O-Line meeting are a weekly thing

[BlainThePain]

http://cnati.com/cincinnati-bengals/weekly-o-line-meeting-builds-strength-00701/

Cincinnati Bengals

Weekly O-Line meeting builds strength

By C. Trent Rosecrans, CNATI.com Posted November 12, 2009 3:14 PM ET

Every Wednesday night, the Cincinnati Bengals offensive linemen have a standing date with some rather hefty mistresses: each other.

After all their other teammates leave and the coaches are done meeting with players, the 11 offensive linemen get together, get some food and fire up the game tape.

"It's something this year, I wanted to do something different. I told the guys that Wednesdays we'd stay after for an hour, hour-and-a-half, I'll bring food every week, I'll get pizza or my wife cooks," said tackle Andrew Whitworth. "We sit up here together, eat, watch film, study, talk about our plays. Just spend an hour-and-a-half when it's just us and think about what we've got coming up that week."

This Wednesday, they fired up tape of Casey Hampton, James Farrior and James Harrison and ordered six pizzas. ("It's not really for chowing down, it's just to have something there to snack on," Whitworth said.)

It's one of the highlights of the week, several of the linemen said. They have a good time, joke around, but they also get a lot of work in.

"We have fun, we talk a little bit, we watch some film, talk about teams, what other teams are doing," Whitworth said. "We get to spend an hour-and-a-half where it's just us and nobody else, really study all the things we want to do to be successful."

In the room, they're all equals, teammates.

"It's not stressful, it's laid-back and we just let the film roar and we look at it and talk amongst each other," said guard Bobbie Williams. "It's always fun and before you know it, time has gone by."

As the linemen watch film, they'll talk about why they did something on a certain play or what they need to do in a specific situation.

Bengals center Kyle Cook. Photo by Chris Bergman"Some of the younger guys may not understand what goes on, you get a lot of the bonding, talking as you're going back to the huddle," Cook said. "So when you get a chance to sit there just amongst players, you get to talk about it. And the younger players get to hear that, when I say, 'hey Bobbie, when that guy does something, we're going to do this.' We make sure we're on the same page, that we're looking for the same thing. And the younger guys get a chance to ask why you'd do that, and we tell them this is why."

Rookie center Jonathan Luigs said it's an invaluable learning tool to listen to the thought process of veterans like Whitworth and Williams.

"I just sit back and listen, to be honest with you," Luigs said. "Just hearing what guys think who have been around and experienced this level of ball, I think it's beneficial for everybody, but especially me and Andre (Smith) being able to list to the older guys talk and the what they look at and the keys that help them on Sunday."

Also, because there are no coaches around, there's no risk of incurring the wraith of a coach or looking bad. The players-only meeting is a place to learn, not to judge, which is one of the reasons Whitworth put it together.

The Bengals have a mixture of young and old on their roster. Williams is in his 10th year, Scott Kooistra is in his seventh, Evan Mathis is in his fifth season and Whitworth is in his fourth. There are also some younger players without the experience Whitworth may have, like second-year players Anthony Collins and Dennis Roland and then there are the rookies Luigs and Smith, plus practice squad second-year player Jason Shirley, who is in his first season as an offensive lineman.

"Some guys may be apprehensive to ask questions in front of coaches, but when we're amongst each other it's an open floor and anyone can ask questions they want to ask," Smith said. "It makes you more comfortable as a player."

As for what exactly is said, the 345-pound Williams is keeping that a guarded secret.

"We do have fun, but we're looking at the film and we're just going along with it," Williams said. "It's a secret society, you're trying to break into our code, I'm going to give Kyle a wink over here and he's going to come and get you."

[Ickey44]

Whitworth has really emerged as a leader for this team and I hope they keep him for years.