Bengals

Bengals HC Zac Taylor said that WR Ja’Marr Chase is providing a great litmus test for the defense during training camp.

“A lot of it’s good to have that kind of energy at practice,” Taylor said, via the NY Times. “And Ja’Marr’s a hard guy to make plays on, and so any way, shape or form you’re involved in any sort of play that maybe falls incomplete, guys may never get that opportunity again to say something. Sometimes they gotta take advantage of it … the competitive emphasis has been fun for me to see.”

Bengals rookie DE Shemar Stewart, who was a holdout during the vast majority of the offseason, is working to get acclimated after signing his rookie contract.

“Stance. Alignment. Eyes. Feet. Hands. How we want to rush the quarterback. Where we want to get our eyes and toes to,” DL coach Jerry Montgomery said. “There’s just so much he’s oblivious to because he’s learning. He just got here. But you see the flashes.”  

Stewart has shown the flashes and ability that made him a first-round pick.

“He ran by Orlando,” Montgomery said. “Orlando has been playing a lot of football, he’s a great tackle. The first couple of days all (Stewart) wanted to do was run down the middle of people. That’s the easy part. Let’s teach you how to work edges then we’ll come back to that. “Hopefully soon enough we’ll see a guy playing with his hair on fire. It’s going to be hard. He’s 280 pounds, can run, he’s violent, he’s physical. Now he’s playing with good fundamentals. Now he’s controlling the line of scrimmage. That’s the goal … He’s nowhere near where he’s going to get to if he continues to buy into the process and the preparation and learning how to play at this level. You just can’t run around and do whatever you want. He’s got to play within the system, and we are teaching him that.”

Bengals TE Noah Fant, who recently signed with the team, is hoping to revive his career in Cincinnati and compete for a championship. 

“That’s definitely a known thing,” Fant said about the production and payment. “Obviously, that is one of the enticing things about coming here. Hopefully, I’m able to do so. First and foremost, help the team win. They have big dreams and aspirations here of winning the Super Bowl. I want to help do that and be part of a winning culture.”

Browns

• Browns fifth-round QB Shedeur Sanders said he’ll be back at practice today following arm soreness. (Zac Jackson)
• Sanders said the soreness “is just adjusting to starting and stopping, honestly…my arm and body weren’t used to that.” (Jackson)
• Per Aditi Kinkhabwala, Sanders doesn’t want his father at camp because of the media distraction it could become. 
• Cleveland OC Tommy Rees said QB Kenny Pickett is still in the starting QB race despite missing last week with a hamstring injury. (Scott Petrak)
• Browns DC Jim Schwartz had high praise for CB Denzel Ward: “I’ve had some good corners in the past. He’s probably the best corner I’ve had in my 30-something years in the NFL.” (Andrew Siciliano)
• Rees was asked about third-round QB Dillon Gabriel: “All four guys have had real positive days and some days they haven’t practiced as well as they want to. We try to look at it in totality.” (Jackson)
• He isn’t worried about the outside noise and is leaving the reactionary takes to the media: “We will save all our overreactions for you guys and stay on target inside our building.” (Jackson)
• Per HC Kevin Stefanski, Gabriel will be limited at practice on Monday with hamstring tightness. (Jackson)

Ravens

Ravens QB Lamar Jackson is happy with where the team’s offense is at this point in training camp.

“I feel like our offense, there’s always room for improvement in camp,” Jackson said, via Pro Football Talk. “We have good days; we have bad days; we have OK days; we have great days, but I feel like there’s always room for improvement. We’re right where we need to be right now.”

Steelers

Steelers WR D.K. Metcalf said that going against Pittsburgh’s defense in practice, including cornerbacks Joey Porter Jr., Jalen Ramsey, and Darius Slay, is one of the toughest challenges of his career so far. He also believes that the team has the best defense he has ever seen.

“That reckless defense that we’ve got on the other side of the ball, every play I get to go against JPJ, Jalen or Slay, so I’m always getting better in that aspect,” Metcalf said on NFL Network. “I think they’re the best defense I’ve ever seen. They come to work every day and we don’t have any choice but to get better.”

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