08-16-2016, 09:56 AM
What is the current status of Billings' injury? Will he be out for a significant time? How will this impact the D Line and who will have to step up to compensate for this loss?
Sorry for the delay on this but obviously the Billings news just came out yesterday. They weren’t sure what the issue was until just before then, really. I know everyone gets impatient but sometimes that stuff takes some time (swelling, inconclusive MRI imaging etc.)
Honestly, there isn’t much an impact on the d-line provided everyone is healthy. Billings wasn’t having a great camp. He had some OK plays here and there but he also was getting blown out of plays against second team o-linemen. He was going to be on the 53, but inactive as long as everyone else was healthy. Now it affects depth should Sims/Peko go down, and this sets his development back, but as for 2016 it’s not a huge loss.
was the pressure coming from inside, outside or both?
And if it's coming up the middle is that just one player's issue (Bodine) or is it all three?
The pressure was coming from everywhere. Fisher and Ogbuehi were struggling at tackle, and there were issues on the left side of the interior with Boling/Bodine. It was more of the same with the second team o-line It was concerning because the Bengals quarterbacks weren’t really able to get their work in. But, you’ll notice we only tweeted what we saw and didn’t go hard on those guys – that was going to have to come either after Friday or this week in Detroit. But when it mattered, the Bengals offensive line played just fine. It’s hard in camp – offensive linemen can’t really block or run combinations off one another because they’re trying to keep the d-lineman healthy.
I mean he's going into his 4th season and it still seems he just doesn't "get it". Is the majority of the boards appraisal of him on par ? Is the coaching staff really going to hang their hat on him ? What are we missing ?
Hunt may be what he is at this point. He’s on the team – he is the fourth defensive end. Right now Clarke would be first up should Johnson/Dunlap go down but if they both get hurt Hunt will get run (with maybe Hardison – but he hasn’t gotten any work on the outside in camp). Is that hanging their hat on him? I dunno. But I challenge you to find any fourth defensive end on any team and feel confident he could do the job of the starter. They hoped for more obviously but unless we see some major strides over the next three weeks, it is what it is.
Oh – I’ll give the board a s/o in this morning’s walkthru a bit later!
Sorry for the delay on this but obviously the Billings news just came out yesterday. They weren’t sure what the issue was until just before then, really. I know everyone gets impatient but sometimes that stuff takes some time (swelling, inconclusive MRI imaging etc.)
Honestly, there isn’t much an impact on the d-line provided everyone is healthy. Billings wasn’t having a great camp. He had some OK plays here and there but he also was getting blown out of plays against second team o-linemen. He was going to be on the 53, but inactive as long as everyone else was healthy. Now it affects depth should Sims/Peko go down, and this sets his development back, but as for 2016 it’s not a huge loss.
was the pressure coming from inside, outside or both?
And if it's coming up the middle is that just one player's issue (Bodine) or is it all three?
The pressure was coming from everywhere. Fisher and Ogbuehi were struggling at tackle, and there were issues on the left side of the interior with Boling/Bodine. It was more of the same with the second team o-line It was concerning because the Bengals quarterbacks weren’t really able to get their work in. But, you’ll notice we only tweeted what we saw and didn’t go hard on those guys – that was going to have to come either after Friday or this week in Detroit. But when it mattered, the Bengals offensive line played just fine. It’s hard in camp – offensive linemen can’t really block or run combinations off one another because they’re trying to keep the d-lineman healthy.
I mean he's going into his 4th season and it still seems he just doesn't "get it". Is the majority of the boards appraisal of him on par ? Is the coaching staff really going to hang their hat on him ? What are we missing ?
Hunt may be what he is at this point. He’s on the team – he is the fourth defensive end. Right now Clarke would be first up should Johnson/Dunlap go down but if they both get hurt Hunt will get run (with maybe Hardison – but he hasn’t gotten any work on the outside in camp). Is that hanging their hat on him? I dunno. But I challenge you to find any fourth defensive end on any team and feel confident he could do the job of the starter. They hoped for more obviously but unless we see some major strides over the next three weeks, it is what it is.
Oh – I’ll give the board a s/o in this morning’s walkthru a bit later!
Beat writer for Cincinnati.com & The Enquirer. Follow along on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Periscope.
