AFC Notes: Browns, Ravens, Steelers

Browns

Browns S John Johnson III is unsure how to turn things around and thinks the team leaders must figure things out.

“I honestly don’t know,” he said via Keith Britton. “You can say we’re a younger team, but that’s no excuse. We’ve got to find ways, however that may be. The leaders on this team (have) got to get together and figure it out, but we’ve got to change something.” 

Johnson said that players must show a better commitment to improving.

“It’s a commitment thing. When practice is over, you can’t just run out of the building and forget about your job. We need everyone in this building to be 100% in on the task at hand. Right now, I think we’re at a place where that’s not the case,” he told Britton.

• Browns HC Kevin Stefanski is confident that S Grant Delpit will improve throughout the season: “I’ve seen it in games. Seen it in practice.” (Chris Easterling)
• Stefanski said DE Jadeveon Clowney (ankle) is “getting better” with his recovery and they will continue to monitor him: “He’s looking like himself, getting better. Will continue to monitor.” (Scott Petrak)

Ravens

Ravens CB Marlon Humphrey said that frustration has been building within the locker room over their inability to finish games so far this season. 

“That was just frustration amongst some of the guys,” Humphrey said, via Jamison Hensley of ESPN. “We were all talking like, ‘Man, we kind of keep doing the same thing at the end of games. Not finishing games.'”

Humphrey thinks that players are “pressing” too hard and they need to relax in critical situations. 

“We all want to make those plays at the end,” Humphrey said. “We all want it, but when we spoke in the team meeting, I was like, ‘We actually need to relax some.’ I think that’s kind of been the problem. We’re pressing so hard that it’s almost doing a reverse effect.”

Steelers

Steelers DL Cameron Heyward gave an assessment of the team’s defensive pressure so far this season.

“We have had games where we got pressure with four,” Heyward said, via Mark Kaboly of The Athletic. “We usually mix it up, but against that team, you have to make sure you drop mostly seven because it is tough to beat Brady. If you blitz him, he is going to find the open man. We were very good. Larry, Wormley, Loudermilk, and Tyson (Alualu) did a great job of being stout at the point of attack in the run game and when they did pass, we were able to affect the quarterback. We know that when we do that, it makes us a better team.”

“The best way to take away a passing game is up front,” Heyward added. “Make sure the quarterback doesn’t have time to go down the field. These are premiere guys getting down the field. We have to stop them up front and pressuring him up the middle. We have to be able to do it consistently. We aren’t just putting guys out there just to put guys out there. If we are going to rush four, we have to get home with four, we have to stop the run. But it is about mixing it up, too. The only way you get trust and belief is if you put it on tape.”