AFC Notes: Bengals, Browns, Ravens

Bengals

• Bengals HC Zac Taylor said CB Trae Waynes’ hamstring injury won’t require surgery but his timetable of recovery is still unclear. (Ben Baby)

Browns

Brown HC Kevin Stefanski declined to go into detail regarding Baker Mayfield‘s labrum injury. 

“I am not going to get into specifics of Baker’s injury at this time,” Stefanski said, via Dan Labbe of Cleveland.com. “He is another guy who is fighting, and he will be back out there as soon as he can.”

• Browns HC Kevin Stefanski said he must observe the progress of CB Denzel Ward (hamstring) and WR Donovan Peoples-Jones (groin) before ruling on their Week 7 availability. (Nate Ulrich)
• Regarding Browns QB Case Keenum starting Thursday’s game, Stefanski thinks Keenum did well with his throwing decisions and not committing any turnovers : “I thought Case played well last night, he made good decisions, spread the ball around and took care of the football.” (Nate Ulrich)
• Stefanski expects WR Odell Beckham Jr. to play through his shoulder injury in Week 8 and is hopeful that RB Nick Chubb (hamstring) and OT Jack Conklin (knee) will return as well. (Mary Kay Cabot)
• As for Baker Mayfield (shoulder), Stefanski is unsure whether Mayfield will practice on Monday. (Nate Ulrich)

• Josina Anderson reports that Browns’ QB Baker Mayfield had to be “forced” not to play, as did RB Nick Chubb. Both players reportedly preferred to battle through injury and play alongside their teammates against the Broncos on Thursday night.

Ravens

Regarding their Week 7 game against the Bengals, Ravens QB Lamar Jackson had high praise for all levels of Cincinnati’s defense.

“Sound defense. They’re flying around,” Jackson said, via Ryan Mink of the team’s official site. “They’ve bumped the defensive line up, linebacker corps, secondary. They look pretty good on film. They look great on film.”

Ravens CB Marlon Humphrey believes that Bengals WR Ja’Marr Chase had made the jump from college to the NFL “look pretty easy.” 

“Chase has added a lot of juice to their offense,” Humphrey said. “It’s actually been really surprising. He’s really made the NFL look pretty easy.”

Regarding Bengals QB Joe Burrow, Humphrey keyed on the quarterback’s ability to stay in the pocket and deliver deep throws despite taking hits. 

“He’ll stay in there and take a hit. He’s not one of those quarterbacks that are scared to get hit,” Humphrey said. “The other thing is that when he throws the football deep, he lets it fly. … He’s very confident. That’s one of the things I’ve seen since college. Joe’s just one of those quarterbacks that picks his guy over yours. He does that very often.”

Ravens HC John Harbaugh thinks the Bengals are “one of the best teams” in the league. 

“The whole team is one of the best teams in the National Football League right now,” Harbaugh said. “There’s no question about it – just watch them play. They’ve done a great job across the board.”

• Ravens DT Justin Madubuike said there is “hostility in the air” ahead of Week 7’s game against the Bengals after hearing chatter from Cincinnati’s players: “There’s definitely more hostility in the air. We’re just going to talk with our pads and our helmets. It’s going to be a bloodbath for sure.” (Jamison Hensley)

• The Ravens worked out P James Smith on Thursday, per Aaron Wilson.