Bengals Booth Podcast: Ready To Start

Jamar Chase's drops. In my fun Facts conversation. This week, you'll get to know one of the most pleasant surprises of training camp, defensive back Jayalen Davis. And finally, I'll discuss Joe Burrow, Jamar Chase, the offensive line, and much

more with NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger. The Bengals Booth Podcast is presented by bug Light Seltzer Refreshed the Game 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 subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify,

or pod Bean. It's the greatest thing since the Bengals New Ruler of the Jungle ceremony This Sunday, fifteen minutes before kickoff against the Dolphins, the Bengals will debut a new pregame ritual from a jungle themed throne at Paul Brown's Stadium, as a so called Ruler of the Jungle will lead the crowd in the Hoo Day chant to get everybody fired up for game time. The first Ruler of the Jungle will be super fan James J. B. Brown, who has led the players out of the tunnel and

onto the field at home games for many years. In games to come, the Ruler of the Jungle could be a former Bengal, a celebrity, a prominent Cincinnati athlete from another sport. There are all sorts of possibilities. It's all part of the Bengals concerted effort to make game day memorable at Paul Brown Stadium. Now, let's get to Joe Burrow. On Wednesday, head coach Zach Taylor announced that Joe Burrow

will start in Sunday's final preseason game against Miami. He won't be in there for very long, and you can bet there will be no deep passes where Joe stands in the pocket and could take a shot to the left knee. I've been joking that the Bengal should introduce a new shotgun formation where the quarterback stands twenty seven yards behind the center, just to be safe. At least I think that's a joke. In any case, here's Burrow on the decision to let him play in a preseason game.

This is the plan the whole time. We just didn't want to tell you, guys. So I'm excited to get out there and have a game game type feel. I think it's important to going into this last preseason game to be as close as you can to having a game like feel. I'm going to be in the huddle during Game one, so I need to be out there for the first play of this game. So I'm excited if you want to make Game three of the preseason

feel like Game one of the regular season. And they need to hear how I'm going to call plays during a game. You know they hear it in practice, but they need to hear it in a game like situation. Okay, I'll admit that I have been saying for months that Joe shouldn't play in the preseason. I exaggerated and said I wouldn't even let him come to the stadium. But in case you missed it, on a previous edition of this podcast, former Bengals quarterback Boomer Assiasin made the case

that Burrow should play. I would think like him. I'd want to play. I wanted to play in the preseason. I wanted to get hit. I wanted to feel the rush of the game, even though the game didn't mean anything. You're still out there with your teammates. You're calling your plays, even though they may be the most basic of place, but you still want to feel like you can go out there and do it. And I hope they let him play at some point. Boomer and Joe will get

their wish. On Sunday, another player returning from a torn acl center Trey Hopkins, will also see his first preseason action. The other big story at Bengals camp has involved Jamar Chase overcoming the butter fingers that plagued him Washington last week, where he dropped all three passes thrown his way in his first practice. After that game, Chase continue to have a case of the drops, but since then he's put together three strong practices in a row. Jamara is hardly

the first receiver to have this problem. Earlier this week, I asked Tyler Boyd and t Higgins if they could ever remember a time, whether it was in high school, college, or the NFL, where they simply could not catch the ball absolutely. You know, a few times in my legacy, you know, I felt felt that way. I look out my hands, like, yoh, what is wrong with me? Like what is what is it? You know, because it never

happens usually, you know. So I'll just try to try to block everything out once once I know we call a play and I know I'm gonna get the ball, you know, I try to just stay relaxed and just just go back on on a little thing, go back on what I just need to do to figure out a way to get a catch, you know. And once I get that catch and I feel the ball stick to my hands, then that's when I started feeling like okay, yeah, I'm back and back in normal, you know. So it's

it's mental, man. It just plays with you lot, you know, because they don't make you feel like you're not good enough, or it can take you deep into the into your thoughts. So I mean, I try to not let it bury myself. You know. I think I did a good good job, but just like I said, just continued to try to move on to the next play. I was in college. I'n'na say. It's my sophomore year. I was. I was fall camp. I was like three days in a row where I was going just dropping it, and I had

to sit down and talk to myself. It's like, man, this is not you. You know, you're here to catch the ball and you'll be playing on a college level. And so I mean, I just told myself, man, just to go out there and just be you and just relax. See I was I was doing too much. I wasn't relaxing. And that's ever since then. I'd like to talk to myself when I you know, I start having drops. There are two reasons why I'm not worried about Jamar Chase.

Number One, drops weren't an issue with LSU. In fact, vice grip hands were one of the big reasons why Chase was considered the best wide receiver in this year's draft. Number two two, I don't think I have ever seen a player catch more passes off of a jugsmachine after practice than Jamaar Chase. His work ethic is phenomenal and he will put this in the rear view mirror. The Bengals Booth podcast is presented by Bud Light Seltzer. It's

light and refreshing with a hint of fruit flavor. Now time for this week's fantastic fun Facts segment, where you get to know the person under the pads. Time for some fun facts with defensive back Jalen Davis from La Mesa, California, not too far from San Diego. That's your home now, But you were born in Honolulu. How much time did you spend in Hawaii. I spent the long time now. I spent the good two weeks two weeks over there

in Honoluluaii. Yeah, my dad was in a military in Dnahem when I was out there, and then we moved out right after I was born, so not too long. So we always assume that when your parent is in the military that you had a strict upbringing. Was that the case for you? No, that was that was not the case for me. I had amazing parents to just let me go out there and just do whatever I wanted to do and just be me. We're doing fun facts with Jayalen Davis. Tell me about the nickname Little

train y'all. You know that you can find anything on the internet. Yeah, that was my nickname in pop Warner. You know what I mean. First, like my first Taggle football year, I always wanted to run people over. Like whenever I got the ball in my hand, I was wanted to run you over. Ya. I wasn't trying to shake, I wan't trying to do nothing else, was trying to run you over. Said they was. Let you know what, even call you a little train because you just always

want to run people over. And I was like always the smallest on the team, and I was always wanted to run people over. So when was the last time somebody called you little train? Well, everybody from that era of me growing up right there still calling me a little train, but not too many people know that. Now. We're doing fun facts with Jayalen Davis. She attended he Looks High School, the ala mater of Reggie Bush, NFL

quarterback Alex Smith, and Bill Walton, among others. Is there an explanation for why so many great athletes have come out of Helix High School? I don't know. It's just a it's just a good program over there. There's a good program. Who there's less football and then got good coaches who want you to just to be the best football. So Helix is a good, good program over there in San Diego. In your senior year, four puck return touchdowns, two kick return touchdowns. Do you miss returning kicks? He

sometimes I do. I wish I can go back. Hey, I wish I can get that ball back in my hands to go back there and do a little bit because I was that guy back there. How tell you that? But yeah, I do miss it. I do miss it here and there visiting with Jalen Davis from Helix High It was onto Utah State located in Logan, Utah. I'm guessing the very few listeners to this segment I've ever been to Logan, Utah, describe what that's like. It is a very small, very small town who loves Utah State.

Good Little Logan is a very small town that loves just the history around the college and just it's a beautiful place. If you've never been, I advised you to go over there and see Logan, Utah mountains are unbelievable. Would you recommend Aggie ice cream? Yes, I would recommend Aggie ice Creams a good ice cream. You go to logan. Make sure you go to Aggie ice Cream. We're doing

fun facts with Jayalen Davis. You became the first true freshman to start a season opener at cornerback in school history. Your first game is at Tennessee, one hundred thousand people in attendance. Was it overwhelming at all? No, it wasn't. You know. I feel like that was just like my moment I just realizing like I made for football, Like this is what this is what I can do, Because normally you think you'd be nervous, Like it was so loud.

It was a loud of stateium I've ever been in my life, and I was just so ready once I heard all the fans screaming, fans booing, I would have so ready to go out there and showcase my ability. So it was amazing experience. You had a tremendous college career forty nine starts, eleven interceptions, forty eight pass deflections. That's a school record. Despite all of that, you did not get drafted apparently because of your height. How disappointing

was that? It was very disappointing, But you know that just adds fuel to the fire, you know what I mean? It just gives me more and more to motivate myself and just go out there and just show everybody what they missed, not own. You wound up signing with the Miami Dolphins. Initially your first game with the Dolphins December of twenty eighteen. Final score Miami thirty four, New England

thirty three. That's the game that ended with the Miami miracle, a seventy yard touchdown pass with a couple of laterals on the final play of the game. What was it like to be on the field or on the sideline, I suppose for that man that was that was amazing. That was an amazing experience that you would never you would never really see that ever happened in the NFL game and is happening to happen my first time ever

playing on an NFL team, NFL sport. It was just an electricity and the just the shock of everything going on, everybody going wild, everybody's screaming, jumping around. It was an amazing time. And we learned that Gronk is not a great tackler because the Patriots had him as the last line of defense and that didn't work out so well. It did not work out so good. If you get Ken, Drake and Gronk, I'm gonna take Ken and Drake every single time. A few more fun facts with a Jayalen Davis.

She joined the Bengals last year, initially on the practice squad. He got elevated to the game day roster at Pittsburgh under difficult circumstances. Four cornerbacks were out, four coaches were out due to COVID nineteen. Mackenzie Alexander suffered a concussion early in the game. You wanted up basically playing the entire way. Was that one of the craziest experiences you've

had in sports? It was definitely crazy. But you know, I'm here to play football and I can't play football, so whenever my name is called, I'm gonna be ready every single time. That just makes me want to keep on preparing more because you never know when your opportunity is going to come, and when it comes, you better meet the best of it. You've had an excellent training camp, and in the preseason opener against Tampa Bay, you deflected

two passes that teammates intercepted. Do you feel like you're kind of opening some eyes with your play? Hey, that's what I'm trying to do here. That's what I'm trying to do right now. It's just open the eyes of everybody watching and just get everybody to trust me and trust that I can do my job and perform to my abilities. And that's what I'm gonna do. It's coming out every day, that's giving my best, doing my job and go from there. All right, a few wildcard categories

to wrap things up. Do you have a hidden talent? I am very good at games, very good at video game. That's my hidden talent. And what's your game of choice? Two K in May two K Madden? Anybody ever want to play me? Let me know I will beat you. My fifteen year old son might want a piece of that challenge. Is is there anything that you're absolutely terrible at? I'm sorry, I cannot say I'm absolutely anything Like I'm very good at everything. Nothing wrong with that. If he

can back it up. Last thing, If you could meet anybody in history, athlete, statesman, politician, actor, whatever it might be, who would it be? Ah? Michael Vick athlete? Growing up quarterback left the ill thought out that quarterback. So that was my favorite athlete. All right, you were off the hot seat. I appreciate your time continued success. Thank you. Jalen has had an outstanding camp and depth is always

crucial at cornerback. Earlier this week, Trey Wayne's injured a hamstring at practice and at this point there's no word on if he'll be back in time for the regular season opener against Minnesota. Last week, due to NFL COVID protocols, we needed depth in the Bengals radio and TV booths. Dave Lapham had to miss the game, so I called it on radio with a voice of the Ohio State Buckeyes,

Paul Keels on the TV side. Hall of Famer Anthony Munio's was sidelined, so the Bengals reached out to NFL network analyst Brian Baldinger, who did a terrific job working with Mike Watts. I spoke to Brian about the Bengals this week. All right, let's start with a position you played for eleven NFL seasons, offensive line. The Bengals brought back Frank Pollock, they signed Riley Reef, they drafted three offensive lineman. Do you think it's significantly improved or does

that remain a big question mark in your mind? Well? I think it's a question mark. You're gonna see what you know. Trey Hopkins, you know, health is gonna be like if he's gonna be ready to go. He's a big part of this. But I I like the depths Dan. I like Riley Reef at right tackle. He's looked good to me so far, but he's been a quality starter. Joe has got to hold down that left tackle position.

You up against Cleveland, you're gonna see Miles Garrett. I mean, both guys are gonna see Miles and you gotta you know, you gotta keep them off your quarterback. I mean it's a that's a hard assigned for anybody. But I believe, like Fred Johnson coming back and just looking at the depth that they have. I like what I solved Deontay

Smith in the first preseason game. I got to see more now he missed the second one, but I believe, you know, he's got a chance with his long arms and his frame, you know, to be able to you know, fill in that. I don't know if he can start yet, but I know that, you know, he's a guy that can add depth to your offense life. I think for the first time they've got real depth and I think that's going to be important as they go through the season. Those guys that you mentioned have all been raving about

Frank Pollock. How much does an old line coach matter? Well, I'll make a comparison. You look at what Cleveland was the two nineteen and you look at Cleveland with Bill Callahan in twenty twenty. I mean it was the best. It was the best hire that Kevin Sapansk he had. I think it's it's hugely important to be able to mold the group, to be able to work on the techniques,

to teach the offense, to teach the scheme. But then more importantly, when things aren't going well on Sundays, do you have the ability to fix or adjust or tinker with your line to be able to take you Dan in trouble? For example, if you can't get to the middle linebacker for whatever reason the way that he's stacked like, you got to figure out the block and scheme to

get to him if you're gonna run the ball. Those are just in game adjustments that you have to be able to make, and I think Frank's experience allows them to be able to do that. That is a really good point we're talking to Brian Baldinger from the NFL Network. On Wednesday, Zach Taylor announced that Joe Burrow he is going to play a few snaps in the final preseason game this week against Miami. Do you agree with that

decision and what impresses you most about Joe Burrow? Well, I watched him war him up last week in Washington, Dan and he looked really good. He looked focused, He looked leaner than I thought he was. It's a big old metalic brace on that knee, you know, which is fine? Which is fine? I mean I wore a knee brace my entire career after I tore my ACL in college. Many guys Peyton Manning was part of his uniform. So I think that's the big thing, is to go out

there and look, the brace is part of the uniform. Now. The knee is never gonna feel quite the same as it did pre injury, but you gotta get used to it. You gotta you gotta feel it. I know he wants to play, and I think it's the right decision. It is. It is fairly quick turn around, but you know, a lot of teams and a lot of players have you know, injured their ACL, had it reconstructed, and came back and

played in the time frame that Joe has. But I do think if he's gonna be your Day one starter, you know, against Minnesota, then put him out there because you know two weeks are gonna make a difference. So put him out there. Let him get more comfortable with the equipment, let him get comfortable in a game situation, and let him start getting ready for Minnesota Week one. What stood out to you in the nine and a half games he played last year. Well, I saw him

live against Philadelphia and he was unbelievable. I saw him throw for four hundred against Cleveland. He was unreal. I saw him Week one last year against the Chargers. They should have won the game. I don't know about to call at the end of the game. I mean he brought the team down the field and put him in a position to win it. I still believe, you know, Aja caught to whatever. But I just think it's overall poise. The same accuracy we saw at LSU. We saw last year.

I think he completed seventy six percenters passes at LSU. It is you know, the Heisman Trophy run in national Championship, you know run that they had just as overall accuracy, uh and no, and just how quickly he can go to a progression and get the ball, you know, to the right guy. I mean, that's that's the skill that not many people have. We're talking to Brian Baldinger. He

called the Bengals game last week on TV. It was obvious you did a ton of prep going into that game, Brian, did anything catch your eye or stand out that you didn't know about the Bengals going in? How good I think they could be defensively this year? Dan, You know, obviously you know William Jackson is no longer there, and you know Carl Lawson has gone. But when you look at Trey Hendrickson and you look at you know what they have on the defensive front right now, DJ Reader healthy?

You know, I just feel like and there two linebackers and then the corners of Trey Waynes and Cheeto really play healthy, stay healthy, and really play to their abilities, which I think they will. We know the sameetul position is in good hands with Jesse Bates, who's very underrated player. Bomb Bell, Like, I just think defensively they have a chance to stay in every game with what they have right now, their ability to get to the quarterback, the

ability to stuff to run. I think defensively, it opened my eyes. I don't know what's going on with a side because I thought he could be a big part of it. So I don't know. You might know more right now, Dan. You know, the reports weren't good, but I thought he could be a guy that could really help them this year. So in the Washington game, Jamar Chase was targeted three times and failed to catch any of those passes. How concerned should we be? I think they were all third downs to uh, Dan, I would

be concerned. But I think a lot of these guys that did not play last year are struggling to a degree. You know, I'm today Sewell is struggling right now Detroit. Um. You know, I think I think just some of these guys that didn't play, I mean, I think it takes a while to get their eyes right, to get their hands right. Um, because that's what it looked like to me, looked like he was late with his hands on some of those throws that were made to him last week. Um.

Sometimes that's the eyes just adjusting to games. B I'd be concerned now, but it's but the concern would go away if the drops go away. You know that. That's just where I'm at with it right now. I mean, you just gotta you gotta be able to put it all back together like it was twenty nineteen. And if you haven't played competitively, especially at that position, then I

think you got to work your way through it. I remember before the draft you saying on NFL Network that you were in favor of taking Chase instead of panay Sewell, what was your reasoning? I thought pinay Swell had real palace issues. I know he's only twenty years old, but when I watched him against better competition, there wasn't a lot in the fact. Well, but when you watched him against Auburn and you watched him against Wisconsin, I thought there was some real balance issues. It showed up last

week against Pittsburgh big time. It showed up the week before against Buffalo. Now, you know, look, he's twenty twenty one. Now, you know, maybe he'll get his feet underneath him. But I think there's I think there's some natural concerns that I have about the way his body is, the way that he takes on rushers and adjust. I think that there's some real issues right there with him, and I

thought that would carry over into the NFL. And so when they made that decision to go with Jamar Chase, I didn't have any problem with it all to really work on the three receiver sets that you're going to see with what they have right now with Tyler Boyd, which he Hagen Soul. I thought that was the right choice from if the decision was Sewel or Chase, I was going with Chase all day. We're chatting with Brian Baldinger from the NFL Network. He can follow him on

Twitter at Baldy NFL. I was fortunate to sit in on a pregame zoom call with you and Zach Taylor and some other people that were broadcasting the game last week, and you brought up the enthusiasm that you saw on the Bengal sideline in the first preseason game. And when you said that, Zach Taylor lit up like a Christmas tree and said he was really glad that you noticed it. You played the game for more than a decade. Is that a significant thing? Yeah, it is, you know, I

was just watching. I just bring up an example I was watching in Denver yesterday and they got a young player at Ohio State, John the Cooper, and he had a sack fumble, and I just saw the sidelines, led by Von Miller, jumping up and down like it was Christmas, you know, like pulling for the players. And I see the same thing. You know, I see the same thing with Hubbard and you know with Trey Hendrickson, and you know some of the leaders of the team, where they're

pulling for these guys, and it's it's I think it's palpable. Dan. I think you know something to look for this week again where the fetchers are pulling for the young guys. They're not got a baseball cap on and tuned out on the sidelines, they're into it. And I think it's really really important to be able to build that camaraderie and to really have that type of enthusiasm. It's contagious. You need it. Things don't always go right on Sundays.

Sometimes you gotta turn your fortune around. I remember when I was a young player in Dallas, when I was a rookie and and two tall Jones was one of our leaders, and I remember, you know, at a point during my rookie season, we were down significantly in a game and I just remember two tall Jones going up down the sidelines saying, we're gonna win this game. We're gonna win it. We're gonna come back and win this game. And I was like, Okay, Judall said, we're gonna win it.

Let's see if we did. We came back, we won the game, and you just have to have that belief. And I've seen it on the sidelines and I believe it's it's real, and it's one of the reasons why I'm optimistic about Cincinnati. You know, Zach Taylor's third year of turning this thing around. So the Bengals are in a division where the other three teams made the playoffs last year and all of them won at least eleven games. What do you think about the AFC North this year

and what do you think constitute success for Cincinnati. I can't put it, you know, a number of wins on it. I think they'll definitely have more than they had a year ago. I think the top of the total will go up. But it's a very tough division. You know, if you watch PITSTOPGH against Detroit on Friday night, you know, Ben looked great. The young players, the rebuild offensive line looks better. Naji Harris is a good fit for what they're doing. You know, it's I think it's the best

division of football. But you know, we saw them in a shootout against Cleveland last year. It was a fun game to watch. I just think the AFC North it's just gonna be as fun a division to watch as any division in all of football. You can say the NFC West, you can say all this stuff, but I mean, you know what you're getting with Lamar Jackson in Baltimore. You know what you're getting from them defensively. You know

what Cleveland wants to do offensively right now. The way that they can run the football, the way that they run it, it's just gonna be really really competitive football. It's gonna be every one of those games. I think it's gonna be must watch TV right now. Bryan. I know Bengals fans really enjoyed your analysis last week. I appreciate your time today and I help our paths cross at some point this season. Thank you, you bet Dan,

anytime that's going to do it. For this episode of the Bengals Booth Podcast brought to you by bud Light. Seltzer refreshed the game. If you haven't done so already, please subscribe and if you have a minute, give it a rating or share a comment that helps more Bengals fans find this podcast. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for listening to the Bengals Booth Podcast