Bengals
Bengals QB Joe Burrow hasn’t been shy about how high his expectations are for Cincinnati in 2026, comparing this year’s squad to the team he was on at LSU that won a national title. He’s gone past tripling down on that and went in depth on why he’s so confident, pointing to the other side of the ball first that got a big offseason makeover with DT Dexter Lawrence, S Bryan Cook, DE Boye Mafe and DT Jonathan Allen.
“The vibe of the defense is really good right now,” he said via Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer. “Our defensive line is so deep this year. The depth of that unit was a weak point last year, [but] now we have nine or 10 guys that we feel good about putting out there in five-down sets. Obviously, Dexter [Lawrence II] plays a big role in that. Jonathan Allen plays a big role in that. And those guys have been vocal leaders for us to start this out, which is something that we needed.
“We know what we have on offense, so we can take care of and experiment with things right now that we want to be better at, but we always know we have something in the back pocket that we can pull out and go to, that we’ve done for years at this point. And now we have more flexibility as far as style of play on offense to win a game.”
Burrow also addressed why he’s not shying away from calling out the standard he thinks this team has to live up to.
“I’ve never understood why people are scared to say it,” he said. “I guess people get scared of how the media will portray them or their team in a certain way. But you have to set expectations with yourself, your teammates, your organization. Everybody says they want to win the Super Bowl, you talk about it every day, you set that expectation every day, you go and work for it every single day. I mean, I don’t know the answer to that for everybody, but that’s what I want to do, that’s what I’m trying to do, that’s what I do this for.
“I won the championship in college, and there’s no freaking better feeling than that. And if you don’t talk about it, I don’t know how you can do it.”
Browns
Browns second-team RT Austin Barber has switched to playing right guard, which provides more versatility and gives Barber a chance to gain confidence at the position ahead of the start of the regular season.
“The way I’ve been practicing, going out there practicing and hearing feedback from the vets and hearing feedback from the coaches, it gives me the confidence I can go there and play,” Barber said, via the team website.
“Him being able to get all that repetition early on in his career, it’s going to help him out a lot,” veteran RT Tytus Howard said of Barber. “It’s going to slow the game down for him. I know for sure because I’ve done that and being able to know what to do at every single position, you’re going to be able to play faster and it’s going to only get him better technically, which, I’ve seen this past week at right guard. He played really well for the past two weeks. So, it’s only going to make him better. Austin has a bright future ahead of him, whether it’s at guard or tackle.”
Ravens
- Ravens GM Eric DeCosta felt it was time to bring in another kicker after Tyler Loop‘s preseason struggles: “We’ve got to make kicks. In the end, it’s a performance business.” (Jeff Zrebiec)
- Baltimore HC Jesse Minter said DT Nnamdi Madubuike is still day-to-day, but he has begun participating in team parts of practice. (Zrebiec)
Steelers
Steelers CB Joey Porter Jr. enters the final year of his rookie contract and remains entrenched in contract negotiations. When asked if he’ll play during the regular season without a new deal, Porter was noncommittal.
“I don’t know. I have to talk to the guys upstairs, my agents about that one,” Porter said, via Brooke Pryor.
Porter admitted that his stalled contract talks have been difficult on him.
“It’s been tough, not going to lie. It’s my first go around this, but I mean, it’s been also great because I have all my guys with me, all the coaches and players really on my side. It has been a little bit tough, but at the end of the day, it is what it is,” Porter said, via Pryor.
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