How does that change how the offense looks this weekend?

That hurts.

And I'm really bummed about Eric Hall because of his history.

That's three, right? Three? Yeah, it's the same knee.

Three times he tore the ACL.

And if you go back to his college career, he had surgery then, recovered, played basketball.

two-thirds of his rookie year with the Bengals two years ago and then toward the ACL again.

Give me the radio booth take on those two superstars.

Yeah, yeah, I'm

sorry.

No, on defense.

Okay, so let's talk about the problems that they've had on defense, whether it's first down, second down, or third down.

Two things stand out.

Number one, we alluded to it earlier, running outside against the Bengals.

So Dexter Lawrence and Jonathan Allen have done a great job of making it hard to run up the middle.

Is this run game better than the numbers say?

You've got to scheme that.

Yeah.

And I asked Joe about it on Wednesday when he holds his weekly news conference before a game.

And I said, you made the statement after the game, we need to run it more.

Were you specifically referring to last week's game because the running game was so bad? Or are you saying in general, we need to run it? I'm sorry, we need to throw it.

And he said, I was frustrated after the game.

Obviously, we need to have better balance.

Why did you see that happen, particularly in the last game against Jacksonville, as opposed to the first two or three, where it was a pretty consistent run game? Was it what Jacksonville was giving them?

I think they've got to run it even if they had both.

And I don't think they will.

But I think that there has to be a statement this week that we are going to get more out of the running game and be a more balanced team.

The Dolphins are giving up three point six yards per carry.

They have been very good at stopping the run.

When I watch this team particularly on defense I see a bunch of young high draft picks who don't realize that they stink.

I mean they're playing like we're a good team we're having fun we're out there running around.

How do you think the offensive line has done protecting Joe?

You look at him and you go, wow, he's not where he needs to be to protect Joe Burrow.

Yeah, I think it's fair to be concerned about Orlando Brown Jr.

He did not have a good game last week.

I think we should keep in mind who he was facing.

Will Anderson is the highest paid non-quarterback in the NFL.

Daniel Hunter also makes $40 million a year.

Those guys are going to make a lot of tackles look bad.

So the question then is who steps up? Dante Myers,

Just kind of talk about, you know, as you look at this defensive line and their prowess, I think the interior's been the biggest upgrade I've seen.

It's really the entire defensive line.

Those two guys that you b- have both mentioned have played great.

Jonathan Allen's had a sack in each of the first two games.

Dexter Lawrence, as we've described, has been killing people.

But it's really the group up and down.

Boye Mafe was their most highest, uh, priced free agent that they signed in the off season.

How have you seen the growth of this offensive line from last year to this year?

to get to that because you've got a pretty big addition there.

Yeah, I'm sure you will.

But I just wanted to emphasize it's been so bad in recent years, and this year it's been incredibly good.

So we'll get to it in detail.

But as for the passing game, it's been a little bit spotty through the first two weeks.

And honestly, that seems to be the norm for Joe Burrow's career.

Now, in the past, in many of these seasons, he got hurt in training camp and wasn't great in weeks one, two, three, or four.

You tell me, how opportunistic do you think this Bengals offense can be, especially if they get the run game going? I know you said it's a little out of sync to start the season, but I'm a little worried from a Steelers perspective that the big plays that they've allowed are going to come back to bite them against an offense that does still have that certainly in their bag of tricks.

We know that he is an all-world talent in Dexter Lawrence, but what does he change schematically for the defense here?

you have to double-team him and in some cases triple-team him.

He is one of a handful of players in the NFL that you can say that about.

So then it's math.

After that, if two or three guys are blocking him, then you can't really double-team anybody else.

So suddenly all of those other guys just have to win a one-on-one matchup.

And since they've improved the guys that are attempting to do that, that bodes well.

Is there a matchup Sunday you think decides this game more than any other? What are you looking at?

Can Battle take that next step with these two veterans that he's playing alongside? Is that realistic? Absolutely.

First and foremost, he came in tip-top shape.

I think if you look back at his NFL career, he's been more kind of the old school kind of guy who played his way into shape during training camp.

Not this year.

He was ready to go from day one.

I think he and Brian Cook have a great chemistry on and off the field.

Jordan Battle is a really smart player.

John, that

Can Battle take that next step with these two veterans that he's playing alongside? Is that

realistic? Absolutely.

First and foremost, he came in tip-top shape.

I think if you look back at his NFL career, he's been more kind of the old school kind of guy who played his way into shape during training camp.

Not this year.

He was ready to go from day one.

I think he and Brian Cook have a great chemistry on and off the field.

Yeah.

Let's start with receivers though.

All right.

We'll start with wide receiver.

It's a deep group.

I think they're trying to still figure out which guys are going to emerge as the best.

There's a guy J.V. Gibson.

who played at Oklahoma last year but he got hurt early in the season the year before that he was great at a lower level so they're hoping that he's this year Cyrus Allen Cyrus Allen was similar tremendous a few years ago then at Texas A&M didn't do that much transfer to Cincinnati now it looks like he's going to be an excellent rookie for the Kansas City Chiefs so Gibson you hope that maybe he can be that guy I think their slot receivers are really good Isaiah Johnson who's like the only returning wide receiver that played last year that they have and Cade Wolford who came from Kansas Kent State rather he averaged like twenty six yards every time he touched the ball last year didn't have a ton of touches but when he got it he was explosive.

What's the next step for this offense? What should we expect from these guys?

Uh, for people that are just getting acquainted with this year's draft class, guys that really jumped out to you, maybe where they were taken and already kind of being in the building and reports you've heard about, that anyone we should be keeping our eye on both offensively and defensively as well?

Well, keep in mind they traded away their first-round pick.

They had the 10th overall pick, and that pick went to the Giants for Dexter Lawrence.

So with the Bengals draft this year, you're looking at round two for their first pick.

And I didn't mention this name when I was running down the, the list of pass rushers that they're hoping will help transform this defense this year, but their first pick was a pass rusher, Cassius Howell out of Texas A&M.

SEC Defensive Player of the Year last year, led the SEC in sacks.

So they're certainly hoping, uh, uh, that he can contribute in a big way, again, in, in hopes of sending waves after opposing quarterbacks.

I- is there, is there reasons to be optimistic there as well with UC football?

[laughs]

... 93 seconds later, total despair, and it kept getting worse with the penalty on Vontaze and the penalty on Adam Jones.

So the victory over the Raiders in January of 2022 was absolute catharsis.

That no longer mattered.

All of the playoff failures of the, the Marvin era didn't matter anymore.

We've got Burrow.

This is the start of a new era.

[laughs]

How do you see those three working out and competing for spots in training camps?

I'll go in reverse order of the way that you just ran them off-tracks.

Let's start with Jasir Taylor.

I think going into camp, he is the backup at slot corner behind Jalen Davis, but that is a real competition.

That might be...

the most legitimate battle for a starting spot on the roster, whether it's offense or defense.

They will give Jasir Taylor the opportunity to make the case that he's better than Jalen Davis.

What is that all about?

But what are your first takes on Sexy Dexy?

A couple of things.

First, let's talk about the individual in terms of his size and his skill set.

He's obviously a gigantic human being, 340 pounds, maybe even a little bit more, but it's not sloppy.

He is well put together for somebody that gigantic.

I've been around a lot of NFL players over the years.

Typically, when they're in that 330-pound plus range, you look at them and you say, hmm, he could stand to drop 20.

Get your thoughts on are you thinking about thinking ahead to what you're going to say when we take that knee and we've we've exercised the demons and beat the Rams again in SoFi Stadium?

I absolutely remember what I

was doing I think every Bengals fan does I was at the FC Cincinnati match my wife and I are season ticket holders, this is the thing I get to go to strictly as a fan, you know have a beer I really don't know the sport all that well, but I enjoy going a lot so it was halftime of the match.

We went inside to the club area, the beer area, and I got a text on my phone from my son with the words Dexter Lawrence in like an exclamation point.

I'm like, come on.

So I called him, and he was out of breath, and he said, Dad, the Bengals have traded for Dexter Lawrence.

I said, Sam, I've got to hang up.

I'll call you back because I thought he had been scammed.

like Chia Pet.

And our group chat went crazy as we scrambled and did our what we were doing and reacting to on on that Saturday night, I absolutely remember what I

was doing I think every Bengals fan does I was at the FC Cincinnati match my wife and I are season ticket holders, this is the thing I get to go to strictly as a fan, you know have a beer I really don't know the sport all that well, but I enjoy going a lot so it was halftime of the match.

We went inside to the club area, the beer area and I got a text on my phone from my son with the words Dexter Lawrence and like an exclamation point like come on so I called him and he was out of breath and he said dad the Bengals have traded for Dexter Lawrence, I said Sam I've got to hang up a call you back because I thought he had been scammed.

Yeah, I thought it was like Alan Schefter.

Yeah, some bogus Twitter account said that the Bengals had traded for Dexter Lawrence.

So I hung up.

I called Bengals contacts.

I had hair.

Nice

... and I thought, "My God, that sounds biblical to me.

I've got to use that." And obviously I did, uh, while he was with the Bengals.

So that was the genesis of the whole, uh, Adriel Jeremiah Green thing.

Geno Atkins, uh, to me would be my first pick for the Ring of Honor.

I know that wasn't specifically your question, but since those guys are on the ballot now, I would put Geno at the top of that list.

He's been to more Pro Bowls than any other defensive player in franchise history to this point.

Yeah

Was it that same feeling for you being at Paycor Stadium every day?

100%.

And let me peel the curtain back a little bit to the day that Dexter Lawrence arrived.

So like everybody else, I learned on Saturday night that this trade was coming down, so I got in touch with my Bengals people to get some more of the details, and they said he would be arriving at, you know, X time on Sunday morning for his physical, then he would sign the contract.

So, uh, I arranged to, to be there and do an interview with him one on one that day.

So he walks into the building.

My first impression, just standing there, is that he's Amarius Mims.

How have you seen the leadership group coalesce throughout the off-season so far with so many of the guys that appear to be stepping into those roles being new additions through free agency?

and we see time and time again guys in the nfl have issues and they play they overcome them teams seem to ignore them fans seem to ignore them do you think that would happen with sorsby

Yeah, because the only victim in this crime was him.

It's not like he did something that adversely hurt somebody else.

It cost him a lot of money.

It cost him his reputation.

But I think he's paid his debt.

Again, he sought treatment.

I'm assuming that Cincinnati would be all in favor of that.