Bengals
Bengals DT Jonathan Allen understands that he can’t play an exorbitant number of snaps and said he needs to limit himself to stay fresh.
“Looking at it from the big picture, it’s obvious it’s better not to play that many snaps,” Allen said, via the team’s website. “So me and the trainers, me and the coaches, we just have a great understanding. Sometimes, I get emotional in the heat of the moment and I don’t want to come out. But at the end of the day, I get paid to do a job and they trust me and I trust them. It has to be a give and take relationship.”
Allen added what snap count percentage he believes would be good for him to be healthy and productive.
“I would say anywhere between 50 to 80 percent,” Allen said. “I know that’s kind of a wide range. But sometimes a defense can’t play a whole bunch in the first half and then they play more late in the game. But 800 snaps are too much.”
Bengals QB Joe Burrow talked about the evolution of the team’s offense and how they can be more effective under center to help out the running game.
“We were heavy under center 2020, 2021 and that worked out well for us,” Burrow said. “But then we were so explosive that we stopped getting the defenses that the under center runs and the under center play-actions were built for. And then we weren’t explosive in the run game when we faced those light box defenses. Then we transitioned to a gun team and our run game because our RPOs and our quick game, basically. And the run game was kind of the icing on the cake because of that. And that was effective for a couple of years. And then around 2024, we got so good at just picking people apart underneath and just marching the ball down the field that we started getting some more of the 2021 defenses. So now we have to get back to making people play for playing that way against us. That will, in turn, then create that cycle again where we’re explosive and teams play a certain kind of defense. And then we’ll be better equipped this time to be more explosive in the run game to try to take advantage of that.”
Ravens
Ravens DB Malaki Starks spoke about HC Jesse Minter‘s early tenure with the team and said he’s displayed great leadership so far.
“Super intelligent,” Starks said, via The Athletic. “The way that he thinks is all about winning. In practices and in meetings, everything is about winning and you can see it throughout the organization, how meetings are run, how walk-throughs are run, how practices are run, how people talk to you in the building. Everything impacts winning and that’s one of the really big things that sticks out to me. His leadership has been one of the best that I’ve ever seen.”
Starks added that he’s watched film on the Chargers’ defense when Minter was the defensive coordinator and is happy with how he put the safeties in a position to succeed.
“The Chargers really were a dominant defense and they really liked their safeties,” Starks explained. “They wanted them to go make plays on the ball, so there was a lot of watching them and seeing how they play certain things and how they do certain things. Now that he’s here and running a similar defense, I’m really excited.”
Starks added that the energy around the team is stronger and more positive under Minter’s leadership.
“Without a doubt,” Minter responded when asked if there was a different vibe in the building. “You could sense it the first day everybody got back. No knock to coach (John) Harbaugh at all, but there’s just an excitement and a readiness to be here under Coach Minter. There’s just a new way to do things.”
Steelers
- Steelers LB Patrick Queen received an honorable mention in the top-10 off-ball linebackers list voted on by coaches and execs around the league: “He is very good when he turns it on and uses his speed and strength. His play is too inconsistent for my taste,” an AFC personnel evaluator said. (Jeremy Fowler)
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