Bengals
Bengals LB Logan Wilson believes that DC Al Golden will empower the team’s defense in the upcoming season.
“He’s a player’s coach. I think he’ll empower us. It will give us a different type of energy,” Wilson said, via the team’s website. “Get back to the fundamentals of ball disruption and things like that. Turnovers are obviously the big part of playing defense. Especially the more we can give the ball back to our offense with how explosive they are.”
Browns
Browns QB Joe Flacco welcomes the team drafting a quarterback to bring in competition and said he just wants an opportunity to start.
“I think it’s exciting,” Flacco said, via PFT. “I mean, that’s all you can ask for in this league. I mean, I don’t really have any expectations besides to go out there, be myself and kind of put my head down, work hard and kind of just do things the way I know how to. And the exciting part about it this time around is that I get to be a part of the team from the get-go and kind of make those relationships even better than they are. And I think there’s a lot of fun in that.”
Ravens
Ravens HC John Harbaugh spoke about the team adding CB Chidobe Awuzie and forming a strong trio with cornerbacks Marlon Humphrey and Nate Wiggins.
“I love Marlon anywhere,” Harbaugh said, via the team website. “I like him on the field, but I do like him inside. He’s a game changer in there. Nobody plays like Marlon. There’s no nickel who plays the way Marlon plays in the slot. He can play outside with the best of them, but I don’t think there’s anybody like Marlon in the slot.”
“We got ‘Chido’ [Awuzie], and that was a huge signing for us. He’s been one of the highest-ranked corners when he’s been healthy,” Harbaugh added. “So, our goal is to get him back out there, get him healthy, really work with all the soft tissue stuff, and try to do the best we can to bring him back to where he [gets to] his high level of play, so he should help us. Then we have T.J. Tampa [Jr.] in the mix. I think T.J. is going to take a big step. Health is big for him, too. And then, Jalyn Armour-Davis is another guy with the health. So, Jalyn has always been talented, and he’s always played well when he has been out there. So, those are all the guys in the conversation. … We could definitely add a guy in the draft, too.”
Harbaugh also said he thinks the best is yet to come for LT Ronnie Stanley, who opted to stay with the team in free agency.
“I expect Ronnie to even continue to ascend – not just back to where he was pre-injury, but past that now,” Harbaugh mentioned. “And I just love his mindset, his maturity, his work ethic, his determination to be a legacy-type player. I think that’s really what he wants to accomplish right now, and that’s really important for our team.”
“I feel good about the O-line right now, today. Like I said, we could play with five starters,” Harbaugh continued. “We have competition even there, but we can use a couple more guys, too. And we’ll be looking to bolster the depth but also bolster the competition in the O-line. But bringing Ronnie back was a huge part of that. We couldn’t say that if Ronnie wasn’t coming back. If Ronnie had decided to go elsewhere, we would’ve had to have addressed that in a big way.”
Harbaugh shared that he plans for LB Trenton Simpson to be the starter again in Year 3.
“Trenton Simpson, I expect him to be the starting early-down WILL [linebacker],” Harbaugh said. “We do a lot on passing downs with dime [packages] and different kinds of personnel groups in the field. He can continue to grow into that. I think he’s going to take a big step this year. I remember Patrick Queen took a big step in his third year, as well, so that would probably be our expectation. He’s working hard. He’s already in the building every single day, he’s watching film on his own, he’s in phenomenal shape.”
“I feel great about the linebacker position,” Harbaugh told reporters. “I think we do need some guys. I mean, we lost a bunch of guys, so we’ve got to replace those guys. I think we’ve got some good young guys coming up. William Kwenkeu, nobody knows about him, but he played two games last year. I’m kind of excited [about] him as a special teams guy and a growing, developing linebacker.”
As for RB Keaton Mitchell, Harbaugh said that he is on track to be ready for training camp.
“I do think [Mitchell] has been on schedule, he’s been on track,” Harbaugh said. “That was a really tough injury. So, the fact that he got back when he did was, to me, almost miraculous that he was out there playing at all. I’m almost certain, as much as you can be sure, he’s going to be [on] a whole other level coming back in the spring and then again into training camp, because he is going to be a year and a half out of that deal.”
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