing. I mean, Chase goes for two sixty six and Joe goes for well into the four hundreds again, but they were so on the money in terms of Joe putting the ball exactly where it had to be put and Jamar Chase fighting for that football no matter what, was going to make a play on it. The two of them played just

about a perfect game. I mean, it was incredible watched because, honestly, I mean, Jamar Chase had a couple of opportunities where he got separation, but I'd say a good balance of the eleven catches that he had were difficult. I mean, he had to jockey for position, bump somebody, nudge, somebody, uses physicality at the high point of the route, you know, get a last minute body position advantage. And he's he's

capable of doing that. He's so darned strong, And particularly when both te Higgins and Jamar Chase when they leave the ground like a strong rebounder in the air at the high point when he's rebounding a basketball is so strong. That's what those guys are, you know, when they're high point in the football. So all of that was just unbelievable to watch. And well, yeah, Joe, I think Joe's I felt like he was accurate, but the last two games,

it's it's been like ludicrously accurate, you know. I mean, it's it's mind boggling to complete over seventy percent of your passes in a sixteen game season, basically which he'll he'll have he's not going to play against Cleveland. That's that's incredible. Kenny Anderson holds a record seventy point five five but it was in a nine game season, a strike shortened season, so literally almost half the games. And for Jodah complete the percentage that he's completed for the

yards that he's completed. And that's the thing too, is his deep ball numbers are you know, so far off the charts compared to everybody was concerned about that in the early stages of his career. Now he's got thirteen players of over forty yards, second best in the league, fifty five over twenty yards, fourth best in the league. That's an area where he's gone light years up a

ladder as well. It's incredible to watch. I'm glad you brought up those numbers because the first time that Joe talked to reporters this spring, coming back from his knee surgery, he said one of his goals was to improve his deep ball, and obviously he's done that. I've read comments from unnamed scouts from other teams that have said, well, the only negative with Burrow, as good as he is

that he's close to his ceiling. But if he picks that out is the thing he wants to improve upon and makes this quantum leap like he's made this year, it makes me wonder what he's going to target in the future as the thing that he wants to get better on and how much better he'll get. And I'm glad that scouts said that because he feeds off that stuff.

All you have to do is throw shade out there, throw any doubt about Joe Burrow and his talents, and Michael Jordan was the all time best at it, you know, using it to just motivate him to like an eye on a sphere in terms of you know, focus and adrenaline and all that. And that's what Joe Burrow does. You know, Joe Burrows like his biggest motivation is to prove doubters wrong. And that's what a lot of great players are all about and he fits that fits that

category for sure. I mean, I'm glad. I hope people continue to doubt him. You know, he might be close to a ceiling. If so, I'll take it. It's a pretty damn good ceiling in my opinion. I'll take what I saw the last couple of weeks all day, every day. The last two weeks were the Sistine Chapel of ceilings. He was that impressive. Let's turn to the offensive line. Zach Taylor said on Wednesday that Riley Reef is officially

out for the rest of the year. We know that Quentin Spain is going to at least miss this game. I don't know about his status for the first playoff game. So right now, the starting offensive line includes a Chimadenagy, Isaiah Prince, and Jackson Carmen for all intents and purposes, based on their playing experience. That's three rookies that are going to be starting on the offensive line for a

playoff team. Yeah, it's pretty incredible, you know. For this game against Cleveland, would not shock me if Fred Johnson's at one tackle, do not to Smith's at a guard, Trey Hills at a guard, Jackson Carmen's at the other guard and Isaiah Princess at the tackle position. But the thing that you have to if you're particularly if you're Jackson Carmen, you have to stay to yourself. This is

an opportunity. I mean, you know, you played over forty snaps last week and you're gonna play a lot more than that, hopefully this week, and now it's time to show that you know you're ready. It should be a clip of the coin. It should be you know, if if if Jackson Carman doesn't start when he comes off the bench, it's like no change in the level of play whatsoever. He has to start showing people, particularly his line coach Frank Pollock and the offensive coaches and Zach Taylor,

that he is playing at that level. Um and and that's that's basically what Identedgy did to Tobate when he got his opportunity. He showed himself and he earned earned the spot. That that's what it's all about. So some of these guys, I mean, they're in a situation where all you can all you can ask for in the National Football League is a chance to play, and they're

they're gonna get it. They're gonna get it. In this game against the Cleveland Browns at the tackle position, if, if, if Clowney and Garrett both play, those young tackles can step up and show coach Pollock I'm ready, I'm here, I belong and that is exactly what you're hoping for and you're looking for. So they are young, they are inexperienced,

and obviously that's the biggest question mark. It's going to be interesting to see, not only in the draft, but what kind of free agency offensive lineman will they be able to sign. I think they're going to attract quality players. I think Riley Reef was just the beginning of that door being open. I mean Joe Burrow, the way he's playing, the way the offense is built. If I'm an offensive lineman and I'm out there, Cincinnati's gonna be on my list.

All the skilled people they have a you're kidding me. If I feel like I'm an offensive lineman that can go to that group and make a major difference and improve the entire group up front, I'm thinking about that big time. All right, So let's talk about Sunday's game in Cleveland. The Bengals clearly are going to have starters sitting out most notably Joe Burrow. The Browns had a highly disappointing season. Baker Mayfield is not going to play

in the game. He is opted to go ahead and have surgery to that left shoulder that's given him so much trouble. What do you expect to see on Sunday. That's a great question, you know. I'm looking at last week's flip card, and I mean I'm looking to see a bunch of guys getting reps that hadn't got many reps. I think I think Ronelle Wren and Daniels could be inside, Wyatt ray Spence on the edge, Tyler Shelvin is going to get some look play, Johnston KeAndre Jones, Colletro, Marcus Bailey.

I think it's going to have to play if it's going to be very interesting. On the back end, Grennan Hargraves. I think Trey Waynes, if he's able to, he needs snaps. I mean, he may be the most veteran player with the best reps A may that maybe getting snaps out there because he needs them. I think if he's able to go, he should go. Um Michael Thomas, Ricardo Allen, will he get some snaps. It's gonna be very interesting. Then on the offensive side of things, Trent Irwin is

obviously gonna get snaps. Drew sample Wilcox. They they brought to Scotty Washington off COVID to the practice squad tight end, he'll probably get What about PoCA? What if they bring Pook up there and give him some snaps? Taylor, Um, it's it's you know, Brandon Allen obviously get snaps at quarterback. Are they gonna sit Joe totally and have Jake Browning up as a as a possibility? I mean, Trevion Williams at the running back position, it's gonna be It's gonna

be an interesting day. And then Cleveland, I'm I'm looking at at them, particularly their offensive line and Treder the center has got a chronic knee problem. I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if they sent him again. How much will Miles Garrett and Clowney play? How much will Denzel Ward play? How much will these really good players play?

Jarvis Landry veteran player like him, Nick Chubb. They didn't play Nick Chubb in the game against the Steelers as much as I thought they would, so, I mean, what's going on there. It is a total, big question mark as to what's going to happen. I'm glad, I'm glad we do have rosters and programs because you can't tell a player without a program. For this one, it'll be

like the preseason opener. Yeah, you know, it will. It'll be almost more like a you know, like a like a preseason encounter where guys trying to make major impressions, you know, and and saving guys for the opener, which is the opener of the playoffs. How much more on Sunday's game. Tune into the Bengals pep Rally Show this Friday afternoon from three to six on ESPN fifteen thirty or on the iHeartMedia app by searching for ESPN in

fifteen thirty. The Bengals Booth podcast is presented by Ultimate Bengals, the free to play fantasy football game. Ultimate Bengals will be awarding 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 this week's one on one player interview, as I visit with one of the bengals least known starters, twenty four year old right tackle

Isaiah Prince. Isaiah, to me, you are one of the unsung heroes on this team, taking over for the injured Riley Reef and right tackle. You had only played four NFL games prior to this season. Can you describe what it means to you to be the starting right tackle? A lot of playoff team, right, it means a lot.

My main focus is, you know, doing what I've been doing, Just how can I be of servants to the team and playing them a part and a lot a team, a lot of players, a lot of coaches, and the how to do the best I can for the guys here. It's your first year working with offensive line coach Frank Pollock. What do you think of Frank and has he made a difference for you? I think Frank definitely has made

a difference for me. I think that he is a great coach, But I think great coaches also have to be teachers, and I think Frank is a great teacher in getting us to understand what he wants us to do. And I think that that's also very important. And I have a lot of respect for Frank. Somebody who's played the game, and yeah, I think I've grown a lot as a player with him as my coach. We're chatting with Isaiah Prince. For those who don't know, you are

a former Buck Eye. You are a three year starter at Ohio State and a team captain at OSU, and you played in a lot of big games. Obviously, how does that prepare you for what's at stake now? Yeah, I definitely got a chance to an opportunity to play in a lot of big games. Coming from the school that I came from, the Ohio State, I'd say is definitely giving me a bit of a confidence. You know that thing is gonna be okay. You know, you just

keep chopping away, even in big games. You know, things happen, They make plays, We make plays, But the main thing is to remain the same. I think that's the main thing I got coming from school. Playing in those big games is up and down when you're playing against the good teams. You are from the Washington DC area and you are a member of Ohio States twenty fifteen recruiting class. Another person in that class was a quarterback from Athens, Ohio that people have heard of by the name of

Joe Burrow. What did you think of your fellow freshmen at the time. I've always been good friends, but Joe, that's that's kind of my bro. We came in together at Ohio State. We was on the same floor in the dorm room. I remember moving into the dorms. Joe's one of the first people I met. We've been good friends ever since. Even when he transferred to LSU, I stayed in contact. I always text them, and I think, honestly, it's like so surreal that we're playing together right now,

is like it's crazy. I always thought Joe was a great quarter gay. I always knew he was capable of what he does now. I think we've seen it every day in practice, movies, in school. Well, let's fast forward to what he's done the last couple of weeks, because you've been one of the guys protecting him during arguably the best back to back performances that any quarterback has ever had. Nine hundred and seventy one yards, eight touchdowns, No picks describe what he is doing for this team

right now. I think Joe gives everybody a level of confidence. I think when you see your quarterback take the field and plays with that confidence, that swagger, that toughness. I think I think that gets everybody fired up, and I think that's just the type of person Joe is. He's a great leader and I think we all love playing with him. How do you like the watches he gave his offensive lineman not that was a great gift, appreciated, Joe. Have you been wearing it or is it more of

a trophy. I'll wore it one time to a game right after he gave it to us, But pretty much I'm pretty gonna tuck away as a trophy. I appreciate it. We are chatting with Isaiah Prince. Isaiah. Last year, you were one of hundreds of NFL and college players who chose to opt out during the pandemic. How did you spend your season and what's it difficult for you not to be around teammates and coaches. I think opting out last year was probably one of the toughest times I

faced in my life so far. But during the time, like like I know throughout life is to remain resilient. So in that time being, I went back to school and I finished my degree. I got my bachelor's and I did some boxing. I worked out every day on my football craft. I just did what I can to stay in the right direction and just stay ready. You have tremendous reach. You probably would be a good boxer with your with your wingspan. Do you enjoy training that way? Yeah?

I do. It was it was different. It was my first time doing it, different type of cardio, and I think it got my hands right a little better for the season, and I appreciate it. So Isaiah, You're originally a drafted by Miami and then the Dolphins tried to move you from the active roster to the practice squad when you were a rookie and the Bengal swooped in and claimed you off waivers. What was your reaction at the time and how do you feel about how everything

has worked out? I would say definitely. These past two years have probably been one of the toughest years in my life, you know, being released from the Dolphins and you know, gett into the Bengals and opting out. But you know, I never imagined they would work out this way, you know, getting an opportunity to play again, But that was the whole purpose of the Hall offseason and staying

resilient and keep working, you know, staying faithful. And I'm honestly just so grateful that and thank God that everything worked out. So you've started the last two games and three out of the last five, the Bengals have wrapped up the AFC North. You know, you've got at least one home playoff game to look forward to. Describe the confidence level of the team right now, coming off big

win over Kansas City. All right now, we're just focused on taking it one week at a time and don't just focus on them, on what we have coming up this week, and you know, just doing what we have to do to stay healthy, stay you know, and stay ready for whatever. As I said at the beginning, I think you've been one of the unsung heroes on the team. Continued success. Appreciate your time today and best of luck against Cleveland. Thank you, man, I appreciate it. Finally time

for this week's Know the Faux segment. The Cleveland Browns won a playoff game last year. This year they'll finish with a losing record. There's seven and nine with one game to go. Baker Mayfield, who ranks twenty seventh in the league in passer rating, won't play on Sunday. Instead, it will be veteran case Keenum at quarterback. Earlier this week, Lap talked a long time Cleveland sportswriter Tony Grossie on the Bengals Game Plan Show. Obviously, Baker Mayfield had physical

ailments and issues all season. Aside from Baker Mayfield, what do you think of the biggest reasons for the Cleveland Browns not living up to the expectations in the hype. First of all, that's a big aside there. I think that was the biggest reason. Their offense was just totally not up to par, and they had chances in five different games to win games with the ball in their hands at the end, and they came up short all five.

Any one of those, or maybe two would have would have won the division or at least set up a big eighteenth seventeenth game against Cincinnati. The game in Cincinnati was probably the only game all year that the Browns played complementary football. They had a great game defensively and a very good game offensively, and that was it. I mean, they had a handful of good offensive games, a lot

of good defensive games. That Cincinnati Bengals game, uh, was the only game they put it all together, and we expected that they expected that to happen a lot more than one game. So in a broad scope, I think that that was the biggest problem. But again the offense um and it was primarily the quarterback. You know, he had ball in his hands and chances to win five

different games. That is amazing. I mean, you look at the uh three game losing streak that the that the Browns are currently in, two point lost to Las Vegas, two point lost to Green Bay at Green Bay, and uh, Baker obviously is seriously injured. When when When do you think they'll schedule the surgery Tony, And what's the prognosis and what do you think the future holds between Baker Mayfield and Cleveland Browns. Yeah, um, probably they're They're planning

as soon as possible. This is a torn labor in his left shoulder, which you know what he played through. He first suffered it in week two and then reinjured it in Week six and only missed one game that was on a short week, a Thursday night. Geen. It's supposed to be a four month rehap which takes him in the April. By then, tho, the Browns have to

make a decision. You know, the transaction season begins in March, and if they're going to pursue or at least look into upgrading the quarterback position, you know Baker will still be rehapping at that time. He is under contract in his fiftyear option in twenty twenty two for eighteen point eight million. They never delivered an offer for a extension. I know the Baker mayfield side in the middle of the summer expected it to happen after last year, and

it never happened. The Browns held off, and it looks like they were smart in doing that because Baker really regressed in the second year of the Sefanski offense. We thought it would be the opposite. We thought he would be much better in the second year as the first time, the first time he returned to a completely the completely same offense, same coaches, same teammates on offense, and the production nos dive. Um. I think I think his future

is uncertain. That's the test. I could say it. I could see them bringing them back, I could see them trying to get better, but I don't, you know, they have to make sure that they're they're getting better. I don't think they're at a situation where they say we gotta you know, we gotta move on regardless. It's not that, but I do think they will investigate the options to get better, and by that I mean a veteran quarterback who can win now with the team they have Nick Chubb.

Everybody was kind of puzzled with the lack of rushing attempts for Nick Chubb against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Is he okay physically? And do you expect him to get a lot of carries on Sunday against the Bengals. Yeah, we were all puzzled at that too. So we're the Mannings.

I guess if you're watching the Manning cast in Pittsburgh, and really you could extend that into the Green Bay game the week before when they got to the fifty yard line with a minute to go and then through three straight passes, the last one was an interception in a two point game. So he did suffer a rib injury somewhere in that game in Pittsburgh and was rested at a lot. He'll be on the injury report. They didn't practice today and the coach said that, you know,

he wants to see him at practice tomorrow. The coach did say that anybody who's able to play will play in this game. They have a lot of players dinged up and that includes chub Daream Hunt, maybe even Miles Garrett. So there may be some guys sitting out, but it won't be uh you know, just to to hang it up. It will be because of injuries. So at this point, if you're projecting to the draft, and I know it's a it's a quick projection, But what do you think, Well,

I guess, I guess before I get to that. What about guys like JC Tretter, who battles that knee injury, you know, every single day basically of his football career. Do you think guys like Trader and some guys that you say are on the injury list, they probably won't play. They won't try to extend and take a risk on damaging these guys anymore. Yeah, Trader is such a warrior, you know that, Dave. I think he'll play. He's always

on the injury report, but he always shows up. Yeah, he had five four years of consecutive snaps um snapped street by COVID not because of his need, so he'll I would think he would play. Uh, you know, the guys I mentioned I think are very questionable in my mind, and also a guy like Troy Hill. They're nickelback guys who are on the have been on the injury report for several weeks. Um, and that includes Garrett. Um, we'll see he might want to He's just he's just, you know,

a sack fiend. He wants to collect as many sacks as possible, so he might he might decide to play. Yeah, and now that watst watch twenty one and a half, I guess he wants to try to close that uh, close that gap a little bit. Good luck, I mean, yeah, good luck is right. Um. What about the draft? I mean, where do you think the priorities are for the Cleveland Browns in free agency and the draft? Where do you

think they need to address first and foremost? Well, they don't have anything resembling any of the Bengals receivers, so I think receiver is going to be a high priority, and I do think they want to find one in the draft, not in free agency. They'll be sitting somewhere in the middle, maybe you know, in the low teams. In the draft. I don't know they could even get into the top ten if things work up that way.

So that's right in good position to take one of the best receivers as two kids from Ohio State they're very familiar with, so I was I was the receiver first in the draft. They have some contract situations that they're going to have to sort out, and two of their defensive ends were signed to one year contracts, Jadevian Clowney and Tech McKinley, who's out with an achilles ruptures, so he's not going to be back. But I don't

know what they'll do with Clowney. I do think they want him back, but Clowney might, you know, seek the highest deal and eventually they have to groom a young defensive end pass rushers. So I think that's another position right up there in the priority list. I look at this Cleveland Brown's defense and it's a good group. I mean, there's talent on that defensive football team. And then I look at the fourth quarter and they gave up one hundred and twenty four points on the season, by far,

their worst quarter of points scored against them. Why do you think what happened in the fourth quarter of this defensive football team? So many times this season do you think. Yeah, And at the same time, they scored the fewest points in the fourth quarter, so that was some of it. Was the offense just given the ball right back, that was some of it. And a lot of those points I believe it was in the first half of the season. Yeah, This defense had like seven new star eight new starters

to begin the year. It took a while, but by the time they got to Cincinnati, they were playing really well and there was There was only one hiccup after that game, and that was against New England where they gave up a lot of points. But other than that, the last eight or nine games they played, their point

totals were down considerably, third down conversions and everything. I'd say most of that fourth quarter stuff happened when they were still trying to mash and they were they were a little discombobulated, but they got it together and they'll go into next season thinking that now the strength of the team. Sunday's game starts at one o'clock, and since the Bengals are expected to rest Joe Burrow and many starters,

Cleveland is currently a six point favorite. That's going to do it for this episode of the Bengals Booth podcast brought to you by Ultimate Bengals. They're free to play Next Level Fantasy Football game downloaded now from 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 Boot Podcast.