AFC Notes: Bengals, Browns, Steelers

Bengals

Browns

Browns K Cody Parkey‘s NFL career was on the brink of ending a couple of seasons ago after his infamous miss in the playoffs for the Bears. But Parkey has rebounded and after a successful season for the Browns in 2020 he feels like he may have finally found an NFL home. 

“My wife and I really enjoyed Cleveland, and we just felt like we were at home,” Parkey told Cleveland Browns Daily recently via Jeff Risdon. “Even with all the craziness of COVID, we just felt like we had a great relationship with guys on the team.”

• Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com says that it would be unwise of the Browns to lean on defensive ends Takk McKinley and Curtis Weaver to hold down the fort in place of DE Olivier Vernon.
• Weaver is returning from surgery on a broken bone in his foot, and if the Browns don’t end up signing LB Jadeveon Clowney, Cabot says the team should draft a pass rusher to pair with DE Myles Garrett.

Steelers

One thing Steelers WR JuJu Smith-Schuster is excited about with getting to stick around for another year in Pittsburgh is to continue to mentor 2020 rookie WR Chase Claypool. Smith-Schuster called Claypool “a little version of me” even though the younger wideout is a much bigger player, as both players are active on social media platforms and with streaming. He sees big things in store for Claypool on the field, too. 

“[Chase] is such a cool kid,” said Smith-Schuster on the Michael Irvin Podcast, via USA Today’s Allison Koehler. “He has a great personality….On the field, he works out, he goes hard every day. He’s a big dude. He’s always putting work in. He has a bright future ahead of him. His rookie year, 10 touchdowns, and still has more to grow.”