The pandemic that has ignited the Zooming '20s has wiped out most of this spring's off-season workouts and prevented Eason from unleashing his monstrous new blocking sled, an unyielding slab of metal and pads he vows to use to unmask various "con artists," that toyed with the docile one they had last year at practice.
But the virus hasn't stopped Eason from delivering daily virtual reminders of the culture war at play in the trenches. That's why he calls it a "DL Jungle Meeting." He bristles with the edge of the century's first decade when he played 85 of his 117 NFL games in the AFC North of Marvin Lewis, Ray Lewis and Jamal Lewis during the days it was the Joe Louis heavyweight division.
"My message is at some point in time you have to get mad. You have to get mad. You have to get mad," Eason seethes after everyone has hit "Leave Meeting." "This is supposed to be, 'The Jungle.' In the jungle there are anacondas, snakes, mosquitoes and all kinds of creatures out there that make you uncomfortable. That's the way it has to be with the Bengals.
"You come to Cincinnati to play in a damn jungle. Making this a hostile environment the way it was when I came in here," says Eason, who played for the perpetually rebuilding Browns and the Super Bowl champion Steelers. "It was always uncomfortable coming in here to play. You knew you were in for a long day. I was playing against guys like Willie Anderson and (Eric) Steinbach."
Eason starts toughening up his guys today the way he always does. He assigns one of them to come up with a quote and why. The days have already wound down to the rookies and a picture of Dishon playing in college comes on the screen.
"The quote I had today is, 'Becoming is better than being,'" says the bright, intense Dishon. "When I think of this quote I think of complacency. I come from a really small place and everybody thinks I'm this and I'm that … That's the reality check. 'Being is better.' Always chasing that goal, find a way to get better and move up a level and get on the field. Anything like that."
Which is just one of the reasons the Bengals love this rookie class. After Eason led a round of applause, they embarked on a 25-minute installation meeting before the ends split into a separate Zoom with defensive line assistant Gerald Chatman and senior defensive assistant Mark Duffner. Or "President Duffner," as Eason calls him. Eason stayed with the tackles for nearly an hour.
"Duff's been around a long time and he's seen it all," says Hubbard of the coach who led NFL linebackers rooms during four presidents. "Gerald's hungry and he really wants to be a great coach. I really like that room, too."
This is a big meeting. The day before head coach Zac Taylor directed the players to run them and Eason took a lot of notes from his own guys.
"I found out I need to do a better job teaching," Eason tells them. "I think you know what to do. But when I ask you about alignment, assignment and adjustment, the first thing you should tell me is your alignment. The second thing is assignment. And then (it could be), I'm keying the top of the shoulder pad of the offensive guard or I have the B gap on the run and on the pass I have inside pressure."
He's trying to get everybody to not only speak the same language, but with the same dialect. Look at it from left to right. Their alignment and what they do against the run and what they do against the pass.
"That's it," Eason says.
Before they break up, Eason runs through packages where the ends and tackles have to coordinate drops and technique and fourth-year end Carl Lawson is all over it. Lawson is an A student. At a hint of any technological distress, Eason might say, "Carl help me," or he also might say of a call, "Carl Lawson, explain it to the room."
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May 29, 2020 at 11:20AM
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Look Behind Bengals' Virtual Curtain - Bengals.com
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