Bengals

Bengals WR Dohnte Meyers has had a long and winding road to the NFL, including a season-ending shoulder surgery in Canada while playing for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the CFL. His return helped the team win the Grey Cup and earned him an NFL opportunity. He has made the 53-man roster and continues to impress starters WR Ja’Marr Chase and QB Joe Burrow.

“Football is not always friendly,” Meyers told the team website. “That was just mentally refreshing to experience, not just all the good stuff but coupled with the story, the journey to get there…I feel like I developed a healthy relationship, not only with myself but with the game and the craft. I just came from winning, the goal is to win. There’s high expectations… This is the cream of the crop right here. When you look at who you want to go and make history with, this is what you want to be a part of.”

“Dohnte’s been making plays with the Ones,” Chase told Kay Adams during training camp. “He has maybe three or four plays out of the whole day with the Ones, and he makes plays.”

“That’s the kind of guy he is,” Burrow added. “He’s had a great camp. He’s quick, shifty, understands what we’re trying to do. He’s played a lot in the CFL. He comes over here and hasn’t played a lot in the NFL, but he’s got a lot of reps under his belt.”

Ravens

• The Ravens announced on Monday they are going with C Jovaughn Gwyn ahead of Ethan Pocic for the starting job at the pivot. However, HC Jesse Minter said via The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec that this is a Week 1 decision, not a permanent call.
• Minter said Gwyn’s experience with OL coach Dwayne Ledford gave the team comfort in giving him the nod: “He came in with a lot of experience with Coach Ledford and some things schematically that carry over.” 
• Added Minter: “I think we have two really capable centers. One is obviously more proven, but he’s also coming off a major injury.” (Zrebiec)
• The Ravens added K Jake Moody to push K Tyler Loop after some late preseason hiccups, but Minter told reporters that Loop hasn’t missed since Moody was added to the practice squad: “I have a lot of confidence in Tyler going into this first game to kick really well.” (Zrebiec)
• Baltimore plans to evaluate DT Nnamdi Madubuike and LB Teddye Buchanan over the course of the week to see if they can play. Both are coming off of major injuries, but Minter wasn’t ruling anyone out: “We’ll kind of see how it shakes out to see if it’s possible for Week 1.” (Zrebiec) 

Steelers

Steelers QB Aaron Rodgers decided to return for his age-43 season after Pittsburgh hired his former HC Mike McCarthy. Former Steelers HC Mike Tomlin believes Rodgers would have played if he remained the coach after their time together, and he outlined Rodgers’ unwavering love for practices specifically that show his passion.

“I believe he would have,” Tomlin said, via The Dan Patrick Show. “Just spending 12 months with Aaron, man, this guy has a love affair with football and all components of it—the process, you know, meetings, team development.”

“He loved training camp last year, you know what I mean? Not a lot of guys enjoy training camp settings the way I watched him enjoy it. And so, I just think, man, he’s built for it. He’s healthy. He’s certainly capable, and so I think that he would have strongly considered it regardless of circumstance. That’s just my gut feeling.”

• McCarthy initially didn’t want to tip his hand at right tackle. However, he eventually acknowledged veteran OT Dylan Cook has taken most of the first-team reps this week. (Mark Kaboly)
• McCarthy added that Steelers first-round OT Max Iheanachor has been impressive, but he’s missed enough practice time this summer that it’s tough to just throw him out there: “Make no mistake about it, he can play.” (Nick Farabaugh)