Bengals
Bengals’ rookie WR Ja’Marr Chase commented on the media attention he received concerning his drops during the preseason.
“I don’t want to blame it on me sitting on my butt the whole year, but it probably had something to do with it, of course. There’s a bigger ball adjustment, so I don’t want to make excuses but I’ve just got to be a pro and make the catch,” Chase said, via Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com. “The ball is different because it is bigger. doesn’t have the white stripes on the side so you can’t see the ball coming from the tip point so you actually have to look for the strings on the ball at the top, which is hard to see because the whole ball is brown and you have the six strings that are white. But for the most part, just have to get used to it and find out what I am comfortable with catching.”
- Bengals’ RB Joe Mixon spoke about being ready for Week 1: “My foot feels great and my body feels great. I feel great…I’m ready for this year to get started.” (Tyler Dragon)
Browns
Browns’ second-round LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah is excited to face Chiefs TE Travis Kelce during Week 1.
“A high-rated guy,” Owusu-Koramoah said, via AP’s Tom Withers. “It is not foreign to me to have some type of matchup as such. Watched a lot of film and had to watch a lot of film to be able to be ready for a guy who is as talented as him.
“We will be ready. I will be ready. As a team, we are looking forward to game-planning correctly.”
- The Browns added K Chase McLaughlin to the injury report with a hamstring injury and listed him as questionable. McLaughlin was a full participant in practice all week and the team has K Chris Naggar on the practice squad if a replacement is needed. (Scott Petrak)
Steelers
Regarding their Week 1 matchup against Pittsburgh, Bills QB Josh Allen called Steelers S Minkah Fitzpatrick one of the “best safeties in the league” given his versatility on the field.
“He’s a ballhawk and one of the best safeties in the league. He just switches up his style every couple plays, you don’t know if he’s dropping into the box or if he’s trying to play over the top on something. He’s always around the ball, whether it’s a fumble that’s forced by one of their other guys that just seems like it’s popping right up into his chest,” he said via Katherine Fitzgerald of the Buffalo News. “When the ball’s in the air, he has as good of ball skills as anyone in the league.”
Allen also called Steelers DE T.J. Watt an “unbelievable player” and that they are preparing for ways to attack Pittsburgh’s difficult defense.
“He’s an unbelievable player. They got a ton of guys on that defense, man, that are just so good,” Allen said. “We expect it to be that, but we know that that matchup is not going to be easy for us and we’ve got to figure out ways to try and limit his impact on the game.”
- Steelers’ LB T.J. Watt overruled his agents on getting more money and personally told president Art Rooney that the deal to make him the highest-paid defensive player in the league was done. (Adam Schefter)
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