With the opening of the Bengals season less than two weeks away, time to check on a locker room elder to take the pulse of the team now that training camp is complete.
Since no one on the Joe Burrow offense has played more AFC North games than left tackle Orlando Brown Jr., Bengals.com senior writer Geoff Hobson huddled with Brown, son of a turn-of-the-century AFC North tackle, to talk about the state of the team and what he did this special offseason to get back to a fifth Pro Bowl and another Super Bowl.
The Conversation:
GH: Now that training camp is over, is your home life with your lady and the two babies back to normal?
OB: Everybody's away right now, so I had the house to myself. It will be loud there soon. They're in Oregon with her family.
GH: You send them away for training camp?
OB: Yeah, I do. Just for the focus. Allowing myself to focus. Obviously, it's tough being away from them, but I'm very thankful she's understanding and always kind of has been. My dad was like this, too.
GH: What did you say to (Bengals great Andrew Whitworth) Whit Thursday night when he was here with Prime Video?
OB: I was just talking a little ball with him. He was asking how I feel and I told him about some of the offseason work that I put in. He just said, 'Hey, it's time.'
GH: You had a different offseason this year, right?
OB: Just staying here. My focus in the weight room was really important to me. Making sure that I'm as strong and as conditioned as possible.
GH: You didn't make the Pro Bowl last year. Did that make you mad?
OB: Big time. Hell, yeah. I set the bar to be All-Pro every single year. And last year was my first year not making the Pro Bowl since I was a rookie player. That left a bad taste in my mouth. Last year was my first year being in this league, not playing in the playoffs, that left a really bad taste in my mouth. Every single year throughout my career, I've gone deeper and deeper in the playoffs, won the Super Bowl. And that's the standard that I set for myself. To be the best left tackle in football and go out and win a Super Bowl every single year. Yeah, it left a bad taste in my mouth.
GH: What did you want to improve in your game?
OB: For me, everything. But being the best tackle I can be within this system is what's important to me. Whether that be toss cracks, scheme plays, screen plays, blocking one-on-one, in pass-pro, backside footwork in some of our run game, everything. I want to improve everything.
I got a lot stronger. I feel I'm in a lot better shape than I've ever been. And most importantly, my mindset is right. Just being here year-round, not having any time away from the facility here, it's allowed me to continue to kind of stay in that mindset. That Go mode where I feel like I've been ready for game day since April.
GH: You often talk about how well this team plays in this building.
OB: It's different here. Setting out the goal to be the number one seed in the AFC. Winning our division is so important because home-field advantage is for real here at Paycor. It's got an unexplainable different feel. As an opponent, I've been here and played in primetime games and I don't know if I've won one as an opponent.
GH: It's in the league with Arrowhead and Seattle?
OB: Oh yeah. This is definitely one of those places where when it's rocking, it's rocking. I'd put Levi's in there (San Francisco). Let me tell you. When you come in here, it is hard.
GH: What is it about Paycor?
OB: Hard to say. It's a football town and when you've got a football town, I guess the fans understand the game differently. Better. As a player, I guess they're loud at the right times.
GH: I'm not sure a Bengal has ever wrapped himself so quickly into the community. On Wednesday night, you're hosting the Freestore Foodbank fundraiser Taste of the Bengals in just your second season here. (Doors open at Paycor's Club East at 6:30 p.m.) Why is the fit so good?
OB: It's all God's timing. I've matured over the years and, man, I just feel like it's just the timing. Timing of when I signed here, my personality. All of these things. It's always been important to me to give back to others, to be able to light someone else's candle for somebody else, to be able to learn from myself or my mistakes, or my wins and losses. Being able to give back to the community here in Cincinnati means so much to me. One of the first things I realized when I signed here was how important this team is to the city. And I've played in some good football towns like Baltimore, Kansas City. Hell, even Oklahoma. But, man, it's different here. What this organization means to this city and Northern Kentucky, it's really special.
GH: Any example how it is different than those other towns?
OB: Germaine Pratt makes that play (the interception to secure a 2021 Wild Card win over the Raiders), and you see people crying on television in the stadium, you know what? You hear the stories about things that went on in the city that night, or just during the Super Bowl run, or even last year with us getting off to a slow start and still being there to support us through the first five games. I've got a lot of respect for this city.
GH: Could you see your family settling here after football?
OB: Definitely. This is where I want to be. I love everything the city has to offer. I'm extremely comfortable here and uncomfortable at the same time. Which is always a good sign, because I want to win.
GH: Uncomfortable because you want to win?
OB: Because I want to win.
GH: How has this training camp been different compared to last year?
OB: Just the intensity, man. I feel like the way that our coaches have scripted things, the intensity and urgency is different. That's so important when you're chasing a championship when the end goal is everybody being on the same page. I believe as players, it's our team to regulate things, but it's the coaches' job to steer practice in a way that challenges us from a personnel standpoint, and the way that Zac and his staff have done that all offseason, I'm looking forward to getting out there week one and be ahead of where we were last year.
GH: Vibe is a big word these days. How is the vibe different this year?
OB: At the end of the day, this is an organization that was in the Super Bowl in '21 and '22 in the AFC Championship. So we know what this team and organization is capable of. I feel like the vibe is simple. It's just good vibes around here, but everyone's super focused. The urgency. Just from the coaching staff and the players. I would say that the vibe is great, but I would say it's more focused than last year. Big time.
GH: What does it mean that Joe Burrow has taken every training camp rep?
OB: Awesome, man. It's so special and so important to us as a team, just because of what he brings to work every day. When you're dealing with the best in the world, you know the type of intensity and the type of focus that a guy like that has on the day-to-day, and it drives the defense to go harder and be better, and drives everyone on offense to be better.
GH: Do you have an example of that focus?
OB: There have been several times. We're in a move-the-ball period, it's a dog day, it's hot outside. Nothing's ever going to be perfect, maybe not even from him, but just in that moment being able to grab the guys and say, 'Hey, it's third down here. We need this.' That's so important from your quarterback and, really, any of your leaders on this football team.
GH: You really didn't have that last year.
OB: No, he wasn't here. It's a lot different, obviously, and not to take anything away from Jake (Browning), but it's a lot different when QB One isn't in there. But, man, when he is, it's been so beneficial for us.
GH: Joe's talked about the run game and he seems to sense it is in a better place. He says the offensive line seems to be happy with how it is married up with the pass.
OB: I'm coming in on a good side of things since coming in here the last two years with the system being more married, because, just like anything, Zac (Taylor) matures and graduates, so his system is going to mature and graduate. And that goes for run game, pass game, screen game, play-action.
So I'm coming in on the good side of things, where things have been married up. And I feel like it's kind of been like that since last year, even better this year, with some of the stuff that we're implementing, and I don't want to give away too many details.
GH: Generally, how do you think it might be more married up than last year?
OB: Just honestly, the play-action passes and the way that Zac is going to call the game may not be all that different, but it's going to give a similar feel to the defenders.
GH: What about not having running back Joe Mixon? How does that make the run game different?
OB: Losing Mix is tough. Obviously, we're talking about a Pro Bowl-level running back, but I feel like in the guys that we have, Zack Moss, Chase Brown, the standard that they set for themselves, how great they've been all training camp, I feel like we're in a really good spot, really good position.
GH: You hear about shotgun backs, under-center backs, you've two gun backs now.
OB: Oh yeah, big time. And honestly, you can't take away too much from what they do under center. At the end of the day, Zack Moss is a three-down back, and he's kind of shown that since he's been here.
GH: We know about Chase. What do you like about Zack after his first camp here?
OB: For me, it's just his decisiveness. When you get a running back like that, that super decisive, it makes your blocks that much easier, especially on a second level.
GH: How about one of your new right tackles, first-round pick Amarius Mims?
OB: Super-talented player who is extremely humble, who loves to work, loves the game of football, who comes in with infectious energy every single day to get better and it's been awesome having him here as a younger player with his skill set and capability. And, most important, his humbleness. I feel like those are some really important characteristics for a young, talented man like himself who is going to come in and have a great NFL career.
GH: Is there anything he did this camp where you said, 'Wow,'?
OB: A little early on there in pads, he was really wide with his hands, and he was still winning power or bull rush reps, which is extremely hard to do when you don't get your hands inside. That lets you know how talented he is.
GH: I guess you're getting on him about his hands.
OB: I am.
GH: You were born into the AFC North, you grew up in the AFC North, and you want to retire here in the AFC North. How has it changed?
OB: I can't say it's changed much to be honest with you. From what I remember. From Eddie George, when I was a young, young kid, running down there in Tennessee with Air McNair. Jamal Lewis in the early 2000s. Corey Dillon in there. Not much has changed. This has always been one of the most competitive divisions in football. Ben Roethlisberger, Joe Flacco, they were there for a while. Now you've got Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson being kind of at the helm of everything now. I wouldn't say much has changed. Super physical.
GH: Have division games been a focus this offseason?
OB: Definitely. As it should be. To get where we want to be, starting with winning the division, taking it day-by- day or game-by-game, that's the most important part, and to get to the playoffs, have home-field advantage, you have to win your division. You look around our matchups within our division. Who we have at each position. Take the tackle room, for example. I feel like we're built to beat our division, win our division.
