AFC Notes: Browns, Ravens, Steelers, Kenny Pickett

Browns

• PFF’s Brad Spielberger highlights Browns C Ethan Pocic as an in-season extension candidate, as he’s been a breakout player for Cleveland before going down to injury this week. 
• Spielberger projects a three-year, $17.25 million extension for Pocic ($5.75 million per year) with $7.75 million guaranteed. That would lock up all three interior starters for the Browns for the foreseeable future and give Pocic more time to grow under OL coach Bill Callahan.

Ravens

Ravens HC John Harbaugh spoke about the impending return of WR DeSean Jackson following a hamstring injury.

“It wasn’t supposed to be real bad, but it just hasn’t quite come back as fast as you want it to,” Harbaugh said, via Pro Football Talk. “So, he’s working really hard to bring it back. He’s a little older, [so] it probably does take a little bit more time — I hope he doesn’t get mad at me for saying that — but he’s working at it. He’s going to be back, hopefully, this week. We’ll see.”

• The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec points out Ravens LB Patrick Queen has played much better in recent weeks, especially after the trade for LB Roquan Smith.
• Zrebiec adds it’s not a foregone conclusion that Baltimore declines Queen’s fifth-year option, as it might have seemed after the trade. 
• He also mentions Ravens CB Marcus Peters needed a lot of work done on the sideline during the game against the Panthers and it seems like he’s not all the way back from his torn ACL last year yet. 

Steelers

Steelers HC Mike Tomlin on first-round QB Kenny Pickett making improvements since being named the starter.

“He’s getting better in all areas, guys, just the same way that George Pickens is getting better,” Tomlin said, via Pro Football Talk. “I’m not going to comb through it every week. It’s moving in the direction that we would like it to. Sure, could it move faster? Absolutely. I don’t think anybody is patient — including Kenny. This is not a patient man’s business. You work while you wait. And that’s what he and we are doing. But he’s doing a nice job, just in general.”

• Tomlin on the Colts naming Jeff Saturday as interim HC without any experience: “My opinion doesn’t matter. I’m not a part of that organization. I know Jeff, I like Jeff, I think he’s a dynamic personality.” (Brooke Pryor)
• Tomlin also responded to claims by the Bengals that his offense is predictable: “That’s what they say when they’re having success and you don’t hear them say when they don’t. There were concepts they used that were predictable. That’s football.” (Gerry Dulac)

• The Athletic’s Mark Kaboly would expect the Steelers to fire OC Matt Canada after the season but cautions Tomlin is the person who will decide that and he has been cagey about which way he’s leaning. 
• Kaboly points out that this will be GM Omar Khan‘s and assistant GM Andy Weidl‘s first full offseason in charge and he expects to see more turnover on the roster as a result as they implement their own evaluations of players. Specifically, Kaboly thinks the two could shake up the offensive line and secondary. 
• Guys like CB Ahkello Witherspoon, CB Levi Wallace, CB William Jackson, OT Chukwuma Okorafor, G James Daniels, and OL Mason Cole all have at least equal cap savings to dead money if they were to be cut next offseason. 
• Kaboly raised the possibility of trading DL Cameron Heyward to free up cap space to a team official, who basically laughed in his face. 
• Steelers LB Devin Bush has played a lot better this season but Kaboly is skeptical Pittsburgh is able to re-sign him once he hits free agency, although he doesn’t completely rule it out. 
• He adds OLB Alex Highsmith is playing his way into a lucrative extension next summer.