AFC Notes: Joe Burrow, Derrick Henry, Bengals, Browns, Ravens

Bengals

Bengals QB Joe Burrow said if he played better last year then the team would’ve made the playoffs. He looks to take even another step further in his game in 2025.

“If I had played even better, we wouldn’t have been in that spot that we were in,” Burrow said, via the team’s website. “I just focus on getting better myself, and I feel like everyone in the locker room feels the same way. If I go out there and play better than I did last year, then it doesn’t matter what goes on anywhere else.”

Bengals backup QB Jake Browning said that Burrow processes information quickly, which makes him among the league’s best.

“Process,” Browning says. “The number of times he goes to the right person on time and accurately. He processes so quickly. Before and during the play. He has an above-average arm, but I wouldn’t say it’s crazy. He’s an above-average athlete, but not crazy. He’s really accurate. But the thing he does is process really fast. And to me, that’s the toughest thing to evaluate in a quarterback coming out of college.”

Browns

Browns HC Kevin Stefanski downplayed the team taking rookie QB Dillion Gabriel earlier over QB Shedeur Sanders in the draft and said both will have an opportunity to earn the starting job.

“I wouldn’t look into really anything,” he said, via Browns Zone. “You’ll see the whole weekend, going through the spring, we don’t pay too close attention to who’s in there first.”

Stefanski added that both quarterbacks impressed throughout the rookie minicamp.

“I’ve seen both guys throw live, and that’s part of why it’s so important in that (predraft) process to get around those guys,” Stefanski said. “So they were as advertised. I thought both guys did a really nice job and there’s so much to work on and it’s the minutiae of the position. It’s some technique things. The operation needs to get better, all those things. That’s why we’re here.”

Ravens

Ravens RB Derrick Henry is entering his second year on the team in 2025. RBs coach Willie Taggart said he’s been impressed by Henry takes care of his body off the field and how he nearly reached career-high numbers in 2024 despite being an aged veteran. 

“If you watch his work ethic, and you see the way he works on and off the field, how he takes care of his body, and then just to watch him out there, you don’t see a downside,” Taggart said, via Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic. “He’s still getting stronger, if you ask me. … If you look at the performance he had last year — one of his better years — and that’s nine years in. That’s big time. It’s important to him. He told you guys a minute ago (that) he wants to win a Super Bowl, and I know he’s going to do everything he can to help this football team accomplish that.”

Henry said he just wanted to gain the respect of his teammates when arriving to Baltimore last offseason. 

“Coming here, everything was new, and all I wanted to do is gain my respect from my teammates and everybody in this organization,” Henry said. “Over time, as I got here, I just fell in love with everything, with the brotherhood, by the way (they) work, how they approach everything, and then get into the season (was) just like icing on the cake. I know we came up short, but it was a lot of fun, and we have a lot of great players — a lot of top players in this league, playmakers — so it’s always fun when you have guys around you that are at the top of their position and can change the game at any point.”

Taggart thinks Henry properly embodies their organization and the city of Baltimore. 

“He fits our identity as an organization, and I think he fits Baltimore as a city and what the city stands for,” Taggart said. “When you always watched the Ravens play, it was always dominating and physical, and when you watch Derrick run, it’s dominating and physical. You think about our city, we’re dominating and physical, so I think he just fit everything about Baltimore and the Ravens organization. Everyone I talked to about the Ravens’ organization, before I got here and now being a part of it, it’s always been top-notch. The Ravens’ organization is one of the best in the league, and then Derrick came here, and he’s top-notch and one of the best running backs in the league.”