AFC Notes: Bengals, Browns, Ravens

Bengals

Bengals OC Brian Callahan said first-round QB Joe Burrow is already impressing his teammates with his work ethic and knowledge of their offensive system. 

“The guys see his preparation and work ethic. His knowledge of an offense that he’s new to, that always grabs people’s attention. When they come in and know what to say and how to do it and all the things that are required of a quarterback in an NFL offense, he’s exemplified all these things and that gets everyone’s attention first. Plus, his past precedes him. He’s got some pelts on the wall and these guys see all that,” Callahan said, via Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com.

Callahan added Burrow has done everything expected of him through their virtual walk-throughs this offseason. 

“It’s an incomplete picture, but from everything we’ve seen from virtual walk-throughs and communication with players in the meetings and with us on the coaching side, all the things lead you to believe it’s going to be good,” Callahan said.

Browns

Browns HC Kevin Stefanski said it “remains to be seen” on who assumes offensive playcalling duties between himself and OC Alex Van Pelt. 

“That really remains to be seen,” said Stefanski, via Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “I’d like to get everybody back in the building, get out there practicing and get together before we make that decision. That decision will be made before Sept. 13, I promise you that.”

Regarding WR Odell Beckham Jr.‘s recovery from core muscle surgery, Stefanski said soft-muscle injuries are something his staff is keeping an eye on. 

“It’s definitely something that we’re talking about and definitely something that we’ll want to be smart about,” said Stefanski. “We have the information, we can use sports science to our advantage in this case and we can use the medical staff. Injuries are part of the game – everyone gets that – but as much as we can use the information to our advantage to make sure that we are putting our players in position to practice safely is definitely something that we are thinking about right now.”

As for how the Browns’ players are learning his offense, Stefanski said they’ve “done a lot of testing” on their virtual platform and are able to determine how they are adjusting. 

“We’ve done a lot of testing,” said Stefanski. “There are certain apps that you can use, and the coaches have done various ways of putting the guys on the board, if you will, virtually. That‘s how you can gauge the amount that they’re learning.”

Ravens

Ravens DC Don Martindale said he is confident first-round LB Patrick Queen will be able to quickly adjust to their lack of an offseason program given his high football-intelligence. 

“I think that it’s going to be a challenge for him because of the practice time that he’s missed,” Martindale said, via Todd Karpovich of Sports Illustrated. “But I know in just speaking with him and being in meetings with him, I think this kid can handle it.”

Ravens HC John Harbaugh added that Queen will likely play their Mike Linebacker role and be a “three-down” player. 

“I think Patrick Queen will play probably at ‘Mike’ for the most part — right down the middle. Let him use his speed and his instincts to run around and make plays for all three phases, be a three-down guy both in our base package and sub-package,” Harbaugh said.

Martindale praised Queen’s ability to learn from his mistakes when studying his game films from LSU. 

“The thing of it is, you can see that he doesn’t repeat errors,” Martindale said. “You can see that in games. On something that he did wrong, you can see him fix it within a game when you are studying his college tape.”