AFC Notes: Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, Bengals, Browns, Steelers

Bengals

Regarding the Bengals’ upcoming game against the Jaguars, HC Zac Taylor is excited to face his brother, Press Taylor, Jacksonville’s offensive coordinator. 

“It’s a fun conversation point in our family. There’s been a lot of trash talking about that trophy,” Taylor said, via NFL.com. “It doesn’t come up much between me and Press anymore. We battle more on board games. But I definitely know what the record is.”

Press Taylor would “love nothing more” than to beat Zac’s Bengals. 

“I’d love nothing more than to beat my big brother. That didn’t happen much growing up,” Press said. “But the trophy trash talk now is more between me and Zac’s sons. In the summer, when I’m around my nephews, they give it to me if I lose, and I give it to them if I win.”

Press said he looks up to his brother as a role model. 

“Zac is a role model that has done everything I wanted to do, and he did it the right way. If my brother hadn’t been a coach, I don’t know if I’d be a coach right now,” Press said. “I was always a tag-along, annoying little brother growing up, then our friendship really grew. He’s a mentor to me. He’s the person I go to for advice. In terms of coaching, we are peers who bounce ideas off each other. But outside of my wife, he’s my best friend.”

Browns

Browns OC Alex Van Pelt still believes QB Joe Flacco still has a lot left to offer the team.

“I think there’s still a lot left in that tank,” Van Pelt said, via PFT. “Yesterday would solidify that for me. Just watching him with the accuracy and the velocity, the footwork, and everything that he showed yesterday.”

Van Pelt said Flacco still has elite arm talent.

“If you put it on a scale of one to five, I’d say he is a five,” Van Pelt said. “His ball flight, his velocity on the ball at every level of the field is very impressive. He threw some balls on the scout team last week and the guys in the back were kind of fired up.”

Steelers

Steelers QB Kenny Pickett is pleased with their performance in Week 12’s win over the Bengals despite scoring just 16 points. 

“Obviously, you want more points, but after watching the tape and how we executed in the pass game, the run game, how things balanced off each other,” Pickett said, via Joe Rutter. “Definitely liked our performance but you want more points.”

Pickett feels the big plays are available but penalties or committing bad plays stops their rhythm. 

“The chunk plays were there,” Pickett said. “We had some really good drives working on some long fields. We had some penalties and bad plays take us out of that rhythm. We get rid of that, the points should come.”

Pickett reiterated they are getting plays into the right position, it’s just a matter of execution and building experience together. 

“It’s game planning, the coverage, having the right call at the right time, getting them into those coverages and the shots we want to take versus the looks we’re seeing,” Pickett said. “We had them, which is great. It all works together. The protection was great, guys were getting open, I was making the throws. I want to continue having that great prep. It all happens during the week.”