Sam Hubbard on Bengals' Outlook, Losing Joe Burrow For Season
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 and size up final seven games, Sam, knowing that Jake's leading the charge now.
00:05 What would you tell your new quarterback stepping in?
00:08 Yeah, I know it was a good time for us to recoup this weekend off.
00:13 I don't need to tell anything to Jake.
00:16 We got full confidence in Jake.
00:17 We've seen him go out there time and time again, lay it all on the line for us.
00:21 He's going to play his heart out and we're going to do the same.
00:24 Any conversations with Joe and how close you are after all that went down last week?
00:30 Anything you'd share on that front?
00:32 Yeah, I mean, we've had many conversations.
00:34 Nothing I'd share other than he's in good spirits for the sake of the team
00:38 because he means a lot to this team.
00:42 The attitude he brings every day, even though he's hurt, even today,
00:45 he's in here positive, picking guys up, and that just speaks to his leadership.
00:50 And, you know, I'm thankful for that.
00:54 Lower leg injury.
00:56 I'm not going to talk about any injuries, if that's okay.
01:00 Sam, from what you've seen, what does a good pass need to do to kind of bring it up?
01:04 Obviously, complimentary football is a big deal, especially when you have somebody like Jake stepping in.
01:09 What can you do to help defense do better here?
01:12 I think we had a great opportunity, divisional matchup at home.
01:17 And the biggest thing is just communicate, you know, be on the same page,
01:21 what personnel we're in, what we're running, pre-snap communication,
01:25 preparation throughout the week, really just honing into the details
01:29 because it's not for a lack of one-two or effort or anything.
01:31 It's just being on the same page and shooting ourselves in the foot,
01:34 whether it's your alignment, your job description, and just getting everything sorted out.
01:39 And that's an 11-man process we'll be working together doing.
01:44 Did you watch the Pittsburgh game Sunday?
01:46 I did.
01:47 What did you take away from what's going on with the Seahawks offensively at the moment?
01:51 You know, all I took away is it's tough to be in the ASU North.
01:55 Every game is an absolute battle.
01:58 Every team wants it so bad.
02:01 Everybody knows each other so well.
02:03 So many great players.
02:07 It's the toughest division in football, for sure.
02:09 Is there a running back combination?
02:11 Is it as good a one-two punch as there is in the league, you think?
02:14 Definitely. I think 30, Jalen Warren's playing at a very high level.
02:18 I've noticed him since his first time we played him.
02:21 You know, his blitz pickup, you know, he's tough to tackle, elusive.
02:27 And then Najee's their workhorse, and, you know, they've got a good switch up of speed.
02:32 And it's a great attack we've got to prepare for.
02:34 What is it about the ASU North that you're going to use?
02:37 Running teams, what is it?
02:39 You've noticed a similarity across all three rivals.
02:43 It's physical.
02:45 You know, there's a lot of bad weather, a lot of grass fields,
02:49 and, you know, physical games that if you want to win the division,
02:53 you've got to be able to run the ball and out-physical the opponent.
02:55 So the teams have been structured that way for long before I was in the NFL.
03:01 So there's a great history there, and that's just the way it is.
03:04 And would you say at 5-5, the locker room, even though you don't have your main leader,
03:08 do you guys still feel like a postseason run is achievable for you?
03:11 Yeah, we're taking it week to week.
03:13 We're taking it as a seven-week season to get us where we want to be.
03:18 And, you know, taking it week by week is really important for us.
03:21 You know, we had an opportunity to make this a special season.
03:25 We love the guys in the locker room.
03:26 We love being around each other.
03:27 There's no reason to, you know, be negative or start turning on each other.
03:32 I'm pretty confident that's never going to happen in this locker room.
03:35 All you can expect is this team to go out there
03:38 and do everything we can to play hard and get some wins
03:41 and have some momentum going into the offseason.
03:44 You know, who knows what can happen.
03:46 I've seen crazier things.
03:48 Do you still think there's hope?
03:49 For sure, yeah.
03:51 No question.
03:52 As long as we're playing, we've got hope.
03:53 Did you see what Mueller did Friday?
03:55 Yeah, 22-0, right?
03:58 Defense is humming.
03:59 Big win.
04:00 Yeah, on to the next.