Bengals
Bengals CBs coach Charles Burks was brought to Cincinnati’s staff by former DC Lou Anarumo, who is now with the Colts. Burks said he elected to stay with the Bengals after having a conversation with new DC Al Golden.
“I’ve really grown to love and respect everybody in the building and that was a big part of my decision,” said Burks, via Geoff Hobson of the team’s site. “And then you meet with Al for about an hour and a half, two hours, and you just have a conversation that organically grows and you talk about ball, talk about philosophy, talk about a lot of different things, It was a conversation that just made me comfortable and made me realize that this decision was the best decision for me moving forward in my career in the NFL.”
After Cincinnati hired Golden, Burks received a phone call from former Colts and Lions HC Jim Caldwell, who gave an endorsement of the defensive coordinator.
“The things he says mean a lot to me and I respect the hell out of Coach Caldwell,” Burks says. “There’s a lot of different channels that I knew about Al before we had the conversation, so going in I had already had an immense amount of respect for him. I don’t necessarily need to be around somebody that I consider a friend or a buddy, by any means. But somebody that can create clarity, somebody that gives direction, and somebody that’s highly demanding, both of those things, that’s what kind of environment I want to be in. That’s what Al provides.”
Golden said he’s been “very impressed” by Burks.
“The most important thing is to hire talented guys not afraid to offer their thoughts and ideas to make us better,” Golden says. “And then ultimately guys who are good technicians who can challenge the room and make everyone one better around them. Just talking through things, I was very impressed with him and, obviously, he came highly recommended, and I love the group that he’s put together. So the confluence of those things led me to continue to make sure he was here.”
Jets
- With the Jets moving on from QB Aaron Rodgers, ESPN’s Rich Cimini thinks QB Tyrod Taylor could be a replacement but called it “hardly a sure thing.”
- Cimini thinks Falcons QB Kirk Cousins would be a good option if he can get out of Atlanta because of how inexpensive he would be.
- New Jets HC Aaron Glenn on what he wants at quarterback: “A winner. Mental and physical toughness.” (Cimini)
Ravens
Ravens DB Kyle Hamilton believes that the team has all the personnel needed to win a championship, they just need to do a better job of producing.
“I’ve had so many people ask me what the Ravens are missing. I’m like, literally nothing,” Hamilton said, via Around The NFL. “We have everything you want to win a championship. It’s just we haven’t been playing well when we got to the point that we need to win. There’s no excuses for that. It’s just offense, defense, special teams, we have to do better.“
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