Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - BENGALS SQUAD SHOW: Joe Burrow is FIRED UP for 2026, BELIEVES the Bengals will be REALLY GOOD

Episode Date: May 19, 2026

Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow is going to speak to the media Wednesday for the first time this offseason, but he made some recent comments in an article on bengals.com indicating he is really happy with where the Bengals are at this point in the offseason.   Alex Frank, Jake Liscow, and Coach Art Valero discuss Joe Burrow's and the Bengals' state organizationally as their quarterback prepares to lead them overseas and through a pivotal 2026 Season.   Burrow says the Bengals have everything they need to be really good. Aside from linebacker, that may be true. But is there another glaring need that still exists for this team? It never hurts to have depth on offense.   When the Bengals go overseas, they will not have a bye week the week after. How much could that impact them? Is it not anything to worry about? Or, is it concerning wit the Bengals playing 12 straight games to end the regular season after their Week 6 bye?   Every team has one or more games on their schedule that is viewed as a trap game. For the Bengals, Alex has one game he's really nervous about even though he shouldn't be. Jake and Coach also give their trap games.   Join the Locked On Bengals Insider Community! https://joinsubtext.com/lockedonbengals   Everydayer Club If you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everyday...   Find and follow Locked On Bengals on your favorite podcast platforms:   Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...   Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7AObc0l...   Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0...   Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/locked-...   Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!   Square If you’re starting a business, or running one that deserves better tools, Square helps you sell, manage, and grow without slowing down. Right now, you can get up to $200 off Square hardware at https://square.com/go/LockedOnNFL.   FanDuel Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now new customers can bet just five dollars and get one-hundred and fifty dollars in bonus bets if your first bet wins. Visit https://FANDUEL.COM to get started — Play Your Game.   Indeed Listeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/podcast.   Gametime Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase.   FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I'm Alex Frank. I went to a journey concert on Friday night. You may have heard their song, Don't Stop Believe in. Joe Burrow is certainly believing going into this season. Certainly a contrast to his comments before the offseason acquisition process began. Sounds like the front office has lived up to Joe Burroughs expectations. Well, I think there's a lot of still unfinished business in the front office with the linebacker core. and a slot receiver, number three receiver, I think that they still have some work to do. Today, it's the Bengals Squad, everything Cincinnati Bengals every week.

Breaking down all the big hits and game-changing plays from the Queen City, the way only the locked-on podcast network can. From the jungle to the playoffs, the Bengals Squad Show starts now. Good afternoon. Welcome to the Bengals Squad Show. it is Tuesday, May 19th of 2006. It is toasty outside. Hopefully you are staying

cool inside wherever you are. I'm Alex Frank. He's Jake Lisco. He's coach Art Valero, the running backs coach of the Orlando Storm who clinched a postseason birth in their inaugural season last Friday night with the win at Fort Hood, the first ever professional football game played

at that military base coach. Congratulations to you, head coach Anthony Beckt and the Orlando Storm. We got so much to get to today. So happy you are here. Joe Burrow had some very, very interesting comments yesterday in an article on bangles.com written by Jeff Bush-Hopson. We'll get to those. He speaks tomorrow to the media. That's going to lead off today's show. Do the Bengals have everything they need for a successful 2026 campaign? Joe Burrough certainly thinks he does. Plus, no buy after the Madrid game. That's interesting. Do we like it? Are we really against it? And what are the quote-unquote

trap games on the Bengals 2026 schedule? That in segment four, but we'd be. begin with Joe Burrow and the comments he made about the Bengals go into Madrid and how it can grow the Bengals and the game, but also comments about how he is really happy and believing in this team and how really good they can be this season. Yeah, you know what? I think that he's got every right. I mean, he did basically, or they have done what he asked very quietly. But I think in everybody on the football team feels a lot better with the new bodies that they put into the locker room. and I think that, yeah, they're well on their way to having a complete football team. Now it's a matter of going and doing it. Let's take a look at some of the comments from Joe Burrow in the article on bangles.com

from Jeff Bush-Hopson yesterday. If you haven't had a chance to read it, highly recommend it, for those of you listening. This comment really stood out to me. Two things. I'll go to this one first, quote, this is Joe Burrow talking with Jeff Bush-Hopson, quote, you can feel the vibe and the leadership. has changed in the locker room a little bit. It's exciting for everyone.

I like hearing that. That's going to make me believe, and Joe Burroughs already believing, and if he believes, you should too. Yeah, you know what? I mean, that's something that they really lack, jazz here, was the leadership ability in that locker room. So when your leader,

at least on the offensive side of the ball, says that much, there is a great vibe. And that's what you need, is you need positive vibes in the building to go out through the preseason program or the offseason program. Take yourselves into OTAs. Take yourselves into mini-camp. Polish it all up. Give them some little bit of time off.

And when you show back up, everybody's got that new vigor and excitement about the season. Hey, let's go. Yeah. You're exactly right. Jake, I know you haven't chimed in you. That's okay. if you can hear us. I know if your mics have it in trouble or not. But this is the Joe Burrow that I remember from 2021 and 2022.

The jump on my back, the ultra-confident, I'm leading this team. I'm taking us to where we can go, which in those years was the AFC championship in both seasons, Super Bowl 56, coming within this close of winning the Lombardi trophy. This is the Joe Burrow we've been longing to see predating his wrist injury in Baltimore and everything that has followed since. It's so refreshing to hear it, Jake. Would you agree? I think this has less to do with Joe and more to do with the front office and the players

they acquired in the offseason. To me, this is Burrow for, I think, the third time in three weeks. Go back to MetGala Vanity Fair interview. Last week, he talked with Jeff Hobson for Bengals.com as well. And once again, this week, I think this is three straight weeks, unless two of those were last week. I can't keep time straight at this time of year all that well, but I believe that's three straight interviews,

if not three straight weeks, where Joe Burrow has effectively said, yeah, I challenged this front office before the offseason began. I called this offseason of paramount importance, free agency of paramount importance. And culminating with the Dexter Lawrence trade, I think that Joe Burrow has ultimately ended up praising the front office. Now, like I said, for three straight weeks,

for recognizing this window that they are, in and treating it as such. He talked with Jeff Hobson about making a, quote, big trade for a big time player and signing a free agent top safety on the market. He also talked about some of the other additions, but where we suffered through national talking heads speculating about Joe Burrough's future and people like Ian Rappaport even saying, ah, well, teams don't really think that Joe Burrow wants out. but when he says something like that, they're going to call the Bengals.

And then you have much less reasonable takes than that out there as well, especially since then. There was some gran, granule. What's the word I'm looking for? Granular? No, like a grain of sand. There was some grain of truth. Grain, just grain, just a single syllable word. There was a grain of truth to some of that, right?

where Burrow was, I think, in many ways challenging the front office. He was disappointed with the way the last couple of seasons have gone. Obviously, last season he was hurt. And so he couldn't put the entire blame on the organization for that, but it was very clear that the defense was lacking from comments from the coaching staff, the front office, from what we saw in the field last year, from what we heard from players last year, leadership on the defensive side of the ball. And in order to lead, as coach, you've talked about numerous times

when we've talked about leadership on the squad show, you have to have results on the football field. You can't have results on the football field if you're not producing on the football field. It's hard to produce on the football field if you're not a very good football player. And so adding quality football players with leadership experience is something that Burrough

noted in this article, specifically noting the effects of Brian Cook immediately making waves in the locker room. And Dexter Loris, who hasn't left Cincinnati since arriving after that trade, has been there for all of the offseason program since he was acquired, noting those two guys in particular for the leadership qualities he's immediately observed from both of them.

You know, that's a great thing. And Jake brings us up a great point. It's as if Joe has ripped the rearview mirror off. And it's like starting all over again. You know, with a new vibrant locker room, coaches probably have a hop in their step. And that translates in to the players. and on the field. So, yeah, hats off to them.

Let's go. It does feel like the Bengals are starting over. It kind of reminds me of the offseason before the 2021 season, where Joe Burrow was coming back from injury, and they revamped the defense. They signed an offensive lineman. They drafted Jamar Chase. And, Jake, you hit on something really interesting there,

Joe Burrow challenging this front office to the offseason that they have produced, which is very good. I think also, and you hit on this, Joe Burrow last year, maybe he felt he wasn't in position to do that because he wasn't out there. He missed nine games. And maybe that's why he made those comments back in December when he said he wasn't happy. He had to make sure that he was having fun doing it. Today's episode of the Bengals Squad Show brought to you by GameTime.

Right now you can download the GameTime app creating an account, use code, locked on $20 off your first purchase. Continuing with Joe Burroughs comments about the Bengals run office, this is also a comment that stood out to me in that article on Bengals.com. Quote, they're going to keep getting great players, they had the Bengals run office to come play for the Bengals. And when they do that, then it's my job and Zach's job and the leaders of this team to bring the locker room together and then go execute on the field.

And quote. And Jake, that goes to what you and James talked about earlier this week on the Bengals Squad show. The pressure is now on Zach Taylor. We've talked about it. It's on Al Golden. And it is on Joe Burrow to stay healthy to, you know, produce a season that's up to where he was in 24, 2021, 22. They know the pressure's on.

And they know there are no excuses this season. and combined with the quote-unquote easy schedule. Yeah, you know what? I think that it kind of flows into it because they went out and they got themselves some good quality guys that know how to win have been in winning programs. And it's one thing to get them when they're in college

and they're in winning programs. But when they're in the NFL and they know how to win, you know, you learn a lot when you suffer through losing season. probably more what not to do than what you would do. And by ripping their rearview mirror off and getting all those other guys back on board and getting in the team, hey, if Joe wants to put it on him, he's the marquee player, go for it. You know, and if Zach and his crew, his coaching staff, hey, it's been on them even before the offseason and before the draft. And now they just got them some toys that they can work with to go out there and try to put this thing together.

Yeah, I think the pressure that we talked about last week, we talked about it on the squad show. We talked about it this week on Lockdown Bengals earlier this week. We talked about these quotes on the Lockdown Bengals episode coming out later today as well. So you'll hear James and I talk about that and discuss some of the leadership and the importance of adding that leadership in the show later today. but the tearing off the rearview mirror is a good way to put it, coach. Instead of looking back, it's we have everything we need. The quote that we've heard from Joe Burrow now in multiple weeks, it's another occurrence of that quote in the interview with Jeff Hobson this week.

And Burrow is saying essentially, hey, we have no excuses as players. We have everything we need. And where my personal opinion was that the expectations for Zach Kahn and his coach, coaching staff for essentially playoffs or bust and not just backing into the playoffs either. I mean, maybe that's enough for the Bengals front office with how patient they are. I don't think that I would have to look at their history. I don't believe the Bengals have had an instance of firing a head coach after a

playoff appearance in their past. I can't think of one off the top of my head anyway. So maybe that would be enough for them to keep this coaching staff around. But maybe, and this was a point from James on. that episode earlier this week on Locked on Bengals, perhaps the acquisition of Dexter Lawrence has raised a bar even higher in the eyes of the front office, where to me, the expectations were, yeah, you're going to the playoffs or you're out of get out of jail free cards. You used your last one with replacing your defensive staff and bringing in out Golden and his

positional coaches. Maybe that's it. Maybe Dexter Lawrence does actually up the ante. and I wonder where the standard is for the front office this year, how many excuses still could exist for this coaching staff, for this team to survive if they fall short of expectations this year. And expectations, as Peter Schrager's talking about today, are for people to start having the Bengals' potential Super Bowl picks

as we get into the late part of May. You don't want the Bengals to do what the Carolina Panthers did last year in their situation, the Bengals, which is go eight and nine and back into the playoffs, despite losing your last two regular season games because your division isn't very good. The Panthers had a second year head coach last year, and the leash is still long for him.

The leash is shorter for Zach Taylor. He's going into year eight, and there are championship Super Bowl expectations within the Bengals organization. Joe Burrow, the one thing that, there are many things, but one thing that's always stood out to me about him is, how aware he is of what's going on around him and the Bengals. Like there are some athletes, coach, you've probably been around some,

that play the game, but when they are finished, when the game's done, they go home, they don't watch football the rest of the day. Joe Burrow will go home after a one o'clock game and watch other games, as he says, to see what they're doing and to get ideas on what the Bengals could do. And it's not just that. when he said about the Bengals going overseas and he compared it to the 90s and how they grew the game of basketball, different sport. But at the same time, Joe Burrow is a student of the game of football.

I think he also has a very vast knowledge of sports history. And you don't hear a lot of athletes share that side of them. I think that's what makes Joe Burrow really unique in that regard. Oh, absolutely. You know, coach's kid, been around it his whole life, a star player. What else is there? I mean, really. Hey, probably very out of place at the med gala.

You know, I mean, it's like, okay, the world's a tuxedo and I'm a brown pair of shoes. I don't belong here. I need to be in a locker room. You know, it's one of those things. Him wanting to be an ambassador for not only the NFL, but for the Bengals to go overseas and be able to play in front of an entirely new audience and kind of spread the love. of what the game means to him. You know, there's an awful lot of guys,

especially in the NFL still, that they love what the game gives them. Not necessarily do they love the game to the fact that they're going to go home after a game, win, lose or draw, and watch other people play. And, you know, they wait for the coaches to bring it up as opposed to, hey, this is my life. This is my livelihood, and I'm willing to give everything to it and try to build on that and give it back to it.

And that's what it seems like Joe Burrow is the kind of kid. He's definitely that kind of guy. And he talked about that even in relation to the Bengals schedule, where they open with seven straight 1 p.m. game. Burrow told Jeff Hobson, when we go on the road, we get back home early and watch more football. It's always beneficial to watch more games, see how teams are playing and what teams are doing, see what defenses are doing. So exactly like you said, Coach, he talked about that in the very interview we're discussing today. You know what? I bet he's one of those guys when he gets on the plane and they serve him their food and stuff when he's coming back.

He's got his iPad out and he's already rewatch watching the game. So by the time the next game shows up, he's probably already watched the previous game three to four different times to where he can get better. And you know what? That's the kind of leader you want. you want that to rub off and say, hey, you know what, if I'm going to be as good as him or have a chance, I need to follow his footsteps in how he prepares each and every week. Well, Joe Burrow, you bring up the fact that when he gets on the plane, that he's already rewatching the game. When he was first injured in 2020, he, you know, the first thing that he was talking about,

I think with his dad after the game was how well they were moving the ball against the then Washington football team's defense. So he's just a savant when it comes to football. He's a student of the game. And he also just so happens, in addition to being a sportsman and understanding the cultural impact that certain phenomenons in sports can have, phenomenon or where is a phenomenon? Clearly, I need to go back to English class. But he gets all of that. And he's also really good at what he does on the field.

Speaking of the schedule 1 o'clock games, seven straight to start the season, And Joe Borough had this to say about the Bengals schedule later in the season where they will play three primetime games, a 425 game and a game in Madrid. Quote, we'll try to get flex a couple of times into the sweet spot later in the season. Everybody feels like this is going to be an exciting season for us. So now we put in the work over the next several months to put the pieces in place to get to where we want. He continues, quote, we're a marketable team. You would want us to go overseas and try to grow the game. We're an exciting team to watch.

We've got big names. We're going to be really good. this year, and quote. That's the Joe Burrow we got to know early on in his career. And there he is again. Discount the Bengals at your own risk going into this season. Joe Burrow sounds like he's coming and he's believing. Hey, that's what you want to hear out of a leader because you know what? That's infectious. And it's infectious in the locker room. When you've got your quarterback, the guy that's got the keys of the car and he's ready to jump behind it. Let's, go. And I think that that will be infectious on defense, special teams, and certainly with the

offense. Without question. I mean, you got Jamar Chase and T. Higgins under contract for the next several years. Chase Brown at running back. And his future is obviously going to be a topic of conversation this offseason. Does he get a contract extension this offseason, next offseason? could the Bengals franchise tag him next year? A lot of possibilities for Chase Brown. But the offensive line is all five starters returning. And Joe Burroughs says that Bengals have everything they need. I'll tell you why I agree with him,

even with the concerns that reside at linebacker. This episode of the Bengals Squad show is brought to you by game time. You know, we can do a lot of things very quickly these days with technology. We can order food in minutes. We can stream anything. we can do everything from our phones, although my notes are on my computer, and somehow buying tickets to live events still feels way harder than it should be. There's long lines, confusing checkout, prices jumping at the last second.

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I'm Alex Frank on the Bengals Squash show, the twice a week long-form conversational supplement to the daily locked on Bengals podcast. Joe Burroughs says that Bengals have everything they need. Coach, I'm going to go back to a point that Joe Dan have brought up a week and half ago when you and I were on with him. And he says, he said that the Bengals have arguably the best quarterback, wide receiver, and defensive tackle on their team in the NFL.

And he said, if you have that, you can contend for a Super Bowl championship. So in that sense, the Bengals may do, may in fact have everything they need to compete and contend for a Lombardi trophy this year. You know what? I mean, that, yeah, they've got a very, very good football team on paper right now. And as they know, in that office, in that locker room, They know it's a long way away to get to that point. And that's the key with how they're going about it is they've got some quality players, definite upgrade from where they were.

Now it's a matter of them going out and doing it, working hard, scheming themselves into wins, taking them one game at a time, and playing 17 different playoff games and just keep going. And they can't look down the road. I think everybody wants to look down the road. But hey, let's see where they're at at the end of December and take it from there. I mean, a lot of things can happen. A lot of good football teams have lost good players because of, I don't want to say the word, but everybody knows injuries.

I'll talk about it. But, hey, you never know what can happen. That's a crazy thing about this game. So you've got to take them one at the time. It's got to be next man up. everybody's got to step up and now they have some value with those kids that are now reserved players and in rotation players to where they can really, really put forth their best effort. I think that that is a definite positive for the 26 Bengals.

Look at the teams that have been successful in recent years. You generally have a few all pros on those teams. The Bengals have had one last. year to the year before, Trey Hendrickson was an all pro. He's no longer on the team. That same year, Dexter Lawrence was an all pro in 2024. And he's now on the team.

So there's a couple of all pros there. But Joe Burrow, somehow not an all pro at any point in his career. Quarterback's a very tough position to be an all pro. There's only one that makes it. And typically that's the MVP of the league. And Joe obviously hasn't won that award either. But he's certainly in that conversation. It would be nice to add a couple of more or at least some pro bowlers to go along with them.

So they can get a few pieces playing at a pro bowl. Pro Bowl level. And perhaps that's a conversation for another day is to try to predict the pro bowlers on this team. A pro bowl level players certainly. But will Amarius Mends take that step on the offensive line? That's a huge X factor to me when you look at the 2026 season. What level of play do they get out of DJ Turner in a potential contract season if an extension isn't done before the regular season rolls around for him? does Brian Cook give you something approximating a pro bowl level of play and what kind of steps do you get in that direction? Because you need those levels of players. And health, obviously, every year is going to be a wild card.

Like coach says, it's not something that people like to talk about. It's not something that you can predict. So it's not really worth a whole lot other than throwing it out there every time. Like, yeah, if they're healthy, then they'll probably be good. Because what else can you really say about it, right? that the business that we're in does not involve predicting who's going to get hurt or what those injury impacts are going to be, right? That's a retrospective bit of analysis that you can do every year to see how injuries

did impact teams. But something that you can speculate about, I think, much more freely is where those impact players will come from. We know who a couple of them will be for the Bengals, but another thing that will be very interesting are the X factors for this team. The linebackers certainly, I think, qualify in that X-factor, conversation as not necessarily in the same way that Amarius Menz does. I think Amarius Mims is like the realistic, yeah, that guy can really step up and be playing

it potentially even an all pro level if he continues his trajectory as the rare athletic toolkit that he's got at his size and the youth he had coming into the NFL and the stuff we've seen him take. But on the linebacker side of things, it's like, well, can the linebackers be at a, you know, roughly average level of play? That's the X factor you're talking about there because that's such a step up from what we saw from them as rookies. And when you talk about the Bengals having everything they need,

I know that the first thing that comes to the mind of every fan out there thinking about this team has got to be the linebacker position. I would think it has to be because, you know, that's the only place that they didn't, didn't from the outside looking in, didn't make any improvements. They, yeah, sure, they signed somebody, but you're thinking more special teams-wise,

A couple of college free agents, yeah. Nothing significant there. Yeah, that is actually there. So, yeah, they're better. Now, let's just say, let's see at the end of the day where they turn out to be. The other one that I know some people have talked about in the chat, and I know that the chat sometimes yells at us for not interacting with them enough. And coach, you talked about this beginning of the show,

which is why I'm bringing it up, is that third receiver position where there will be some competition this year with Andre Yosevaos, Kobe Young, and some of the other guys on the roster, Mitch Hensley, Kishon Williams, probably competing for those spots. Charlie Jones continues not to really get on the field on offense a whole lot, despite what he brings to the team as a returner. So I think that's another spot that some fans are thinking about. And the one that additionally stands out,

you talk about third wide receiver on one side of the ball, the third corner on the other side of the ball, I think, is one that we'll see how that plays out this year in terms of who's going to be ready to play this lot, who's going to be ready to play outside? Will Takario Davis be so good that he forces Daxil inside? So those are some questions, right, that if you're going to nitpick the Bengals off season and some of those nits are smaller than others, you would say they could have done more here or there. But when Joe Burrough says he has everything they need, I know Alex, you said you agree with him. And you can you can kind of understand his point when you take a step back and consider it from a big picture. Joe Burrow says that I'm going to believe

it, especially because, again, you have Jemar Chase and T. Higgins. You have arguably the best wide receiver in the NFL. You have a guy up front on defense, which has been lacking for years, the entire unit, and Dexter Lawrence, who's going to set the tone. Not to mention you brought in Boy Maffa. You drafted Cassius Howell. You brought in Brian Cook on the back end. Not to mention other guys like Jaseer Taylor and Kyle Dugger. You're interested in see what those guys can do. Oh, by the way, they also signed Jonathan Allen to beef up the defensive interior in addition to Dexter Lawrence. So, yeah, I'm going to agree with Joe Burrow here. I get the line. back are still a concern just because it's just, you just do not know what to expect from

Barrett Carter and Demetrius Knight this season. How much will they improve? Will they improve? I mean, those are legitimate questions. And then I don't think it's, I don't think it's nitpicking at all, Jake, when it comes to wide receiver three, because they do need depth at that position because what if someone goshabit does happen to Jamar Chase? T. Higgins has been injury prone throughout his career as well. We just don't talk about as much because Joe Burroughs injuries have kind of dwarves. that. So what if one of those, gosh forbid again, goes down? Do you have enough depth with Andre Josie Bosch and Kobe Young and whoever else you have at wide receiver? Do you may be bringing

a DeAndre Hopkins when it comes to the end of training camp? And then because you talk about, you know, on paper, this is a good roster. But when that roster gets tested and do they have enough depth like on the offensive line? They have five really good starters. But what if one of those guys goes down? Is Connor Lou ready to step in? Is Brian Parker the second ready to step in? Is Brian Parker the second ready to step in? What if someone happens to a tight end where we've seen some injuries, unfortunately, the last few seasons? Can a guy like Jack injuries go in and handle things and be a factor in the past game? Depth is a big concern for me on both sides of the ball. I think corner, it's also a big concern. You have DJ Turner, you have Dax Hill. I'm very intrigued to see what

Ticario Davis can do. But if one of those guys has to miss a game or multiple games, do you trust a guy like Josh Newton. Do you trust other guys on the depth jar that you may not be as confident in, as familiar with? Depth to me is probably my biggest worry outside of linebacker just because injuries are going to happen. It's a part of the game. Do you have enough or good enough of an insurance policy to counter and to cover for those if they happen? There's nothing you can do if Jamar Chase and T. Higgins goes down in terms of depth of the wide receiver position that will approximate the impact that Jamar Chase and T. Higgins give you. Correct. You're chasing a golden goose. It doesn't exist at that one. You're looking for the leprechaun at the end of the rainbow.

You know, like that it's not, it's not something that's feasible to do. It's a myth to find that that is that good. Or you just have to be incredibly lucky, right? Like every now and then you see these guys that come out of the sixth, seventh round or college free agents to turn into stars at the NFL level, but it's so rare. It's not something that you can reliably do. The Bengals instead has spent a fourth round draft pick this year. They still have Charlie Jones, a fourth round draft pick from four years ago. And Andre Yosevash, again, going into his fourth season, a guy that's played a lot of football as three players behind those two guys, your two superstar wide receivers that they have invested either draft picks or time in, Andre Yosevash making a little bit

more money this year. In addition to that, you've got Mike Keseki on the team, who's kind of in that wide receiver room more than he's in the tight end room. And I hear that you've got concerns about the tight-in position as well. I remain very bullish on Jack entries. We'll see what Eric Albrings to the table there this year. But I think that at this point, the one spot where I would really be talking about depth for this team, and you can make an argument at wide receiver. I think it's very challenging to make a compelling argument that DeAndre Hopkins could

really stick on this team. Because he'd have to be good enough to be your wide receiver three right away for the whole season because if you're not, then you've got to be playing special teams. And DeAndre Hopkins ain't playing special teams. I'll tell you that. So like when you talk about adding certain guys like that, then I'm not sure how much sense it practically makes unless there is an injury. And you need a guy that's going to be a wide receiver three.

You need a guy because you don't think Kobe Young is ready. You don't think that Charlie Jones can do that job or whatever it is. Right. But swing tackle, if you're talking about depth, that's one that I was really hoping that would have brought in more significant competition for Cody Ford there. And maybe that does end up being Brian Parker, who doesn't look like his best position in the NFL is going to be tackle, but give him a shot there.

Maybe that's the competition that happens in training camp. Maybe Javon Foster is a guy that they're really high on in terms of his upside there. But there's not super significant competition for swing tackle right now. We'll see how that shakes out over the course of OTAs and training camp and all those things. but in addition to corner, which is a spot where I think we're going to be talking about depth between now and the regular season, the other one that's really a standout to me is swing tackle where I think there were some opportunities and even still are some opportunities to bring in some real competition for Cody Ford that they haven't. And I feel that more significantly than I feel it at tight end, where to me it feels like they've got a bit of a roster clog at tight end when it comes to depth. They're not necessarily top heavy, but there are potentially up to six guys.

that could make 53-man rosters there at the tight end spot. And at wide receiver, you're potentially looking at an odd man out for a guy like Kisham Williams who showed that he was going to be something as a returner down the stretch for this team last year. Now, you could probably get Kisham Williams onto the practice squad, but he was a waiver claim for the Bengals last year. So he didn't make it through waivers when the Bengals got him because they claimed him. So there's that to consider as well.

So the competition at wide receiver certainly will be interesting, but hard for me to talk myself into a significant level of concern when it comes to receiver depth, given the level of investment the Bengals have there between paying T. Higgins and Jemar Chase and four draft, sorry, three draft picks in the top five of that depth chart. I think one place that we are, and everybody doesn't, kind of neglecting is, you know what, you lost some good special teams players. And when you have special teams, usually from those positions that you draw, your special teams players are from safety, linebacker, and tight ends. They've got that kind of body that can cover kicks, can block four returns.

And, you know, that's the place where last year I thought they had a good special teams because they had an awful lot of special teams players on the football team. Now, you've got to draft those guys or you've got to free agent those guys and get them in there. And you've got to be able to keep them on your roster, especially if they're part of that core special teams group. And you never talk about them, but you know, they're one third of the game. The big special teams loss, obviously, Tyson Anderson, who was second on the team and special teams snaps last year behind. Just Oren Berks, who for the flaws you might have had with him as a linebacker when he was on the field was a, a standout special team for the Bengals last year. But Tyson Anderson, 382 special team snaps on the kick return unit, the kick coverage unit,

the punt return unit, and the punt coverage unit. That's a many ways specialist. And Oren Burke's also playing those roles, DJ Ivy out there for all those teams, but kick return. And PJ Jules is the obvious error parent to Tyson Anderson, another guy who played on all four of those significant special teams units besides the field goal kick and field goal block teams. Joe Giles Harris, Shaka Hayward, a couple others. Joe Giles Harris. Taj Brooks also playing on all those special teams units for the Bengals last year.

Barrett Carter playing a lot of special teams for the Bengals last year as well. But the big one is going to be Tyson Anderson, who was obviously the ace for this team on special teams last year and discovering who that will be this year and who's going to take that rain from Tyson Anderson. Aaron Simmons has produced some really good special teamers over his long tenure in Cincinnati. That will be something that will determine probably a 52, 53 spot on this roster this summer. Well, when it comes to special teams for me, I just hope Evan McPherson and his bounceback season carries over into another very good 2026 season. There has been turnover at both the punner slash holder position and launch snapper in recent seasons.

hopefully there's not too much of back on into this season and for just future purposes in 27. I'll give you one other worry that I have. I do agree that the Bengals have everything they need if you take away the uncertainty and linebacker. Zach Taylor, because I just think of how many times the Bengals have lost games over the past five seasons where Zach Taylor took the ball out of Joe Burroughs hands. And I don't know if he's coaching scared.

I don't know if he's trying to run the football, catch the defense by surprise, which if it works great, but if it doesn't, you should just let Joe Burrow Cook. That's basically the premise of that. Let Joe Burrow Cook, if you're Zach Taylor,

and don't get in the way of his ability to win you games that are ultimately going to determine whether or not this team gets back to the playoffs and wins the AFC North. Well, you know, that comes down to, game plan and coaching decisions that he has to make. And like I said, or like we talked about, you know what? This is a big year. Big year for the Bengals, big year for Zach Taylor, big year for his staff. And I don't think that if your job's on, if my job was on the line, I put the ball in Joe Burroughs' hands and let him fling it around the field. Especially when you have Jamar Chase and T. Higgins

at your disposal to throw the ball to. Up next, the Bengals don't have a buy after their international game in Madrid, but I'll tell you why I'd rather have the Bengals situation than that of another team in the NFL. The Bengals squad show today is presented by Indeed, workplace chaos, deadline, stacking up, inbox overflowing, and that one position you have to fill still sitting open when the pressure's on and you need the right higher. This is a job for Indeed, sponsor jobs. Indeed, sponsor jobs helps you reach the people who actually.

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the premium status it deserves an Indeed.com slash podcast. Just go to Indeed.com slash podcast right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Again, that's Indeed.com slash podcast. Terms and conditions apply. If you need a hire, this is a job for Indeed, sponsored jobs. Obviously, the Bengals not getting a buy week after their game in Madrid was surprising. I'm not too upset about it.

And I say that with even more conviction than I had this weekend after I looked at the New England Patriot schedule. I'm not sure if you guys have seen this. But the Patriots play in Munich, the week after the Bengals go to Madrid. So they play in Munich, November 15th, week 10 against the Lions. They do have a buy the following week. But then they have to fly to L.A. for a Sunday night game against the Chargers. Mind you, that's Thanksgiving weekend. So you come back from Munich.

Yes, you have a buy, but then you have a West Coast trip from the other side of the other corner of the country practically. Oh, not to mention, they still will have to go to Kansas City in week 15 for a Primetime game on Monday night football, the Chargers game on Sunday night football. So while the Patriots do have a buy, they have two mammoth road trips after overseas. The Bengals, their longest road trip is Washington or Charlotte? I'll take that over the Patriots. I don't know about you guys, but that's just where I stand right now. I mean,

it didn't have to be that way. I mean, I hear what you're saying about the comparison. Just give the Bengals their buy where it has to be. Everything's fine. Like the early buy when you have an international game afterward, I think is rough. And early buy in the first place is not very ideal.

The Bengals don't play back-to-back home games until the end of the season in the first place. So you get to come home, then you get to travel, then you get to come home, then you get to travel. And so that's the case for many AFC teams this year, but it's the latest back-to-back home games that ever occurred in the Bengals schedule.

I don't think comparing the Bengals schedule to the Patriots makes you feel much better because they have that bi-week. Like, yeah, they got to fly to L.A. the next week. Okay, that's not ideal. It's a prime time game. That's not ideal. But they get the buy week. They get to get back on the time zone.

And I keep thinking about what Peter Bukowski told me, blocked on Packers host about the Packers after they didn't have a buy week after an international game. And they really took a month to seem to get right after that. And so I do have concerns. The Bengals are coming home. And yeah, they get to come home and they play at home, but they play a divisional game. And that first week back, I would rather have a buy-in than a road trip for a non-divisional

game than have to come back and immediately play a divisional game when you're potentially dealing with the effects of jet lag because that's, man, I tell you, you come back from Europe, I don't know if you've done it. That jet lag's tough. It can take a few days. Like, you can have a couple days where you're just, you feel awful because of the sleep situation, you're waking up at weird times and your circadian rhythm's all out of whack. It can take some time. And I think that byweek is a pretty nice recovery to get back on the time zone and get back to equilibrium when you return for professional athletes that need to be executing physically at the highest level. Coach, I don't know, what do you think about all that? Well, you know,

And you had mentioned it before, Jake, about that's the worst thing about the scheduling process and how the NFL does it with it's as if they don't even look into the where and tear it takes on a player's body, let alone their mind. They're going to be, once they get into a groove, they're in a group. But that trip over there, and I know it's the reason why they do it. And I know the reason why you have a biweek sometimes and some people don't. And travel is travel. And it's, I think that the toll it takes, and you notice that that's probably the only stat in the league that the league doesn't have and the analytics don't have is with guys that go overseas, come back and turn.

around and play again or get a bye week. You know, if it was my brothers, I'd take the by week, even if I got to travel to the west coast or I have to be on the west coast and travel east. There's a reason why that they don't have West Coast teams play in Europe. The travel's brutal. You know, they'll send them to Mexico and they'll send them to Brazil and they'll send them to those places. There are still far trips.

but at least there's somewhat closer than having to do that. So if you're coming back, I mean, going to Madrid, great. But coming back and you're turning around and playing the very next week, you never know what's going to happen. I know this. We went to Japan one year, and we came home and we were not the same for a number of weeks because it took its toll. You know, we played in Japan one day, and we came home, and it was the same day.

And it's, it'll mess with you. And I think that at that time, they'll put their head down and they'll just keep going. And they'll take it as it comes because that was what the schedule was. And but I think that most teams look at it as, hey, this particular week is the most important. Why? Because it is the next game. And that's the way that the players will go about it. and they won't even notice it until all of a sudden, you know,

you might lose a guy here and there because of fatigue or travel fatigue or mental fatigue or whatever it is that ends up happening. And then you look at where the Bengals buy is this year anyway, where their break is. One, it's week six, which I think anyone will tell you you don't want the early buy. You want that buy right in the middle, right? The other thing is it's in the middle of a road trip. They go to Miami in week five. They have a buy, and then they go to Baltimore,

the next week. So, you know, yeah, you get to go home, I guess, in the middle of all that. Maybe some guys, no, they probably have to fly back to Cincinnati with the team. I was going to say maybe some guys will stay in Florida, but I don't even think they'll have that option to stay in Florida after the Miami game. Probably have to fly back to Cincinnati with the team because that's how travel works in the NFL. So, you know, you get your first seven weeks of the season, four of them are road games, one of them will buy that you're just traveling back to Cincinnati. And then maybe if you actually take a couple days off, you fly somewhere else. during the buy week for a couple of days,

then you fly back to Cincinnati, then you fly to Baltimore. I'm complaining at this point about the schedule, right? I'm kind of playing it up a little bit here, right? But like where the Bengals buy is, I would, again, I would rather have the Patriot situation if I'm just comparing them apples to apples. But when you instead just take that week six buy

and move everything else up and insert that week six by after week nine and just put it in week 10 and leave the rest of the schedule exactly the same, I mean, it makes a whole lot of it. a sense to me at that point to do it that way for the Bengals. Well, you know, and the buy week is early, and they still got a heck of a run after that. They've got, you know, what, 12 games, 12 weeks to go where they've got to be on top of their

game. And where how most buy weeks work in the national football league, at least they did when I was in it, is you're back in the building. Monday, you bury the game. You get it over with your, you go back out on the field, you're practicing, you go out and practice, flush everything out, run around, start to work on the little things that you haven't quite perfected yet. And then they usually give them like a Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and then they're back on that Monday. So, and they're usually, a lot of them will end up taking off, flying, going home, coming back. They don't add that end of the equation.

I know that when we're in Tampa, a lot of guys would add, you know, during the bi-week, shoot. They go to Miami. They go, they fly to the Bahamas. They go places to kind of re-configure themselves and decompress a little bit because you're grinding and getting ready for the grind at the end of the year. And so that that makes it tough. I'm going to admit two things here. Number one, and this is one of my many skills, one of my five skills in life is directions.

Well, clearly, I did not know what I was thinking on Friday when I said the flight to Madrid is not that much longer than a flight from Cincinnati to any West Coast city where there's an NFL team. I pulled up a flight calculator yesterday and saw the flight from Cincinnati to Madrid is 10 hours and 20 minutes, which is five hours longer than any flight to the West Coast. So I'll admit I was wrong there. My apologies. And how long is it on the return going into the jet stream?

Usually those flights are a couple hours longer coming back from you. I think about that. That's a good point there, Jake. Well travel, man, Jake Lisco. Yeah, that's actually a great point. And I will admit also, I'm also not overly happy with the fact that the Bengals don't have a biweek after playing internationally. But I will also say this, 12 straight games, yes, it is a lot to end the season.

but if you're going to get rolling at that point in the season, which I think the Bengals, I think that's a good time where they could, do you want to buy or do you want to continue playing? Now, again, coming back from Madrid, it's not going to be easy. The jet lag could be very real. But at the same time, there is an argument to be made that if you're on a winning streak, you want to keep going as opposed to having the buy. Am I being rational here? Am I just trying to justify and trying to come up with something positive

and spin it that way because the Bengals don't have a buy coming back from Madrid? I mean, the reality is what it is, right? Like, that's what the schedule is. So all they can do is play as best they can and prepare as best they can, right? And so they're going to look at it that way, too, and look for reasons that they can make it work and that, you know, they lose a road game. That's one way to spin it as a positive too. In a season where they had nine road games,

they go to a neutral site where they probably, will have the slight favor of the crowd because Joe Burrow is going to be the biggest star in that game, right? And Jamar Chase is going to probably be the second biggest star in that game. And so that's one way you can spend it as well. But coach, what was your thought before I catch you off there? Sorry about that. No, no, that's fine. Who's the home team in Madrid?

The Falcons. Okay, so they don't give up a game, a home game at least. Yeah. Well, you know what? I tell you, momentum is momentum. If you go into the buy and you're on a roll and you get a well-deserved, let's decompress, let's get healthy, let's get everybody one week more healthy, and then you're going into the final stretch of the season, I think where you have to be hot is in December and January. That's where you want to get hot. And, you know, you can be on a roll?

hey, can you follow it through? That's the key. And there's nothing like winning and momentum to keep a team, whether you take a by or not, to keep you going. Because that feels so much more satisfying than all of a sudden you're coming off of a kind of a lull, and now you're trying to regroup, and that's when a lot of coaches lose their job, later in the season, and then you're finishing up. And, I mean, it makes it hard.

Not to mention the Bengals when it comes to their bye week, and you mentioned coach how players will fly to Miami or go to Miami during the by week. The Bengals play there a week before the biweek. It's one of many trap games that the Bengals have on their schedule this season. But the one that stands out to me is giving me major 2021 week eight vibes. If you know, you know. All right, Jake Liscoe had to step away. so it'll be me and coach carrying you guys through the final segment of today's Bengals squad show on this Tuesday.

So the Titans game for me in week eight is the epitome of a trap game. Here's why. You just pull a play Baltimore on the road. And let's say you win. You come back home and you think, oh, the Titans, well, you look at their record. Now, let me see how many games Tennessee plays. before they come play the Bengals to illustrate the point I'm making here. The point is that you just will play it in Baltimore.

You have a game in Madrid the next week. And the Titans aren't going to be very good this year. They play seven games before they come play the Bengals. They could be 0-1-7. They may be 1 in 6 or they may be 2 and 5. The point is that Bengals in 2021 beat the Ravens in Baltimore, 41, 17, they were 5 and 2. Everybody was, you know, giving them their praise, their flowers, number one seed maybe.

They go play the one in five jets the next week and they lose 34, 31. Complete crash back to Earth. You cannot coach have that happen at home this year again in week 8, where you lost to the Jets last year when they were 0 in 7 after you beat the Steelers. I don't care what you have to do. Do not. overlook Tennessee because you will have just maybe beaten Baltimore and are going to Madrid the next week. Kinds of games. And that's what last week we talked about that, Alex, that you need to, if you're going to be a contender,

you need to make sure that they're, those so-called trap games, that you are good enough to fight through those games. and you have to. And that is the responsibility of the leaders on the football team, and it's the responsibility of the coaching staff. And I put coaching staff first, then the leaders in the locker room, that they got to take care and make sure that everybody else is on par with the way that they're going about their business.

Because we talked about it last week is you need to win the games you should. And at minimum, and hopefully better, but at minimum, you need to split the ones that you're going to be very highly contested with. And if you can do that, then now you can get it. And it's all about timing of when those games pop up of how you need to go about your business and catch fire when you need to catch fire. And I'd say that's a leadership quality that those guys have. How many have been in them, they have it. But that's where you put it on the coaching staff in the locker

room to make sure that games like that don't happen. And they, those stars have to play well. If they play well, everybody else will follow suit. If they don't, well, then everybody else is going to follow suit. And they'll play to the level of their competition. And you can't have that. And you don't have that usually in the national football league. unless you're just a poor team. Joe Burrow has played in many trap games before. The Bengals have lost a lot of games that are being considered trap games in which he has played. I go back to week four of 2003.

When the Bengals beat the Rams on Monday night football, they go to Tennessee. The Titans were only one and two. And I was like, well, they should beat this team by double digits. And then they lose 27 to three. Joe Burrow hasn't forgotten about that game. I guarantee you it's one of the worst Bengals games I've ever seen. So you have a guy that's. played in many of those games who knows how to, you know, handle the weak leading up to it,

the preparation coming off a big win potentially in the Bengals case this year of Baltimore. But you also have a guy, think about this coach, because what's happened in a lot of these trap games, especially last year against the Jets in 21, the defense just was not there. They took them lightly. You can't take an offense lightly just because they're 1 in 6 or 0 in 7. Because as you say, every team in the NFL, I mean, these are good players. They're in the NFL for a reason. This is the National Football League.

I mean, every team is good. They have one good thing they're good at. I mean, even the Cardinals this year are going to be good at something. I don't know what that is. But think about this. Dexter Lawrence comes over from the Giants, brings in veteran leadership from New York to Cincinnati to the Bengals defense. You know how many bad teams Dexter Lawrence was on in New York? And you probably, he probably in the Giants thought, ooh, this team's coming off a big win.

We can really get them. They may not be focused or, hey, you never know. This could be our day. Dexter Lawrence is. going to be telling that that's exactly what Tennessee is going to be thinking coming in, and he's going to make sure that that defensive line is ready to go. That's a big advantage. Absolutely.

You know, and that's why quality leaders are extremely important because they handle the locker room. And the coaching staff will get their message out through their players, and it'll filter on its way down. and it's time. A great example is there's a lot of guys that they may get beat. And then the next week, the coaches staffs all of a sudden harder on them because they got beat. Well, what does that do? You should have been a hard on them to begin with.

They don't know how to take that. But the locker room will know in the, I mean, if you've got great vibes in the locker room right now, you've got great vibes throughout the season because the leaders will be the leaders. And they will find a way to. get to their positional players or their different sides, offense and defense and in special teams, to make sure that those players are prepared. And, you know, because everybody wants to win, but are you prepared to win? Do you approach it the same way?

And once you can develop that consistency and that consistency with the coaching staff and with the players in the locker room and the leaders, and then the players that are their newcomers, so to speak, then you got yourself a well-rounded football team. If you can't control them in terms of their emotional highs and lows, then that's when you'll lose them, and that's where you really need quality leaders. You look at last year, for an example, half of their leaders or so-called leaders,

the captains didn't play. or got traded. Yeah. So who is that next step up? Who is that captain in waiting? You don't have to have a C on your chest to be a leader in the locker room and on the field. You don't need to have that. Everybody's a leader.

And so because you're in the national football league, you were a leader at some point in time during your football career, whether it be in high school, college, or somewhere in the NFL. control your football team. Control your football team and make sure that everybody stays in their lane and just keeps going down the highway. That's key for them. Yeah, that's exactly what it is. I'm not asking for the Bengals to be undefeated this year. It's very difficult to go undefeated.

Look how it affected the 07 Patriots. I'm not saying they need to go undefeated. I am saying they need to win the games. They're supposed to win. If you lose a game to Baltimore or Kansas City, you know what? Tip your cap, move on because we know those teams are really good. You lose a game to Tennessee and home on the first Sunday in November. Yeah, I'm not going to be happy just like I was last year against the Jets.

Or you lose a game to the Patriots in 24 when they were starting to back up quarterback and then they ultimately fired their first year head coach after the season. Or you lose to Tennessee in 23. Or you lose to Cooper Rush in Dallas in 22 or Mike White and the Jets in 2021. Those games irk me. And it's why I get most nervous for games against teams that are winless. or are one in six. You don't want to be the team that hands them a win that they may not get many other times during the regular season. That's why Tennessee is going to be the game that

makes me the most nervous for. Yes, I'm nervous for every game. But Baltimore, Kansas City, those teams are very good. If you win, great. If you lose, yeah, it sucks, but you tip your cap and you move on. You lose to Tennessee, you're the butt of every joke on sports center and NFL network and whatever else. All their trap games coach for me. Go ahead. Absolutely. I'm telling you.

Because, you know, those games, those trap games, and if you don't just lose them, guys just don't lose them. They get embarrassed. And that's the one thing in the national football league. You don't do. You may get beat, but you don't get embarrassed. And when you go to Tennessee and all of a sudden, you only score three points on offense with arguably the best quarterback, that's not good. Not only the defense suck,

but offensively, you didn't play well. So you got to take that upon yourself and you got to make sure that never happens to you again. I remember that game and how embarrassing it felt to be a Bengals fan that day. And Sunday, the feeling of embarrassment Monday and local sports stock and James and Jacob locked up Bengals just burying them.

I mean, they were one and three with Joe Burrow and Jamar Chase. Cap Strang Joe Burrow be damned. They shouldn't have lost 27 to 3 to a team that finished 6 and 11 in the Tennessee Titans. Other trap games this season. Coach, I know you have a son of coaches for them. I don't think it is a trap game because I think the New Orleans Saints are going to be much improved this year. I love Tyler Shuck.

I think he's going to be very, very interesting to watch it in his growth in his second season. I don't view it as a trap game, but at the same time, you come back from a Monday night game the week before Thanksgiving. on Sunday after Thanksgiving against the Saints team that's coming to play in the cold, I think that's a game where you just have to establish your identity early and make them play your game. Absolutely. You know, those are games. And you know what? And you can sit at the beginning of the season and say, okay, whom do you believe to be the so-called trap games? Well, all of a sudden, now you're playing game at week eight. That team that was a so-called, called trap game at the beginning of the year could all of a sudden got hot and they could be hey

they could be a six and two team by the time you play them or they could be a five and three team they are no longer a trap team they're now a viable component or a opponent where you got to put your best foot forward and those are the scary games because if you look at it at the beginning of the year you're saying okay this one this one this one this one Boy, you have no idea. That little 14-inch thing rolls funny ways sometimes. And it bounces different ways, and you've got to play. That's the way you're in the National Football League,

and you've got to strap it up each and every game. Ball don't lie, as our good friend Austin Elmore, BSPN-1530 would say. Miami, week five, again, not worried about it because, you know, Joe Burrow and the Bengals have been through these games before. they've come out on the losing end, and we've seen how much it has cost them. Number one seed, division title, playoff earth. I mean, again, it's go time this season. And the only thing I worry about Miami is it's before the biweek.

And if you're going to Miami during the biweek, you're already going to be there. But again, it's handling your business coach because every game in the NFL counts, and as Dave Blam says, don't put yourself on the schedule. Absolutely. Not only that, but you have to remember, for seeding purposes in the playoffs, they'll look at how many AFC teams, what your record were was against AFC teams. And that will allow you to get a better seed, even if you're a wildcar team, you know, because those all measure into it as well. And the Titans, as well as the Dolphins, they're both AFC teams. You can't skip a beat.

You cannot skip a beat. The other game, the only other game that I could see being a trap game reviewed as such is Indianapolis in Week 16. I don't think it is, though, because, yes, it's after Carolina, it's before Baltimore. But not every game before or after a big game is a trap game. Because, Coach, you and I both know, these are NFL players. this is their profession, they are trying to put something on tape every single week, regardless of what their record is. Hey, unless you're a star and you're guaranteed a contract,

those other ones are still fighting for their jobs. And every week is part of their resume. And it's a job interview, so to speak, that you're doing for the other 31 teams in the league. And they say that, you know, they don't like preseason games. Hey, that's on your resume. That is part of your playing not only to try to make that team, but you're trying to make 31 other teams that could pick you up on waivers once they let you go, if that was the case.

Sometimes there's just too many good players on the team, you know? So it's going to be exciting. It'll be really excited to see how they approach each of those games. and following the game, you will find out exactly where they're at and where they're going, where they're headed. We can view them as draft games. They cannot. They cannot.

And you also never know if a player has an incentive in his contract that he needs to meet late in the season, where he would get a bonus. That matters to players. Yeah, it does. You never know. You just never know on a team that's not very good. was if that one player picks that one day to show up and he wrecks your entire afternoon. You don't want to be in that situation.

That's why if you are off your game by this much, it could cost you everything. That's why we view mistrap games. They cannot. Coming up on Friday, coach you and I will be back with either Mike's antagona or a guest to talk all things. Bengals on the Bengals Squad show, part of the lockdown podcast network, your team every day, the number one sports podcast, Network in America and the world.

Thanks to Jake Liscoe, thanks to Coach Ard-Fallera, running back's coach of the playoff bound, UFL's Orlando Storm and also Super Bowl 37 champion with the 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I'm Alex Frank and Frankie underscore Natty. For more on the Everydayer Club here at the Lockdown Podcast number, visit Lockdownpodcast.com slash everydayer. Go New York, go, New York.

Tonight game one of the Eastern Conference finals at Madison Square Garden in the Big. Apple. I do anything to be there. I'll be watching here in Cincinnati. Coach, best of luck with game prep this week. You got a big one against the defenders on this weekend. Is this the first time you're playing the DC defenders this year? We do. And the crazy thing about it is we play them on Friday. And the crazy thing about it is we play them back to back. So not only do we play them this week, we also play them next week. All right. We will get into there. I might turn that into a conversation relates to the Bengals on this show coming up within the next three shows over

the next two weeks. Have a great week, everybody. We'll talk to you on Friday leading into Memorial Day weekend, one of my favorite weekends of the year right here on the Bengals squad show, the twice week long-form conversational supplement to lockdown Bengals hosted by James Rapine and J. Glicke. We're part of lockdown Bengals and the lockdown podcast network, your team every day.