AFC Notes: Ja’Marr Chase, Justin Fields, Lamar Jackson, Bengals, Ravens, Steelers

Bengals

• Bengals HC Zac Taylor called WR Ja’Marr Chase‘s availability day-to-day and was asked if he’s ready for games: “It’s impossible for me to say with 100% conviction but I feel good with the shape he’s in.” (Jonathan Jones)
• Taylor also confirmed OL Trent Brown will start at RT and DB Daxton Hill will start at CB. (Jay Morrison)

Ravens

Baltimore heads to Kansas City in Week 1 for Thursday night’s AFC Championship rematch to kick off the season. Ravens QB Lamar Jackson treats every game like a revenge game and won’t treat their season opener any differently from other games. 

“Any game I play in, I feel like it’s a revenge game,” Jackson said, via Clifton Brown of the team’s website. “I’m not just going to look at this game like a revenge game. Anybody we play, no matter if we’ve beaten them or lost to them in previous years, I just want to win.”

Despite their previous regular season success, Jackson remains focused on the task at hand before they can think about reaching their ultimate goal. 

“We have to win regular season games [in order] to get to January. We can’t just go into the season and go 5-12, because then we’re not going to be in the playoffs. Playoffs are on our mind, but at the same time, we have to win this game that’s ahead of us.”

Steelers

According to SI’s Albert Breer, members of the Steelers’ team were advocating for QB Justin Fields to be the starting quarterback.

“This isn’t anyone’s first rodeo in Pittsburgh, and Fields took some fundamental changes that the offensive coaches gave him (one being a return to the type of footwork he’d used at Ohio State), and really worked on them over the past few weeks of camp,” Breer said, via Steelers Wire. “It was enough to have some folks internally push for Fields to start. There was, too, plenty of merit to the idea. But the way it is now, again, to give yourself two shots, also makes plenty of sense.”