AFC Notes: Bengals, Bills, Steelers

Bengals

According to Bengals special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons, the kicking competition between Randy Bullock, Jake Elliott, and Jonathan Brown is “pretty even” right now.

“No one has an edge. It’s all pretty even,” Simmons said, via Bengals.com. “When you have 80 kicks and you have those percentages, that’s pretty damn close.”

Simmons did say that he could see this competition coming down to the team’s final preseason game on Aug. 31.

“I would imagine so. You want the most information you can get before making a decision like that,” Simmons said.

Bills

According to Bills HC Sean McDermott, Bills WR Andre Holmes took advantage of the opportunities that came from other receivers dealing with injuries during offseason workouts and has “really stood out.”

“I’ll tell you the guy that’s really stood out has been Andre,” McDermott said, via Jay Skurski of the Buffalo News. “He’s done a phenomenal job, not only on offense, but also special teams. Very solid performer day to day, consistent and just really – that’s been a nice pickup for us so far and I really appreciate his leadership.”

Holmes said that he and QB Tyrod Taylor have been able to develop a lot this offseason and he believes he’ll have a chance to be heavily involved in their offense during th regular season.

“We’ve been able to develop a lot,” Holmes said of working with Taylor. “Whether it was before the OTA period, before phase two, in this mini-camp. There’s always different situations all the time in which we learn together as a whole group. We’ve been doing a great job at doing that. It’s just all positive feedback on both sides. If there is a miscommunication or we’re just a little off, we’ll talk about it; or if I see something I’ll tell him, if he sees something he’ll tell me. Also, positive reinforcement as far as if we make a play, we’re going to acknowledge each other – It’s good communication.

“I think I have a chance to make a lot of plays in this offense to help the team out a lot. I’m really excited for this year, and we’ve been putting the work in to make this offense explosive. The system looks really good.”

Steelers

Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger mentioned that reinstated WR Martavis Bryant looks like “a stud” and they’re excited about having him back this season.

“Good — learning some of the stuff we put in last year he didn’t know about, remembering things that we had in before,” Roethlisberger said, via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “He looks like a stud, as usual, so we’re excited for him to be on the field this year and help us out.”