OT Fred Johnson Praises Pollack!

[BFritz21]

I've been worried about this season, as I've mentioned A THOUSAND TIMES BEFORE, because we now have the weapons, but we can't do anything if the line doesn't open holes for Mixon and allow Burrow to get the ball to the receivers/tight ends.

Pieces like these about players like Fred Johnson praising Pollack's approach are giving me hope!

Quote:Bengals fans rejoiced when news broke that Cincinnati was moving on from Jim Turner after the offensive line hit rock bottom the past two seasons. There was a chorus of praise when the team then went out and brought back Frank Pollack who was the team’s offensive line coach in 2018 when Joe Mixon led the AFC in rushing.

We as fans haven’t really gotten a chance to see the difference in play yet. However, offensive linemen have been excited about the return of Pollack to the coaching staff. The most recent player to speak publicly about it was Fred Johnson. He even notes that he has been following “The Pollack Way,” via Bengals.com Geoff Hobson.

“Technique, for sure. Technique has to be to a tee what Pollack wants. You try to do everything correct the first time. I say, ‘You do it right, you do it light. You do it wrong, you do it long.’

I love that for sure because something that's always plagued this franchise has been lack of execution and not paying attention to details, which is big when we're talking about protecting Burrow. Pollack's making them do it right and making sure they improve each day in practice.

This writer seems to agree with me:

Quote:It is always good to hear that offensive linemen are excited that they have a guy making sure they are improving the little things about their game. It makes you wonder what they were dealing with when Turner was at the helm.

I love this part because all good offensive lines seem to have a brotherhood and they're a family with one goal: BLOCK, and they take pride in that goal, so being together more helps with the sense of accomplishment:

Quote:It is always good to hear that offensive linemen are excited that they have a guy making sure they are improving the little things about their game. It makes you wonder what they were dealing with when Turner was at the helm.

Them knowing that has to get them excited to play.

Now, it seems like they're taking pride in their play:

Quote:Johnson also hinted at the idea that he wanted to have more reps at guard so he could be even more versatile. He is just starting to get healthy again, and his return can’t come soon enough as the depth at tackle could really use him.

Whatever helps in Burrow being able to step into throws and not get his knee blown up again, I'm all for, so build the interior of the line.

Quote:Hopefully Johnson and the other offensive linemen who have praised Pollack show that the product has improved due to all this work. The ultimate goal remains to be able to protect Joe Burrow no matter what. Johnson, who wasn’t even playing at the time of the injury, still takes that injury personally.

“I don’t think we have that taste out of our mouth at all. It still lingers,” Johnson said. “Joe still has the scar on his knee. I mean, I see it every day. I wasn’t even playing that day. It’s just something in the back of our minds. We can’t allow this to occur again. He’s putting a lot of trust in us, we have to have him, let him have his faith and confidence in this O-line.”

Here is hoping that Burrow has nothing to worry about in 2021.

I'm starting to get excited about this season! We could prove a lot of people wrong!