AFC Notes: George Pickens, Browns, Ravens, Steelers

Browns

• Browns HC Kevin Stefanski was asked if the team would consider playing LG Joel Bitonio at left tackle. He noted the team has options while not outright confirming it. Bitonio was a left tackle in college. (Scott Petrak)

Ravens

There’s a lot going right for the Ravens right now, and while QB Lamar Jackson is an early MVP candidate, the best thing going in Baltimore right now is the defense. The Ravens have absolutely dismantled the Lions and Seahawks, two teams that are supposed to be in the upper crust of the NFC. Baltimore’s defense led by DC Mike Macdonald is No. 1 in points allowed and has the most sacks of any unit. 

“Not trying to toot our own horn, but I believe our defense has no weakness,” Jackson said via the team website. “Just from the defensive line, the linebackers, the secondary, how they’re flying around and disguising defenses — making it look like one coverage, but it’s something else — and how they time up their blitzes, it helps us out a lot, because when we’re playing other teams, they’re flying around and giving us their best shot. It’s like we’re seeing one of the best defenses every day.”

Still, the Ravens think there’s upside for more. 

“I feel like we are getting more respect, but I feel that it’s still not the respect that we want,” Ravens LB Patrick Queen said. “Honestly, we haven’t accomplished the things that we want to accomplish yet, so I feel like there is a lot of respect out there to still be taken.”

Steelers

Steelers RB Najee Harris said he offered guidance to WR George Pickens in-game and encouraged him to keep his composure. Pickens was visibly frustrated on the sidelines after he failed to keep his second foot in-bounds on a potential touchdown and fellow WR Diontae Johnson was much more involved in the offense. 

“They’re not going to let you be a game-wrecker,” Harris said, via ESPN’s Brooke Pryor. “They’re going to find ways to minimize that player. And when you find ways to minimize that player, it creates somebody else’s opportunity to eat. And that’s the part of the team. I was telling GP, it’s OK, there’s nothing wrong with being frustrated, it’s just how you handle things. Obviously, he’s a talented guy. Teams are going to do things to minimize him. But I was just telling him in the middle of the game too that you got to keep your composure.”

Johnson added he spoke with Pickens as well and told him to keep a level head.

“I had a good talk with him,” Johnson explained. “He understood, and I understood where he was coming from, as well. Nobody’s perfect. You can’t knock him. At the same time, he’s human, so I didn’t think too much about the situation. I know what it was from — frustration from the game, obviously. So, him doing what he did, yeah, there’s a better way to go about certain situations. But he felt like he had to handle it his way, but at the same time, it wasn’t the right time to do all that.”

Pickens downplayed camera shots that seemed to show a lack of enthusiasm for Johnson after he scored a touchdown. 

“I was just getting back to the sideline,” Pickens said. “His touchdown engineered the victory, so I don’t know how I could be mad at that.”

Pickens added that deleting his social media posts on Instagram had nothing to do with the Steelers.

“I don’t really mix social media and football together,” Pickens said. “Clearing out my page. Not really too crazy. It got nothing to do with the Steelers at all.“