Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - Pads are on! Joe Burrow and the offense continue strong start in first padded practice of 2024

Starting point is 00:00:01 The pads are on in Cincinnati. Let's break down what went down at the Bengals' first padded practice of 2024. You are Locked on Bengals, your daily Cincinnati Bengals podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. What up Bengals fans and welcome to another episode of the Locked on Bengals podcast. I'm your host, Jake Liscoe. He's your host, James Rupin. We come to you every day here on the Lockedown.

Starting point is 00:00:36 on a podcast network covering your team every day on YouTube. Everywhere you get your podcast, if you're new to the show, you can of course subscribe and join the many thousands of Bengals fans who make us a regular part of their lives. Shout out every dayers and first listeners. And James, as we break down what went down in the first padded practice of Cincinnati Bengals training camp. What's top of mind for me is I'm very excited because I get to attend the Bengals'

Starting point is 00:01:02 second padded practice of training camp coming up on Thursday. and I'm excited to be there with you in person. But before that, well, we get to talk about what happened as the Bengals Dawn Pads for the first time this season. Yeah, and a bunch did. By the way, shout out to all of the everydayers, all of our listeners, as I bring the mic closer, that have said hey or plan to say hey throughout training camp. One person, believe it or not, mentioned Jake Liscoe today. And I said, oh, yeah, he's going to be here next week.

Starting point is 00:01:32 and just thinking like, oh yeah, well, Wednesday's an off day in my head. And it's like, no, actually, he's going to be here Thursday because you break it up into like sections. And this is the second cluster of Bengals practices that's wrapping up training camp wise. So yeah, it's going to be exciting. Today was exciting for a bunch of reasons. We'll get into the locker room coming up. But just seeing the guys in pads, like when I went out there, I was like, oh, all right, here we go. Like this, it feels like football.

Starting point is 00:02:01 And it was super hot, like super hot. Like all the guys talked about how hot it was. And so one takeaway is if you're going to have your first full padded practice, you want it in the heat, you want it to be hard. And they got through it. And I think there were a lot of guys that stood out. I guess we should start as always with number nine with Joe Burrow. I thought he looked good today.

Starting point is 00:02:24 I thought he was on point again. I'm not sure. In fact, I'm willing to say it now. We're six practices in. He's participated in five of the six practices. So what, 83% of the practices, if you want to break it down by percentage, Jake, I know you're a numbers guy. Zero interceptions. Zero for Joe Burrow.

Starting point is 00:02:43 If I would have told you that coming into camp, I think everyone would have taken it. Like just that alone. Obviously, there's a lot around that. But the fact that we're talking about a turnover list, Joe Burrow, throughout the team periods, working with new guys, not working with Jamar Chase, T. Higgins in and out, even though he was in for a lot of today. I certainly think that that is worth noting. And the thing I noticed during team drills just from an offensive standpoint is the fact that Burrow really did spread the ball out today.

Starting point is 00:03:18 I had a touchdown pass in seven on sevens to Charlie Jones, found Mike Gassicki for a couple of different plays connected with Kendrick Pryor found really i'm trying to think of a guy he didn't complete a pass to obviously he completed a pass to t higgins i believe in sevens but t was out there in sevens for sure but the point is is joe bro spreading the ball around to his guys whether it's shedric jackson caught a pass multiple tight ends so uh that was good to see yeah getting joe burrow going always good news always good to see that he's doing his thing out there i know impressing fans the zero interceptions number is interesting i want to make a smart uh alec remark and say well that means he needs

Starting point is 00:04:05 be more aggressive let's push the envelope a little bit here in training camp and put the ball at risk a little bit to find those limits come on let's let's push it a little bit but well he has put tongue-in-cheeked like well he has thrown into some tight windows and they've just been accurate it like there just haven't been many interceptible balls now you could also argue all right well cam taylor britt hasn't been out there by the way returned today did some did some stuff and was on the field and went one-on-one against t higgins and a rep that i have not put out yet but uh was certainly a a really tough rep for both guys but yeah i i i think it speaks to his accuracy as he's still working through the final one percent or so as he comes back from this wrist wrist interest interest interest

Starting point is 00:04:50 because he is pretty locked in, knows where the offense wants to go, is supposed to go, and he's running it accordingly. Yeah, notable that Cam Taylor Britt did return to practice there. You snuck that note in. That's a good note. Nice to see him back out there competing with the pads on. Good to see him for the rest of camp as well. And one of the bonuses of having Cam Taylor Britt back now that the competition can really

Starting point is 00:05:13 amp up with those pads on is we'll perhaps get a little bit more of an idea of how those rotations are working between Dax Hill and D.J. Turner for that competition to start opposite Camp Taylor Britt, the more and more Cam Taylor Britt gets involved. Also, ramping up his involvement a little bit faster than expected, and we talked about this just yesterday, is Eric All, who made a catch with some contact down near the goal line in a red zone, high red zone drill from Logan Woodside. And I was shocked to see him in a position where there was contact as an option. it. He ends up going to the ground pretty softly as far as football hits go, you know, but surprised as I've reacted to your tweet, you tweeted this clip, surprised to see him in that

Starting point is 00:05:59 position in the first place. That's got to be a good sign for Eric all his progress that he's out there working in seven-on-seven work in the first place. Yeah, it was one of the highlights of today to see all out there, to see him take contact, to see him in seven-on-sevons make a catch, get targeted and go up, be physical, make the play. And it was like, all right, going up against 20. going up against Jordan Battle and in traffic there and you, you're the one that brings it down. You're the one who absorbs the contact.

Starting point is 00:06:31 You fall. That had to feel good for Eric. And so it's, it's fun to think about the possibilities for him. And Zach Taylor sat up here where I'm sitting, one chair over yesterday, or we'll just say Monday, just because I don't know exactly when everyone's listening to this, but on Monday and said, oh, yeah, we're going to take it slow with him still. And I just assume that was that. And we would see Eric all slowly get work in individual drills, build up, build up, build up, and then maybe ramp up to team stuff maybe by after the first preseason game, maybe that Chicago

Starting point is 00:07:08 week. And instead, he's doing it now, which is a great sign. And hopefully it continues. It was with Jake Browning, by the way, cut that ball from. It's not like he was with Logan Woodside or, you know, Rocky. But, yeah, he was with the second team. My mistake then, I said Logan Woodside mistakenly, I must have missed the quarter of that cover. Am I wrong? I don't know. I'll pull it.

Starting point is 00:07:33 I'll pull it. I might be wrong here. I've seen a lot of clips, and I've posted a decent amount. Well, you've watched a lot of practice as well. I'll follow up. Go ahead. It will be interesting nonetheless to see that tight end battle. It was browning.

Starting point is 00:07:45 It was browning. Oh, just beautiful. Against Jordan battle, battle trying to rip it away. So, yeah, that's tweeted out and posted on Instagram and Facebook if you're wondering. And of course, you can find that at James Rapine on Twitter. What are the other ads? Are they the same on Instagram? Sinci Bengals talk, yeah.

Starting point is 00:08:06 I mean, if you look, you'll find it. It might have been TikTok too. We're on everything right now. We don't promote those alternatives very often for you, but we're all there. Good to get those out there for training camp, especially when there's a lot of video content coming out to the people. Let's circle back to, I want to get your take on what the play of the day was. And let's go to that. I have some trench.

Starting point is 00:08:30 I have some trench little trenches for you too, Jake. Yeah. We're on the same page. That's what I was going to say next. I was going to say, let's get to the play of the day and let's talk about some trench observations. here and we'll get to those topics coming up next. Today's show is brought to you by Game Time. Game Time is an authorized ticket marketplace for Major League Baseball,

Starting point is 00:08:53 which means if you're hanging out at the banks, oh, and the Reds are in town this week, by the way. Let's go to the Reds game. Well, if you had the Game Time app downloaded, you can take advantage of their zone deals, of their last minute deals, of all of the awesome things that come with having the GameTime app. You get views from your seat,

Starting point is 00:09:11 and it makes buying Major League Baseball tickets that easy. And it's not just MLB tickets. No, no, no. Maybe you're thinking going on the road to watch the Bengals this year. Coming to Cincinnati to watch the Bengals game time is going to have the tickets for you. You have panoramic views from your seat, you know, exactly what you're getting all in pricing. And every event that you're thinking about going to, any event that you're thinking about going to, whether it's a concert this summer, whether it's major league baseball, whether it is the big three, which is going to, coming here, by the way, Ice Cube's Basketball League, game time is going to have it for you.

Starting point is 00:09:46 So download the GameTime app, create an account, and use code locked on NFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem code L-O-C-E-D-O-N-N-FL-N-FL-L-N-FL-L-NFLanFLan off. Download game time today. Last-minute tickets, lowest price, guaranteed. Excited to get into some trench talk here, and we will get there. It's a good reminder, though, to update some folks on a couple of injury things, as the Bengals did have everyone quote unquote healthy impads.

Starting point is 00:10:16 That did not include Trey Hendrickson. That did not include Sam Hubbard as those guys worked back from what's still been characterized as minor. Bumps and bruises. I don't know if you go so far to call it an injury at this point for those guys. Trey Hendrickson doing a little bit of conditioning work today. Miles Murphy also left practice, which was a little bit scary at the time. Lou Anna Rumo went on to describe it as cramps for Miles Murphy and a very hot day,

Starting point is 00:10:44 as you noted, James. But before we get to the rest of your trench talk and notes that you're ready and prepared with as the pads are on, and that's the time to start talking about the trenches, of course. I wanted to get your take on the standout play of the day and see if it's one that I saw or if it's one that didn't make the social media rounds. Yeah, I think it's one that you saw. It's not one that I posted.

Starting point is 00:11:10 But seven on seven, Joe Burrell drops back, has the ball in his hands for two seconds, makes the read, throws a perfect ball in the red zone to Charlie Jones, in between Gino Stone and Mike Hilton. And Charlie Jones might have been the player of the day. I mean, he had a bunch of catches. The touchdown was the most notable. And it is wild to think about this wide receiver room,

Starting point is 00:11:35 because after he caught it, I'm thinking, and I'm like, man, he might be wide receiver six. Like, there's a real possibility that he is. as weird as that sounds like Trent Nervin continues to make plays. We've talked about Andre Yoseva. We had a couple drops today. I also had a couple nice catches at the end of the day to redeem himself and bounce back, which is good to see.

Starting point is 00:11:55 We know about the big two in T and Jemar. So Jammar, Andre, Jermaine, Burtan, Irwin, Charlie Jones. I'm not saying Charlie is sixth, but he might be. And so I think that that catch was probably the play of the day from a skill player standpoint for sure. Jermaine Burton also had a nice touchdown catch on

Starting point is 00:12:18 Tuesday. Had to double check what day it is. That was from Logan Woodside. Not Rocky Lombardi who, yes, I know his last name. I know I said it like I didn't, but yeah, it wasn't Logan Woodside, or it was Logan Woodside, not Rocky. Well, Rocky and Lombardy are both names that stand on their own individually in different spheres

Starting point is 00:12:38 and in the entertainment and boxing sphere and in the football sphere. So fair to fair to go with either of those individually for good old rock. But a good day for some of the young skill players, as you described, between Charlie Jones, Jermaine Burton, I don't know why my mind wanted to go to Andre Yosevash, and Eric All making a play in his first teamwork in Seven on Sevens. That's encouraging to see. But that being said, let's transition to the trenches as you're prepared and ready to talk trenches,

Starting point is 00:13:11 which I'm ready for too. You can't wait to come and watch the trenches while everyone else is watching the ball on Thursday. For sure. I watch Joe Burrow, and that's where I'm at. And that's what's kind of fun. By the way, Joe had a really nice scramble today. I'll probably post it on social on Wednesday. So if you're listening on Wednesday, that'll be out.

Starting point is 00:13:32 Another nice scramble looks good, looks fast. And the blonde hair, again, continues to grow on me. That said, number 17. We got to talk about Amarius Mims Because you know how yesterday When we had our show We were like, yeah, he might be better in pads He might be better in pads, Jake Lusco.

Starting point is 00:13:56 Really good today. Really good today. Now let's start. Trey Hendrickson, not out there. Sam Hubbard, not out there. But Miles Murphy, who left, limped off the field, just cramps, thank goodness.

Starting point is 00:14:09 But cramping because you're working really, really hard to get around 71. And that's really, really hard to do. He looked good today, Jake. I mean, he he looked good. The offensive line was holding up well. And that, my friend, is what you want to see. I think this offensive line feels really good about where they're at,

Starting point is 00:14:27 including the depth, by the way. I think there are some guys that they're confident in behind the starting five. Obviously, Trent Brown is getting closer and closer to coming back. But MIMS. In pads, man. It just helps them become even more. physical and even more dominant. And it will be exciting to watch that aspect of his game, especially in the run game when it comes to just generally trying to move people.

Starting point is 00:14:52 And pass protection, obviously, you're moving backwards as an offensive lineman, right? And there's still a lot of power and physicality involved there, but getting to see him moving forward as well as we get to watch some run game work over the next week or two. That's going to be exciting too. And obviously getting into that first preseason game. Was there anyone in particular who stood out or has stood out, I guess, over the course of training camp so far, as far as the backups, you're talking about competence and the depth. Is there anybody there that's standing out individually? See, I think it's tough. I think it's more like talking with people in the building.

Starting point is 00:15:31 Because I can observe. And like MIMS is so dominant that you don't need to be this football savant or whatever you want to say to know that. just because you can see the traits. And when the traits translate and he has the wins that he had, you take it. And heck, you went back and watched even the non-pad stuff from Amarius of some of the clips that are out there.

Starting point is 00:15:53 So you can see what he's capable of. And so you'll get a sense of that. But as far as the backups, it's more talking. All right, what do you think about Matt Lee? Like, that's a guy that I've had a couple conversations about.

Starting point is 00:16:08 Just to see. I haven't even talked to Matt yet. because I'm sure he's swimming, right? And they're treading water and just trying to keep his head above water. There's just a lot that goes into it. But I think Matt Lee is someone that is going to push for this roster. I think Jackson Kirkland is a name to keep an eye on as someone that can make this roster. And, you know, there are a lot of the same other guys that are pushing for roster spots that are going to have to win them if they're going to be here another year, whether it's a Jackson Carmen or Deonté Smith, who's still healthy.

Starting point is 00:16:39 which is good because he's dealt with some camp injuries in the past. So hopefully Deonté Smith could continue to have a good training camp and push for a roster spot. And of course, we'll be keeping an eye on those rotations. In addition to defensive line rotations, Zach Carter continues to appear to get a lot of work with some of the earlier units. And generally, that doesn't seem to be going terribly well for him from what I've seen. But obviously, I've only seen a snippet and pads did just arrive on Tuesday. so a long way to go there.

Starting point is 00:17:10 But getting more involvement from the young guys there, Chris Jenkins and McKinley Jackson, obviously is something that we'll be watching in the trenches. In addition to Sheldon Rankins, who before pads were on, was at times appeared to be unstoppable from what made it to social media. And obviously, again, that's a limited sample size.

Starting point is 00:17:31 I'm not seeing everything yet, but was doing his thing wreaking some havoc in the backfield. And that is an encouraging sign. but also nice to hear that the offensive line is holding up that the offense is doing a having a better time, let's say, than they did last year, especially in the absence of Joe Burrow. And hopefully that leads to a faster start for that unit when games come around. But we're a long ways away from that. And a lot will happen between now and that. Yep, no doubt.

Starting point is 00:18:01 One more note. And I know we talked a ton about Jamari yesterday, not doing that, but. Jamar, miss practice again. But he did, and this was, this is sort of unique. And I tweeted a clip of this. I should have uploaded it. We could have played it on the pod. It really wouldn't have played well on the pod because it's just him signing autographs with the video.

Starting point is 00:18:20 Start signing autographs during one-on-ones, just cornerbacks and wide receivers, and he just walks over and starts signing autographs. And when Jamar Chase signs, kids go crazy, adults go crazy, just in excitement. and they pushed forward and it became like a thing where thank goodness the drill ended shortly after that. But interesting timing by Jamar. I do know he sent a lot of kids home happy because they got to meet their favorite player and get a Jamar signed T-shirt or jersey or ball. So that was really, really cool.

Starting point is 00:18:57 Cool moment for them indeed. And cool moment for, I think, the entire team and the entire fan base when the Bengals posted photos and video of their new locker room. let's discuss some of the coolest features of that new renovated locker room coming up next. Today's show is brought to you by Fandle. I love sports. I love them so much. I never want them to stop. And right now, there isn't much going on outside of, wait, the Olympics,

Starting point is 00:19:27 outside of Major League Baseball, outside of NFL futures bets. The point is, is there's never a downtime for Fandle. And that's why all summer long, Fandall is hooking up. all customers with a boost or a bonus daily. That's right. There's something for everyone all summer long with Fandle. Maybe you want to get in on the Olympics because you think LeBron, James, and Steph Curry, and Team USA is going to handle business and win gold.

Starting point is 00:19:54 Maybe you don't. Maybe you're going to go against America. No. Maybe you think it's going to be one of these other teams that are really, really talented. Well, you can wager on that and so much more with Fandle. So whether it's Cincinnati Reds, whether it's Bengals futures, whether it's the Summer Olympics, head over to Fandall.com and start making the most out of your summer. Again, that is Fandle.com, Fandle, official sports betting partner of Major League Baseball.

Starting point is 00:20:22 Big moment for the Cincinnati Bengals franchise as they unveil their renovated and significantly updated locker room. James, you were there for the media tour. Everyone saw the photos, maybe not everyone. A lot of people saw the photos and the videos on social media. you can check those out, of course, but I wanted to get your first-hand account before I talk about some of the things I thought were some of the cool features in the redesign. Yeah, it was awesome. And just talking to the players, they felt the same way.

Starting point is 00:20:55 What I'm going to do, Jake doesn't know this, but in a few seconds, I'll post some video from the locker room, some B-roll here on our YouTube. So make sure you subscribe to our YouTube for the opportunity to check some of that out if you haven't seen it yet. But yeah, I think the thing that I was the most impressed with is how functional all of the flashes. Because when you see it, it's like lighting and it's big and it feels, and it's the same footprint. I'm not saying that, but it just feels super flashy.

Starting point is 00:21:30 But all of the details of, and you talked about the phone charging thing from the NFLPA report. They have three different ways to charge things in each locker. Like, they will be good. And playing the B-roll now, it's just awesome. The lighting, the design, the fact that they cut a football in the top of the ceiling, the details that go into it, the ability from a functionality standpoint to dry off your gloves, they have an instant dryer in every locker where you can dry stuff off in an hour. So let's say walkthrough happens to be in a downpour. In an Ohio monsoon that suddenly happens mid walkthrough and you go inside. Well, you throw your gloves in there, your socks, whatever you want, your cleats, and it'll get them dry. And they'll be dry by the time

Starting point is 00:22:17 practice rolls around, which is really cool. Every single locker has a spot for your shoulder pads. And then the dedicated spot for a helmet is awesome, because it features the helmet. it dries the helmet. And again, if you're wearing that early on and walk through for whatever reason or for anything, and you needed to dry it before practice, I think that's such a handy thing. It's also going to make the equipment manager's lives much, much easier. But it is sweet. I'm sure fans are excited to tour PayCorps Stadium and check it out.

Starting point is 00:22:54 And, well, it was really, really cool. Also, they have a spot for shoulder pads up top, which I think is cool. I'm not sure I could reach it or you for what it's worth, Jake. I don't think you could reach it either. But let's say Amarius Mims, he had no problem getting his shoulder pads up there. Yeah, they're saying these are 10 foot tall, 800 pound. Is that right? 800 pound lockers.

Starting point is 00:23:16 So basically what you bench press. Yeah, basically, give or take. I was going to say like Amarius Mims might be able to move it out of all the players on the two. Who do you think? Anyway, let's not go down that rabbit. Basically what you squat, you know. Yeah, basically. I keep making this joke.

Starting point is 00:23:30 I don't know. I better move on. Just going to pile on like 800 pounds, Jake. You better go. The ventilation and drying features were some of the coolest things to me. The functional bits of it, the football functional bits, like the comfort functional bits for players. Obviously, you know, the storage and the charging solutions

Starting point is 00:23:49 and the upgraded bathroom and, you know, fixing probably the reported, according to the NFOPA report card, you know, stalls in the bathroom that didn't work showers that weren't getting adequate water pressure. I would assume that all of that is fixed as part of the renovation. I think Willie Anderson posted some video of the bathroom that included the shower. So if you're interested in those details as well, you can check it out because we did not include that in our B-roll that James just rolled on this video, which was pretty cool to watch. But the shoulder pad dryer, the ventilated space for those and the helmet and for the equipment is a very cool feature.

Starting point is 00:24:28 all the detail is clearly high-end and clearly something that I think the players are going to enjoy from an efficient storage and many storage features from a shelf, a shelving, like a built-in shelving unit to storage under the seat to a nice deep closet kind of looking space. It looks like a great space and is a significant upgrade. and I think is encouraging from a knowing that the ownership has come through on some of their investments back into the team, back into the facilities. And the players are noticing, you know, our local, I call them local, but they're really a national group, pro football focus, media members noticing like, hey, these Bengals are really putting money back into this team. This is a real modernization of the franchise in addition to, you know, obviously us talking about it and others covering the Bengals. But I think those are good signs as well.

Starting point is 00:25:28 I'll ask you this other question, James, having been in the room with it being full of players, you can, I imagine, remember last year with 90 players in there at this time of year, it does get to be pretty crowded. And you mentioned it's the same footprint. They're constrained by certain things from an architecture perspective where they couldn't necessarily. make it significantly bigger, but does the new layout make it feel more spacious? For sure. Now, will it feel that way if they bring ping pong tables in? And I know Elizabeth said they decided not to. We'll see.

Starting point is 00:26:03 It's July 30th. It would not shock me if ping pong tables get brought in or something like that. That's when it gets, it feels fuller. You know, when there's 20 media members plus all of the stuff that comes with it, they just moved in there yesterday. Yeah. And so they just got in and got their stuff and all of that, that fun stuff kind of organized.

Starting point is 00:26:26 So we'll see. But it definitely felt bigger today. And I think part of it again, it's almost like when you clean your house and you're like, man, so much space. So much room for activities, Jake. And part of it is just because you don't have all the stuff that you, just from everyday life that you use. And it's the same thing.

Starting point is 00:26:45 With everyday life in the locker room, there's going to be bins for. jerseys or things like that and that stuff was in there today but it definitely felt more open bigger and who knows maybe that that will continue regardless though they crush this one and uh elizabeth blackburn talked about it she uh whether it was her the people that did the project everyone it it looks awesome they delivered and uh to unveil it on july 30th i think that's a huge huge win. Yeah, that's a nice win for the Cincinnati Bengals franchise. And Joe Burroughs going to be sharing his mini fridge with a lot of people. Apparently, he has reportedly said it's open to all. I don't know if that includes you or not, James. You might want to.

Starting point is 00:27:30 It does. We have the same. It does. Yeah. Yeah. It's going to be a cramped mini fridge, but Joe did get an upgraded kitchenette next to his locker. And we, for those that I'll be back. I'm going to go get the locker room's right next door. I'm going to go get my lunch. real quickly. Technically dinner, it's almost 6 o'clock as we're recording. I'm going to get my dinner. You close out the show. For those that we're watching, every dayers, we speculated about who the locker neighbor would be for Joe Burrow. And he is just with the quarterbacks and maintains his extra space between his locker and the next quarterback locker, which is Jake Browning's locker. We also see that T. Higgins and Jemar Chase maintain the space between their lockers. That was

Starting point is 00:28:15 apparently the Requestro Borough reportedly was consulted a little bit during the locker room design. So the face of the franchise getting his input there, certainly. But to James's point, that's going to do it for this episode of the Locked-on Bengals podcast. We'll be back for a little mailbag on the Bengals off day while I travel down to Cincinnati to get ready for my stint at Bengals training camp. I'm very excited for that. I hope to see some of you starting on Thursday. and I'll be down there for about a week. So until next time,

Starting point is 00:28:47 thanks for listening to this episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast. Ho-Day, and have a good one.

Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - Pads are on! Joe Burrow and the offense continue strong start in first padded practice of 2024

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.