AFC Notes: Bengals, Browns, Steelers

Bengals’ T Jonah Williams has taken all of the criticism he has faced so far in his career to heart and wants fans to know it.

“I did a decent job of playing defensively, playing to not get beat and not to get beat very often,” Williams said, via Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com. “But I don’t think I did a very good job of being more aggressive and bringing the fight to the defense. I was playing more reactionary. That’s the thing I’m working on this year. Being more aggressive. Bringing the fight to them.”

Bengals’ OC Brian Callahan knows that Williams’ injuries have been a primary concern and have gained much more attention than what he has been able to do on the field.

“He’s played well when he’s played,” Callahan said. “He’s athletic. He’s a great technician. He’s tough. When he’s had to block guys, he can block them … Especially in pass protection because he’s so athletic. He’s such a good technician he can recover after he gets beat. He’s really good with technique.”

Williams admits that he has some bad luck so far, but he knows that some things are just out of his control.

“I know I’ve missed a lot of games so far,” Williams says. “But I don’t like to look at myself as somebody who gets hurt. I just had some unlucky freak things. From here on out I just try to keep my body as strong as possible. It’s stuff I’ve done all along. I think if you look at some of the plays I’ve been injured, it’s kind of a freak thing. There’s not so much you can do for your knee when a 300-pound guy goes flying into it from the side. It was an unfortunate, unlucky event, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to do everything in the weight room to get everything strong around it.”

Browns

• Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot notes that since the fifth-year options for Browns QB Baker Mayfield and CB Denzel Ward have been exercised, there is less of a sense of urgency to do long-term deals for them as compared to RB Nick Chubb and G Wyatt Teller, who are each entering contract years. 
• Cabot thinks the Browns could look to do a creative, incentive-heavy deal that shifts some of the risk of doing a big deal for a running back away from the front office, which Cabot points out is big on analytics. Should that not work, Cleveland always has the franchise tag in its back pocket. 
• Regarding Teller, Cabot thinks he’d be motivated to sign a long-term deal to stay in Cleveland and it would behoove the Browns to lock him up before he has a chance to sniff the open market. 
• Cabot writes that Mayfield’s extension, whenever it comes, could be north of $35 million a year. Ward’s is probably closer to half that amount, per Cabot. 

Steelers

• The Athletic’s Ed Bouchette points out the Steelers don’t have much of a history of adding players to the roster in June, but they also have needs at outside linebacker and tackle and were interested in signing Ryan Kerrigan before he landed with the Eagles. 
• Steelers WR James Washington said nothing much has changed about Roethlisberger this offseason and expects a “good year” for the organization: “Right now, at this point he’s got a clean hair cut. He’s got his beard trimmed up. He’s still the same old Ben, coming over and laughing with us, joking around. It’ll be a good year for us.” (Brooke Pryor)
• Steelers C B.J. Finney recalled his first stint in Pittsburgh from 2015-2019 and pointed out that the entire offensive line played in sync: “There were seven of us together for five years…We didn’t have to hardly say anything, we were just on the same page.” (Aditi Kinkhabwala)