Let's see. A year ago this week, Bengals edge Myles Murphy knew exactly what he was doing. He had just finished up the last of his ten visits to NFL teams as one of the top rushers coming out of the draft.
And, believe him. After the Bengals took him at No. 28 in the first round, this year has been a lot different.
"The biggest thing for me has been trying to find a routine," says Murphy after one of the voluntary workouts at Paycor Stadium. "In college (Clemson), you had a schedule. Wake up, work out, go to school, go to practice and if you don't have homework, go to sleep. Here, we're done, what, 2 o'clock? That's a lot of free time and the big thing I've been doing is trying to find ways to spend it constructively."
Murphy, who figures to play more than the 305 snaps he had as a rookie, is using plenty of that time to re-build his body. That's another big change from last year.
"There's a difference between combine shape and football shape. A big difference. I noticed it as soon as I got here," Murphy says. "One thing I picked up from the veteran D-linemen is investing in your body is not a bad thing. Nothing's cheap. All the stuff that I had at Clemson and didn't use last year, I think those are things that can be beneficial to me."
He's put his money where his body is. He never dreamed before last year that he would drop beaucoup bucks on an infrared sauna that he put in his garage. But he did and now he's thinking about an ice tub and hyperbaric chamber to add to the mix.
Thanks to the Bengals defensive dean, left end Sam Hubbard.
"He's the one who was telling me about the cold tub and sauna when I was asking about what he uses at home," Murphy says. "You just watched Sam every day and you can see how important it is for him to take care of his body."
Murphy also couldn't help but notice how Hubbard played through an injured ankle for the last seven games.
"That was impressive," Murphy said. "Literally, the recovery (daily body treatments) showing up. That showed what he thought of the team. 'I'll do all I can to keep us in position for a chance at the playoffs.' He never said that, but that was the message I got."
SAM I AM: Hubbard showed the media the scar on his reconstructed ankle while reiterating why he kept playing after sitting out two games. It's no coincidence his first game back was the Bengals' first after quarterback Joe Burrow's season-ending wrist injury.
He cited an age-old line made popular by the late Pete Brown, the Bengals' legendary director of player personnel: "The best ability is availability."
"I'd want to burn the film of the back half of the year," Hubbard said. "I'll get back to myself … This is actually the first surgery I've had in my long football career. I've been very blessed. I just didn't want to leave my guys without me with a playoff pushing front of us. We got to a tough point with Joe going down. It was all hands on deck. I wanted to be a part of it."
Hubbard says he's a few weeks ahead of schedule and indicated he'll be ready for training camp.
SLANTS AND SCREENS: If you can believe it, there's another defensive lineman in this year's draft named Myles Murphy. This Murphy is from North Carolina and is more of an interior player and, yes, they've met.
"It was a Nike camp in Atlanta," our Myles Murphy said. "They called the name to go to the desk and we both got up. I said, 'They called my name,' and he said, 'They called my name.'" …
As head coach Zac Taylor heads into his sixth draft with the Bengals on Thursday, here's what he's learned:
"The scouts do the brunt of the work and so you want to lean on their expertise and their knowledge on the players just for a vision of how we utilize the player. That's really where I step in and the coordinators and be in that voice," Taylor said. "If there needs to be some closure on a player, what's the vision for them? That's where I've got to step in and make sure that I speak on behalf of our schemes and how we see a player fitting." …
