AFC Notes: Bengals, Browns, Steelers

Bengals

• Geoff Hobson of the team website expects Bengals WR Mike Thomas to be a lock for one of the final roster spots. Trenton Irwin, Trent Taylor, and Stanley Morgan are competing for one or two final spots, with special teams the main deciding factor. 
• Hobson likes Bengals RB Jacques Patrick but thinks he’s a better bet for a practice squad berth rather than unseating Samaje Perine as the backup. 
• He thinks the final tight end spot will come down to Thaddeus Moss or Mason Schreck, with the final preseason game a major data point in the competition. 
• Hobson adds there’s also a battle in the secondary for probably one spot between CB Tony Brown and CB Jalen Davis. 

Browns

Browns OT Jedrick Wills said he rolled his ankle in Wednesday’s practice but plans to participate in the team’s joint practices with the Giants. 

“An offensive lineman, no matter what happens, we can play with three or four dislocated fingers and still have the same job,” Wills said, via Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “So just trying to name ourselves as the toughest people on the field and put everybody on our backs.”

Wills believes he’s progressed a great amount since his rookie season. 

“Looking at it a year ago, I thought I was trash compared to this year watching film,” Wills said. “It’s a brand new game when you turn on the film this year.”

As for going up against Browns DE Myles Garrett in practice, Wills called Garrett the league’s best edge rusher who possesses an arsenal of different moves. 

“You’ve never seen anyone like him throughout the league,” Wills said. “He’s probably the best premiere pass rusher that we have on our team and throughout the whole NFL. You just see so many different combinations of moves. Like some guys you stop them on their very first move and Myles is giving you three and four. It’s a whole new game when you’re going against Myles.”

Steelers

• According to Brooke Pryor, WRs Cody White and Mathew Sexton are fighting for the final spot on the depth chart.
• Steelers OL Zach Banner said it means a lot to him to play in front of fans: “It’s been almost a year since the injury, and the only thing that put me at ease with the fans. … I say that to let them know how much they truly mean to us and myself. .. hearing them roar, had the two great series bc of it.” (Pryor)