AFC Notes: Bengals, Raiders, Steelers

Bengals

An unfortunate theme of Bengals QB Joe Burrow‘s rookie season so far has been the beating the No. 1 overall pick has taken in his three games. Cincinnati’s offensive line is struggling to keep Burrow clean and he had to leave Sunday’s game briefly after taking another vicious shot in the pocket. Burrow’s been sacked 14 times so far in 2020, a number which has to improve not only for this season but for Burrow’s long-term future. 

“We’re just trying to win the football game. That’s the bottom line,” Bengals HC Zac Taylor said via Pro Football Talk. “We can’t just have a free runner, a three-technique come clean every single time. That’s something we got to fix right away. I don’t care what play you call; you’re going to have problems when you can’t block a guy for a second. That part is frustrating, so we just have to continue to prove it and give ourselves a better chance to win.”

• Per Tyler Dragon of the Cincinnati Enquirer, Taylor said WR John Ross was a healthy scratch because they can only have so many wideouts active on gameday. Bengals WR Auden Tate was inactive last week and his agent made a stink about it: “We’ve got a lot of receivers. It’s not going to be an easy decision every week.”
• Taylor noted Bengals G Xavier Su’a-Filo will miss a couple more weeks. (Ben Baby)
• He added the team considered promoting G Alex Redmond from the practice squad to start this past week. (Baby)

Raiders

• Per Vincent Bosignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Raiders HC Jon Gruden said he was concerned about both rookie WRs Henry Ruggs (hamstring) and Bryan Edwards (ankle) but didn’t have further updates. 
• Gruden noted Raiders RT Trent Brown (calf) and LB Nick Kwiatkoski (pec) are close and he’s hopeful they can return for Week 4 against the Bills. (Vic Tafur)

Steelers

• According to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport, Steelers FB Derek Watt has a Grade 2 hamstring strain and will likely miss a couple of games.