Tag: T. J. Houshmandzadeh

T. J. Houshmandzadeh explains culture issues for early 2000s Bengals teams

T. J. Houshmandzadeh with some revealing comments about the team’s past.

Former Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver T. J. Houshmandzadeh recently provided some details on the team’s past.

Appearing on the “NFL Players Second Acts” podcast, Houshmandzadeh reflected on why hindsight explained so much about the struggles of his early Bengals teams.

“You really delve into the ‘Why weren’t we good?’” Houshmandzadeh said. “It’s the off the field. It’s the lack of discipline. It’s the complete lack of respect and structure of the guys on the team…We did what we wanted to do. When I first got to Cincinnati, we didn’t even stay in hotels for home games.”

Houshmandzadeh went as far as recanting one story of a starting member of the team not being ready for a Saturday flight to an away game — and getting to start anyway.

Granted, these things aren’t new to Bengals fans, who have undoubtedly heard plenty of stories over the years. But it’s interesting to hear Houshmandzadeh recall some of these stories and explain why Marvin Lewis faced such a massive task when turning around the culture of the entire organization.

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Bengals WR Jermaine Burton addresses past incidents: ‘I moved on from that’

Jermaine Burton took questions about his past and talked about his connection with T.J. Houshmandzadeh.

The Cincinnati Bengals used the first of their two third-round picks in the 2024 NFL draft to select Alabama wide receiver Jermaine Burton with the No. 80 overall choice.

Burton has a checkered past involving incidents both on and off the field when he lost his cool, which is likely a reason why someone with his talent was still available when the Bengals were choosing in the third round.

Drafting a player with multiple incidents like those creates some risk, but Burton does seem to think he has moved on from them and has become a better person.

“It was something I had to move past. It was a very emotional, passionate game,” Burton said when asked about an incident in which he appeared to hit a female fan moments after a game against Tennessee in 2022. “A lot was on the line throughout the season, and I moved on from that and learned from situations like that. We played LSU two weeks later and the same thing happened, and I was one of the first guys back in the locker room, so I clearly separated myself and understood what was at stake and didn’t want to take the opportunity for granted.”

Burton does have a small connection with Cincinnati since he was trained by former Bengals WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh. It was Housh himself who announced that the team would be taking Burton during the draft.

“It’s honestly amazing having T.J. train me the past few years, even going into college,” Burton said. “Working with him is honestly great. Just to know his history, his background with the game of football, his knowledge on it and to see the way he thinks. The way he puts it into the drills, the way he talks to you and his terminology, it really helps me. We also developed a relationship to the point where we talked about other things — just life things and a lot of maturity and growth.”

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Bengals legend T.J. Houshmandzadeh will announce a draft pick

Housh will be at the podium for the Bengals this week.

The Cincinnati Bengals have 10 draft picks in the 2024 draft coming up this week and they have released some of the names who will be announcing their picks this time around.

One of the names they listed is former wideout T.J. Houshmandzadeh, who will be announcing one of their picks on Day 2 of the draft, which will be either their second-round pick or one of their two third-round picks.

Houshmandzadeh spent eight years with the franchise, catching 507 passes in a Bengals uniform for 5,782 yards and 37 touchdowns. After leaving Cincinnati he played for three more years, each with a different team, before he retired in 2011.

As of now, Houshmandzadeh is the only former player who will be announcing one of their picks, and he will be joined by Christie Bryant Kuhns, the president of the Urban League of Greater Southwestern Ohio, who will also announce a pick on day two.

The Bengals international fan of the year and a season ticket member will get to announce a pick each for the team on day three of the draft.

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T.J. Houshmandzadeh wants Ja’Marr Chase to break his Bengals record

T.J. Houshmandzadeh told Ja’Marr Chase that records are there to be broken.

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase has continued to impress early in his career and is on pace this season to break some single-season receiving records for the Bengals.

Former Cincinnati wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh holds the record for most catches in a season with 112, and with 86 catches and five games to go, Chase is on pace for 122 catches if he continues the way he has been playing this year. Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com talked to Houshmandzadeh about it, and he wants Chase to break his record.

“Tell him to break that (bleep). That’s why it’s there,” he told Hobson. “If he doesn’t do it this year, he’s going to do it soon.”

Chase is also on pace to break the single-season receiving yards record, which he currently holds after a 1,455 yards in 2021. He is on pace for 1,505 yards this season.

When Chase was a freshman at LSU, Houshmandzadeh talked to him about never getting outworked, and that has obviously stuck with him since he has gotten to the point where he is one of the top receivers in the NFL.

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T.J. Houshmandzadeh says blame for Bengals struggles will fall on 1 person

T.J. Houshmandzadeh reveals who will get the finger pointed at them for Bengals’ struggles.

In a way, former Cincinnati Bengals wideout T.J. Houshmandzadeh is just like fans.

Houshmandzadeh is, in a word, disgusted with what he sees from the Bengals so far on the offensive side of the football.

And while the blame falls on a lot of different pieces, such as Joe Burrow’s injured calf, Houshmandzadeh said during his spot on “Airing It Out” on Fubo Sports that just one man will take the full brunt of the blame if things keep going in this manner.

“If heads start to roll, it’s going to be Zac Taylor. Because Joe is going nowhere,” Houshmandzadeh said. “Joe will play with the Bengals until he retires. They’re not letting Joe go play for another team. Zac needs to figure out where is the disconnect and say, ‘Why aren’t we moving the ball? The Bengals should be much better and Zac Taylor, ultimately, if it continues down this path, will take the lion’s share of the blame. There’s just no other way around it. So he needs to figure this out sooner than later because they went into the season not with aspirations of winning the division… And right now they aren’t even going to get into the playoffs.”

It’s easy to think Taylor is bulletproof in Cincinnati after turning the program around and finding the success he has over the last few years.

But that might not be the case if say, all indications are Burrow gets back to 100 percent health and things don’t change.

Realistically, it is safe to presume things get better alongside Burrow’s calf, which will save the day in terms of jobs regardless of what the final record looks like. But proper coaching adjustments that produce results regardless of the calf will go a long way in deciding — over the next few weeks — whether this is a playoff season or we need to start talking about the 2024 draft.

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Former NFL WR texted Joe Burrow for injury update

One former player says he got an update from Joe Burrow himself.

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow came up hopping on one leg in training camp which would eventually be reported as a strained calf after he showed up to practice with a black sleeve on his leg.

There has been a lot of speculation on how much time Burrow is going to need to miss with his injury, but former NFL wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh said he texted Burrow to get his own update on Speak on Fox Sports.

“Yeah, I’m cool,” Burrow texted back according to Houshmandzadeh. “I’ll be out a little bit but I’m good to go.”

That’s very encouraging news for the Bengals directly from Burrow himself, who was spotted at camp today with a sleeve on his leg and he wasn’t limping.

It’s likely Burrow will be out for several weeks of the preseason, but reports are currently that his status won’t be in question for the regular season opener.

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T. J. Houshmandzadeh says Bengals WR Tyler Boyd is underrated

Fun praise for Bengals WR Tyler Boyd from T. J. Houshmandzadeh.

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Cincinnati Bengals great T. J. Houshmandzadeh had some high praise for current wideout Tyler Boyd recently.

After Boyd showed up at Bengals practices and gave a great reason for doing so, Houshmandzadeh had a chat with Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com about the slot receiver.

Interstingly, Houshmandzadeh pushed back against the idea that Boyd is merely a “reliable” player.

“To me, you say ‘reliable,’ and that doesn’t give him enough credit,” Houshmandzadeh said. “It kind of discredits him. It’s a putdown. He’s better than reliable. He’s a good receiver. He knows how to run good routes. He’s got really good size. If he doesn’t get hurt, the Bengals go to the Super Bowl again.”

Tucked into that comment is Houshmandzadeh agreeing with Boyd’s idea that the team might have beaten the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC title game for the second year in a row if he hadn’t suffered an injury early.

Houshmandzadeh also offered this fun perspective on Boyd’s place in the current Zac Taylor program: “He was part of the turnaround. He was part of the good, the bad and now this run. I like him a lot. He doesn’t get the credit he deserves.”

Boyd is indeed one of the last guys from the rebuild era of these modern Bengals who has pretty much seen everything, bottom to top.

We’ll have to see if Boyd will remain with the Bengals beyond 2023, but there’s zero debate about the validity of Houshmandzadeh’s comments and Boyd’s place in this modern era of Bengals history.

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T.J. Houshmandzadeh named Ruler of Jungle for Ravens vs. Bengals

A Bengals great gets the spotlight at the playoff game against the Ravens.

Cincinnati Bengals great T.J. Houshmandzadeh will be the team’s Ruler of the Jungle for Sunday’s playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens.

Houshmandzadeh, who has the eight-most receiving yards in team history (5,782), fourth-most receptions (507) and sixth-most receiving touchdowns (37) will assume the throne and lead Bengals fans in chants.

The franchise started the tradition in 2021 while overhauling the in-game experience for fans and uses it as a way to honor fans or former players.

Cincinnati’s third clash with the Ravens this season sits in the primetime “Sunday Night Football” slot a week removed from the Bengals beating the Ravens in the season finale.

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T.J. Houshmandzadeh: ‘Joe’s not gonna let them lose in the first round’

T.J. Houshmandzadeh has some thoughts about the playoff game between the Raiders and Bengals.

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The Cincinnati Bengals have a tall task in front of them in Saturday’s wild card round playoff game against the Las Vegas Raiders.

Yes, the game takes place at Paul Brown Stadium and yes, they already beat the Raiders once this season. But those Raiders have a ton of momentum and have overcome more adversity than most playoff teams this year.

But former Bengals star T.J. Houshmandzadeh says the Bengals have something the Raiders don’t — Joe Burrow.

Houshmandzadeh’s thoughts about the Bengals in the first round were collected by The Athletic’s Paul Dehner Jr. and Jay Morrison:

Houshmandzadeh: I actually think they’re gonna do it. It doesn’t matter who they play; they’re gonna do it this year. Joe’s not gonna let them lose in the first round. I’m tellin’ ya — there’s something about this dude. Unless they just play absolutely terrible, they’re winning it this year. They’ll win a playoff game. They might get to the Super Bowl if some bounces go their way.

Burrow, a Comeback Player of the Year and MVP candidate, is indeed the biggest reason the Bengals are where they’re at — and he’s kept playing great in big moments since his LSU days.

That said, Burrow only threw for 148 yards in his team’s 32-13 win over the Raiders back in Week 11. Bad weather or not on Saturday, he’ll have to step up if the Bengals are to advance to the divisional round.

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T.J. Houshmandzadeh reveals how he would build around Joe Burrow this offseason

T.J. Houshmandzadeh shares how the Cincinnati Bengals should build around Joe Burrow.

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Former Cincinnati Bengals wideout T.J. Houshmandzadeh knows how he wants the team to build around Joe Burrow this offseason:

Bulk up the trenches.

Appearing on the “Bengals Beat Podcast” with Tyler Dragon of the Cincinnati Enquirer, Houshmandzadeh outlined his plan:

“The Bengals need to focus on keeping (Joe Burrow) protected. They shouldn’t sign or draft any skill players. It should be offensive linemen in the draft (and) offensive linemen in free agency, because you can find a receiver in the third, fourth or fifth round. If the protection is there, Joe is gonna get you the ball.”

It’s a hard strategy to argue against. While ending up with wideout Ja’Marr Chase or tight end Kyle Pitts at fifth overall would be nice, it would matter little if Burrow has no time to throw and the ground game can’t get going.

And the idea the Bengals can find a nice complement for Tyler Boyd and Tee Higgins in a later round is true enough too. They could also find a nice third option to space the field in free agency.

Given that the Bengals had to watch their long-term franchise passer leave the field during his rookie season on a cart and his status remains up in the air while he rehabs, disagreeing with Housh here seems ill-advised.

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