AFC Notes: Browns, Ravens, Steelers, Mike Tomlin

Browns

• The Browns hosted LBs Clarence Hicks and Noah Dawkins on Thursday for a free agent workout. (Aaron Wilson)
• Hicks signed with the Bengals as an undrafted free agent out of UTSA following the 2022 NFL Draft, but was waived during final roster cuts. He spent the 2023 season with the Seattle Sea Dragons of the XFL and recorded 21 total tackles, three tackles for loss and two sacks in 10 games. 
• Dawkins, 25, wound up going undrafted out of Citadel back in 2019. He’s had stints with the Bengals, Buccaneers, Jets and Bears, the latter ending once the team released him during camp last year. He’s appeared in 17 career games. 

Ravens

Despite playing in just two games during his rookie season due to injury, Ravens OLB David Ojabo knows the defense must show what they can do on the field rather than just talk about it in front of the cameras.

“We all feed off each other. You just feel it when everybody’s clicking,” Ojabo said. “I feel that’s what we have in the locker room now. We just gotta put it on paper. Can’t talk too much, that’s how people get caught up. Don’t talk about it, man. When the pads come on, when the lights come on, when it’s showtime, go put on a show.”

Steelers

Steelers DL Breiden Fehoko will have a chance to compete for a role as the nose tackle for Pittsburgh this preseason. If he doesn’t stick in Pittsburgh, his options elsewhere might be more limited, as nose tackle is becoming one of those positions that fewer teams have a big demand for. 

“It’s kind of turning into the old fullback position,” Fehoko said in an interview on the team website. “You don’t know you need it until you need it. I think it’s a fallen art. I think everybody just kind of recruits tackles nowadays. When you throw ‘nose’ in front of the ‘tackle,’ everybody thinks, like, a bigger body, a wide type, Vince Wilfork or Casey Hampton.”

Fehoko is just 6-3 and 300 pounds but he says he makes up in technique for what he lacks in pure size. 

“The general embodiment of nose tackle is to make sure that they don’t run the ball in between the tackles. From ‘B’ gap to ‘B’ gap, you want to make sure the lanes are technically clogged, but you’re playing your blocks well. . . . I take a lot of pride in that. I take a lot of pride in making sure there’s no running between the tackles. I take a lot of pride in putting my hands on the center, making sure he doesn’t climb up to the linebacker.”

• Mark Kaboly of The Athletic believes that the Steelers must extend the contract of HC Mike Tomlin and adds that the deal may already be done, with the team waiting to make an official announcement at the start of training camp as they have done in the past.