AFC Notes: Kenny Pickett, Denzel Ward, Bengals, Browns, Steelers

Bengals

• Bengals HC Zac Taylor said the team will use a rotation at right tackle to begin camp and will slowly integrate OT Jonah Williams. (Geoff Hobson)
• Taylor added that P Drue Chrisman had a medical condition that came up on Wednesday morning that put him in the hospital. Taylor added that the situation was taken care of quickly but didn’t have any further updates. (Kelsey Conway)
• Bengals LB Logan Wilson reiterated that he wants to remain in Cincinnati, but that the contract situation was out of his control. (Conway)

Browns

Browns CB Denzel Ward believes that the team has the best roster he has ever been on and simply needs to put the pieces together to have a fantastic season.

“I believe so,” Ward responded when asked about the roster being the most talented he has been around, via NFL.com. “I definitely believe so since the time that I came in. But as I said before, you can have a lot of talent, but you just got to bring it together and bring all those pieces together. So that’s what we’re doing and focusing on making it happen.”

“I would definitely say that man-to-man is a strength of ours,” Ward added. “We got a lot of talent in the room and a lot of guys that could do a lot of things, but I’ll definitely say man-to-man is one of our pluses.”

Ward also weighed in on the rapidly approaching Week 1 matchup against the state-rival Bengals, led by QB Joe Burrow.

“We know the guys over there, we’re familiar with them and they’re familiar with us,” Ward said. “We know it’s going to be a great battle, but we’re here to work and get ready for that game, get ready for that matchup. Come that time, I think we’ll be ready.”

Steelers

Steelers HC Mike Tomlin said he expects QB Kenny Pickett to take a step forward entering his second year in the NFL.

“[T]his is the second lap around the track for him like it is all our second-year players,” Tomlin said, via PFT. “So I think it’s reasonable for them to proceed with that knowing and that knowing to be displayed in their production and the consistency of their play. He’s no different than any other second-year player in that regard, it’s just that he’s our quarterback.”

Tomlin added that he hopes to see the offense become more explosive this year and wants to see more chunk plays.

“We want to get yards in chunks…but we also want to possess the ball and control the flow of the game, and so we’ve got to do all things if we want to be a dominant group, and that’s a component of it,” Tomlin said. “We weren’t explosive enough a year ago in terms of chunk plays, and so there’s a focus there. [Pickett] needs to be what we need him to be,” Tomlin added. “I know that he’s preparing with that mindset, and I like his approach and his demeanor in that regard, but I think whether you’re talking about guys like quarterbacks or guys like me as a head coach, we need to be what our team needs us to be.”