AFC Notes: Bengals, Browns, Steelers

Bengals

Bengals first-round WR Ja’Marr Chase said he enjoyed silencing those doubting his abilities with his big-time Week 1 debut in Sunday’s win. 

“I like to tell them, ‘Enjoy the show.’ That’s all I can tell them,” Chase said, via Kevin Patra of NFL.com. “A lot of news coming. I’ve been hearing this since I was young, you know what I’m saying? But I’m not worried about it. This is my job right here, and my job is to catch the football and make plays. So I’ma let them sit back and enjoy the show.”

Chase said implementing Bengals HC Zac Taylor‘s system came naturally to him on gameday. 

“I’m not gonna say it was easy, but it sure did look like it, you know what I’m saying,” Chase said. “But everything that we practiced, it came real easy to us. But I’ve got to get faster and better on that game speed of course, lining up faster, knowing what I’ve got to do quicker and faster. So that’ll help me to be even more better on the field.”

Chase hopes to break all of Cincinnati’s receiving records. 

“Well, I’m trying to break every record that I can,” Chase said. “I’m pretty sure I can’t break every record, but every record that’s meant to be broken. So I’ma make my way and somehow break a record here, break as many as I can, as many as possible.”

• Bengals QB Joe Burrow said his knee felt “pretty sore” after Week 1 but now doesn’t feel any aches in practice: “Knee was pretty sore right after the game but now I feel better than I have all camp.” (Paul Dehner Jr.)

Browns

Once again, the Browns came close to beating the Chiefs, holding a 22-10 lead at halftime and a 29-10 lead with a little more than 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter. Kansas City came out on top once again though, with an interception by QB Baker Mayfield dooming Cleveland to a 33-29 loss. On the one hand, it’s just one game. On the other, Mayfield and the Browns know the Chiefs are a test they eventually have to pass. 

“I think there’s a fine line of walking, you know, beating yourself up about it and then realizing there’s 16 more. And I think we should beat ourselves up about it because we feel like we should have won that game, but there’s 16 more,” Mayfield said, via Daryl Ruiter of 92.3 The Fan. “This one should sting and you need to learn from it because we had that game and we gotta close it out. So I think there’s a fine line of walking that and my message to them was, you know what? We’re going to be really good if we just do our jobs and continue to be efficient and move the chains and help out our defense by staying on the field. But this one needs to sting. You need to remember that, that all the little things matter and that’s how you need to approach this week of practice.”

Steelers

• Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger said he feels the usual aches and pains after Week 1 but it’s nothing alarming: “Sore. Like I anticipated. Getting hit for a while, got a lot more bumps and bruises than usual.” (Brooke Pryor)
• As for his elbow, Roethlisberger said “it feels great” and feels that is a positive sign: “It feels great. Probably the only part of my body that felt good when I came out of the game. that’s encouraging and positive.”
• Steelers HC Mike Tomlin said LB Robert Spillane will be limited in practice but available on Sunday. (Pryor)