Bengals
In an effort to end the game with a last-second field goal, Bengals RB Chase Brown went down but suffered a high-ankle sprain while doing so. Cincinnati OC Dan Pitcher explained how much Brown means to him and expressed hope that he could suit up in their all-important Week 18 game.
“Chase Brown is a special player, and I think he’s got a bright, bright future in this league as one of the top backs, really in anything you ask him to do,” Pitcher said, via SI.com’s Jay Morrison. “And so, obviously, we’re hopeful that we’re going to have him. And I know he’s going to work really hard to be able to be out there for us.”
With RB Khalil Herbert set to handle a large workload if Brown is forced to sit out, Pitcher praised Herbret and talked about how the offense can operate as usual if he sees a larger role.
“Khalil’s a pro. He’s played a lot of NFL football. He’s been productive. We really like the way he prepares during the week. He’s diligent. We brought him here for a reason.”
“I don’t envision there being any restrictions as to what we can do offensively. If we find ourselves in a spot where we don’t have (Brown), obviously, that’s a difference-making player that we wouldn’t have. So that does affect your mindset. But in terms of what we can game plan, what we can call, I don’t envision there being much restrictions there.”
Ravens
Baltimore held the Texans without any offensive points in their Christmas Day win in Week 17, showing their massive defensive improvements from the start of the season. Ravens CB Marlon Humphrey thinks the defense has made a complete transition to get back to being the dominant unit we are accustomed to.
“Man, I’m not going to lie, I’d say we’ve come full circle,” Humphrey said, via Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic.
Baltimore HC John Harbaugh expressed his pride in the players for putting a rough start behind them and getting better while keeping things in perspective.
“I’m very pleased,” Harbaugh said. “The guys went to work, and we knew that it was all correctable. But you have to get to work, and you have to do it. I’ve said numerous times, it’s a week-to-week league, and it’s important to keep things in perspective. It’s a good lesson for everything else besides football, too — keep things in perspective. You can improve. You can get better.”
After being inserted into the starting lineup, S Ar’Darius Washington credited all the players and coaches for working with determination to get the results they all expected.
“A lot of the success goes to the whole defense and the coaches,” Washington said. “We came in here, and we had made a commitment to each other that we were going to go out there and turn things around, and then the coaches made the changes that needed to be changed. I got in there, and I just helped out.”
Steelers
According to Howard Balzer, the Steelers hosted the following players for tryouts on Friday:
- QB Zack Annexstad
- G Gunner Britton
- G Matt Farniok
- G Cole Spencer
- WR Ahmarean Brown
- WR Lideatrick Griffin
- WR Tre’Shaun Harrison
- OT Garret Greenfield
- C Alec Lindstrom
The post AFC Notes: Chase Brown, Marlon Humphrey, Bengals, Ravens, Steelers appeared first on NFLTradeRumors.co.