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00:00:00
Speaker 1: I see like the Jay's avatar and I see his avatar moving and now I see his face and now there he is. Can we hear him now?
00:00:09
Speaker 2: You got me?
00:00:10
Speaker 1: Oh, yes. Thank God we were able to make this work.
00:00:13
Speaker 2: Good afternoon, Jay. This is the horrible Wi-Fi that they have at the stadium. I was scrambling to try to get plugged to an Ethernet. I finally got it. I'm good now.
00:00:22
Speaker 1: If you think the Wi-Fi is bad there, come join me in the stands on Sunday.
00:00:26
Speaker 2: Okay. Well, it works great for regular stuff. It's just terrible for video.
00:00:32
Speaker 1: All right. Well, you know, sometimes I'll post a picture in the first quarter and then it'll pop up when I'm laying in bed that night. So it's, uh, it works out well. Bengals are getting guys back who are eligible to practice. How close are we to actually seeing them on the field?
00:00:48
Speaker 2: Uh, yeah, it's a good question. All three went full today. So I, they do have an open roster spot. You would think at least one of those guys is going to be elevated. Um, Yoshi would seem the most likely. I don't know that they need Brian Parker because Dylan Fairchild went full today. He looks like he's going to be good to go. And just putting a rookie in in that position, he'd probably be inactive even once he's on the 53. Jalen Davis, maybe, but they were encouraged by the way Josh Newton played. Maybe they give Jalen Davis a chance. another week to, to get up to speed, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Yoshi out there on Sunday.
00:01:22
Speaker 1: Uh, they tried to make a trade for an edge. It didn't work out the mechanics of that we've discussed to death. Um, but it, it, it was an acknowledgement of a need, at least rotationally at edge. They don't have cash as how Shamar Stewart, man, your guess is as good as mine as what does to what you can count on from him. Miles Murphy has been a little bit of a disappointment beyond boy, a mafia. Where's the pass rush from the edge going to come from?
00:01:47
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, that's a good question. Cedric Johnson's been pretty good, and he's been good against the run as well. Maybe this is the game that he steps up and plays really well, plays a lot more than we're used to seeing. Maybe it is Shamar. They're not down on Shamar. He just has been so far behind with the injuries and the contract thing last year, and they were really looking for ways to get him on the field. Well, here's your chance with Cassius Howe out on IR. So, You know, I'm sure he'll get some run early. They'll see how he looks. But this could be a surprise big game for Cedric Johnson.
00:02:21
Speaker 1: What is a reasonable take on what didn't happen at the deadline?
00:02:28
Speaker 2: A reasonable take.
00:02:30
Speaker 1: Um, because it's, it's the, they're not doomed. Like they're, they're a good team. They're six and two. Their offense is humming. Dexter Lawrence is awesome. Boy, my face terrific. DJ Turner's really good. The pluses dramatically outweigh the negatives, but there's still a sense of, man, they, they could have used one more guy and didn't get them.
00:02:49
Speaker 2: They could have, but if, if, if Shamar Stewart last year's first round pick is your fallback, that's, that's not a bad spot to be in. I think it's more of a, Just a black eye. And I don't want to say incompetence because this front office has done a really good job of building this roster. It was a really, really bad mistake. And there's these narratives out there that it's a small staff and they don't know what they're doing. That's not going away after this. And on one hand, it's not good that the tweet comes out and blows up in their face like that. But on the other hand, it's really good news that the tweet came out because imagine– the blowback if they make that trade official and then they lose the third round pick.
00:03:32
Speaker 1: Yeah. Uh, against Pittsburgh, the first go around Jalen Warren, they couldn't tackle him. They couldn't tackle Darnell Washington. Are they going to be able to tackle those guys Sunday night?
00:03:42
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's going to decide the game. I think, um, we were talking to fig Newton today. It's like, how do you tackle Darnell Washington? He said, low, that's the only option you have to go low. Um, Jalen Warren's going to be one. Pittsburgh's really leaning on him. I do think the Bengals have been better tackling in recent games. I thought Barrett Carter was really good against Bajon Robinson in Spain. And now Golden said he texted him on Tuesday and told him he thought he played his best game since he's been here. That's a really encouraging sign. But yeah, if they can't stop that run game... it turns into a shootout. If this, if both teams are getting up around 30, I think it kind of leans towards Pittsburgh, which is crazy to say the way they're built, the Bengals have to figure out a way to hold that offense to fewer points than the 30 they scored last.
00:04:29
Speaker 1: You know, we, you, you, you and I just talked about the trade mess. And one of the things I hate about it is it, it does feed the perception that the Bengals incompetence is too strong, but aren't fully equipped to make decisions. What I hate about it is the way they played on Sunday, I think was reflective of not just them being better than the Atlanta Falcons, but organizationally knowing how to handle Madrid, the travel, the logistics, and everything that tends to swirl around a game like that. You were there. Could you speak to that for me?
00:05:02
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was a masterclass. You know, just the way they practice Tuesday, they take Wednesday off, they let them walk around the city. It's not just getting their bodies right. I think we overlook the bonding and the camaraderie aspect of a trip like that. It's why you see high school and college teams take these spring break trips and these trips out of town. There's real value in that and having the team together in one spot and growing as people and friends and teammates and brothers and all of that. So they both got, they were both on the same schedule, but it was clear the Bengals handled it better. And that's only half the battle. You come back and now you have to adjust the schedule this week. And they've done that. And the players have all been raving about the schedule Zach Taylor's put together. Al Golden called Zach Taylor a pioneer when it comes to taking care of the players and their bodies. So it's not an ideal spot to be in coming back from international, playing a team coming off a bye. The Steelers, by the way, are 9-0 in their last nine games after a bye. It's going to be a tough spot for the Bengals on Sunday night.
00:06:03
Speaker 1: If the Wi-Fi isn't working, will that give me an excuse to not text the jerk line that Mike Tomlin's in the building?
00:06:12
Speaker 2: You should just come up to the press box, talk to you right in here, and we'll have one of us do it.
00:06:17
Speaker 1: That'd be fun. That might be my plan. All right, we'll see if we can make that work. Good to see you, man. Thanks so much. All right.
00:06:24
Speaker 2: Thanks, man.
00:06:24
Speaker 1: That's our guy, Jay Morrison, BengalsTalk.com. And of course, part of the Growler Podcast Network back from Madrid covering the Bengals as they get set to play the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday evening, 8.20 on ESPN 1530.