AFC North Notes: Bengals, Browns, Ravens

Bengals

• Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer writes “the skids are greased” for Bengals first-round QB Joe Burrow to start Week 1. 

Browns

Browns WR Jarvis Landry said he is a “little bit ahead of schedule” with his recovery from hip surgery and his scheduled return-date is “sometime in August.” 

“Right now, I’m a little bit ahead of schedule,’’ Landry said, via Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “But the most important thing right now is just taking it day by day, you know I can’t predict when exactly I’ll be on the field whether that’s July, August or September, but obviously my return day is sometime in August.”

Landry believes opting for surgery was “absolutely” the right decision given his hip was holding him back physically. 

“Absolutely. Absolutely,’’ said Landry. “It’s something I knew I needed, and I was going to try to put off and play tough guy for one more year. Just understanding where I was and the things my injury was not allowing me to do, I didn’t want to be part of the reason for the team not having success or myself not having success. Unselfishly, I decided just to go ahead and have the surgery.”

Landry added that he has also kept in touch with Browns WR Odell Beckham Jr., who is rehabbing from core muscle surgery, and the two are comparing their recovery process. 

“We’ve been FaceTiming,’’ Landry said. “We’ve been kind of documenting our whole process of recovery and sending it back and forth to each other. Obviously right now is, like I said, it’s a crucial time in our recovery stages of getting our strength back. The healing process is kind of done. Now it’s time to make sure that everything’s working together.”

• Packers area scout Charles Walls is leaving for a promotion on the Browns’ staff. Walls had been with Green Bay since 2013 and was most recently the Southeast area scout. (Rob Demovsky)

Ravens

Ravens TE Mark Andrews had a breakout season in 2019 despite dealing with a disadvantage a lot of other NFL players don’t. Andrews is Type-1 diabetic but still finished with 64 catches for 952 yards and 10 touchdowns. He’ll look to build upon those numbers in the coming season despite the pandemic. 

“Initially when all of this came out, my first question was, ‘Are Type-1 diabetics more susceptible? Or does it affect them any differently?’ And the word right now is that there’s not too much more of a danger for me than anybody else,” Andrews said via SI.com’s Todd Karpovich. “So, just like everybody else, I’m staying smart, I’m staying inside, I’m social distancing myself from other people. That’s all you can do. Everyone has to do their jobs and stay smart and listen to their health officials during this time, and I think we’re going to be alright if we do that.”

• Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer mentions Ravens QBs coach James Urban as an assistant coach who stands to benefit from the recent revision of the Rooney Rule, which no-longer prevents teams from blocking assistant coaches from signing with new organizations.