Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Josh Bynes arrived as the most experinced player at his position.
Bynes was a quiet free-agent add for the Bengals at a position where they added draft picks Logan Wilson, Akeem Davis-Gaither and Markus Bailey.
And Bynes quickly took a leadership role — and everyone noticed.
Bynes talked on the “Bengals Booth Podcast” with Dan Hoard about how he’s taken command:
“It’s just being vocal in the meetings. I ask a million and one questions…if I don’t know anything I want to ask as many questions as possible so I can get a clear understanding of what it is that’s being asked of us. Just trying to set the standard for our room, you know trying to bring everyone along. We got some young guys in the room, they gotta be involved quickly and ready to play…I’m just in a position enough to have so much experience…just want to pass as much knowledge as possible down to the young guys…
…I’m always opening to listening, you never know where great ideas come from. I don’t turn our rookies from bad ideas, everybody has a great idea and you don’t turn your nose up at anything. That’s just called growth and evolving kjnowing you can get lessons from anybody no matter whre they are in life.”
It’s an incredible bit of interview with one of the newest Bengals on the roster and it’s not hard to see why coaches liked him so much.
Thanks to some key stats and his already acting like a mentor, Bynes has a chance to prove he’s one of free agency’s biggest steals.
Given the all-virtual nature of the offseason, it’s quietly very underrated the Bengals have a veteran like this — new to the team or not — who has taken over and likes to lead by example.
