AFC Notes: Jessie Bates, Bengals, Browns, Ravens, Steelers

Bengals

• Bengals S Jessie Bates on returning to the team and signing his franchise tag: “It’s a great opportunity for me to continue to present who I am and what I’m about to this franchise and other teams as well. I’m looking at this as an opportunity to prove that I’m one of the best safeties in the league. I’m not sure why I’m not paid yet.” (Jonathan Jones)
• Bates on not having a long-term deal in place with the Bengals, adding the franchise tag number isn’t bad: “I don’t know. I don’t think that’s my question to answer. You go through a lot of thoughts… What’s the right day? What’s not the right day… I just thought that it would be a good time to come back.” (Ben Baby)
• Bengals CB Eli Apple will not be at practice for the next two days in order to have fluid drained from his quad. (Baby)
• Bengals QB Joe Burrow commented on the return of Bates: “You felt the energy in the locker room when he came back yesterday. It was a nice jolt.” (Bridget Condon)

Browns

• Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com recently appeared on The Pat McAfee show and was asked about Browns RB Kareem Hunt being traded: “The Browns have no intention of trading Kareem Hunt and I think he’ll be here all year.” 

Ravens

Ravens third-round DT Travis Jones got hurt in the fourth quarter of the team’s recent preseason game, with HC John Harbaugh revealing postgame that Jones hyperextended his knee.

“He got tangled up in a pile there. It happens sometimes, unfortunately,” Harbaugh said, via BaltimoreRavens.com. “But it’s not a serious injury. It’s not going to keep him out for a really extended period of time.”

• On Tuesday, Harbaugh added Jones is expected to miss 3-5 weeks. (Jamison Hensley)
• Harbaugh said LT Ronnie Stanley (ankle) and OLB Tyus Bowser (Achilles) are both training “really hard” in conditioning drills but admits they don’t have much time prior to Week 1 to ramp up into game shape. (Jeff Zrebiec)
• Harbaugh mentioned RB Gus Edwards (knee) is “on schedule” with his recovery and expects him to get a lot of playing time this season despite being placed on the reserve PUP list, which will keep him out at least four games: “I’d say Gus is still on schedule. I expect him to play quite a bit of football this year.” (Ravens’ Twitter)

Steelers

Steelers HC Mike Tomlin sent a clear message to the team on how he felt about the offensive line’s performance against the Jaguars. 

“I am not delving into the detail with you guys,” Tomlin said via Mark Kaboly of The Athletic. “They know where I stand and what I expect. There wasn’t enough detail from a fine-motor-skill standpoint, details relative to their position. They didn’t play with enough of an edge individually and collectively. The things that are on our tape, we’ve got to own, and I think they’ll be ready to do that.”

Steelers OL Kendrick Green in particular had a rough outing, which was highlighted during the team meeting by Tomlin.

“That didn’t feel good. The natural reaction, the comfortable reaction, was to get in the fetal position, but you have to own it,” Green said. “He isn’t cussing you out or anything like that more than, ‘This is what you are; this is what you put on film.’ It is fair. It is not like he is doing it and it is uncalled for. It is completely fair.”