AFC Notes: Joe Burrow, Bengals, Browns, Steelers

Bengals

Bengals QB Joe Burrow said he’s improved his “entire game” since last season and is excited to show off his new skills in “deep ball, intermediate, protections, everything.”

“I’ve improved my entire game right now,” Burrow said, via Charlie Goldsmith of the Cincinnati Enquirer. “I’m excited to show all my improvements – deep ball, intermediate, protections, everything. I’m just a much better all-around player.”

Regarding this offseason’s development, Burrow said he’s focused on keeping his feet firmly on the ground while throwing in order to “generate more torque and power.” 

“The biggest thing is getting all my cleats in the ground, both on my back foot and my front foot,” Burrow said. “Instead of stepping with my toe and rotating there, I’m stepping with my full foot and not rotating as much. And that’s just allowing me to generate more torque and power in my core and it will translate up to my arm.”

Burrow thinks his added strength will help his accuracy on deep passes. 

“It was all open to us last year, I just didn’t hit the deep ones that I needed to,” Burrow said. “I had the arm strength last year to hit those, I just upped it this year. I think it will translate more on deep out routes, resetting to maybe a back-side comebacker 18 yards down the field that I can now hit that I couldn’t.”

Browns

Browns’ GM Andrew Berry has a lot of good things to say about QB Baker Mayfield but is still unwilling to discuss his contract situation, noting that it wasn’t “the most appropriate setting.” 

“Good player, even better person,” Berry said, via Scott Petrak of BrownsZone.com. “Can’t have enough people in our locker room that embody those two characteristics. We feel really good about Baker’s progress. He’s made a ton of growth both on and off the field. We’re looking forward to him having another fantastic season. Baker has entered with a phenomenal mindset, a ton of comfort. I know we’re all very excited for him to have a bit of stability. If you’re doing something repetitively or you have a little bit of foundation from prior experience, it just makes you that much more comfortable, and I think that’s something that we certainly notice with him. Honestly, just continue to work with Kevin, the offensive staff, continue to gain mastery of the offensive system and gain more comfort in it. Honestly, all he needs to do is work, perform and he’s going to be fine.”

Steelers

Steelers’ HC Mike Tomlin has been impressed by what he has seen from QB Dwayne Haskins in practice this offseason.

“I like what he is doing,” Tomlin said, via Mark Kaboly of The Athletic. “He’s taking care of the ball, but at the same time, he’s being aggressive. He’s dialed in, even in the reps that he’s not going. He’s building a rapport with the group of guys that he’s getting to work with. That’s a component to this that we often don’t talk about, too. There is a get-to-know-when in terms of cohesion, especially when you are working with multiple groups and multiple people and that’s a guy who is getting some third-group reps, some second-group reps, so he has a lot of people to get comfortable with.”

• Mark Kaboly of The Athletic points out that Steelers WR JuJu Smith-Schuster received “limited-to-no outside work” at his position so far in training camp. 
• Kaboly mentions that Smith-Schuster lobbied the Steelers’ coaching staff for more playing time at outside receiver.
• Steelers’ QB Dwayne Haskins took more second-team reps than QB Mason Rudolph, as the two were splitting reps in an open competition for the backup quarterback job. (Brooke Pryor)