Bengals
The Bengals signed veteran DE Trey Hendrickson to a one-year, $30 million deal this week, putting an end to a lengthy contract negotiation that led to him requesting a trade. He is glad to get things done ahead of the regular season with time left to practice.
“It gives a lot of clarity to the 2025 defense,” Hendrickson said, via Geoff Hobson of the team’s site. “It gives us a couple of more good practices, and with a great offseason in the books, both personally and as a team, I feel like now we can go collectively play for the 2025 Bengals. And what’s best for the team is the best players playing in their relative positions.”
As for playing in Cincinnati past 2025, Hendrickson said they will figure that out going forward.
“We’re taking one day at a time,” Hendrickson said. “Moving forward, we’ll figure that out as it goes. For this season, to be given a raise I didn’t necessarily had to have been given, it’s a blessing to be in a position where I’ve been brought up to my peers. And also being able to get after quarterbacks. I love this city and with what’s been happening the last couple of months, I’ve had time to reflect on what it means to me and how much I want to stay a Bengal for the 2025 season.”
Bengals’ new DC Al Golden said Hendrickson has done well learning their playbook and working with strength and conditioning coach Joey Boese.
“I think, obviously, his play, his resume, warrants that,” Golden said. “He’s working on his conditioning with Joey and the staff, and he’s doing a great job with the playbook and everything. And obviously, if we can get him out there, we can transition him onto the field fairly quickly, given his expertise and experience.”
Ravens
- Jordan Schultz reports Ravens sixth-round RB Bilhal Kone suffered a torn ACL, MCL and lateral meniscus damage in his first preseason game versus the Colts.
- Schultz adds the recovery timeline is expected to be 10-12 months, and they’re hopeful he can be ready for next season.
Steelers
Steelers QB Aaron Rodgers has been working to build chemistry with the rest of his teammates this offseason and hopes to develop the offense into a cohesive unit.
“I’m trying to be intentional every day I’m here,” Rodgers said, via ESPN. “I‘m trying to get [center] Zach [Frazier] to loosen up a little bit. [Guard] Mason’s [McCormick] been a great compadre with that because he’s next to him every single day. It’s fun when I get a little laugh out of [guard] Isaac [Seumalo], and maybe a facial expression from [tackle] Troy [Fautanu]. [Tackle] Broderick [Jones] is probably the most gregarious of the group up front. I got a laugh out of [tight end] Darnell [Washington] today, which was fun. Big win. Small victories every day when it comes to the chemistry building stuff. That’s what it’s all about, finding ways to connect with those guys. I have kind of a built-in laugh track because I’m the old guy and I can recycle some old jokes from years past that they haven’t heard before. Just trying to connect with the guys every single day.”
Steelers WR Scotty Miller said Rodgers is a great teammate and isn’t who the media makes him out to be.
“People have said stuff about him, and obviously he’s been bold in some stances that he’s taken,” Miller said. “But I think he has said kind of give him a chance to get to know him before you make any preconceived judgments. We’ve all had that approach, and it’s been great. … He is really just one of the guys.”
Miller added that Rodgers invited the teammates who worked out with him into his home in Malibu in order to build a better personal connection.
“He welcomed us into his house and to his gym that he works out at,” Miller said. “He was just open with us, and he was who he was. He wasn’t trying to be anybody else, and we all just appreciated that. It was a great start to our relationship with him.”
Rodgers added that he hoped to create an “open-door policy” between himself and his receivers to talk about anything that’s on their mind.
“I think that’s an important part of it, just letting those guys know that there’s no dictatorship here,” Rodgers said of his policy. “It’s not [offensive coordinator Arthur Smith’s] dictatorship or mine. We want to talk about all the issues and all the things you’re seeing, and whether it’s a text message or coming to my room and having a conversation. Those are invaluable times to get on the same page with the guys. When I’m out there, I don’t want anything to be left unsaid, so I’d rather hit it on the front end, and if something comes out of the practice, hit on the back end instead of trusting it to get figured out on its own. It’s been a good process for us.”
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