Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - Trey Hendrickson deal PROGRESS? Hinges on guarantees | Plus, Burrow consistency and an energetic defense are early training camp trends

Starting point is 00:00:00 Progress for the Cincinnati Bengals with Trey Hendrickson. We'll dive into that report plus takeaways from training camp so far for the Bengals. 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 Lockdown Bengals podcast. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. I'm Jake Liscoe. he's James Rupin, and together we are your hosts of the Lockdown Bengals podcast covering your Cincinnati Bengals here since 2016.

Starting point is 00:00:44 We're on YouTube, where everywhere you get your podcast. So if you're not already in every day or you can hit that subscribe button to make sure you don't miss an episode. You can make Locktime Bengals your first listen, have all those great listening habits we like to talk about here on Lockdown Bengals. Today we dive into the latest on Trey Hendrickson, is this contract may be inching closer to resolution? while there's still some gap to bridge between the team and Trey Hendrickson as far as his demands and requirements for a contract extension go. We'll also get into some themes for training camp, including Joe Burrough so far. What's going on with that Al Golden defense and the renovation on that side of the ball?

Starting point is 00:01:25 And everything that stood out through about a week's worth of football practices. And James, before we dive in there, we have some exciting. plans for the rest of my week here in Cincinnati is, well, we're going to, we're going to see some people in person. Yeah, we are. And it's an official locked on Bengals meetup, training camp meet up Saturday, August 2nd at the Holy Grail, on the banks right there next to Paycor Stadium. And it's convenient. Why? Because practice ends at 745 or so. And then you can head over to Holy Grail. We'll meet you there at 8.30 on Saturday night. And we'll see how late Jake. Let's go stays up. So you're going to want to show up right at 830 just in case,

Starting point is 00:02:13 because he's really pushing it here. But we're really excited. We haven't done one of these with both of us together since 2021. And we know how that season ended. So maybe we're the good luck the Bengals need this season, Jake. Yeah, we're just going to have to make sure we get one of these in a year give us plenty of time to talk about the Bengals into the winter months early in the year and we're excited to see you in person we're not going to do necessarily a live show or anything like that but we are excited to hang out shoot shoot the i guess i can't say that talk with you uh down at the holy holy grail and right after practice like james said so hopefully it's convenient for those of you especially that are attending that night practice in person yeah hope to have a few pops

Starting point is 00:03:00 Hope to toast cheers with a couple of you or a lot of you. And that's the beauty of it. And no, no live show, but we get to talk in person. You guys get to, you know, have to deal with our faces and show-wise plenty. So come chat with us. We'll meet up. We'll talk Bengals and discuss what we've seen in camp so far. And that's what's interesting, Jay, because I do think over the next few days,

Starting point is 00:03:25 how we feel now versus how we feel then could certainly change. we've had one day of pads and that's it. We haven't seen one-on-ones between the offensive line and defensive line or the corners and receivers. Like there are a lot of things that we're going to cover today that are certainly fluid and that could change by Saturday when we have our meetup. That's the nature of the preseason. The observations change as time goes on.

Starting point is 00:03:50 It's a very fluid situation. Last year it was the come up of Dax Hill in training camp. I remember being a significant change as we. progress through the preseason. Obviously, preseason games, a big part of this as well, as we discussed on yesterday's show. Anything that we're talking about after any of these practices, after any amount of practices is going to be altered by how guys perform in live game situations.

Starting point is 00:04:16 And so those preseason games obviously going to shape narratives as well. But speaking of narratives being shaped, James, let's get to what's going on with Trey Hendrickson before we dive into some of these themes that we've seen throughout training camp and Adam Schaefter and Jeremy Fowler also confirming on NFL live. Jeremy Fowler was at Bengals training camp on Monday. But Adam Schaefter on the Pat McAfee show talking about the progress essentially that's been made with the Trey Hendrickson deal saying that they're essentially in line on years on money, overall money, but there is a bit of a gulf on guarantees.

Starting point is 00:04:55 It does sound like the Bengals may have gotten some guaranteed money. into their offer for year two of the deal, but not enough for what Trey Hendrickson is looking for as he's looking for multiple years of assurances and guaranteed money in the deal. Shephyr speculated, and I do think it was speculation on the amount of guaranteed dollars apart the Bengals are from Trey Hendrickson, but it does also sound like listening to Fowler and Schaefter's reporting on this topic that the Bengals have gotten to the point where there is some guaranteed money in the offer outside of year one of the contract, at least is a step in the right direction, but it's just a step. I think there's still a lot of work left to be done

Starting point is 00:05:36 here to get this thing done. Yeah, it's interesting. The reaction in the headlines turned into Adam Schepter says the Bengals are six to $10 million apart and guaranteed money. And naturally, when you see that, it's like, oh, well, that's it. And they're really close. And I would call that close, by the way. But Adam Schaefter didn't actually say it that way. He said, it depends on who you're asking. But I would say anywhere between six, seven, eight, nine, ten million. Let's put it this way. Multiple millions, multiple millions apart. So is it between six to ten? Is it more than that? I don't think he said that with the, the, I don't think he was as certain as some of the, the, the graphics in social media posts what would lead you to believe. And so how I would describe it and

Starting point is 00:06:26 how I described it for our locked on Bengals insiders is I don't think they're in the red zone yet. But they're certainly on the right side of the 50. And these things happen fast and can happen very fast. And so if guaranteed money is the holdup, well, then I think the Bengals may have offered what they're going to offer from a guaranteed money perspective. I really do. I don't know how much more they'll push there. That's something that we've seen them be resilient to in general. So if they're already offering guaranteed money in year two of an extension,

Starting point is 00:07:04 are they going to bump that up and give him more? I'm not sure about that. But I was talking with someone in the league that's pretty plugged in on Monday. And they seem to think that that 35-ish-million and average annual value is realistic. that Trey and the Bengals could agree there, whether it's 35 or north of 35 million. And I do think that's interesting because I would have said, they're not going to get there. But this person was pretty confident that that would be the number in that whatever

Starting point is 00:07:40 they agree to is going to look really good. We'll see what happens guaranteed wise. But on the surface, that contract is going to look really good, which I think is interesting. Will that come true? Will it not? I'm not sure. But that was said. and then Adam Schepter said what he said.

Starting point is 00:07:56 And so it fits a theme, and we'll see how true it becomes. But it does feel like Mike Brown's confidence eight days ago now on Mock Turtle Soup Media Day, there was a reason for that. And even though Trey was reminding everyone he wasn't at camp, I do think it feels like, and I lean towards something getting done at some point, hopefully sooner rather than later. Which is kind of how it's felt the whole time. with some exceptions maybe when the trade request was granted there's a moment where it's like oh maybe

Starting point is 00:08:28 they're not going to do this maybe they're doing this a little bit differently than we would expect the bengals to have done this their entire existence and this is very much in line with the entire existence of the cincinnati bengals this thing going up to week one will be very much in line with the history of the cincinnati bengals working on these deals having issues around guaranteed money very much in line with the history of the way the bengals negotiate contracts having issues with players over the age of 30 in line with recent Bengals history. So a lot of these topics are very in line with what we've seen from them over the last few years. But I think where they're at now is that there's maybe this realization that, yeah, there's risk if you

Starting point is 00:09:12 guarantee money out into the future for Trey. But you have to weigh that against a risk of not having him this year. And that's why, even though this is potential. going to take time and continue to be a very difficult negotiation. There was a great article over on ESPN.com about the behind the scenes of holdouts talking to players, agents and GMs to get their various perspectives on how holdouts work. And it can be difficult. It can be very stressful. But that's why kind of throughout this process, the feeling has been that eventually they

Starting point is 00:09:47 would find common ground. And it's just a matter like you said, will it be sooner? will it be later and hopefully it's sooner because it's great to have tray in camp. Also, great to have Tray in working with Shamar Stewart as we discussed on yesterday's show and the potential transfer of knowledge between those guys and playing style overlap. Speaking of Shamar Stewart, does he make it into the trends of Bengals training camp so far after participating in two practices? We'll get into what we've seen through five practices as if Bengals are gearing up for the season.

Starting point is 00:10:20 coming up next. Today's show is brought to you by Yahoo Fantasy. Look, Yahoo Fantasy is the perfect fantasy football platform for you, for me, for everyone. And of course, over here on Locked on Bengals, we're playing Lockdown Fantasy and or Yahoo Fantasy with Locked On. And you should too, whether you're a first timer, whether you're a veteran like me, making your Millionth League. And it literally feels like a million leagues that I've done with Yahoo. And it's just so quick. It's so easy. It's so convenient. They have all the features that you need. It's super smooth. It's easy to make trades. It's easy to use the waiver wire and claims and all of the things that come with fantasy greatness. And to celebrate 28 years of

Starting point is 00:11:05 fantasy greatness. Yahoo Fantasy is dropping 28 big new features over 28 days, giving you more ways to play, more ways to draft, and more ways to win. It all begins on August 4th. Stay tuned and get started by creating or joining Yahoo Fantasy Football in our Yahoo Fantasy League at Yahoo! dot com slash locked on NFL. That's Yahoo! Fantasy.com slash locked on NFL. Let's make this fantasy season the best one yet. All right, Jake.

Starting point is 00:11:32 Let's dive into some trends, some themes when it comes to Cincinnati Bengals training camp to this point. You've seen two practices, one in full pads, both Shamar Stewart practices. You mentioned him. I think the theme that I would cover first, and that comes to mind when we were planning this, is Joe Burrow. and how consistent he's been day in and day out thus far. We'll see, but I think we all watched quarterback on Netflix to kind of get ready for camp. And something that he said last year after that first game was early in the season, I just, I hold on to it.

Starting point is 00:12:14 And I'm not really, clearly he doesn't see it as well as he does after some live reps. Well, I think he's seeing it as well as I've seen him this early in camp through five, practices. I can't really remember, in quote, correct me if I'm wrong, I haven't, one, he hasn't thrown an interception. But has he thrown a ball that you've seen in your two practices that you think could have been intercepted, like an interceptable pass that you can remember where like realistically the defender had a shot at it? I don't really remember one through five practices. Maybe I, you know, was busy looking at the sun or something or getting rained on. But I don't, I don't really remember one. I don't remember anything I would describe as a turnover worthy play for Joe Burrow. Let's say

Starting point is 00:12:58 that there have been some, maybe two passes that I can remember that a Herculean superhuman kind of play, maybe there's a chance. And I don't know whether one of those in particular would have even been Joe Burrough's fault. And that's kind of like a deflection on a ball that wasn't necessarily handled the best by the wide receiver. So I would say no. I would say in general, taking care of the football to high level. The accuracy has been, for the most part, very high level. There was a bit of an exception to that, I would say, with the practice on Monday, where there was one pass that stands out is behind Jamar Chase.

Starting point is 00:13:37 Jamar had mishandled a back shoulder throw, and that leads to a pass break up for Josh Newton on that play. But in general, when we talk about Joe Burrow at this point in training camp, my question to you is going to be, and you've already answered, But my question to you is going to be, will we describe Joe Burrow as a head of schedule based on our normal expectation for Joe Burroughs trajectory, given what we've seen from him early season? And without having to deal with an offseason of rehab, and, you know, last year was major questions around his wrist and how is he throwing the ball? And, you know, do they need to manage how much he's throwing the ball? Is he dealing with more soreness in that wrist, I think, than he is now?

Starting point is 00:14:21 Certainly, like, the wrist hasn't been a topic at all, really, this year. So that's leading, I think, to a greater degree of consistency throwing the ball. But I think also his feel for the pocket, while it's really hard to tell in camp practices, because nobody's hitting Joe, although he did go to the ground on Monday. According to those who could see it, we couldn't see that play. But he slipped trying to evade Logan Wilson as the story is told. his pocket movement does look as good as it could possibly look in training camp to me. Like no Shadur Sanders kind of stuff from that highlight that you may have seen on social media on Monday

Starting point is 00:15:05 where he's taking four hitches and getting credited for throwing a bomb from the 25-yard line to the back of the end zone, you know, a 25-yard pass. But he would have been sacked three times. None of that from Joe. I think that like that part of him. That's called shade. That is called shade. Holy moly out of nowhere, Jake.

Starting point is 00:15:24 Not for Shadur. With a chair shot. And Jimmy has them and the Browns go down. All right, go ahead. For the people that are overreacting to the cliff, more than anything. But I do think that the accuracy, the timing, the movement for Joe Burrow that we've seen from him in training camp is excellent. So do we think he's ahead of schedule, James? Would you characterize him as ahead of schedule in any interpretation of that coin of phrase?

Starting point is 00:15:50 turn or phrase. A head of schedule, I think he's right on schedule. And maybe ahead of schedule based on he's been healthy versus other years when he's had to manage things. But no, I think if you're putting together the MVP, like the MVP path for Joe, in his mind probably is this through five days. And he's probably going to be like,

Starting point is 00:16:19 ah, man, I need to be doing this, this, this, this better. We're going to hear from him Wednesday. It's fine. But it probably starts with being consistent in practice. And then he adds on in the preseason, at least in the first two games, and is ready to hit the ground running on September 7th. And so, yeah, this is the ideal first five days of camp for Joe. Because he's being challenged. It isn't just easy.

Starting point is 00:16:43 And he's not just getting everything he wants going up and down the field. But he does have the answers. They have responded well. they have been effective. He's not only hitting his stars, but some under the radar guys are making plays as well, including Charlie Jones, by the way, made a couple of plays that we couldn't see. Now we can officially confirm it because I know there's been a lot of Charlie Jones speculation. And so, yeah, I think this has been an ideal start to camp for Joe.

Starting point is 00:17:11 I wouldn't say there have been some bumps, day one, one of those bumps in the road, right? Dave won Joe Burrow saying that he felt like the practice was poor for the offense, the first time we heard from Joe Burrow. And we've seen the struggles in the red zone at times, although after the red zone yesterday, when they were going away from us in the indoor facility when we couldn't see it, looks like he hit some big plays and the offense answered a little bit to finish that practice. But I do think that Joe's played well. In addition to Joe playing well, I think for the most part, we've seen the skill players play

Starting point is 00:17:46 really well. The run game has been a strength for the Bengals offense, which is not something I thought I would be saying through training camp. We'll see how that translates to live game situations, tackling situations. They haven't been doing that, obviously, but the run game has been a strength. The receivers have all made plays, one through six, and even beyond a little bit, as we talked about some of the undrafted of free agents yesterday. And Jordan Moore from Duke number 14 is is standing out for the work he's done so far. So plus is for the skill guys all the way through to the tight ends as well. I think Cam Grandy's made plays multiple days, at least that I've noticed.

Starting point is 00:18:25 And maybe that's Cam Grandi bias for me, that I'm watching him a little bit more closely. And then on the other side, there's still those concerns and pass protection to me, especially on the interior right now, where Chris Jenkins and T.J. Slayton have looked really good. And maybe that's those guys being really good. but as we've seen in the past, we've seen issues for, or we've seen pressure, let's say, at certain points in camp,

Starting point is 00:18:53 and that's been more of an issue with the offensive line than the defensive line necessarily playing up. So that's like the concerning thing on the offense, not a surprise at all, but the concerning thing on the offensive side, I think, would be on the interior of the offensive line. For sure. Yeah, it's, and that's something,

Starting point is 00:19:10 that's one of those things that could change between now and Saturday. Hopefully it does. Speaking of, Will Hernandez is cleared. Will Hernandez let everyone, hey, I'm cleared, by the way. You think he would believe

Starting point is 00:19:23 he could win the starting right guard job here in Cincinnati? Hard not to think you would have a real good shot at it. I mean, but he would be like, oh, yeah, I would love to block for Joe Burrow and take my 70 plus PFF passing, pass blocking grade over the past three years to Cincinnati.

Starting point is 00:19:40 So that, there you go. That's one that's not going to cost a lot. And I don't think he will, Jake. And you could say these other guys too fine. But clearly, for whatever reason, the beggos haven't been in, that's a guy that feels like it makes sense. Makes sense. It's fully cleared.

Starting point is 00:19:56 It's July 29th. We're hoping. That's what we're doing here when it comes to the guard position. We also need to see that competition shakeout because we haven't been privy to Lucas Patrick for a couple of days here as he's dealing with. that leg injury. Still considered day to day, but we will see after the day off if Lucas Patrick is any closer to practicing.

Starting point is 00:20:18 We'll continue with themes. We'll get to the defensive side of the ball where Al Golden and his defense have given Joe Burrow and that offense issues from time to time. It's been back and forth in training camp, but there's some areas for optimism, some areas for concern. We'll finish a show on the defensive side of the ball coming up next. Today's show is brought to you by five-hour energy, and it's time to fuel up. Turn it up with five-hour energy transfusion.

Starting point is 00:20:46 It brings the bold, great ginger and lime flavor of your favorite golf drink minus alcohol into a quick, energizing shot. Whether you're sinking birdies or just making memories with friends, this one's a whole and one for your energy game. And let's be honest, whether you're on the course or whether you're at training camp. And we took a pit stop. Jake Liscoe got in really, really late. If you don't remember, he told the world how late he got in on Saturday night before Sunday's practice got the days right. We stopped and got a five-hour energy and it gave him the energy to get through day one of training camp for him and power through the day. And whether it's golf,

Starting point is 00:21:27 whether it's training camp, five-hour energy can help you. And if you go to five-hour energy.com today, that is the number five-hour energy.com. You can use my promo code locked on golf and get 20% off your order. This offer is only valid until September 30th on one order and cannot be used with other promotions. The code is not good on subscription orders. Whether you're meeting up with friends or trying to turn 18 holes into 36, get the energizing boost you need to power through. Order transfusion flavored five-hour energy shots today.

Starting point is 00:22:00 Defense decided the ball of James as we wrap up this episode of Lockdown Bengals. Chris Jenkins, T.J. Slayton, a couple of standouts. Shamar Stewart, making waves in his second practice, showing those flashes that made him the Bengals first round pick and has Jerry Montgomery very excited for us outside. A whole lot of movement in the secondary, both in terms of playing in the slot and playing outside and different guys working with the first unit in the second unit.

Starting point is 00:22:27 Some minor injuries. Cam Taylor Britt missed today. He was back on Monday. He participated on Monday, but gave up one particular big play inside to T. Higgins on a, I think it was a slant, and I think it was T. Higgins. Maybe my memory is failing me on both of those counts at this point. But what are your big takeaways, James, as you think about the way this defense has looked so far, so many questions on that side of the ball.

Starting point is 00:22:50 So many lottery tickets are coin flips that we have to figure out. And we need to see games, of course, but we've seen five practices. What do you think? Well, I think first things first, last year it looked like they were three different units trying to operate and they were never in sync. I mean, very rarely was the defensive line and the linebackers and then the back end all in sync. I don't know how good the Bengals defense is going to be, but I do think they're going to be on the same page. Whether that page is good or not, we'll see. But I do think they're going to be on the same page.

Starting point is 00:23:20 So I think that's the first thing is the communication, whether it's simplicity or the scheme or whatever it is, I do think everyone is going to know where they need to go, when they need to go there, and be in alignment, an offseason word, an offseason theme for the Bengals, especially on defense. And the other thing that I've certainly noticed is how energetic and aggressive they are. I mean, they're bringing the energy. They're bringing confidence. And that has helped them when they've gotten hit with a Joe Burrow Haymaker or Jamar Chase Haymaker. And Joe is just really dialed in.

Starting point is 00:24:01 Like I said, he's having a great camp. But the defense has responded. The defense has made plays. And so far it's tough defensive line-wise to make a huge judgment. but I do think the linebackers have stood out. I do think that in the secondary as Daxil continues to progress as well, there are guys there that feel like they're going to take a step forward. And if they do that, there's no reason to think that this defense can't be better.

Starting point is 00:24:30 So I think after five days of practice, I still, I'm not sure where they'll rank defensively, but I do think that they're going to be better next year. and we're starting to see signs of that, or this year, excuse me, versus last year, and we're starting to see signs of that just based on how they've responded, what they've done, and how they've kind of acclimated themselves as a group together versus last year when it was, what mistackles in all of the finger pointing behind the scenes that it was going on.

Starting point is 00:25:05 Yeah, a lot more of that camaraderie that's very obvious. obvious even during practice, and I would imagine outside of practice as well. And, you know, various anecdotes, Josh Newton approaching Joe Burrow for the film session. Josh Newton's attitude in general, I think is stock up, Fig Newton at this point in training camp, I would say. I would say on the other side, if you're talking about the secondary, DJ Turner has had a bit of a rough start to camp. And he's also made some plays, so it's not like it's been all bad, but on the wrong end of a number of highlight plays, and I think we'll need to bounce back a little bit as camp on. DJ Ivy getting more run and perhaps a year removed from his own ACL injury, more than a

Starting point is 00:25:49 year removed now in his second season back. Hopefully, he's feeling better and getting some opportunities. I'm not necessarily saying that he's competing for a starting job, but certainly, I think, has a trust of the coaching staff within his role, whatever. that role shakes out to be, whether that's your tight end matchup piece as he has a size to do that, if that's something that Al Golden's interested in doing the way Louana Rimo did. And so from the secondary perspective, you know, Dax easing in. We'll see how that continues to go. I think that things are clicking more for Gino Stone and for Jordan Battle on the back end in

Starting point is 00:26:30 terms of understanding their roles in Al Golden's defense. And that is a big piece of it. is everyone really understanding their part, understanding what the defense is trying to do. And that's something that I think wasn't present toward the end of Luanna Ramos time in Cincinnati. I also agree that the linebacker play does look improved to me and all four of those guys at the top of the depth chart, including Orrin Burs, including Barrett Carter, including Demetrius Knight. And Demetrius Knight, I think, does have a chance to be a really good player in this league. I think I said that yesterday.

Starting point is 00:27:00 Those guys are all showing that they belong in various capacities. and are making plays. I'm excited to see those guys as this progresses as well. Because the one place where the Bengals made a big investment on defense is at the linebacker position. Three new players at the linebacker position. That better show up. Now, how much it'll matter, it's a linebacker position. And there's questions about, you know, how much value linebackers can give you if they're not at the level of like a Fred Warner.

Starting point is 00:27:27 I'm not saying the Bengals have a Fred Warner on their team. But if those guys and Logan Wilson can play better, that's got to be a boost. for this defense. So again, we'll see as time goes on there, I would say that currently I'm buying stock and the Bengals having improved at the second level at the linebacker position. The last bit is really in the trenches, right? And we'll have to see how that plays out. But what do you think about those linebackers' contributions so far? They better be better. And I do think that they should be. Expectations are high. When you invest what you did at linebacker and you say, all right, Orrin Berks is going to come in and be the Akeem Davis Gather type of player that can also give you

Starting point is 00:28:08 probably a bit more on defense. And then you take Demetrius Knight. And then you take Barrett Carter, who you had a day two grade on in the fourth round. Yeah, those guys, especially with a healthy Logan Wilson, expectations are high. And that can matter. Like if they felt like linebackers were a big issue last year. And let's just say, and clearly they did. Let's just say they get to league average or better at that spot.

Starting point is 00:28:38 And they have depth to maintain that. Well, that should show up. That should make a difference. And we'll see if it does. But I do think Demetrius Knight has a lot of believers in the building. And he's going to get the first crack at that. But the nice thing is, is Orrin Berks and Barrett Carter. Those guys compliment Logan Wilson and Demet

Starting point is 00:29:00 Trius Night really well. And so how Al Golden deploys these guys, I think it's really intriguing. And in much like corner, I think linebacker, to a lesser degree, but linebacker could be that way where you mix and match a little bit and you have different packages where we see these guys on the field, on defense, and not just like for Barrett Carter, when they drafted him, I'm like, oh, that's probably just a special team or year one. Well, we could see him on defense a little bit for sure. I think from a schematic perspective, just to wrap up here on defense, we're seeing a lot of twisting, a lot of stunting on the defensive front. And I'm excited to see how that goes into game situations. We're seeing a lot of interesting blitz packages where

Starting point is 00:29:46 we're seeing Joseph Osai, for example, drop into coverage a ton. And Samar Stewart had his first rep dropping into coverage, I believe, on Monday. And you're seeing these five-man surfaces with linebackers And with linebackers on the edge, which is why Shamar Stewart sometimes is kicking in to three tech or five tech. And then you're getting a linebacker blitzing on one side, defensive end dropping out on the other side. So excited to see what that scheme looks like. We might not see much of this until the regular season. But seeing some differences in the way these guys are being used, different packages that you're seeing from linebackers and the way they're being used as blitzers to complement more twists and games for the defensive linemen to try to manufacture some pressures. as well and just confuse things for offensive lines.

Starting point is 00:30:31 And if that's a trend, that's something that will be exciting to watch when we have some live football to watch as well. Yeah, for sure. That is one of the many things. The other thing that at some point this is going to creep up as we move past the defense, the long snapper, maybe it's just going to be in games. Maybe that's when we see it. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:30:56 But that's certainly something that I want to make sure is that is at least mentioned when we talk about these takeaways because that's a huge position battle. It's going to impact Evan. And Evan's been pretty good. He's missed two kicks so far in five practices. And yeah, if he starts 18 for 20 or whatever he has in practice, and it's something in that range. It might be even better than that. It would bode well, I would say, for the Bengals chances of getting off to a good start and winning some of these tight games that they would. lost early in the year last year.

Starting point is 00:31:27 We'll have to look forward to the day that we get Darren Simmons and ask him about how the long snapper battles going. Darren Simmons, not one to mince words, usually a pretty honest guy when it comes to evaluating his special teamers. And so we'll find out one of these days, I'm sure, from Darren Simmons, how that's going. Or maybe we'll just see a roster move. And it'll be as simple as that. You don't necessarily always see those things coming.

Starting point is 00:31:51 last thing for me James is really excited with the pads on to see some move the ball drills hopefully over the course of my time in Cincinnati I don't think we've seen a move the ball period of 11 on 11 yet I've only seen two practices so that's when they actually you know will move the chains and actually progress down the field instead of lining back up at the same spot excited to see some move the ball and we might see some one-on-ones this week and both in the trenches well primarily in the trenches is where I'm excited for that. Outside of just in a play where you can isolate guys from time to time.

Starting point is 00:32:26 Those are some things that I'm excited to see. And we'll inform our opinions as training camp progresses here, and we continue to look for trends. And you want to talk about something that, for example, DJ Turner, you want to redeem yourself? 101's a good way to start that, right? I think offensive line, defensive line 101s are going to be, well, I mean, think about Shamar versus Amarius?

Starting point is 00:32:49 Yeah, baby. Chamar described that it's two bricks. His hands were two bricks grabbing him. And I think that's why it was so important to get out there at practice. That first day seeing Orlando going up against Orlando and Amaris, Shamar was like, all right, this is what it's going to be like. And so it was a good first couple of days. But the one-on-ones, they're going to be good.

Starting point is 00:33:10 And don't forget Saturday, Holy Grail, 830, Jake Liscoe might stay up past 9 o'clock on Saturday night. Don't be pushing it now, Jay. Well, we're excited to see you then. And if you see us at training camp, I'll obviously feel free to say hello, even though we're often in a hurry trying to do whatever it is we're doing at that time of day.

Starting point is 00:33:33 We'll at least give you a wave, you know, give you a wave and a smile. We appreciate everyone who said hi to us so far down there at training camp practices. And we'll be back on Wednesday after another hot one in the forecast down at Paycourt. Until then, thanks for listening to this episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast. hootay and have a good

Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - Trey Hendrickson deal PROGRESS? Hinges on guarantees | Plus, Burrow consistency and an energetic defense are early training camp trends

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