Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - Takeaways from sloppy Cincinnati Bengals-Chicago Bears joint practice, and what we're watching for in preseason week 2

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Bengals and Bears completed their joint practice in the rain on Thursday. Let's get to those practice takeaways and then cover what we're watching in this weekend's preseason game. 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.

Starting point is 00:00:35 We're part of the Lockdown Podcast Network here on Lockdown Bengals covering your team every day. Shout out to the first listeners out there who make us their first stop each morning and to all the everydayers appreciate all the regulars out there. If you're new to the show, you can, of course, subscribe on YouTube or anywhere

Starting point is 00:00:51 you get your podcast for daily coverage of your Cincinnati Bengals as they work their way through the preseason and into the regular season. And today, James, the Bears opt to not use their indoor facility. The Bears and Bengals, I assume, collectively. opt for a rainy practice and where do we start a lot of notes here that we could get to unfortunately a couple of injuries to document as well yeah i think that's probably where we should start is the injury element here uh first things first though i i will say that we uh

Starting point is 00:01:26 shout out to the bengals actually is where i want to start because they posted clips and i probably slowed those clips down and watched them way closer than I care to elaborate on. I'm sure you did too. Like anytime I got a notification that there was a new clip or if I saw an Instagram post from the Bengals, I was watching it and paying really, really close attention because they completely just shut out the media. If you can, if you're watching on YouTube, I wasn't there in Chicago. No tech or no tweets or no tweets or texts for that matter. I don't think you were really allowed to have your phone out. But no tweets during practice, really no video.

Starting point is 00:02:02 and what is the point? I just wild to me that they did that to everyone that was there in Chicago. But we still have plenty of takeaways. And part of that's because of all the reporters that we've seen in red since practice ended. And part of that is the Bengals, which, again, I was blowing up Jake's DM and like, oh, man, look, Cody Ford in that right tackle? Well, unfortunately, it's because Trent Brown left with tightness, lower back tightness, according to Zach Taylor.

Starting point is 00:02:31 So let's start there. That would suck if I don't think that's serious. It doesn't sound serious. But if it was serious, with Amarius Mims out, that would not be fun. Yeah, the tackle situation just gets thinner and thinner. Deontes Smith also leaving practice. Apparently in a great deal of pain, a bear's reporter had a more detailed report on what happened with Deontes Smith. And he was in an aircast when he left the field.

Starting point is 00:02:56 So as far as tackles, you've got Amarius Mims with a strain pack. You've got Trent Brown who left today with lower back tightness. You got Deontes Smith who had to get carded off today in Chicago. And then Cody Ford stepped in. And we've talked about Cody Ford as this versatile guard tackle backup. But now he's option one at right tackle until one of these other guys gets healthy between Trent Brown and a Marius Mim. So Deonti Smith had just returned to practice, was working in with the twos, and now has unfortunately sustained what appears to be a serious.

Starting point is 00:03:28 injury. We'll find out probably more in the coming days about that, perhaps later today, but certainly no more known at the time of recording. Beyond that, you've got Jackson Carmen, who had a terrible preseason opener and was primed to miss this roster as a second round pick in his fourth season. And now his path to the roster may be a little bit clearer if there are injuries ahead of him and they feel like they need some sort of insurance policy there. But that will depend, of course, on the guys really battling for a roster spot. And we've talked about one of these guys quite a bit and Jackson Kirkland, but then there's also Devin Cochran and Eric Miller, the other undrafted guys from last year and this year who could make roster pushes, I guess if things

Starting point is 00:04:05 get dire enough. But man, they took a beating today, losing Trent Brown with that tightness, who we'll find out how serious that is. But Deontos Smith, a certain blow to this tackle depth that felt okay a couple of days ago, a week ago, and today does not feel quite as good. Yeah. So hopefully Trent's not serious and it was precautionary. in there like, all right, let's get you the heck out of there and we'll see you next week.

Starting point is 00:04:31 And at the same time, yeah, hopefully we see a lot of Devin Cochran, Eric Miller because Cody Ford is now like a vet, not that he wasn't valuable before, but he's much more valuable now. And so how it impacts what they do on Saturday, I think is interesting. And in the other element, obviously Deonté Smith was fighting for the roster. We know Trump Brown's making the team, but Deontay Smith was fighting for the roster. So was Chris Evans. and Chris Evans was the first of these three guys to go down during the joint practice

Starting point is 00:05:00 and he was covering a kickoff. I was told and was ultimately carted off aircast much like Deontze Smith. Both guys left with an aircast and carted off the field. So hopefully neither one is as serious as it looked because I don't know. I think Chris Evans probably on the outside looking at the final roster as of today, but was certainly in the mix.

Starting point is 00:05:23 And you could certainly see the path for, him making the team. And now, if he's dealing with the serious injury, then that that changes the whole vibe of that running back room. We do have some good injury news that I want to get to in a second, but your reaction to Chris Evans. Yeah, I mean, he was probably looking, I would guess, at a practice squad spot. He was certainly battling for a roster spot. There was not, there wasn't a zero percent chance he was making the roster. For me, my projection going into this week was outside looking in, but he did provide, you know, some kickoff for turn ability. He was working on those teams. He's worked in quite a few of the special

Starting point is 00:05:59 teams units for Darren Simmons and obviously has some ability. The Bengals like to put him out wide in the offense when he got his handful of snaps when he had those opportunities. But at this point, unless they're out of running back, you can probably assume they're keeping three if Chris Evans is going to be injured for the long haul. And then that opens the door for a guy like Elijah Collins to build on his strong first preseason game, which we show. Shouted out a little bit in our most previous, our most recent episode, our last episode, where he had a nice game and he can build his case for the practice squad because of Bengals and every NFL team really will have running back depth likely tested throughout the season.

Starting point is 00:06:40 You want to probably be a little bit more than three deep when you include practice squad players, but we'll see how that shakes out with waiver claims and potential veterans getting cut around the league as well. Yeah, certainly something to monitor. By the way, our insiders got all of this news, including the good news, about Charlie Jones that he returned to practice early. If you join the Lockdown Bengals Insiders Club, you can get news like that at joinsubtext.com slash locked on Bengals

Starting point is 00:07:03 and try it out where you literally get news and insight text right to your phone. We try to keep it short, sweet to the point, and it helps get you through in between shows. But Charlie Jones back on the practice field, Jake, that's not one I had after him leaving a week ago at Paycor Stadium and the vibes around that injury. And you certainly hope that those vibes can rub off on Deonté Smith and Chris Evans. And just there's no serious injuries.

Starting point is 00:07:33 Trent Brown, too, of course. But no serious injuries at all. But the way he was carted off Paycor Stadium, out of Paycor Stadium, and now he's practicing a week later with nothing on his knee. It didn't look like there's anything on his knee with the clips the Bengals posted. That's great news. Great to see Charlie back out there. You're right. Hopefully these other injuries that looked.

Starting point is 00:07:52 serious or not as bad as they appeared. You know, we knock on wood there. There's nothing we can do to control that. But some other practice notes that we do have to get to here. Great news that Charlie Jones is back to bolster that wide receiver depth. And hopefully he gets an opportunity to play a little bit in this preseason game. I would imagine that will be the case for him. And we'll see what quarterback he's playing with.

Starting point is 00:08:13 I assume it'll be a lot of Logan Woodside. Zach Taylor did not provide any updates on Jake Browning. Did not provide any updates on really any of the injured players after practice when he spoke to the media. We can get through a few other practice takeaways that we've got for you besides just the injuries, though, before we get to preseason, game number

Starting point is 00:08:32 two coming up next. Today's show is brought to you by Game Time. Game Time is the app you need to get right now. And you need to get it right now because we're talking about a few weeks away, 24 days as we record this, from the Bengals regular season opener.

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Starting point is 00:09:16 game against the Colts. You want to check out the punter battle. Yeah, the punter battle. Well, whether it's Ryan Rico or anyone else fighting. for a roster spot. You can watch them with GameTime. Get in on the action with Game Time today. You can go to all of these live events with last minute deals, zone deals, views from your seat, all in pricing. I love the GameTime app. Download it today. You'll love it to download the Game Time app and create an account. And when you do, use code locked on NFL. You'll get $20

Starting point is 00:09:44 off your first purchase. Again, that's locked on NFL, L-O-C-E-D-O-N-N-FL-N-L-FL-L-K-E-O-N-N-FL-T-E-L-E-FU-FU-Purched. Terms Apply. Download game time today. Last minute tickets, lowest price, guaranteed. We don't have a ton to go off here with the Cincinnati Bengals practice with the Chicago Bears in the rain because, like you said, James, it was a media blackout, media not allowed to tweet, not allowed to post video during practice. You weren't there. I wasn't there. They couldn't take video. They couldn't take video. Apparently, they shut down the still photographers that were in attendance. It's still photography. And in addition to all that, they closed the practice.

Starting point is 00:10:28 It didn't have to do with hard. It didn't have to do with hard knocks, by the way. I just want to throw that out there too. Because that's what people would say. To that, they closed the practice to fans about an hour before the practice started. So not only did we have a media blackout, but there are no fans in attendance, posting their own clips and highlights. So we have some reports from people on the ground.

Starting point is 00:10:46 We have a few clips out there. Sounds like Trey Hendrickson had a really nice day. There is a clip from, Bengal social media where he was blocked by Colquette, I believe, and that's never going to go well for a tight end. The play was blown dead for a sack. And there's a touchdown pass that Bengal Social put out from Joe Burrow to Trent Nervin. There's a Camph Taylor Rip pass breakup on a sideline ball from Caleb Williams to a backup bear's receiver, Wedster, I believe, a second or third stringer name I don't remember exactly. We got that one too. We talked about

Starting point is 00:11:19 the guys that returned from injuries, but from the reports that we've seen, it doesn't sound like it was a great day for the Cincinnati Bengals. It might have been a little bit back and forth when the Bengals defense was out there. I mentioned Trey Hendrickson had the sack. He might have had more than that. It sounded like he was a general nuisance on the day, as you would expect from him. Good for Trey, great player, important piece of the defense. And it sounds like there was a pick from Caleb Williams on one of the very first plays of teamwork by Jermaine Pratt. After that, he threw a handful of touchdown passes. The Bengals, I believe, got a stop when they did some two-minute drill work toward the end of practice or later in practice. But back and forth when the defense

Starting point is 00:11:58 was on the field and it sounded like it was tough sledding for Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals offense, including T. Higgins today. Yeah, rough. T. Higgins has had the best training camp I've seen him have and the drops he's got him. Jay Morrison with four drops for T. Higgins. the Bengals did post a nice catch that Tee made, but is it the weather? All right, well, you got to play in the weather. And so maybe this is good from that perspective, because there's going to be a rain game this year. There's always at least one. And so usually.

Starting point is 00:12:30 And so that's what Zach would say. And yet, I still think it's a bummer because I think T is probably the second best player, the second best receiver rather on that field, which is a take. right i think a lot of people might have keenan allen or roma dunes a and his upside ahead but like i think t's been awesome and it's poised for a career year and so yeah hopefully he grows from whatever happened today and in rebounds from it again we weren't there so that's tough and the uh the t higgins train i'm still all all on board and think he's going to have a huge year yeah i agree with that i'm not too worried about t higgins i'm not too worried about anything it's important to

Starting point is 00:13:13 reiterate here that this is one practice. And I tweeted that based on what I read, it sounded like the Bengals got worked pretty good outside of a handful of nice plays today in Chicago. And that's obviously just from reading what reporters have said. And there's not a whole lot of nice things being written about the Cincinnati Bengals today. But that is based on limited information. And it's nothing to overreact to. It is just one practice. That being said, it was reported that Joe Burrow also through three picks. Today, two of those, I believe, to defendants. defensive backs reported by Adam Johns, who covers the bears for I believe the athletic, Kevin Byard and Greg Stroman had picks.

Starting point is 00:13:50 And there were also touchdown passes to DJ Moore and Keenan Allen in a red zone period. Adam Johns also did report that both defenses won the two-minute drive, two-minute drill period. So it wasn't all bad for the Bengals, but it's hard to find too much in the way of positives on the offensive side of the ball outside of that Trent Nervin touchdown that Bengals social posted. and there's a bit of an up and down kind of day, a back and forth takeaway for me on the defensive side of the ball for the Bengals. Yeah. And a lot of young players on the Bears' offense,

Starting point is 00:14:24 a lot of young players on the Bengals defense kind of makes sense to me that it would be that way, at least some young players on the Bengals defense that you're relying on with the first team. The offensive stuff is, it's tough. And we'll see. see. It's just tough because you're talking about certainly a past first team.

Starting point is 00:14:45 You're talking about a team that does, I don't want to say needs Jamar Chase, but we know it's built around Jamar Chase T. Higgins. You still you're still searching for the to fill that wide receiver three role completely. Like Trent Norwin, I like him, had the touchdown.

Starting point is 00:15:02 Andre certainly had a good camp. But you really feel it. Like I felt that on Tuesday at practice, you feel it when T's not out there. And even when he is, you only have so many guys that are going to just be those game changers. And I think that that's why you obviously need a guy like Jamar Chase because it would completely change things. But yeah, because when T. Higgins has a rough day, then it gets rough really quick. But much like T, am I worried about Joe?

Starting point is 00:15:31 No. I think he whole learn from this. And if anything, a crappy practice in the rain against the Bears might avoid a crappy game against Cleveland in the rain. or insert whatever game you want to say, where we've seen that in regular season when it matter. So not too worried. Yeah, we really don't have the context of the interceptions. We don't know what the intent was behind the throws.

Starting point is 00:15:55 Joe Burrow did speak after practice. He praised the run game. It sounds like actually the run game had a pretty good day for the Cincinnati Bengals offense today if you are looking for a bright side for the offense. So there's that positive note there from Joe Burrow. And I think it was reported as well. But you mentioned Jamar Chase, James, in his absence from practice, he did fly with the team.

Starting point is 00:16:13 This was something that we were wondering whether he would do when we last spoke about Jamar Chase after he missed the practice on Tuesday, the first practice he's missed throughout training camp. He did fly to Chicago with the team. So perhaps that's just the end of things. And we'll perhaps find out more next week, maybe a little bit this weekend. But it was interesting and noteworthy, I think, that after he missed the practice, practice he did still travel with the team. So this doesn't seem to be a transition to a hold out necessarily after whatever went down on Tuesday.

Starting point is 00:16:49 Yeah, hopefully everything personally is okay because now that's what shifts. Like it shifts to that. Like, all right, hopefully there was nothing serious that caused him to miss. Again, Zach didn't say that. So I don't want to assume that that's the case. Usually Zach would. But hopefully something can get done. That's where I'm bound back to that where it's like, all right, well, it would be

Starting point is 00:17:09 nice. And if you could tell, as I'm talking about this offense, it's like, all right, it would be not like the competitor in me is like, man, would they really be able to do that if Jamar was out there too? Right. And who knows, maybe, but he is that much of a game changer. And the Bears had their number one and DJ Moore. And let's take him off the field, right, and see how different it is. Like, it would just, it would feel much, much different without one piece like that when the piece is that big and that valuable. So hopefully they can get something done in the near future. The good news is, Jake, they got it out of the way. And hopefully Trent Brown, who is, I would say, considered a starter as of now with a Mario

Starting point is 00:17:49 sidelangline. Hopefully, that's not too serious. But at least all of the starters, if Trent isn't serious, escaped, pretty unscathed, knock on wood. And there were no fights. So we got that for us. I don't mind to fight. I'd rather a fight than an injury. But I guess they go hand, right? Yeah. For sure, you would take like a scuffle over an injury any day, but you can often get both. And it's better that if you have injuries, you don't also have fights, whatever it is.

Starting point is 00:18:15 I'm looking for the small wins here. We also learned after practice on Thursday that the Chicago Bears will be playing starters, according to their head coach, Matt Iberfluse, in the upcoming preseason game with the Cincinnati Bengals. We will get into what we're looking for in preseason game number two from these Bengals, as roster battles have time to,

Starting point is 00:18:35 shake out. The level of competition will be a little bit elevated this weekend to finish the show coming up next. Today's show is brought to by LinkedIn. LinkedIn is the place you need to go if you're hiring for your small business. LinkedIn isn't just a job board. LinkedIn helps you hire professionals that you can't find anywhere else, even those who aren't actively searching for a new job, but might be open for the perfect role. Like role of let the media do their job. at joint practice with LinkedIn, you're going to a place that 86% of small businesses can find a qualified candidate within 24 hours. Think about that. So the bears could have went back in time, Jake, found someone to make that decision two days ago because then it would have been 24 hours,

Starting point is 00:19:26 then they would have had 24 hours of onboarding and then boom, we would have had better access to practice. A LinkedIn knows that small businesses are wearing many hats. And that's why you need to use LinkedIn job. So post your job for free at LinkedIn.com slash locked on NFL. That's LinkedIn.com slash locked on NFL to post your job for free terms and conditions apply. Preseason game number two coming up in a nice little bump in the level of competition for the Bengals this weekend as the Bears will be playing some starters. Caleb Williams will ostensibly be out there is the announcement from the Bears on Thursday. that means, for me, this starts with the Bengals defensive backs

Starting point is 00:20:08 and getting that elevated challenge from, yes, he's a rookie, but he was the number one overall pick with a ton of talent and a really good receiver core, receiving core from the Bears. So seeing how these DBs react as there is a competition continuing there, Dax Hill did apparently give up some big catches in this practice, but we'll have another opportunity in a game, and the game matters more than practice from an evaluation perspective it from an opportunity perspective.

Starting point is 00:20:35 And so it'll be fun to see how those opportunities for Dax and for DJ Turner continue to progress into this game after Dax had a rewarding week working with the ones often throughout this week. Yeah, it kind of reminds me of Cam Taylor Britt last year versus Jamar. Like he battled Jamar in camp in Jamar won eight out of ten times. Right? Like we kind of knew going in that Dax was probably going to get beat today and in the benefit, the advantage, and you mentioned it.

Starting point is 00:21:07 And by the way, I'm sure DJ did too. Like, those guys are awesome. And it's the perfect time to face him because you can learn from it. But I like that he gets another shot now. And we get the C round two, even if it's for a series, it would be awesome. Hopefully it's for more than that. I haven't seen how long the bear starters will play. I wouldn't play them that long, but I guess you want to get Caleb some reps.

Starting point is 00:21:27 So maybe you do a whole quarter. Hopefully it is a whole quarter. And you can get Dax and DJ out there. And you know what Cam brings. you just sit cam and let both guys go against these receivers. I agree. I think that's probably my number one thing that I'll be watching for on Saturday. Another one.

Starting point is 00:21:44 And let's go to offense just because I'm me and I'm thinking about offense all the time. It's Matt Lee. Matt Lee. I'm not sure we're going to get many, many news or notes out of this practice since there was a blackout and me ripping the bears on LinkedIn. in, but, well, good Lord, Jake. Matt Lee has a chance now to go there to Chicago, play some starters potentially.

Starting point is 00:22:12 And I honestly, I think, and I don't, I mean, you still have a joint practice against the Colts, but there's a real chance he could win the backup center job this weekend if he performs all against the bare starters. At the very least, he could put himself in pole position, right? And that would be exciting. I love Matt Lee. I'm here for Matt Lee.

Starting point is 00:22:28 I'm ready to talk about Matt Lee. You know how to light me up, James. bring up Matt Lee, and I hope he gets to start at center. We'll see what happens there. Maybe it's still Trey Hill, but I hope that Matt Lee gets to start at center. Trey Hill can get his work in at guard. He's going to play in this game as well.

Starting point is 00:22:42 Those guys are still in a roster battle. It would be very interesting to see what they trot out there for the starting offensive line in the wake of the Deontes-Smith injury. But, yeah, Matt Lee gets to start this game and go up against some starting players on that Bears' defensive line. Awesome. Get that evaluation tape in, find out how he does against players that are going to be playing every Sunday in the NFL.

Starting point is 00:23:06 Because how many opportunities are you going to have to get your potentially second, potentially third string, depending on how things shake out, backup linemen, reps against those guys. This is a great opportunity for that and a great highlight, great shout out for you there to talk about those guys. And if we're saying on the offense,

Starting point is 00:23:23 I think that opportunity extends to the receivers on this team. Jermaine Burton getting a chance to go against Jalen Johnson. Sounds great. get lightning those out there sounds good to me too talking receivers I go with Matt Lee

Starting point is 00:23:37 you go with receivers we just know each other Jake that's all these are the exciting matchups right to me it starts with the dbs because those are players that could start for the Bengals that's why we started there

Starting point is 00:23:47 and then you go to a couple of players that could have important roles for this team both now and in the future in Matt Lee who's the most exciting of the backup offensive linemen I would say to me at least and then a couple of potentially

Starting point is 00:23:59 exciting receivers who could be part of this team in a rotational fashion or a starting fashion in the future in germain burton and charlie jones getting those guys reps against starters given it might be tough sledding for you know logan but inside the backup offensive line and such going against the bear starters but getting them those evaluation reps on tape those learning moments that can only be a good thing for those guys who are working to show that they should have a bigger opportunity yeah no doubt and you mentioned earlier, earlier when we were talking about the tackle depth. I mean, how big is this for those guys,

Starting point is 00:24:36 the entire offensive line room? I mean, this, a lot of people talk about, all right, well, go out and get another tackle, or go out and get this or go out and get that. And I'll throw a defensive tackle in here too. But you're talking now about valuable reps where hopefully Chris Jenkins takes a huge step forward. Hopefully Jackson Kirkland ends the other Jackson experiment.

Starting point is 00:24:58 that has somehow been brought up every single day this week. He's made this show. And before now, didn't you mention him earlier? I think Jackson Carmen, I guess, has a chance now. He's going to have a chance to put out some good film and should probably, what does he get? Like a half, you think? Probably gets a half. Some Rocky Lombardi at quarterback.

Starting point is 00:25:20 So Jackson and Carmen's going to be out there. But the point is, is the back end of these trenches. in the second string defensive tackles that people are worried about or thinking about. Travis Bell, do you have another solid game in you? Can you start to push for a roster spot?

Starting point is 00:25:37 I think a lot of these guys are in the mix and people that I'll be watching, certainly. Yeah, getting those opportunities to play against the higher level of competition, always great. The Bears defensive line has added some juice in the last couple of years as well. There are a couple former Bengals playing for

Starting point is 00:25:55 the Chicago defensive line as well, and Andrew Billings, who will see how much we see him. He's only got 15 preseason snaps for the Bears, but he did play in preseason game one, didn't play in preseason game two. I'm not sure if he's healthy, but Billings on that roster. And Calig Karim has played a ton for the Bears this preseason. Not that those are the stars of the Bears defensive line by any means, but a couple of former Bengals there, if we're talking about the trenches. Would Khalid Karim make the team? he would have a pretty good chance like that would be

Starting point is 00:26:26 with camp sampled down yeah yeah and he's having a great preseason I mean he's always been one of those preseason superstar types where he tends to show out in the preseason he's been good in the preseason throughout his career but he's having a nice

Starting point is 00:26:39 free season as well for the bears this year yeah I think uh just because he can kick inside a little bit like cam did just just throwing it out there no I think um oh and then punner all right

Starting point is 00:26:53 before punter actually linebacker Ruma Zhang Mehta We're looking at you my man Can you back it up number 45 With another quality performance Everyone knows his name now Or potentially could if he has a big game

Starting point is 00:27:09 And so Zhang Mehta It's certainly on the list of guys Of roster hopefuls that could push for that And then obviously Ryan Rico With Zach Taylor not updating the status We're not sharing anything new with Browning or Robbins huge, huge games for Logan Woodside or Rocky Lombardi, of course.

Starting point is 00:27:30 I think he is going to get some playing time. But then as far as Bengals starters are concerned, Ryan Rico, is he going to be able to show he can hold at a high level for Evan McPherson, punt consistently, do everything Darren Simmons is looking for. With Brad Robbins injured, he has a chance to make a push here for a roster spot. And that's really the most you could ask for considering he wasn't on the team, what, a month ago? now he has a chance to make the team.

Starting point is 00:27:54 And getting a full game of reps, that consistency, getting into a rhythm that can only help, I think, as you get that larger sample size. A couple other guys I'll shout out as guys that I'm interested in to see how they perform. Coming off of strong or at least good week one performances, you mentioned Chris Jenkins really looking for a bounce back week there, so we won't need to go into too much up there. But Cedric Johnson, who currently looks like the fifth edge player on this roster, you talk about Cal at Karim and the potential fit for him. That's the guy he would be battling for a roster spot if Karim was still on the Bengals.

Starting point is 00:28:28 So, Cedric Johnson this week, can you follow up a very solid week one with a solid week two of the preseason? That is something to watch, in my opinion. And how much do Miles Murphy and Joseph Osai play? How deep into the game do those guys get? And I think looking for a little bit more from those guys. And they'll have an opportunity to go against some starters this week, assuming they play at the beginning of the game.

Starting point is 00:28:49 And then some of the other young guys, Josh Newton, Dejan Anthony, do those guys follow up ranging from strong to adequate to good, you know, in that range of performances in preseason week one with another strong performance in week two? Looking at those rotational guys, right? And all of those players looking for whether or not they can show up against a higher level of competition with that bear's offense. Yeah, that's a good point. It is. And that's just exciting about the preseason.

Starting point is 00:29:20 And you know the good news, Jake? Eric All's going to play. Is he going to play much? There's another one. He played two snaps the other day, and I did not notice them. So hopefully he gets out there. I'm excited about Eric O'I'll. We talked about him yesterday.

Starting point is 00:29:34 Our rookie power rankings yesterday, if you missed that, that was fun. And we had a whole mailbag where we talked about Jamar. But now that we know Jamar's back, some of that's old, some of that's not. Skip, listen to the rookie power rankings in segment two. But I'm excited, Jake. You have to wake up semi early. for a Saturday and be ready to go. 10 a.m.

Starting point is 00:29:53 Let's go. I do too. 10 a.m. games, man. That's my gym. I would love that. With my day early, it's awesome. Done with your day early. I have a major fantasy draft afterwards.

Starting point is 00:30:05 Oh, boy. So I'm going to be trying to rush you through our Saturday episode. Great. It's like an in-person auction. But the point of saying that is that we're going to have an instant reaction after the game. Full show Saturday after the game. the game. And then we'll be back after that on Monday. So if you're used to the normal Sunday evening to Thursday evening publishing time, it's a little bit weird in the preseason. It's a little bit

Starting point is 00:30:29 weird sometimes when games are not on Sundays as the NFL originally intended them to be. Any given Sunday was the phrase, not any given Saturday. But here we are in the preseason. And we will, of course, have you updated after that game with reactions and takeaways from the Bengals preseason game two against the Chicago. Bears. And if you're looking for a second listen today, you can check out Lockdown Fantasy Football on YouTube or anywhere you get your podcast until Saturday after the game. That's going to do it for this episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast. Ho day. And have a good one.

Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - Takeaways from sloppy Cincinnati Bengals-Chicago Bears joint practice, and what we're watching for in preseason week 2

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