Joe Burrow is BACK: What Star QB’s Return Means for Struggling Bengals

Joe Burrow is BACK: What Star QB’s Return Means for Struggling Bengals

The Cincinnati Bengals are 3 and8 and Joe Burrow is returning for Thanksgiving Thursday Night Football anyway. What does it mean with playoff hopes all but non-existent? Let’s break it down. You are Locked On Bengals, your daily Cincinnati Bengals podcast, part of the Locked On. Your team every day. What up Bengals fans? Welcome to another episode of the Locked On Bengals podcast. Part of the locked on podcast network. Your team every day. He’s James Renee. I’m Jake Liscoco and we are Lockdown Bengals, your one-stop shop for all of the things that you could possibly want to hear about the Cincinnati Bengals. Anywhere on the internet, whether you’re on YouTube or anywhere you can listen to a podcast, you’re in the right place. If you’re looking for a daily Cincinnati Bengals show now, part of the number one sports podcast network in the land. Welcome back to the Everydays. Welcome back to all of you who make lockdown Bengals your first listen. And today we dive into the news that Joe Burrow will in fact be on the field returning for Thanksgiving action against the Baltimore Ravens and a season that’s all but lost already for the Cincinnati Bengals. And there’s a lot of news on this Monday short week for the Bengals including Jamar Chase. Big day for Bengals posting on Instagram. James Rene, as you know, Jamar Chase issuing his apology over Instagram as he’s now back in the facility and Zack Taylor giving the news that Trey Hendrickson and T. Higgins have already been ruled out for Thursday night football and varying degrees of surprise there. We’ll get to all of that news in this episode. Before we dive into the Joe Burrow news, just one quick update or reminder for those of you who have noticed, there is a new program on the Locked on Bengals podcast feed and YouTube channel. That is the Bengals squad show hosted by Alex Frank and Art Valero will be with him in each of those episodes. Mike Santaga will join for the postgame shows. I’ll be there for a lot of the midweek shows. It’s going to be an hourong live streamed episode that will also be on our audio feeds about a day after those live streams. So, just some bonus content. The regular locked on Bengals show five days a week. James and myself not going anywhere. Just a little bit of extra content for you. I know there have been some questions about it and so hopefully you didn’t fast forward through the entire intro here and you caught that explanation if you were wondering. Now James, without further ado, Joe Burrow posting on Instagram, I’m back in his ancient much too small LeBron James jersey on Instagram. A picture from his younger days. Zack Taylor not really disguising it either. What were your initial thoughts? Honestly, so twofold. It’s twofold. It’s twofold, Jake. It’s twofold. One, yay, get to see Joe Burrow play again. By the way, the that caption he that’s a Snapchat image from 2014 of Joe Burrow in a throwback original LeBron James Cavs jersey from the mid 2000s when he was with Cleveland the first time when he through SI and through Lee Jenkins announced that he was returning home to Cleveland. And so that’s what it was and it was he’s back. And it’s iconic because you have Joe Burrow then who was early high school Joe Burrow in one of his sports heroes. LeBron James is back. Crazy that LeBron is still playing when you you put it in that perspective. And Joe Burrow obviously one of the best on the planet. So it fits. And unfortunately it’s fit far too often. Doesn’t fit. It’s a little small. Let’s be real. No, I mean I mean the caption like the He’s back. It’s fine. Okay. It it doesn’t fit. You’re right. And and honestly, Joe Burrow coming back doesn’t really fit this season. That’s what sucks about this. I It sucks because the Bengals defense let us down uh for most of the the Joe Flacco era. The past two games, the offense has let us down and uh and the defense to a large degree against the Steelers. Let’s be honest here. They were not good against Pittsburgh. But you you throw that together and it’s like, “Yeah, he’s back to climb Mount Everest at less than 100%.” Oh, and by the way, not only is it Everest, but now we’re we’re going below below sea level to get up to Everest because now they’re three and eight, not just three and seven after his full practices. So like, and it’s winter and you get no oxygen and you’re still going up that mountain. It it Yeah. Like it’s it’s just so tough. And so I get it. Like I think a lot of people disagreed with me. I would have played him against the Patriots. I know he would have been super sore today. I know it’s a short week. I get all of that. It’s just four and seven with Joe Burge feels so much different than three and eight given the state of the division with two matchups against the Ravens and a matchup against the Browns to end the season. It’s just it does. But you can’t look back. You got to look forward. So it’s twofold. one, I do wonder like he’s not going to get a full practice this week. There’s an estimated practice report on Monday. On Tuesday, it’s a glorified walkthrough because a lot of the guys haven’t uh haven’t fully recovered or even close to fully recovered from Sunday. And then you you travel to Baltimore on Wednesday, you have a little walkthrough, and then Thursday you play the game. The the good news is here, he can get plenty of reps with Jamar Chase because Jamar didn’t play and and Joe obviously didn’t play. So maybe you could go that route and they get a a little bit more of an extensive workout in. But yeah, I mean this is Joe coming back needing to run the table. There’s no margin for error and I I think that’s got to be his approach. And that’s just a a real tall tall mountain to climb for the Bengals star quarterback. Yeah, nobody wants to hear this. There is technically for now a path to the playoffs without winning out, but that’s like sure. Yeah, the mountain is to the moon. You know, we’re not talking about Mount Everest. We’re talking about finding a way to levitate uh at that point. But with no fuel. Yeah. Like you got to jump and escape Earth’s gravitational pull to to Yeah, we’re talking about some some Superman stuff, which Joe’s gonna go try to do. Yes, that’s why he’s coming back. And I think he wants to play football. But there are a lot of fans out there, James, that are just like, “What’s what are we doing? What is the point of Joe Burrow coming back and playing football? I think that’s a a big question and honestly I hear it. You cannot entirely say like that’s dumb. It’s not dumb. I think it’s a reasonable thought process to say like if there’s a risk of reinjury here, what is the upside of Joe Burrow returning in a season where you need to win out? And not only do you need to win out, you need to win out in a game starting with Thursday Night Football in Baltimore where you haven’t been able to win. AFC North teams have such a hard time on the road on Thursday night games. And that’s Joe’s first game back. And we know that Burrow has taken time in the past to ramp up. Like what version of Joe Burrow are we going to get this week? We’re going to have potentially slightly diminished mobility, right? maybe a little bit of less push off from that injured foot than he’s used to. If he’s trying to wrigle free from a sack or or escape the pocket and needs a quick bursty movement, maybe a little bit less explosive off that leg. I I don’t know how exactly it will impact him between that and just whatever rust may or may not exist for him. and a difficult first test to deal with in a you know I I guess they’re still all must-win games until the Bengals are are technically eliminated but you’re going to get sick of us saying it like that that’s what his his mindset certainly would be for for this game when they’re not mathematically eliminated and you have a chance to take two off of the Ravens who you know you go look at the the projections right now the Ravens are like 81% to win the division according to all those models that are out there namely the New York Times in this case The Bengals can cost the Ravens the division for sure. Like if they win those two games, like the Ravens are in trouble. Like they bet the Ravens better win all of their other games to if they want to clinch the division. And we’ll see. Pittsburgh may just keep stubbing their toe and and go that route. It just it it made me do a whole survey like I I love watching Joe Burrow play. I think the Bengals are always going to to have a chance when he’s on the field. They’re going to have a chance on on Thursday and they’re going to be short-handed again and we can get to that coming up. But that’s that’s what’s so tough about this is is he he’s coming back and it’s three and eight and you didn’t get that Jets game and you couldn’t go you couldn’t go 500 with Joe Flacco playing pretty good ball. You know, there’s there’s been some reflections. Even three would have been okay. Yeah. Two wins. Yeah. Just even the Jets game, like if they had just I keep going back to that Jets game because they should have won by 20. If they had just won that game, well then you’re four and seven and it’s like, all right, well sweep Baltimore. Sweep Baltimore and let’s see let’s see where they let’s see where you’re at in the division. Didn’t do it. Didn’t do it. And um and so they are where they are. I I I don’t blame Joe Burrow for wanting to return again. My mindset would have been, all right, if we’re pushing the envelope here and we’re going to press this button, let’s fully press it. And it feels like they’re threequarters of the way pressing it. And it’s just really tough for me to see the path for this to be worth it. And instead, and this is how Bengals fans feel, and I think we should dive into it. They feel like this is going to bring back a Jake LCO trademark phrase, and and I think we should discuss that phrase coming up next. Today’s show is brought to you by our friends over there at Pelaton. Look folks, it’s time to break through the busiest time of the year with a brand new Pelaton cross trainining tread plus that’s powered by Pelaton IQ. 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Explore the new Pelaton crossraining tread plus at onepliton.com. All right, Jake, we’re going to get to your trademark phrase in just a second, but I I do want to make this part clear. Joe Bro is returning with the Bengals tied for last place in the North. They’re tied with the Browns right now. Like just just to be clear, they both have three wins. This is the the Browns have one win from Joe Flacco, one win with Dylan Gabriel, one win with Shador Sanders. Kevin Stfansky feels like a guy who’s out. Like that’s the team you’re tied with. So, we’re talking about the Ravens and the Steelers and all of those things, but I just want to point out that reality of of where the Bengals are at and what they’re asking Joe Burrow to do and they’re asking him to do it again with the defense that yes, there are some signs of life in the last couple of weeks and we’ve talked about those on film episodes. They’re they’re generally isolated to a few players and Gino Stone had a great game this week. We’re going to talk about that in the film episode. Maybe Jaylen Davis can be a shot in the arm in the secondary if he can maintain the level of play that he showed up with against uh against who did the Bengals play yesterday. This is unreal. Patriots. The Patriots. Wow. I was muted. My bad. Oh, this is what we get for uh breaking news. Forcing us to record two shows in a day. Jake, let’s go. Uh yeah, Jaylen Davis might be something that helps him in the secondary, but there’s still all these chronic issues at linebacker. Yeah, Miles Murphy’s playing a little bit better. That’s great. Joseph Osai has been playing as as well as you could honestly hope Joseph Osai to to play reasonably. Still not doing much as a pass rusher, but Al Golden’s finding ways to dial up pressure at key moments to get off the field. And so like instead of the worst defense in the NFL, you have a defense that simply can’t cover tight ends because the linebackers are bad. And that’s one flaw. And not like the entire thing is terrible. The Run D was pretty good last week. And maybe it’s because the Patriots lost some in linemen, but the the point that I was trying to make with this before I forgot who the Bengals played yesterday was that they’re asking Joe Burrow once again to do this with a defense that is awful. Even if it’s not the worst defense in the last 25 years when all is said and done and I think that they improve their stock in those categories against the Patriots, it’s still probably a bottom three defense in the NFL. If they continue to look like they did yesterday and they can be averageish and have issues with only tight ends for the rest of the way, then maybe you’re you’re cooking with something, but you’re facing some better offenses, too. So, it it’s just such a tall task with what we know this defense has been so far. and the the corners that are not being turned by so many players. And one of the problems here again is going to be they’re not going to have Trey Hendrickson again. We’ll discuss that a little bit later, but yeah, big big uphill task. Yeah, it is. And it’s it o opens it up for the Bengals to go three and three down the stretch or four- two and instead of being in the playoffs because they won against the Jets and they were able to win one of these other games that were one score type contests, they’re right in the middle again and they had that dead cat bounce that you talk about. There’s the phrase, I can’t believe I beat you to it, but I did. And that sucks. That’s why like when I talk about playing him against the Patriots, it’s not about, oh, push Joe and and and and risk Joe and risk the franchise. It has nothing to do with that. It’s like if you’re going to do that, if you’re going to risk him, if you’re going to put him out there, knowing all the flaws and knowing how unlikely it is that they make the playoffs, do it with a chance to actually make it. Do it with a chance to not end up with the 15th pick or the 13th pick or the 12th pick. you’re either going to the playoffs or you shut him down because why and do that and and so that’s it is the the deadcat bounce is real because they’re going to win more games this year. Joe Burrow is going to matter and odds are we’re still mid January talking about the off seasonason not a playoff game and and that’s that’s a heck of a place to be in because that’s in the middle and you don’t want to be in the middle. You want to be the extreme one way or the other, holding the trophy or drafting early, especially when you have your franchise quarterback and instead the Bengals again likely stuck in the middle. And a lot of that’s because of the the team they built and their inability to win play complimentary football in some of these winnable games. And it’s just very frustrating to see this be the case again with or without Joe. This was this was happening last year with Joe Burrow playing at an MVP level. And there were games that the offense didn’t finish. Obviously, we talked about that a lot last season, but largely it was that the defense didn’t do enough last year. And we, you know, we talked about all the whatifs in that Patriots game and those are going to loom large for for another year. Again, it’s these AFC East opponents. Again, it’s whatifs about the Patriots, what ifs about the Jets. and instead, you know, you’re staring at this very difficult proposition of Ravens, Bills, Ravens, and and then maybe you can start to talk. Like, if they get through that stretch and win all three of those games, then you can start to talk. But until then, it’s uh it’s too bad Jamar Chase had to issue an apology today. Jamar Chase did issue an apology on Instagram. Big day for Ben posting things on Instagram like I said and apologizes to the Steelers organization, to the fans, to his teammates. Vows to take accountability in the future. Apologizes for not taking immediate accountability. What did you make, James, of the Jamar Chase apology? Necessary. I thought it was noteworthy that he didn’t apologize to to Washed Ramsay. And I know what I said there and I’m gonna maintain it. Jaylen Ramsay is washed. Did you see his his shove on Caleb Williams who was trying to run out of bounds? Did you see that? I’m not sure if you did or not. No, I was muted. I was shaking my head. No, I did not. Yeah. Um, if he did that and that was my franchise quarterback, I would have taken his helmet and thrown it out of the stadium, just to be clear. So, the Bears didn’t do that. They did win the game, so they get the last laugh. But the ultimate agitator uh got Jamar to do something he shouldn’t have done. Got him to react and do something that shouldn’t done. And it was super costly. $57,000 that it cost Jamar. And I thought it was classy that he apologized. We’re going to hear from him on Tuesday and make his first public comments. And you’re right, it cost them the game against the Patriots. That’s what really sucks. like they probably win that game because they they probably move the ball better on offense early and when you had to have it, the got to have it moment. I always feel that way about Joe Burrow and Jamar Chase. They’re so unique in that way. That’s why I I I’ve never covered or really certainly seen as a Cincinnati native, 30 plus years old, right? Um that I can remember back to the mid 90s. I’ve never felt like, oh, well, they’re if they’re down one score, they’re going to go get that score. Anytime they’re in that position, and I know it doesn’t always happen, but I just I think that if they’re their backs are against the wall, I think Joe and Jamar can get it done. And I think Flaco, even though he was not the Flaco we saw a few weeks ago with Jamar Chase, would have hidden some of that, would have made things easier, would have gotten him into a rhythm, would have given him an easy button on certain plays. And so, yeah, the right move by Jamar Chase, superstar in the league, whole move past it. I get why he issued the apology and he should have. And uh I also get why he didn’t mention Jaylen Ramsay. And that’s why I kind of mentioned that because I’m sure in Pittsburgh they’re like, “Why didn’t he mention Jaylen Ramsey? I don’t think he needed to. He apologized to the Steelers organization, the Bengals organization, his fans, NFL fans, and NFL community.” That plus 507K and costing you against the Patriots. And I’m sure he knows that. No one knows that more than him is uh all noteworthy. Also, real quick, he was working out at the University of Cincinnati last week. Shout out to Dan Horde for pointing that out in their indoor facility. I haven’t been to and I went there to UC’s indoor facility yet. I need to because it looks amazing, but uh yeah, Jamar Chase should be ready to go on Thursday. Yeah, no reason that he wouldn’t be. And he’ll take the place of T. Higgins, who will very likely, not very likely, who has already been ruled out by Zack Taylor along with Trey Hendrickson. So, we do have some injury news to get to here as well. I agree, James. Necessary apology by Jamar Chase. Uh, I’m sure that his approach from here will be to just be better. I think that Jamar is the kind of guy who has a mistake experience like this. This is the first significantly glaring mistake like this that that we have seen from him in his NFL career and you learn from it and you get better from it and you move forward. That’s what I expect to see from Jamar Chase. Very curious to see what those comments look like. A little bit surprised they kept him on the media schedule, but I guess you just kind of do. So, we’ll we’ll see what Jamar has to say on Tuesday. And let’s get to the rest of the news from a busy Monday at Payor Stadium. James, coming up next. The Bengals are well huge underdogs on Thursday night. It’s Thanksgiving and this episode is brought to you by FanDuel. According to FanDuel, the Bengals 7-point underdogs for that Thanksgiving matchup against the Baltimore Ravens. The overunder, Jake set at 51 and a half. Wouldn’t shock me at all. There’s a lot of scoring in this one, of course. And and it’s really what Joe Burrow do you get? But we know Joe Burrow, Jamar Chase, they put on a show at Mnt Bank Stadium last year only to be outdone by Louis Anarumo, who people forget couldn’t stop Lamar Jackson, who a defense couldn’t stop Lamar Jackson. Linebackers that couldn’t stop Lamar Jackson. I’m not sure this group is going to stop Lamar Jackson either. But if you think they’re going to, well, you got to get to FanDuel. And maybe you don’t. Maybe you think it’s going to be the Ravens. That’s fine, too. FanDuel has all the odds, all the props. You can go live betting if you think the Bengals are going to start slow and then get hot and find a way to beat the Ravens. FanDuel is the place to do all of that. And right now, new customers, get $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. Head to fanduel.com. Take advantage of their offer today and sign up and play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. So, as the Bengals prepare to take on Lamar Jackson and those Baltimore Ravens, they’ll be short-handed again this week. Noi Higgins gonna be no Trey Hendrickson. Those are the two most notable. Taj Brooks is going to remain in concussion protocol which means that for me my eyes shift to Sam Peron and his recovery from that ankle sprain. If he’s back this week, I think that that is a thing that uh maybe matters a little bit more than you might imagine. Especially with the way the Bengals went to all those two running back looks last week and found a lot of success off them. Unfortunately, when Brooks left with a concussion, that obviously affects your ability to put two running backs on the field. I I think that’s one that that matters. But not having Trey, not having T, that’s a bit of a blow. We’ll see what’s going on with Kyle Hamilton, too. That’s going to be the big one to monitor on the Ravens side of things. He had an ankle injury in their game. Didn’t return. Was said not to be major by Harbaugh after the game, but that is one that we’ll have to keep an eye on throughout this week. We are recording this before I believe any injury report has been issued by the Baltimore Ravens this week. Unless you see one, James, but that’s one that we’ll keep an eye on. Lamar Jackson has not been as effective as normal because he’s been dealing with those leg injuries this year. It has seemed to sap a step or so for him. And so that normal evasiveness that Lamar Jackson plays with and really separates him from the other quarterbacks in this league hasn’t been quite at the level you’re used to seeing from Lamar. Were you really nice to have Trey Hendrickson is why I mention all of this to have the guy that can turn the corner and beat somebody. And you know, you’re looking ahead again and now you’re talking about Joseph Osai and Miles Murphy again. Big job, right? And Osai had to go out for a little bit. was dinged up a little bit against the Patriots, but Stanley good left tackle. Rosen Garten, that’s the matchup I’m looking at this week and see if if the Bengals can do anything to try to bottle up Lamar in a week where again you don’t have Trey and man, this thing is really lingering for Trey at this point. Like it didn’t ever get an IR. Should have is kind of like should have. Couldn’t you have used that roster spot? Yep. Ah, but it doesn’t matter. You know, I I don’t know. The whole situation’s weird. I don’t know how to describe it. It’s just weird. It feels off. I feel like we don’t have any info on the injury. We We haven’t heard from Trey or seen Trey since the deadline. And he was hurt already at the deadline. And it found it seemed okay, but then you have the core muscle report. It’s not listed as a core muscle injury. Core muscle stuff can be weird. Like I’m very aware of that. Just wish we had more info. And uh and as of now and and we might not until trade talks because clearly Zack Taylor not willing to share any info. But uh yeah, it sucks to be quite honest with you. It sucks. It sucks that uh they’re in this situation. It sucks that they don’t have him because obviously he matters when he’s out there. And when your margin for error is what it’s been over the past few weeks without him, you always wonder if that would have been a difference. if he could have made a difference with the the Patriots dealing with multiple offensive line injuries during that game just just yesterday how that would have mattered on Sunday against New England. You ask all of those questions. But hopefully Trey does get healthy. And uh in the T. Higgins thing, man, I think we all knew that that would be the case when that happened. I’m glad I I think he’s okay. I know he was at the Bengals facilities on Monday. Hopefully he can just get healthy and if that means playing against Buffalo, it means playing against Buffalo. think we knew he wouldn’t play this week. The same thing with Taj Brooks. I I think you mentioned him, but uh I think Peron has a shot, man. Peron’s a tough So, when he suffered this high ankle sprain, I don’t know. Did the broadcast show him jog off? The broadcast showed it. It showed him like in a lot of pain, unable to really move and then just pops up. He’s like, “Nope, I’m I’m running off. Screw you guys.” Yeah. And and obviously he didn’t go back in the game and it’s a high ankle sprain. Yeah. But if he if he’s close to being able to play, I think he will play. And that’s a testament to Per Ryan and his character and u listed as full in that that uh report that came out Monday. Now, they don’t practice on Monday, the day after a game. It’s just an estimated report of what would happen if they did practice, but that’s uh a good it’s a good sign for sure. And and I I would be honestly knowing him, knowing how Zach talked, I think Peron is going to give it a go given where they’re at, even if he’s not close to 100% because he can at least give them some pass protection. And with Joe gutting it out, I I think Peron will as well. Yeah. It’s just rough when uh the the the guys that you’ve been dealing with injuries for and T’s played all year, but you know, not injuries, but just last week. I think it’s just because it was last week like Jamar Trey, Burrow, Higgins, all missing by the end of that game. That’s all of your star players. Like literally all of them. All of your guys that you’re paying huge money to. I know Orlando Brown is a bigger cap hit as well, but like that’s your four biggest cap hits. And you don’t have any of those guys. And this week you’re going to be without two of them yet again. And we’ve already talked about the more than limited margin for error for this team. Sean Clifford was waved on Monday. That move probably to try to get him back on the practice squad this week. If that is something they can do after he clears waiverss, we’ll clear the spot for Joe Burrow, who will be activated at some point here. I’ll be very interested to see if Jaylen Davis also joins the 53. If they call him up for one more week and then try to get him onto the 53. Yeah. Um Al Davis singing his Al Golden singing his praises. Jaylen Davis. Al Davis. Al Golden name smash. I’m still fast. Al Davis would have drafted me. Go ahead. Um Al Golden singing Jaylen Davis praises after the Patriots game. Also giving Gino Stone his prop. Gino Stone talking about how much it meant to him in that game to bounce back and and play well in the run game and show that he can be a physical safety who can tackle at the point of attack. Numerous big plays for Gino Stone in that game. That’s uh that’s about all that I noticed from Payor on Monday. James, any other big ones that that I’m forgetting? I want that every week out of Gino. Like the caring, the the the physicality, the desire, like you can see that. You can see when it’s there and when it’s not, when you’re passive and when you’re not. And so whatever it is, if it means whoever tweeting at you or doing whatever, and I know Gino clearly is on Twitter, he tweeted multiple times about whatever, bring that every game. That’s it. That’s that chip that whatever that is. So whatever that is, bring it because that’s that’s it. Like that’s all people want to see is is effort and and you care. And struggling is one thing if you know the person cares and the effort is there when they’re on the field. It’s another when you’re like, man, what the hell is that play? And uh you know, like Barrett Carter and Demetrius not have been awful, but I I think they care. And and so there’s there’s a level there. And um and and so that’s that’s it. And it’s it’s going to be a big test. Jake, this is our last this is our last show together until after the game. Mhm. Because of the weird short week. Yeah. So tomorrow we got the the film review with Mike and we talked about some of the defensive standouts, why they can’t defend tight ends. We’ve got some run game love and what was wrong with the passing game. That’s the the summary of the film episode. Then we got the crossover. Yeah. With Kevin Ostriker of Locked on Ravens. Me and Kevin will do that on Wednesday. And then it’s game day. It’s turkey day. Gonna be a busy week. Shout out McKinley Jackson. Last shout out of this episode. Showing some stuff. Hopefully continues to see those snaps increase. And yeah, Ryner needs to keep that starting job. I don’t know if there’s any debate about that internally, but there shouldn’t be. Or Orlando was solid by the way. Um yeah, Orlando was good. I think a lot I think a lot of people have been critical of him, but but overall I think he’s he’s settling in some. Yeah, I I just Yeah, I believe last week he was good this week. He was bad last week. It’s a tough That’s a tough That’s a tough run against Pittsburgh. No doubt. Um and it’s it’s this week. Yeah, you you would you would hope so. Draymond Jones is not Nick Herbig. Kyle Vanoi is not TJ Watt. No doubt. No, I mean the Pittsburgh that’s the one thing they have. Yeah, that’s why I’ve been critical of Jaylen Rams. Like let’s not protect Jaylen who doesn’t matter. It’s that front for Pittsburgh that’s really good. And um yeah, you don’t have to deal with that. You go drop 30 at the bank as they call it. They call it the bank in Baltimore. Yeah. And I’m sure you’ll get into it with Kevin. The challenge with the Ravens going to be the opposite of the Steelers. It’s the secondary. It’s the Kyle Hamilton, Marlin, Humphrey, Andrew Wiggins, Shidobia Abuzier, Malachi Starks, Aloe Gilman. group. What are you saying? He shouldn’t be in Baltimore. They should have signed him here. This this is the von He signed the Von Bell deal with the Ravens. Yeah, Cheeto’s still got something in the tank. Another year to get better. Yep. Coming off of the the injury. It just took him another year. Obviously, he’s not a big money corner anymore. Fine. Would love to have had him in stripes. I I think I said that at the time. Like I would take Cheeto to be Yeah. CB4. Absolutely. For sure. What that signing was? Yeah. Well, anyway, sometimes the Ravens make moves that we wish the Bengals would have made. But that’s the Bengals opponent this week. And that’s going to do it for this episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast. Until next time, thanks for listening. Who day and have a good one.

The Cincinnati Bengals face a steep uphill climb, but Joe Burrow will be back from his turf toe injury for a critical Thanksgiving showdown against the Baltimore Ravens. With the team sitting at 3-8, will Burrow’s comeback ignite a late-season surge or simply expose the roster’s weaknesses? Jamar Chase’s public apology and mounting injuries to stars like Trey Hendrickson and Tee Higgins further complicate the Bengals’ chances.

James Rapien and Jake Liscow dissect the Bengals’ struggling defense, key injuries, and must-win AFC North battles. Explore the impact of recent roster moves, defensive concerns, and the pressure squarely on Burrow’s shoulders as Cincinnati fights to avoid mediocrity.

0:00 – Bengals Season & Burrow Return
Intro, Bengals’ 3-8 record, announcement of Joe Burrow’s return for Thanksgiving vs. Ravens, playoff hopes, and show overview.

6:17 – Should Burrow Play? Debate & Team Outlook
Discussion on the reasoning and risks behind Burrow’s return, playoff path analysis, team injuries, and the impact of defense/offense for the rest of the season.

16:50 – Jamar Chase Apology & Injury Updates
Analysis of Jamar Chase’s Instagram apology, reaction from both hosts, and breakdown of injury news (Trey Hendrickson, T. Higgins, running backs), previewing challenges for Bengals vs. Ravens.

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