AFC North Notes: Bengals, Ravens, Steelers

Bengals

Bengals 2018 first-round OL Billy Price lost his starting job for the fourth time in 2019 when Cincinnati benched him at left guard for fourth-round rookie G Michael Jordan. Price was drafted as a center but was beaten out by Trey Hopkins for the starting job there during the preseason. Jordan beat him out for the job at left guard to start the season and Bengals G Alex Redmond was slated to start ahead of Price last week before getting injured in warmups. Cincinnati still has hope for Price, though, who has had a bad run with injuries in his short Bengals career so far. 

“That’s something we’ll continue to evaluate every week,” Bengals HC Zac Taylor said via the Athletic’s Jay Morrison. “He’s a young player that we think has great potential. He just needs to continue to get reps. Billy has been fighting a little bit of a back (injury). We’ll continue to see how that develops over the course of the week. We’ll make some decisions as the weeks go as to what we want to do there.”

Bengals WR John Ross is healthy after spending most of the season recovering from a broken clavicle. Ross was designated to return from injured reserve and is expected to be active against the Browns on Sunday. 

“He’s healthy and ready to go,” Taylor said. “We’re starting to incorporate him into the game plan. We’re doing a good job of mixing in those receivers and making sure no one is getting worn down as the game goes and taking some reps off them. It’ll be good to get John back, and he certainly brings a speed element that will be helpful. We’ll create a plan for him over the course of the week.”

• Taylor had no update on Bengals WR A.J. Green‘s status. 
• Bengals DE Carl Lawson is set to increase his 2020 base salary from $735,000 to over $2 million through the NFL’s Proven Performance Escalator clause which boosts the base salaries of players taken in the third round or later who play more than 35 percent of the snaps in their first three seasons. 

Ravens

• The Athletic’s Jay Glazer says Ravens OC Greg Roman has absolutely put himself in contention for a head coaching job next season. 
• Ravens activated S Brynden Trawick from injured reserve. (NFLTR)
• Ravens signed FB Patrick Ricard to a two-year extension. (NFLTR)

Steelers

• According to ESPN’s Brooke Pryor, both Steelers WR JuJu Smith-Schuster (knee) and RB James Conner (shoulder) are questionable right now for this week’s game against the Cardinals.