An NFL running back ought to have some level of appreciation for the expression "timing is everything." If he doesn't wait for his line's blocks to develop, he gets swallowed up. If he doesn't hit the hole when it materializes, he wastes a big play. If he reacts too slowly to pick up a blitzing safety, his quarterback gets blindsided.
So then, is Bengals rookie Jeremy Hill ignorant or just obstinate?
Asked this past Thursday whether the divisional rival Cleveland Browns are better than he thought they'd be, Hill told reporters, "Oh no, not at all. They're probably worse than I thought, to be honest with you."
OK, the man's entitled to his opinion, and if he doesn't feel inclined to shower praise on Ohio's OTHER team, that's his prerogative.
But …
Perhaps those words would have best been uttered at some point other than in the immediate aftermath of the Browns' dominant, destructive decimation of the Bengals.
You want a mulligan on that comment, Jeremy? They did, after all, just beat your team 24-3.
"They didn't do anything special to me."
Really? I mean, it was 24-3. And Andy Dalton, your $115 million quarterback, went 10 for 33 for 86 yards, zero TDs and three picks against them.
"Those guys, they're not that good."
OK, so he was being both ignorant and obstinate.
Frustrated your team didn't play well? Fine. Feel like the game would've been different if you hadn't had so many self-inflicted wounds? Understandable. Bent on trashing an opponent who not only knocked you down, but then knocked teeth down your throat every time you tried to get up? That's just plain dumb.
Timing, Jeremy, timing.
Did you watch the recent World Series. I'm sure you heard, immediately after Game 7, when the Royals' Lorenzo Cain said, "Honestly, that Madison Bumgarner is pretty overrated. The guy is just a whole lot of hype."
Except, of course, he said no such thing.
Then there was that time, after the Super Bowl, when Peyton Manning told reporters, "That Seahawks defense was pretty standard, actually. Nothing I haven't seen before."
Oh, uh … never mind that one, either.
I'm sure I remember, after he lost in the NBA Finals to the Chicago Bulls for the second straight season, Karl Malone saying, "Karl Malone ain't impressed with no Michael Jordan. Karl Malone says Michael Jordan is just another player."
Even if any of them thought such things, which I doubt, they had the sense to realize that saying them aloud right after their opponents got the best of them in a big way would've just made them sound like sour-grapes, sore-loser, ignorant, obstinate idiots.
Timing is everything, Jeremy Hill.
Maybe save your insults for the rematch — presuming, of course, you don't lose by three touchdowns yet again to a group of athletes who are so much worse than you thought.
ewalden@sltrib.com
Twitter: @esotericwalden