Bengals Head Coach Marvin Lewis Is A "Hard Knocks" Veteran

It was a bit of a surprise when the Cincinnati Bengals announced that they were going under the microscope once again for the HBO Training Camp documentary "Hard Knocks". It came as a surprise because it was the second time in five years that the team allowed the camera crew to have full access to their locker room, meetings and practices.

If you watched both the 2009 and 2013 installments, you'll notice that there are quite a few new faces. One face, however, remains the same--head coach Marvin Lewis. And, in a Wednesday interview on the nationally-syndicated Dan Patrick Radio Show, Lewis spoke about his ability to navigate around the cameras and continue to get his job done.

"I have the ability to know where the camera is if I have to have a conversation that matters," Lewis said. "There’s obviously certain things that are personal to us, but you basically forget about the fact — every week when we see the show there are parts that you forget about, as you’re doing your job, there’s stuff you don’t even realize they’d be interested in."

Here are some more interesting tidbits of the interview of Lewis, conducted by guest host Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk:

MF: "Is there anyone with the team that gives one last look of the final copy of what 'Hard Knocks' has filmed to make sure there isn't anything to embarrass coaches, the players, etc?"

ML: "Right. Yeah, there is. I guess that there are things that pertain to our football terminology that I deem important that I want to make sure aren't broadcasted that way."

MF: "Do you notice any of your players acting differently or performing differently because of the cameras?"

ML: "Not at all. No. They don't really know exactly when the camera is on them--though it's always on. There might be an additional camera in the meeting rooms that aren't normally there, but everything is being recorded anyway and if it will be a part of the show, they (the players) will never know."

MF: "One of the most intense scenes from the first episode is 'The Oklahoma Drill'. Is it always that intense even without the cameras?"

ML: (Laughs) "Yes, 'The Oklahoma Drill' is always that intense. It's really the essence of football--one man against another man. You've got one guy trying to make a block, another trying to shed a block and tackle the guy with the ball. It's something that we've done here since I've been head coach on the first day of practice in pads at Training Camp and it goes back to my days with Bill Cowher and the Steelers."

Click the link for the entire interview.