Eli Apple falls far from his past to help Bengals defense drive the Super Bowl run (2024)

Bengals secondary coach Rob Livingston used one word to sum up cornerback Eli Apple’s growth, both personally and professionally, from the time the team signed him in April until today:

Staggering.

“It’s a huge credit to him, to what he has done off the field and on the field,” Livingston said. “I just couldn’t be more proud of him. He is just now hitting what he can be.

“When we signed Eli, it was, ‘Hey, dude. Let’s start from the beginning, start from scratch and see what happens,'” Livingston added. “In life, that’s all you can ask for is an opportunity. The biggest testament to Eli Apple’s year is he has seized that opportunity.”

Drafted 10th out of Ohio State in 2016, Apple had fallen out of favor with three organizations — the Giants, who drafted him and traded him; the Saints, who cut bait after a year and half and declined his fifth-year option; and the Panthers, who played him in two games before cutting him in late October — before latching on with the Bengals.

“Eli may not be everybody’s cup of tea, but he’s my cup of tea,” Bengals cornerback Steve Jackson said. “He reminds me of a lot of the guys I played with back in the day. He’s going to have personality. He’s gonna have swag, and he’s gonna have confidence in himself. I love seeing him with that attitude and him going out and playing that way.”

Originally signed as a depth piece to back up free-agent additions Trae Waynes, Mike Hilton and Chidobe Awuzie, Apple ended up starting 15 games this year as Waynes opened the season with a hamstring injury.

But Waynes, who is in his second season of a three-year, $42 million contract, has been healthy for months, and Apple is still the starter.

“We wouldn’t be here without him,” defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo said of Apple. “I’m very proud of him for that.”

Pro Football Focus graded Apple 58th among 89 qualifying cornerbacks. But that doesn’t begin to define his year. As Livingston pointed out, this is about a transformation.

Three of Apple’s four lowest-graded games this season were Weeks 1-3.

Apple is PFF’s No. 2-ranked cornerback in coverage since the bye in Week 10, trailing only teammate Mike Hilton.

That run began with a fourth-quarter interception at Las Vegas to seal the win. And it continued the following week at home against the Steelers with another pick, marking the first time in his career he’s had interceptions in back-to-back games in addition to tying his season high.

And Apple turned in arguably the most important play that brought the Bengals to L.A. for the Super Bowl with his tackle of Tyreek Hill at the 1-yard line as time expired in the first half of the AFC Championship Game at Kansas City.

“If you play this game, you’ve got to be resilient,” Apple said. “Everything’s not gonna go your way. You’re gonna go through ups and downs, and that’s the wonderful thing about this sport — you’re able to go through that and still come out of it and put your best foot forward every day and learn from those mistakes. So that’s what I’m doing.”

What Apple also has been doing is sparring online with seemingly the entire city of New Orleans and members of the Saints organization over the past few weeks. He struck a much more civil tone Wednesday when asked about his season and a half with the franchise.

“It was a great time. I loved it,” he said of his time in New Orleans. “It’s great to be back with Trey (Hendrickson) and Vonn (Bell). We had that natural chemistry on the field playing with each other and practicing so many times back in New Orleans. We played in a lot of big games. We won a lot of games, just came up short a couple times. But it was great, and a great learning experience as well.”

Another learning experience that could play a significant role Sunday against the Rams is Apple’s relationship with former Giants teammates Odell Beckham Jr., who, like Apple, fell out of favor with one team and ended up on another that made a deep playoff run.

The assumption is Chidobe Awuzie will spend a lot of time on Rams receiver Cooper Kupp, the NFL leader in receptions and receiving yards, leaving Apple to size up with Beckham Jr.

“Me and O have a pretty good relationship,” Apple said. “He really taught me what I could expect my first day, going against him as a rookie. He helped mold me and helped my confidence a lot. Even off the field, he was a great guy and somebody I could talk to. As soon as I got drafted, he was the first person to text me, saying ‘welcome’ and ‘if you need anything, hit me up.’ He’s been like that even after I left the Giants.

“That’s somebody I love, and I truly appreciate everything he’s done,” Apple added. “But now we’re about to compete. I can’t wait for that.”

The Browns cut Beckham one week before they came to Cincinnati, so this will be the first time Apple has faced his mentor in a game.

It’s exactly the kind of matchup the Bengals thought Apple could eventually be ready to handle when they took a flier on him last spring.

“Eli is a testament to vision,” Livingston said.

And Apple wants to prove that vision was 20/20, in line with his jersey number.

“I want to put all my focus on this game and reward them with all the faith they’ve put in me all year,” Apple said.

All eyes on Donald

Imagine in the biggest game of your life knowing over 100 million people are going to watch you try to block Aaron Donald.

That’s the reality of the Bengals’ maligned interior offensive linemen entering Super Bowl LVI on Sunday.

A matchup everybody anticipates devolving into a nightmare for the Bengals and Joe Burrow is one they have spent the past week-plus trying to figure out how to manage.

“I’m just calling the game like normal,” center Trey Hopkins said. “You have to know where 99 is. He’s a huge playmaker on the team. We are in a position to help there and in a position to get a double-team there, that’s what we’ll do.”

Hopkins and the Bengals have watched film of those who have come before (and mostly failed) at slowing down the Rams’ defensive tackle who racked up 102 pressures and 17 sacks this year. That included an absurd 14 pressures in one game against Arizona.

One game that stood out in study for Hopkins was watching Buccaneers center Ryan Jensen in the divisional round. Donald had eight pressures and a sack, but the fact Jensen employed a number of different techniques proved particularly useful to study.

“They had a plan a lot of guys have,” Hopkins said. “They were just turning protection to Donald. Looking at how he approached that. Is that a guy you smother? Is that a guy you play off of with your handling? You need a combination of both. Watching in that game I think I am able to see the benefits and drawbacks of both techniques.”

Offensive coordinator Brian Callahan points to games against Defensive Player of the Year candidates such as Myles Garrett, Chris Jones and T.J. Watt and how the Bengals were able to get by. Donald is a different beast in many ways, but they aren’t expecting perfect execution of any technique or even necessarily anything close to that.

They are counting on resilience.

“They’ve played in tough games,” Callahan said. “They’ve managed, they’ve made mistakes. They’ve given up sacks and they just keep coming back and fighting. And that’s all you can ask for at this point in the year. … We might not have a line full of Pro Bowlers, but we got guys that play really hard and they play well together. We’re expecting a big game from them.”

After all, the Bengals have already survived giving up nine sacks against Tennessee, and Burrow took 51 of them in the regular season. It’s not like pressure or sacks will be new. The question on the effect of Donald and Von Miller on the edge is if those sacks turn into turnovers.

Not giving up strip-sacks also means more opportunities for Burrow-dini to work his magic. So many of those spins and slips through traffic are instinctual, and quarterbacks coach Dan Pitcher says the most recent slip away from Jones for a first down in Kansas City is probably his favorite of the season.

But as much as you can’t teach what Burrow does — and will do when Donald chases — it’s the stuff you can teach that’s made the difference in mitigating the risk in his search for the worthwhile reward.

“There’s also elements about that part of his game that are very technical,” Pitcher said. “He does a really good job keeping two hands on the football. He uses that posture in his upper body to generate power so that he can rip through some of those attempts where those guys are kind of hanging on him and they’re on half of his body, and now he can pull through and escape to the perimeter.”

Do the Bengals have a plan for minimizing Donald as much as possible? Of course. Expect doubles and chips where possible. They have lined up the tight end and running back next to Burrow on occasion to pick up busted blocks.

It will inevitably come down to Burrow’s ability to make up for the mistakes up front and the line’s ability to come back and create enough clean pockets for the weapons to cook.

It’s all hands on deck and hold on tight.

“It’s a help system,” guard Quinton Spain said. “It’s not a one-on-one. At the end of the day, it’s us five up front protecting for Joe. If one person messes up, we all mess up. We all just have to play together and man up. If you got a one-on-one block, you just got to man up.”

No big deal, just 100 million people watching to see if they do.

Practice pool report

The following is the Pro Football Writers Association practice pool report from the Washington Post’s Nicki Jhabvala:

The Bengals traded in an ice storm and frigid temperature for 80-degree weather and clear skies in Los Angeles on Wednesday afternoon, as they held their first of three Super Bowl practices at Drake Stadium on the UCLA campus.

After an earlier 35-minute walkthrough and break for lunch, the team took the field shortly after 1:30 p.m. for its non-padded workout and began with stretches, followed by a special-teams period, individual work, team periods and then field goals to close it out.

Tight end C.J. Uzomah, still recovering from a knee injury he suffered in the first half of the Bengals’ AFC Championship win in Kansas City, participated in the team stretch, then headed to the far end of the field to work with a trainer. He was formally listed as a non-participant, as head coach Zac Taylor indicated he would be in his video conference with reporters prior to practice.

Taylor said after the workout that Uzomah looks “positive” and is expected to do more Thursday.

“Considering where he was when he fell on the turf last Sunday to where he is now, (I’m) really optimistic about how it’s going,” Taylor said. “We’ll continue to see him in action these next two days, but optimistic.”

Offensive guard Jackson Carman was limited because of a back injury. Taylor said the team is “still kind of protecting him” but he’s hopeful Carman will be able to participate more Thursday.

Receiver Stanley Morgan (hamstring), defensive end Cam Sample (groin) and defensive tackle Josh Tupou (knee) were full participants.

Taylor said the team has maintained the same practice schedule it would normally have in Cincinnati, with walkthroughs preceding practices. The team hotel is a short walk to Drake Stadium, providing a seamless, and efficient, transition from meetings to the field.

“This is like our stadium,” Taylor said. “We walk right out of our meeting rooms and we’re at the practice field, so that part has been really good and helps us keep our schedule as a normal routine.”

Taylor added that the three-hour time difference in L.A. has also benefited the team, as noted by tempo and energy of practice.

“It was really good,” he said. “The guys were really fresh and ready to go.”

If there was any necessary adjustment, it was the heat and beating sun.

“Just getting hydrated the best we can,” Taylor said.

Team president Mike Brown and executive vice president Katie Blackburn watched the practice from the track encircling the field. The Bengals also brought along its full practice squad and injured players.

Practice-squad tight end Mason Schreck and offensive tackle Riley Reiff, both on reserve lists with ankle injuries, watched practice wearing walking boots and seated in motorized scooters.

“Everybody is a piece of this, whether you were on the practice squad all year, whether you were Riley Reiff and got hurt in the San Fran game in December,” Taylor said. “They’ve all gotten us to this point, whether it shows up on the stat sheet or not, so we want to make sure everybody’s here enjoying this experience. They’re all a part of us getting here.”

The Bengals have two more workouts at Drake Stadium, on Thursday and Friday, then a walkthrough Saturday before heading to SoFi Stadium for team photos.

(Top photo: Andy Lyons / Getty Images)