Lance McAlister with Ben Baby -- 10/31/25

Lance is joined by ESPN's Ben Baby to talk about the Bengals season.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
All right, let's do this weekend here, three hours of
sports talk, no complaints. Things to get to Bengals and
Bears Sunday, Paid Course Stadium. Let's welcome in our first
guest who's all over Bengals coverage for ESPN and ESPN
dot Com. That would be Ben Baby and Ben, do
you anticipate we'll see Joe Flacco under center come Sunday?

Speaker 2 (00:23):
Yeah, Hey, Lance, I would imagine that you do see
Flacco on Sunday. Now, the Bengals didn't want to go
out and definitively say that Flacco was going to be
the starter. I think they still want to see what
it's going to look like over the course of the weekend.
But yeah, talked is Zach Taylor today and Dak Taylor
said that everything that they needed to see for a
guy who could play on Sunday, the Bengals saw on Thursday.

(00:46):
I saw him out there today at practice. Was talking
to head trainer Matt Summers. Looks comfortable out there, you know, said,
you know, he felt pretty good going into the week.
So I would imagine right now the Flacco will be
the guy when the Bengals play on Sunday.

Speaker 1 (01:00):
How about Trey Hendrickson.

Speaker 2 (01:03):
Yeah, that seems a little less likely. Lance, I think
you're gonna see Trey Hendrickson and Logan Wilson potentially on
the sidelines, both listed as doubtful. Both guys did not
practice all week. You know, Hendrickson tried to go out
there and play on that hip. He reaggravated it in
that game. Wilson's Logan Wilson, he suffered a calf injury,

(01:23):
tried to he played through it, suffered it on kickoff return.
I was told this week and so now, especially with
guys who have those lingering issue injuries, may be a
chance for them to get healthy during the bye week
and don't want them to get nicked up this week.
So we'll see if the Bengals, you know, if they
don't play, if they can withstand not having both of
those guys against a depleted Chicago team.

Speaker 1 (01:43):
Ben BABYESPN and ESPN dot Com checking in tonight talking
Bengals Bears. You broke the news last night, McKinley Jackson
has asked for a trade. What's the latest on that.
How has Zach responded to that?

Speaker 2 (01:55):
Yeah, you know, we talked to Zach today and Zach
was asked about that report that we had last night.
You know, he said he likes McKinley Jackson in the
big message that he's given to him and that he
told us is just for him to keep working. They
believe that, you know, with Mike Pennell now no longer
on the roster, he got his release granted and now
he's at Kansas City, they feel like that'll open up

(02:15):
an avenue for McKinley Jackson. That being said, though, you know,
in talking to those around that situation, you know, I
got this said that McKinley and knowing him since he
got here in Cincinnati last year, he's always struck me
as someone who wants to do everything he can to
go out and help the team win. I've actually never
heard a guy talk so much about making such a
lasting legacy on the game. The moment they got the more.

(02:37):
I think Jamar Chase is the only other one I
heard talk in that manner. So I've never questioned what
kind of drive McKinley Jackson has. I think when you
see the change that's happened over the offseason, they go
from Loui an Arumo to Al Golden, you know, it
just hasn't seemed to fit what Jackson does so far.
In the coaching staff it said, you know, publicly, they've said, listen,

(02:58):
we wanted him to to try to get those reps,
but he hasn't been able to get them so far.
And I think he just wants an avenue to contribute
to the team. And I think that's where you know
our report yesterday, that's that's kind of how that materialize.

Speaker 1 (03:11):
Been with the multiple issues on the defensive side of things.
Is this defense fixable this season? In season?

Speaker 2 (03:20):
I think you're gonna have to try to figure that out.
You know, when you look at it, they the injuries
up front are not good. But at the end of
the day, that can't be an excuse. It can't be
an excuse that you have young linebackers. You know, you
have to find a way to figure this out. There's
a reason they went from Loui an Romo, Louis Arumo
to Al Golden. The hope was that Golden was going

(03:40):
to be able to get the most out of these
young players, and so you're gonna have to find a
way to fix these things. We talked to Al Golden
this week and he felt like in terms of the
run game. They felt that they were guys in gaps
ready to make plays. It's just the matter of making
those plays. And I think if those if those linebackers
and they can continue to get acclimated to NFL game

(04:02):
speed and getting those reps on the fly, that's their
best chance. But I'm gonna be honest, Lance, that is
asking a lot of rookies. I don't know, you know,
for rookie linebackers to come in and play at that level,
For samr. Stewart to come in have to be on
ir you know, with an ankle injury then come back in.
You know, you're asking a lot of some of your
young players. And so what it doesn't always look like

(04:23):
for Garrett Carter and Demetrious Knight. That makes sense because
not often do you see linebackers get thrust into the
spotlight so early in their careers. Jermaine Pratt, I remember
when he replaced Preston Brown in twenty nineteen. That was
about halfway through the year. Logan Wilson split reps with
Josh Bynd before fully take him over as a starter
in twenty twenty one. And so when you look at it,

(04:45):
it's not a shock to see. Sometimes it doesn't always
look right, and that kind of decision the coaching staff
has made will that you know, be beneficial for them in
the long run. I think that remains to be seen,
and I think, quite honestly, it's gonna be a tough
road to claw.

Speaker 1 (04:59):
And Benn figures while all this is going on on
that side of the ball. Now, the offensive line and
the run game has come on in recent weeks.

Speaker 2 (05:07):
Yeah, it is interesting when you look at it how
much going under center Lance has really helped them offensively.
You know, throughout the year they leaned a lot on
pistol formations where that running back is right behind they
go to quarterback and shotgun. But much like in twenty
twenty three when Kate Browning was that quarterback, when they
went to under center, they've been able to open up

(05:28):
so many things. You look in the run game, how
how many explosive runs they're getting. They've been able to
work play action really well, and a lot of that
just sometimes stems from the look that you get from
under center, which the Bengals they've done sometimes under Joe Burrow,
but really when they have their backup quarterbacks in place,
you know they've they've went under center more and it's
been successful. So you know, I think you can attribute

(05:50):
a lot of that to you know, they've kind of
simplified the simplified things in the run game. Guys are
really blocking well. They've identified solutions in that regard, and
I think that's going to be Joe Flaco's you know,
best help on Sundays. They can go out get the
run game established. As much as I hate that phrase,
and really do well. That could help him protect that
shoulder and get to the bye week.

Speaker 1 (06:11):
So bye week coming up, Trade deadline coming up. We
know where they are right now. I mean, how how
considering all that, how big is Sunday? I mean, is
it hyperbole to say Sunday's a a tipping point for
this thing?

Speaker 2 (06:26):
I honestly, I think you could easily say that. I
think you feel a lot better at four and five
than you do three and six. You're just a game
back of five hundred, and it honestly makes that Jets
game so much more painful, because if you were able
to beat New York and beat Chicago going into the
bye you'd be over five hundred. Instead, you're still trying
to call back at that mark. But when you're three

(06:48):
games under five hundred and just a game back, that's
a big difference in terms of how you feel going
into that bye week. With Pittsburgh still on the schedule,
you know, you'll see what you can get from Baltimore,
and then you got pretty winnable games at the end
of the year. You've got Arizona, Cleveland, and Miami, and
we saw what Miami looked like last night. So getting
a win tomorrow, finding a couple of wins in the

(07:09):
middle of the schedule, that could be beneficial. And I
think the playoffs are still not out of the question
if you can find a way to win on Sunday.

Speaker 1 (07:18):
Last question, let me go back to the offense if
I could, do you anticipate more of an effort to
get Tea involved on Sunday.

Speaker 2 (07:25):
I think that they're going to try to figure that out.
You know, it's interesting that did not come up a
lot this week, But when you look at kind of
how the game materialized, obviously you're going to try to
lean into getting the ball into Jamar's hands as much
as possible. But you know, t especially if depending on
what the Bear's cornerback situation looks like, you know, that
could be a really good opportunity to get some one

(07:45):
on ones for Jamaar Andty Higgins. And the beauty of
Tea is that, you know, and I've said this for years,
is that he's got such great length, He's got such
good ability to catch the ball at the highest point,
win thows one on one the big physical receiver or
who's a good route runner, if you've got a quarterback
who can get it in his vicinity. He's such a
huge asset for any offense. And so you know, we

(08:08):
didn't hear from Tea this week, which is a little
like difficult this season. But you know, he's a guy
that's always struck me as someone who wants to contribute
and do whatever he can. He's not one to call
for the ball and ask for it explicitly, but I
you know, given what the targets looked like, I wouldn't
be surprised if you see taking with a more balanced
target share on Sunday against the pairs.

Speaker 1 (08:28):
Ben. How can listeners read and follow along with everything
you got going on with the.

Speaker 2 (08:32):
Bengals, Yeah, Lance, he's got a lot of stuff going
on on ESPN dot Com. Obviously we've launched our direct
to consumer product, our ESPN flagship, which you can find
on smart TVs and the update of app on your smartphone.
The Sports Center for You page has a lot of
great stuff, a lot of good daily insight on what
this Bengals team is going to look like and this

(08:52):
is going to be you know, Lance, I've been on
this beat now for seven years. This could be the
most fascinating year that we have on this beat because
I think franchise could be going in a very interesting
direction depending on how this season goes.

Speaker 1 (09:04):
Oh man, I just got chills when you said that. Hey,
it's Friday night. There's a lot going on. I really
appreciate you making time. I always enjoy our talks.

Speaker 2 (09:12):
Thanks sounds good. Thank you.

Speaker 1 (09:13):
Take care. There you go, Ben Baby, Why the hair
stood up on my arms? On that final line? He
dropped about the things that could be going on with
this franchise. Let's figure out what's going on with the
Bears franchise. How's that for a segue, We'll head to
the Windy City. Talk with my guy, David Kaplan of
ESPN one thousand. Ask him about that Bear situation, expectations
at four and three Right now, Kayleb Williams and more

(09:35):
After We Check News. RNL Carrier Sports Talk, presented by
Kelsey Chablay seven hundred WLW