Bengals

• The Bengals made headlines when acquiring veteran QB Joe Flacco from the Browns. According to Dan Graziano of ESPN, Cincinnati didn’t intend to make a move for a quarterback, but their third straight loss with QB Jake Browning led to them making calls around the league. 
• Graziano reports that Giants QBs Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston, along with Falcons QB Kirk Cousins, were never “real possibilities.”
• Graziano adds that there was “some chatter” about acquiring Seahawks QB Drew Lock or Eagles QB Sam Howell, but teams don’t want to trade their quarterback depth. 
• SI’s Albert Breer believes the trade for Flacco signals that the team thinks they’ll get QB Joe Burrow back during the regular season: “I’d say only in that it signals the Bengals believe they’ll get Burrow back during the regular season, which is good news—because there are some variables coming out of the surgery for that particular injury.”
• Bengals first-round DE Shemar Stewart returned to practice on Wednesday in a limited fashion, per HC Zac Taylor. (Ben Baby)

Browns

Browns HC Kevin Stefanski said he’s letting the week play out before determining who will be the backup quarterback after trading veteran QB Joe Flacco. Fifth-round QB Shedeur Sanders had been the No. 3 and logically is in position for a move up to No. 2 but the Browns also have QB Bailey Zappe on the practice squad and he has more experience than Sanders. 

“All roster type of things, I always have to be mindful of our players and our players’ development,” Stefanski said, via ESPN. “And I want to make sure that I’m always doing what’s best for our players and, of course, our team. But with young players, I’m always thinking about — last week, making the change to Dillon, you have to think long and hard about that, because these are young players that you are so invested in their development. So, I’ll let the week play out [and] make a decision later.”

Stefanski said that he doesn’t need to see one particular trait from Sanders to elevate him on the depth chart and said his decision is all about player development.

“I wouldn’t say there’s one thing you need to see [from Sanders],” Stefanski said. “In my role, I have to do what’s best for our players, our team, and I’m very, very invested in our player development, our young players’ development, our quarterback development. So, any decision I make, I want to just make sure that I’m doing what’s right for our players.”

Browns WR Jerry Jeudy said that Sanders has been doing everything the coaches have asked of him.

“He’s been doing a great job of being a pro and doing what he needs to do to be able to, once he gets his chance, to take advantage of it. That’s all we can ask for him to do: Once he gets his opportunity, just take advantage of it,” Jeudy said.

Ravens

• When discussing extension candidates he’s keeping an eye on, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler writes that he’s keeping Ravens TE Isaiah Likely on his radar. 
• Dan Graziano of ESPN points out that Baltimore was discussing extensions with Likely, C Tyler Linderbaum, and S Kyle Hamilton during training camp. Now that Hamilton’s deal got done, Graziano writes that Likely and Linderbaum remain “on the to-do list.”
• The Ravens had extension talks with OLB Odafe Oweh this past offseason, but they didn’t get very far. It seemed likely that he was headed to market in March. (Jeff Zrebiec)

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