00:00We can make all the excuses we want.
00:02I could tell you guys that I had a really good game up until that point,
00:06up until the last play of the game,
00:07but you've got to be at your best when your best is required.
00:11That last football play, that last snap that we had,
00:14I wasn't at my best, unfortunately.
00:16It sucks, it hurts, it stings in a lot of ways.
00:19But all you can do from that is get better,
00:24make sure it doesn't happen again,
00:25but you hate to see it in a game where it's tight, 30-27.
00:28You need three points.
00:30You want to get three points.
00:31You want to get seven to go down and win the game.
00:33And whenever your team is relying on you and you come up short, it sucks, man.
00:38Does that process of getting better, is it easier when you do play well,
00:43like you said, right up to the end?
00:44Yeah, we did a lot of great things as an offense.
00:46I had a great game up until the last football play,
00:48but I could care less because at the end of the day,
00:50you want to win these games.
00:52I'd rather have a bad game than win the game.
00:54So whenever you have a good game, but the last play of the game,
00:57you give up a sack and it ends up being a sack fumble that puts the game away.
01:02You guys know me.
01:03You guys saw me last year, too, through the ups and downs,
01:05and this was a bad play that I'll remember for a long time.
01:08And I'm not going to make excuses about it.
01:10I'm not going to try to make it sound better.
01:11I gave up a sack and it resulted in being a fumble and resulted in the game being over.
01:17So that sucks.
01:18It's a tough pill to swallow, but I'm going to swallow it.
01:21I'll be a man about it.
01:23Go back to the drawing board, continue to work.
01:25And the good news is we're 2-1 with a lot of opportunity in front of us.
01:28You've been in this league for a long time.
01:30You've been through ups and downs.
01:31Yeah.
01:32What's the best advice that you have for yourself?
01:35Just keep rolling, man.
01:37Keep rolling.
01:37There's a lot of really good things out there.
01:38I've had a really good season thus far.
01:40I've done a lot of really good things.
01:41I've improved in a lot of ways from last year.
01:44I'm playing a lot of good football,
01:45but the last play of the game was not a good football play,
01:48and it resulted in me letting my teammates down.
01:50So you put your head down, you go to work.
01:52You don't listen to the noise, whether it's good or whether it's bad.
01:55There's been a lot of good noise.
01:56There's probably some bad noise I can imagine after me having that play yesterday.
01:59But you roll through it and you keep working, man.
02:02I'm a grinder.
02:03That's what I do.
02:04So I'm going to grind through it.
02:04I'm going to continue to work just like last year.
02:07And we'll find a way to continue to get this thing back on track.
02:09We're 2-1 with a lot of opportunity in front of us.
02:11How encouraged are you with the run game?
02:13There's a lot of good things in the run game, man.
02:15There's a lot of things to be encouraged about.
02:16We could sit here today and we could make ourselves feel better
02:19about the encouragement of the run game,
02:21the encouragement of how I don't think Joe was touched until my play.
02:23I mean, we could talk about all those encouraging things,
02:25but we lost the football game.
02:28That last play freaking sucked.
02:29But, yeah, there's a lot of encouraging things.
02:31We're not sitting here today after getting blown out 34-0.
02:35Run game wasn't going.
02:36Joe got sacked 10 times.
02:37We're not doing that.
02:38But at the same time, there's growth that needs to be done,
02:41and we're going to do it.
02:41What do you think you've improved?
02:44I think that I've improved in the run game.
02:46I'm moving guys in the run game.
02:47I've been really doing a good job of that.
02:49I've got great teammates around me.
02:50I mean, Ted Karras at center and Marius Mims at right tackle.
02:54I'm so fortunate for those two.
02:55My protection has been really good, to be honest with you guys,
02:58over these last three games.
02:59I've had two plays.
03:00I've had two plays in the past game that I've got to clean up,
03:02one against Houston and one against Pittsburgh.
03:06Yeah, so I definitely think that I've made some huge strides.
03:08I'm feeling really good where my play is at.
03:10But at the same time, I've fallen short on some plays,
03:12and I've got to be better.
03:13You've got that signature kick after a good run.
03:16Yeah.
03:17Is that something you've just developed?
03:19No, I've been doing that for a while, man.
03:21Just try to bring the juice, bring the vibes when you're out there
03:23playing good football, especially when you're running.
03:25Kick down the door for the first down.
03:27It's just a good little vibe feeling that I throw out there, Hobbs.
03:30I appreciate you noticing it.
03:31I like that.
03:33Whenever offensive linemen are, they know it's going to be a pass run.
03:35Everyone on the field knows it.
03:36How tough is that at 3-0?
03:38Oh, it's tough, man, but that's when we do our best work, baby.
03:40You know, that's when the Bengals go to work.
03:42That's when Joe Burrow goes to work.
03:44That's when Jamar Chase, T. Higgins, that's when these guys go to work.
03:46So, you know, I said it earlier.
03:47I don't think you're over here, but you've got to be at your best
03:49when your best is required.
03:50And truth be told, in the NFL, you know,
03:52your best is required every single snap.
03:54And you're on a microscope, and you're on blast every single play.
03:57But it's crucial points like yesterday where, you know,
04:01I was telling my wife last night, you know,
04:03I played a great football game all day.
04:05I'm watching film today, and dear gosh, I did all these great things.
04:07But on the one play where, in my mind, it mattered the most
04:10is when I got to be at my best, and I wasn't.
04:12So that's football.
04:14That's life.
04:15And it's tough, and it teaches you, and it humbles you.
04:18And you have to have humility, and you have to lean on your teammates.
04:21But that's also what makes this sport really, really great.
04:23That's what having faith is all about, in my opinion.
04:25I don't have faith because when things are good, it's good.
04:28I have faith because when things are bad,
04:29I have something to lean on that's bigger than myself.
04:31And for me, that's Jesus.
04:32So I'm going to lean on God.
04:34I'm going to lean on my teammates.
04:35I'm going to continue to work.
04:36And we're going to continue to be a better football team.
04:37We're going to be a better offensive line.
04:39It stings.
04:40It sucks.
04:40There's a lot of really good things to take away from the offensive tape.
04:43But at the end of the day, we lost.
04:44And what a great opportunity we have to go 3-1 against the Jaguars.
04:47Do you have conversations with Joe between that and today?
04:51Or what's your relationship like in terms of, like, do you go to him?
04:54Does he come to you?
04:54He was just like, don't worry about it.
04:56No, Joe's solid, man.
04:57Joe's Joe Burrow.
04:59And Joe has said one thing about that because, in fact,
05:02I think the only thing I've heard is one of you guys asked him after the game
05:05about the offensive line or something.
05:07I think one of my – I've heard the rumblings of, like,
05:09Joe talking about how well we play.
05:10Like, that's Joe.
05:11You know, like, Joe's not going to get up there
05:12and talk about how I fell short on the last play.
05:14But he knows I did.
05:15In fact, all Joe's done is check on me.
05:17Hey, man, how you doing?
05:18How's your knee doing?
05:19How's your health doing?
05:20How are you doing?
05:21He hasn't mentioned it to me one time.
05:22You know, I had to be the one that looked him in the eye
05:24and I said, hey, man, just so you know, like, I felt like I let you down
05:27and I'm going to be better.
05:28And I'm not going to let that happen.
05:30So I really hate talking about it because I feel like it's –
05:33I don't need sympathy.
05:35And no one wants to give me sympathy.
05:36It's that we're going to be better.
05:37And I don't need to tell you guys we're going to be better
05:39because we're going to be better.
05:40But, man, Joe is a true pro, a great teammate,
05:44and a quarterback that I love blocking for.
05:47And I'm going to continue to do that.
05:48So, yeah, hats off to Joe.
05:49Did you tell him that today?
05:52Yesterday, as soon as I got on the bus.
05:53He checked up on me as soon as I got on the bus.
05:55And I told him – you know, he was talking about how well the offensive line played.
05:59And I told him, yeah, that's fine.
06:00But on that one play when it's the most crucial point in the football game,
06:04I can't make that mistake.
06:06How is your knee?
06:07Oh, it's good.
06:07It's good.
06:08You know, I'm battling through the season like anyone else would at 31 years old.
06:12And there's battles to be had.
06:14But I'm healthy.
06:15I'm good.
06:16Grateful.
06:17Blessed.
06:17You might have had the best view of anybody.
06:19Did you feel like you guys recovered that fumble?
06:22No.
06:23Yeah, no, we didn't recover it.
06:25You know, what's cool is Eric Hall is just a tough SOB
06:29and one of my favorite teammates.
06:30Because if you guys go back and – if you're bored today, go back and watch.
06:33You know, I had an angle at it.
06:35And Sebastian Joseph Day was running.
06:37And he had a better angle at it.
06:38And I tried to shoulder him.
06:40I tried to, like, truck stick him out of the way.
06:41And he recovered the ball at that point in time.
06:44And he was probably being touched by me or someone else.
06:46So at that point, it's over.
06:47It's not like you can recover it and then you let everyone else jump on the pile
06:51and tuggle for it and then who gets the ball.
06:53He had the ball.
06:54Someone was probably touching him.
06:55He was on the ground.
06:55He was down at that point.
06:56But Eric Hall comes running from downfield and finds a little crevice in that pile
07:01and literally jumps in there.
07:03And after about two minutes of being on the ground, he comes up with the football, bro.
07:07Like, Eric was like the last person on that pile.
07:09Somehow managed to get in there and take it from a defensive tackle.
07:12And that's just who he is.
07:13I love that guy.
07:14Thank you, dog.
07:15God bless you guys, man.
07:16Appreciate it.
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