Bengals
Bengals QB Joe Burrow and the Bengals offense was “clicking” throughout minicamp, writes Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com.
Burrow, entering his second year, was pleased with not only his performance but the performance of the offense in 7-on-7 drills. Bengals HC Zac Taylor agreed, canceling the final two days of camp.
“We were clicking. I think all camp, the ball might have hit the ground once in 7-on-7,” Burrow said. “That’s the way it should be in 7-on-7 with no rush. We’re going to continue to execute. And that also comes with routes on air, just knowing the timing of the receivers. We’re getting better and better each week.”
While not giving any definitive answers, Taylor did note that Burrow was “in a really good spot“.
Burrow, on the other hand, was more outspoken in the status of his recovery.
“I feel great. My body feels great,” Burrow said. “The knee still has a little ways to go, but my upper body, my right leg, everything else feels better than it ever has before. When I’m on the field and executing, I’m playing better than I ever have before.”
Hobson notes that despite being dismissed until training camp, Burrow will continue to work at the team facility alongside Director of Rehabilitation Nick Cosgray.
Burrow said his goal for the remainder of the summer is to continue to rehabilitate his surgically repaired knee while adding weight to get ready for the season.
“I’ll continue the program we were on and get back to 100 percent before camp,” Burrow said. “Get better and better. Add some more weight (to get to 220 pounds). Continue to do what I was doing before OTAs started.”
In addition to putting it all together on the practice field, Burrow notices that the team is starting to click off the field as well.
“The vibe in the locker room is awesome,” Burrow said. “Everyone talks to everybody. There’s no offense by themselves, defense is by themselves. We have great camaraderie in the locker room and I think that’s is the first stepping stone to being a great team.”
Browns
Browns TE Austin Hooper said that HC Kevin Stefanski is getting more creative with the offense after a full offseason.
“With no offseason and everything that led up to training camp, Stefanski definitely had to keep it pretty vanilla until about halfway through the year when we really understood (the schemes),” Hooper said, via Browns.com. “After having the full year where we laid it all out there, this is where we can have some more fun with it and add some wrinkles now that we’ve built a good foundation together.”
“It’s been fun to learn new stuff (under the same playbook),” he said, “and when you think you have it all figured out, it’s like, ‘No, no no, we have some more stuff to add. It’s been a lot of fun.”
Ravens
Ravens CB Marlon Humphrey has noticed a change in energy among their revamped receivers group this summer.
“Something I definitely have noticed differently with our receiving corps … I actually noticed it when I first got back. I look over during warmups, and I’m seeing our wide receivers coaches doing some different things, and I’m seeing the wide receivers coaches acting like DBs, and I’m like, ‘They need to put on some cleats.’ So, I noticed the energy. I felt a major energy change with that wide receiver group, not only with the coaching, but just with the wide receivers that are there,” Humphrey said, via RavensWire.
First-Round WR Rashod Bateman has also grown on Humphrey, with Humphrey admitting that he “couldn’t really tell” about him at first.
“Bateman – I couldn’t’ really tell about him. I’m like, ‘Ehh, ehh,’ then he hit me with something, caught the ball, ran out of bounds and came up and tapped me on the butt, and was like, ‘I’ve got a little wiggle, too.’ So, I was like, ‘I like that.’ Really good guy right there,” Humphrey explained.
After matching up with him throughout minicamp, Humphrey also said that he believes the Ravens “got a good one” in Bateman.
“After guarding him throughout OTAs and minicamp the other day, I’ve seen some serious flashes. I told [executive vice president and general manager Eric] DeCosta, I was like, ‘Hey, man. I think we got a pretty good one in Bateman.’ So, he’s shown some really good things to me. I can’t wait to get some more battles with him in training camp and take it into the season.”
- ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler confirms Ravens QB Lamar Jackson is representing himself as his own agent. He and Baltimore have had some discussions but Jackson is not in a huge rush to sign a deal.
- Fowler adds the Ravens would like to get this deal done with Jackson sooner if possible to help stretch out the cap hit.
- According to Jeff Zrebiec, the Ravens and Panthers will have joint practices before the teams play in the preseason on August 21.
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