The Bengals are riding not one, but two waves heading into Monday night’s massive matchup against the Bills. There’s the figurative swell of confidence and momentum that has built throughout the course a seven-game winning streak. And then there’s the oscillating, cupped hand attached to the right arm of cornerback Eli Apple, which helpfully assists fans in opposing stadiums know when it’s time to leave.
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Apple’s wave, much like the winning brand of football that powers it, is contagious, as many of his defensive teammates have begun lending their own helping, metronomic hands in an effort to streamline stadium egress.
Or something like that.
“I’ve probably heard him say more s–t to fans than the players,” Bengals safety Jessie Bates said of Apple. “I think he’s been hated by a lot of people, and he knows that, so he kind of plays that line very well. But he has a group of close brothers next to him where he feels confident to go do that.”
Eli Apple waves goodbye to the #Browns following the #Bengals’ 23-10 win pic.twitter.com/xP79MMDGuu
— James Rapien (@JamesRapien) December 12, 2022
Whether it’s on the sideline facing the stands, a scrum on the field or social media, Apple agitates. Just ask the city of New Orleans, which Apple labeled as the “dirtiest, smelliest city and has the worst food ever” in a tweet last January.
Talking trash is something Apple always has done. Backing it up has been more sporadic.
It’s why the tenth pick in the 2016 draft is on his fourth team and playing on his second consecutive, one-year prove it deal in Cincinnati. It’s also why he was replaced by second-round pick Cam Taylor-Britt earlier this season. And it’s why, when top cornerback Chidobe Awuzie suffered a season-ending ACL tear in Week 8, the outlook was bleak for a 4-4 team that would have to move forward with Apple and a rookie manning the corners in the second half of the season against a slate of quarterbacks that included Patrick Mahomes, Deshaun Watson, Tom Brady, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson.
But the Bengals haven’t lost since Awuzie went down. And Apple is a big reason for that by playing better than he has since joining the team as a contingency cornerback in March 2021. You could say he’s playing the best ball of his career, but Apple — on brand — would argue with that.
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“I don’t want to say I’m playing the best of my career,” he said. “I think I’ve stacked a lot of great years together. It’s just that now people are starting to realize this season. I just feel like I’m in a confident space right now, especially because of the guys around me. That has a lot to do with it. We’ve got a great defense. People are gonna start realizing that.”
In his seven starts before being replaced by Taylor-Britt, Apple was targeted 29 times and allowed 19 receptions (65.5 percent) for 278 yards. He allowed a 75-yard touchdown to Atlanta’s Damiere Byrd with 39 seconds left in the first half on his final play before the benching.
Apple has been targeted 34 times during the seven-game winning streak while allowing 18 receptions (52.9 percent) for 250 yards. Eight of those catches and 113 of the yards came in the win at Tampa Bay, when the defense produced four consecutive turnovers to help the Bengals take a comfortable lead and then sat back and let Brady throw a bunch of short completions.
Apple’s final target of that game came in the final minute on a two-point conversion attempt, where he had tight coverage of Mike Evans and used his left arm to break up the pass. Apple picked up the ball, handed it to the official and then removed his helmet and smiled as he waved to the fans.
“Eli’s gonna be Eli,” Bengals safety and former Ohio State and New Orleans teammate Vonn Bell said.
“We greatly miss Chido, but this an opportunity for Eli to shine,” Bell added. “And I’ve seen so much growth in him as far as knowing situations, knowing splits, understanding how they’re going to attack him. Really just homing in on himself and growing in the league and through his football life. I’m proud of him.”
It hasn’t been enough for Apple just to up his own game. He’s responsible for helping bring along Taylor-Britt, who missed most of training camp with a core muscle injury and didn’t play a snap until he replaced Apple in that Week 7 Falcons game.
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Taylor-Britt is one of the league’s most-targeted, and most-victimized corners in the league since making his starting debut in the Week 8 loss at Cleveland when Awuzie went down.
Taylor-Britt has been targeted 39 times in six games since the bye, fourth-most in the league. But he’s only allowed 23 catches, and his reception percentage of 59 is the 18th-best in the league during that span. Apple is 15th at 57.1.
The Bengals are one of five teams that has both corners ranked in the top 18 (Browns, Chargers, Saints, Steelers).
“He’s helped me tremendously,” Taylor-Britt said of Apple. “He’s seen a lot, and he gives me a lot of tips on everything. When I say everything, I mean it. If he knows it, he makes sure I know it.
“And if anything goes downhill, it’s always uplifting,” Taylor-Britt added. “Not just Eli, but all the guys are very, I don’t want to say cool with the mess ups, but they’re here to pick you up.”
The Bengals were allowing 336 yards and 20.5 points per game with 10 takeaways (1.3 per game) in the eight games with Awuzie.
The defense hasn’t just stabilized those numbers in the seven games since, they’ve slightly improved them at 328.1 yards, 20.3 points and 10 takeaways (1.4).
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The Bengals didn’t just need Apple to play better, they needed him to play, and lead, like a No. 1 corner, and he has responded.
“The main growth I’ve seen from Eli is taking more of a vocal role inside the meeting room, just really doing a good job of talking to the young guys and just understanding the moment he’s in,” Bengals cornerbacks coach Chuck Burks said. “Chido was a great leader, and Chido was very vocal in the meeting room. I think Eli’s done a great job of stepping into that role. But yet he’s really doing a good job of approaching it the way he approaches it and not trying to be somebody else. He’s being himself and doing a good job of leading within that.”
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Being himself means talking trash to anyone in earshot. He was riding Ja’Marr Chase in training camp as much as he could.
“He was talking mess for a whole two days,” Chase said. “And I was going up to (head coach Zac Taylor) saying, ‘I want a route on Eli.'”
Asked to rank Apple’s trash talk on a scale of 1-10, Chase put it at a six.
Apple’s teammates on defense think that’s woefully low.
“He gets wicked out there. He makes me laugh so hard I cry sometimes,” Taylor-Britt said.
“It’s a very high level of talking s–t,” Bates added. “But it’s fun. It’s fun to play with somebody like that. It makes you play with a chip on your shoulder, makes you play with an edge a little bit. Because you’re part of it. You’re part of Eli now as a defense.”
That’s why you see players joining him in waving goodbye to opposing fans or jumping into the fray when Apple is jawing with a receiver. As cornerback Mike Hilton said earlier this year when Tyreek Hill took a shot at Apple: “You come at one of us, you come at us all.”
Apple didn’t respond to Hill prior to the Week 4 matchup, and while he still enjoys going after the fans in the stadium, especially if the Bengals jump out to a big lead, he’s turned down the heat both on the field and on Twitter lately
“I think that’s just him locking in and knowing how much we need him for this playoff stretch,” Hilton said. “He knows how important he is in this locker room. We know we wouldn’t be where we are without him. He’s taken that No. 1 role and embraced it. Whatever Eli has to do to keep playing well, we let him do it. We let him be himself.”
That goes not just for his teammates, but his coaches as well. Some coaches might try to coax a more diplomatic approach out of a volatile player, but Burks said he’s in full support of Eli being Eli.
“I really see it as a benefit,” he said. “One thing I’ve enjoyed about coaching Eli is seeing how competitive Eli is and really allowing that competitive spirit to flourish. I never try to tell him to tone it done. I actually enjoy it as a coach. It’s fun to be around. I think other guys feed off of it. He brings energy to practice. He brings energy to the meeting room. Talking trash is just a part of who he is, and I really love that about him.”
When Apple is confident, he talks. When he talks, he plays better. When he plays better, the Bengals defense is at its best.
And the Bengals are going to need peak Apple against Josh Allen and the Bills. It’s the first time Apple has faced Allen, and he knows there is going to be an adjustment period no amount of film study can fully prepare him for.
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“I remember when I went against Mahomes last year for the first time, and he got me,” Apple said. “He got me on that post. I could’ve made a play on that, but I didn’t trust it. I didn’t really drive it instinctively like I should have. It was great learning from that and going against him again and being able to be better. It’s like that this week, too. I put them (Allen and Mahomes) in the same tier of guys with great arm talent, can extend the play and run. It’s gonna be fun.”
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In addition to playing for his teammates as they chase the first back-to-back division titles in franchise history and possibly the No. 1 seed in the AFC, Apple also is playing for his future.
He’ll be a free agent in March, and he knows he can make a lot of money by continuing to play at the level he has the last two months.
And he’s in no way reluctant to admit that money and his future are on his mind as the playoffs approach.
“Yeah, for sure. You want to be recognized for your abilities and your impact that you have on the field and on the team,” he said. “I just want to continue to prove myself and finish. That’s all I think about is finishing on the right note.
“I just feel like when I’m at my best, there’s nobody better than me. And when I play consistent, nobody’s better than me. That’s just how I’ve looked at myself throughout my career. It’s how I look at myself right now. I’m blessed with God-given abilities. It’s just about trusting it and going to get it.”
(Top photo: Chris Graythen / Getty Images)