Bengals
The Bengals lost again on Sunday, marking the 22nd time they’ve come up short under HC Zac Taylor. Cincinnati finished 2-14 in Taylor’s first season in 2019 and the Bengals look like they might end up stuck on two wins again in 2020. While the Bengals organization is notably patient — or resistant to change depending on how you look at it — four wins in his first four seasons would not leave Taylor with a lot of room for error in his third season.
“I think ‘frustration’ is the biggest word I can come up with right now,” Taylor said via Tyler Dragon of the Cincinnati Enquirer. “That’s the bottom line: you can’t make excuses right now. We’re not winning football games. It’s frustrating. We’re all frustrated. We have a lot of good guys that we believe in that are pulling together and doing everything we can to get these wins. It’s just not working out for us, and that leads to frustration. These players and coaches deserve to do it, but you have to earn it and find a way to do it. We have not done that.”
- Per the Athletic’s Paul Dehner Jr., it’s very likely the Bengals fire DC Lou Anarumo following the 2020 season.
- Bengals DT Geno Atkins will have surgery to repair a shoulder injury that he dealt with all season before going on injured reserve. (Ian Rapoport)
Browns
- Per Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot, Browns HC Kevin Stefanski says TE Austin Hooper is trending in the right direction with his neck injury.
- He adds G Wyatt Teller has an ankle injury but they don’t believe it’s related to the calf strain he suffered earlier this season.
Ravens
- The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec notes Ravens RB Mark Ingram could become a healthy scratch soon given how much his role has decreased and how bad injuries are for Baltimore at other positions.
- Zrebiec thinks WR Marquise Brown might be battling a bit of a confidence issue with how many drops he’s had, though he did make one huge play Monday.
- Zrebiec says Ravens RB Gus Edwards has worked to become noticeably faster and more elusive this year and it’s showing on the field.
- The NFL changed its rules to allow teams to activate another player in the event of a late positive test or high-risk contact up to 30 minutes before kickoff following the situation with Ravens WR Dez Bryant. (Tom Pelissero)
Steelers
Drops have been a killer for the Steelers receiving corps this year, but especially for second-year WR Diontae Johnson. He leads the NFL with 12 and mishandled two passes early that resulted in him being benched for the rest of the first half. He came back in the second half to catch three balls for 40 yards.
“I thought he responded appropriately,” Steelers HC Mike Tomlin said via Joe Rutter of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “He didn’t pout. He waited for his next opportunity and, when his next opportunity came, he was productive.”
- Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller notes the Steelers are doing a ton of work on the 2021 running back class and could draft one as high as the first round. Miller mentions Alabama RB Najee Harris as a strong scheme fit.
- Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger disputed a report that he was dealing with a serious knee injury: “I don’t know where it came from … I would love to know where that came from. Other than having an old knee and arthritis, my knee feels really good…That report, to me, is one of those phony things people want to make up.” (Brooke Pryor)
- Roethlisberger clarified some of his comments after Sunday night’s loss about needing to play better or retire: “I’ll never just hang it up in the middle of a season, obviously. This team is special, the season is not over. I want everyone to take a deep breath … we’ve got time.” (Pryor)
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Typo in the first paragraph where you talk about Zac Taylor. “four wins in his first four seasons…. would not look good going into his third season.”