Mike Petraglia with Laurel Pfahler -- 7/22/24

Trags talks with Laurel Pfahler of the Dayton Daily News about FC Cincinnati and Bengals media day

Episode Transcript

(00:04):
Mike Petralia Trags here with you forour number three, the third and final
hour of the Moegger Radio Show.On a Monday afternoon, July twenty second,
it was Bengals Media Day down atpay Corpse Stadium, and we are
going to in a few moments talkwith Laurel Failure. She covers the Bengals

(00:24):
for the Dayton Daily News as wellas covering FC the slumping Orange and Blue
FC Cincinnati for a Queen City Press. But again, my name is Mike
Petralia Trags. You can follow meon x at Trags t r Ags.
Of course, follow my work onlineClonssinc dot com. This week I will

(00:47):
have the first of my several trainingcamp roster projections for the Cincinnati Bengals.
Of course, you can follow mytwo podcasts, the Code Reds podcast covering
everything red space here in the cityof Cincinnati, as well as the Jungle
Rar Pod that can be followed onYouTube dot com slash at Jungle Roar Pod.

(01:11):
Now on to my next guest hereon the Mowagger Radio program for a
Monday. As I mentioned, LaurelFailure covers all things Cincinnati Bengals for the
Dayton Daily news. Laurel, thanksfor joining me. How you doing.
I'm doing well. We missed youat the media luncheon today though. Yeah,
as I told, I think itwas Charlie Clifford in our number one.

(01:34):
It was planes, trains and automobilesto get back here from Philadelphia.
I saw my older daughter, Janey, she was out there, and I
actually made a trip, quick,quick trip, an excursion if you will,
up to New Haven or New Canaan, Connecticut to see her, and
then I made it back to Philly, and I thought I was out smarting

(01:55):
the travel system, and then allhell procluse over the weekend and had to
drive back this morning. But itmade it back for the radio program,
but not in time for Media daydown at pay Corps Stadium. What was
your biggest takeaway or perhaps two orthree biggest takeaways from today? Joe Burrow
being cleared for full contact. Iwould assume that's in your top three of

(02:16):
takeaways for today. Yeah, definitely. You know, it's not like we
didn't expect that, but to hearit is always good. You never know
what happen during the little break thatwe get between off season and training camp.
So the fact that he's fully clearedand gonna be ready to go is
always a good sign. Obviously,Jamar Chase's contract was a big talking point

(02:40):
with Duke Tobin and Mike Brown.You know, it sounds like that's as
expected, a top priority for theorganization right now and just kind of a
matter of figuring out what he wantsand how they can work it all out.
So yeah, Another one would bejust, you know, just the

(03:02):
evolution of the offense. That's somethingthat came up with you know, Dan
Pitcher and Zach Taylor and so alot of exciting things to watch for coming
into the training camp. I wasasking Joe Daniman this and I think this
is going to be a subject ofconstant conversation Laurel leading up to the first

(03:23):
preseason game, is how much doesJoe Burrow need to be on the field
to truly get ready. We hear, like you said that Burrow has been
cleared for full contact. He shouldbe able to throw the ball without any
hesitation and really do everything that heneeds to do to get ready for game
action. The question is going tobe should he be playing in the preseason,

(03:46):
And I think a lot of fansare going to be I think anxious
to see him at least get in, get in maybe one or two or
three series in the preseason, andthen see that and go, Okay,
he's going to be ready to go, So whereas some fans will be like,
I don't want to see him anywhereclose to a football field game competition,

(04:08):
that is, until the regular seasonbegins against the New England Patriots in
the second week of September. Yeah. I mean, we heard players talk
about it going into last year,where you know, they all set not
all of them, but a lotof the leaders in the locker room.
We're talking about how they felt likethey needed that. And we saw the
defensive starters last year play preseason gamesand not so much the offense, which

(04:30):
would burrow out. It didn't reallymake a whole lot of sense to go
on and risk the other starters whenthey weren't going to be with their regular
quarterback. Anyway, I don't knowwhat to you know, I think I'm
kind of one of those people onthe fence about it, because you know,
you like to see how it alland this year I feel like maybe
it is more necessary just with youknow, they've got a lot going on

(04:53):
with the offense that you know,new running backs. It sounds like they're
going to use their tight ends alittle bit differently this year. You know,
there's no Tyler Boyd, so they'restill trying to figure out that third
receiver spot, so maybe it wouldbenefit them. Dach Taylor did say that
they do intend to play the startersand he was specifically asked does that include

(05:13):
Joe Burrow and he said yes,so you know, it might not be
a whole lot of snaps that he'llget. But he also pointed out,
you know, they do have thepractices that they're with, Uh let's see
the Bears and now I'm like,and I'm the other the cult. Yes,
so that that's something. You know, those practices are a little more

(05:33):
intense, and so maybe they treatthat kind of as those preseason games if
if they don't really want them outon the field for games, but there'll
be plenty of opportunities to get himready. It's just what's that going to
look like? We don't know.Well, I'm fascinated to see how some
of the rookies are worked into theoffensive skilled positions, namely, of course,

(05:57):
Jermaine Burton. I think everybody wantsto see what he looks like out
on the field with T Higgins andJamar Chase, which is one of the
big reasons I think it was sosignificant for T Higgins to sign that franchise
tag and not take the Jesse Batesro out of twenty twenty two and wait
till the end of the preseason signit and then get, you know,
hop right into game action. That'snot what is going to happen with this

(06:23):
wide receiver corps. And I thinkthat's good for Joe Burrow, don't you.
Yeah, for sure. And thatwas something that Zach Taylor said today
that he really did appreciate that.And you know, when they have these
changes coming to the offense, itis important to have your big weapons.
We didn't see Higgins or Chase duringthe off season workout program, although Chase

(06:43):
was there for many camps, butnot participating in anything beside the installs.
He was a coach. It wasa glorified coach when he was when he
attended in the second week in June, which you know, the young receivers
can still benefit from seeing him outthere in some form in the coaching role,
as you say, but yeah,for them to be together throughout training

(07:05):
camp and kind of really see whateverything is going to look like. I
think that's that's important for sure.What was the tenor of Mike Brown?
Was it the same Mike Brown thatwe have seen in years past? Respectful?
And I mentioned this in our numberone of the program today. One

(07:25):
of my favorite quotes today was fromMike Brown on being asked about Evan McPherson.
We're talking to Evan. We'll seehow it goes that. He just
flawlessly segues into we did sign aMarius Moons today. Nobody bothered to ask.
I just love it. And you'veknown and you've been around Mike Brown

(07:46):
long enough, Laurel, that whenhe throws a dig like that, it
means to me that he's still alert, aware, and even sensitive to all
of all that is being reported abouthis team. To me, I appreciate
that you. Yeah, and Iwouldn't say he was fired up, but

(08:07):
some of his responses kind of madeyou feel like he was. Yeah,
like you said, kind of giveme a little digs. He knows what
he knows, exactly what he knowswhat talks about. Yeah, and he
laughed, and you know, hehad been asked about Chase and Higgins and
Evan, you know, all thosecontracts, and he's like, well,
what about I'm Arrius men So yeah, I mean he's definitely alert and aware,

(08:31):
and you know, his non answersabout the stadium lease I actually found
pretty interesting because he talked about howthis is a happy moment, like this
is a great He loved this timeof year. He loves being the roster
come together. He loves to seehow the new pieces are gonna, you
know, get worked in and howthe veterans are going to bring them along
and all that. He loves thatand you see him every day out at

(08:52):
practice. You don't see that withevery team. So for for him to
say that this is a happy momentI don't want to talk about the least
kind of makes you feel like maybethose negotiations aren't going as well as he
would hope at this point. ButI can also see not wanting you know,

(09:13):
he doesn't want to air all thatout over that's to me what it
is. Yes, not to interruptyou, but I think Mike Brown looks
at this as a celebratory time ofthe year where we're getting training camp going,
We're going to be talking about allfootball want focused being on football.
Yes, there might be contractual negotiationsgoing on here and there with star players,

(09:37):
but for the most part, thisis all about football. He doesn't
necessarily enjoy doing the contracts with HamiltonCounty or the City of Cincinnati, but
he knows that has always been forbetter or worse. Uh, you know
what, he does very well andyou know that is the sticky part of
his job and the job of KatieBlackburn op viously, is to deal with

(10:01):
those least negotiations as they come up. But they're not going to talk publicly
about it because like with Joe Burrow'scontract negotiation, it does them no good
to do. So yes, andI mean he said, this isn't the
time, and we all kind oflaugh because like it's really the only time
we get him. But totally,you know, we've heard those kinds of

(10:22):
things in the past, and hehas opened up a little bit more about
the contract stuff, whereas there werefour situations in the past where the team
was like, no, we're justnot going to talk about that. So,
I mean, he was he wasvery open about everything else. He
answered all, you know, awide range of questions and had a lot
of good things to say, whichI actually just published the story. I

(10:43):
think they got it on the website. I kind of highlighted some of the
topics that he talked about on there, so you can check that out at
eaton Daily News dot com. I'lltell you what. Another one of my
favorite quotes today when he was askedabout the idea of hard knocks, you
were there's this, right, Laurel, Yes, and he says, quote,
there is probably no one in theNFL that says, oh, we're

(11:07):
on hard knocks. Hot dog.Just the imagery of Mike Brown saying hot
dog. I'm going back like fouror five decades when I hear that quote
in my headphones right now, andit just it makes me laugh. I
don't know why it does, butit definitely makes me laugh. I you

(11:28):
know the reason I think I likethis time of year is it does show
the human side of Mike Brown andthe wry sense of humor, the droll
sense of humor that the Bengals ownerstill has. Yeah, and then there
was the willy nilly we can't fineall these willy we can't fine every player.
Willy nilly, Willy nilly came upin something. I can't remember the

(11:52):
exact quote, but yeah, youjust you gotta appreciate the lingo that he
used. But the hot dog,I was actually surprised the Hard Knocks discussion
came up with Zach Taylor too,and you kind of almost expect the coach
to say that, oh, youknow, it's gonna be I mean,
he's maybe not going to say it'sa distraction, but he's really excited about

(12:16):
it. And I could see behindthe scenes maybe some you know, reservations
about it, but they all seempretty exciting. Here's here's how I feel
about that way. Here's how Ifeel about that, Laurel. I think
Zach Taylor wants to create a culturewhere if these cameras are in the locker
room, we don't want everybody freezingup and not doing what they're accustomed to
doing. Embrace the cameras and toa degree to use common sense. Of

(12:41):
course, don't be telling them ourplays and our strategy and you know how
we go about practice and and everythingbehind the scenes. But embrace the part
of the show that's supposed to beentertaining. And I think that's the way
Zach Taylor wants his team to react. He doesn't want them tightening up up
right. He's always been one thatwants his team playing loose, playing free,

(13:05):
And I think that's what it's about, you know, a team that's
not playing loose and free right now, Laurel the other team you cover.
So I go back to the Saturday, July thirteenth game at TQL and it
was two to one Charlotte, andit looked like Cincinnati had the equalizer,
and I forget who scored it,forgive me, but it looked like it

(13:28):
was two to two. It wastaken off the board. Charlotte won,
and that game has started a threegame slide. What is up with FC
Cincinnati right now? Yeah, youknow, I wrote, So I was
at the game this past Saturday atNew York Red Bulls. I was actually
coming back from vacation myself, somade a detour through to Jersey and went

(13:48):
to the game, and yeah,you know, I kind of recapped just
the week because you know, twoweeks prior, they beat Miami six to
one, and so all of asudden, they're on a three game losing
stake. They haven't had that sincetwenty twenty one, and it just feels
like you know, all hecks breakingloose, So when you kind of take

(14:11):
a step back, you have torealize, like, yes, they have
these significant injuries on their back line. On top of that, you know,
they had Alvis Powell, who's abackup that can play center back,
can play wing back. He wassuspended because of a red card. Luco
Acosta and Luca both their wing backs, Luco Areano and Yumila sad We're both

(14:33):
on the bench to start that gameSaturday. They're playing those third game in
eight days, so we see somerotation. When you take a step back,
you have to realize, like thatwas a tough week for them.
You know, they had come offthat high of the win against Miami.
You know, they managed to overcometheir injuries in that game and put up

(14:56):
a really impressive performance and then allof a sudd than they're losing these games.
I don't think it's going to be. While they do need to make
improvements, they need to take advantageof the summer transfer window that is now
open. They need to make someadditions to that back line in particular.
I don't think that they're just goingto fall apart. This is a team
that still has talent and you know, putting everyone on the field that they

(15:22):
can when they aren't rotating and youknow, hopefully aren't dealing with suspensions.
I think that that's more indicative ofwhat the team is capable of. And
then hopefully they do improve the rosterover these next few weeks so they get
better. So on August they don'tplay until August first, first again a
PM at TQL and that's in League'sLeagues Cups Action match Day two of three,

(15:50):
and then they play a League Cupagain, group stage on August fifth.
They don't return to MLS play it. Correct me if I'm wrong,
but I believe this is right untilAugust fourth, when they go to enter
Miami for the rematch that is goingto be yeah, go ahead, suck
no. I mean, that's kindof what I'm looking at, is like

(16:11):
this League's Cup. Like while theteam is not going to downplay the importance
of any kind of competition, it'sreally that's really an opportunity for them to
get healthy kind of work on someof the things that they need to work
on. Uh. I mean,if you look at this last week,
it kind of seems like a teamthat's trying to find its identity again.
Even in the attack, they movedsome things around. You know, they

(16:33):
had to with Lucho. He wasunavailable for last Wednesday's game against Chicago and
then played the second half against NewYork Red Bulls. But uh, you
know, when he's not in there, the offense is gonna look different.
But even when he was, theywere kind of tinkering with different formations and
how to use different players. Soit kind of feels like they're searching for
an identity a little bit. Uh. Of course, once they've got some

(16:55):
of their pieces back, they canfigure that out. But League's Cup is
also a chance to kind of togive the guys that aren't getting as many
minutes opportunities. It seems like that'sgoing to be something that they take advantage
of. And then I think theyalso learned from last year, where they
kind of put everything into every competition. They ended up kind of not fizzling
out because they obviously made it prettyfar into the playoffs. They made it

(17:18):
to the Eastern Conference Final, butthey didn't perform in that game and felt
like they could have won Cup thatyear. So I think they're gonna try
to balance, you know, keepingguys fresh and also ready to go,
so we'll see what happens with thatin League's Cup. But this is definitely
an opportunity to kind of not reset, but you know, just kind of

(17:42):
get back on track and heal upand then make that push over the last
nine games of the regular season comingup at the end of August. She
is Laurel Failer does a great jobcovering both the Cincinnati Bengals for the Dayton
Daily News and FC Cincinnati for QueenCity Press. Laurel, you working on

(18:02):
anything else that our listeners should bein the audience should be looking for.
So I'm would be working on allkinds of things trags because I've got you
know, we don't have training camptill Wednesday, but the MLF All Star
Game. There's events going on tomorrowand then the game on Wednesday, So
I'm going to be traveling back andforth between Cincinnati and Columbus the next couple

(18:23):
days. So we've got leuco Acostaand Luca Ariano will be participating in the
All Star events these next couple daysand then yeah, be back out at
training camp Wednesday. And it's busy, busy, busy from here. Indeed,
it is I look forward to catchingup with you in person on Wednesday

(18:44):
for the first day of Bengals trainingcamp down at pay Corpse Stadium, Laurel
Failure, thanks so much for joiningus. Thanks for having me anytime.
Trags All right, Laurel, havea good one. You are listening to
Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty. Cincinnati's ESPNfifteen thirty