“We love his attitude and the way he brings that competitiveness and that edge to our defensive line,” Hubbard said. “We saw him on the first walk, Day One, just be physical and get boys. I was really impressed with him. I’m really glad he’s part of our unit.”
And then Hubbard just had to look behind him and see an old college teammate. When Daniels brings the salt, he knows former Saints-free safety Vonn Bell will bring some hot sauce. He can tell it already.
“He’s ultra-competitive in the first place,” Hubbard said. “Every day out there he talks about the crime, he talks about the defense, he prepares everyone to come after it. He carries that in the meeting room and every aspect of his football character. He’s just hungry and physical. What he brings to the back, I find it contagious. You can already see it in just three practices at full speed. Men make plays on the ball and everyone is held accountable. “
Hubbard is a good place to start on Monday in this very different Bengaldom.
Continuing in his third season as the 2018 Class Class Business Leader with 14.5, he has seen many of the hard times of a defense that has allowed the most rushing yard in the NFL the past three seasons. But during an offseason move back from Miami to Cincinnati for the pandemic, he also saw the Bengals throw a load of money and drop pictograms on every tier of defense.
Not only that, one of his closest friends long before it all started is Burrow, another buddy from Ohio State and now his neighbor on the leafy east side of Cincinnati.
“He has impressed a lot of guys with how he walks the building, his behavior, how he behaves, and how he feels the sense of urgency to be a leader in crime,” Hubbard said. “I think everyone was impressed with how he communicates, how he understands the crime. Because when the (first-team) offense goes out there, it’s a challenge. They’re spinning on all cylinders. That’s not something you would expect to see a rookie quarterback. “
But, and this is perhaps what Hubbard likes best about him, this is the same man who took the scout team snaps in Columbus.
“He hasn’t changed at all. He has the same mentality as he was a third-string backup at Ohio State as a freshman,” Hubbard said. “Still fighting every day to get on the field and make his name known. He takes that mentality and level-headness from where he has been to where he is at the moment.”
This was Burrow on Monday, and got her in and out of the huddle like he had done for the last few August. And that’s not as easy as it looks when he won the Heisman without a huddle at LSU. Or consider the huddles left-back Michael Jordan recalled at Ohio State when he saw a defender jump at Burrow’s skirt on Monday.
“It’s completely different from way back then,” Jordan said. “I just remember guys like (center) Pat Elflein, coach (Urban) Meyer, who were constantly yelling at Joe to be more demonstrative when calling the cadence, and now everything’s crystal clear. He brings our boys on defense to jump offside with hard counts, and I love that. “
