AFC Notes: Lamar Jackson, Russell Wilson, Bengals, Ravens, Steelers

Bengals

Ahead of their anticipated matchup with the Chiefs, Bengals WR Ja’Marr Chase called them the team to beat in the conference. Chase mentioned they are keeping their focus on the locker room and tuning out any noise.

“Everybody knows that, bro,” Chase said, via ESPN’s Ben Baby. “It’s not ‘if.’ We are the team to beat in the AFC. And we know it. And we gotta play like it, too.”

“All that noise y’all are making and stuff, we see it, we hear it. But we’re not worried about it, you know what I’m saying? At the end of the day, it’s about the team and what we’re doing on the field.”

Cincinnati QB Joe Burrow talked about them going out and proving they are one of the league’s best every week.

“You’re always trying to go out there and prove yourself to the world, to yourself, to your teammates and your coaches,” Burrow added. “I’d say that about every single week.”

Chase reflected on the history between them and reiterated their dislike for each other.

“The energy’s there [on] both sides,” Chase said. “I’m sure they know we don’t like them. They know they don’t like us. So the energy’s already there. There’s not really much we got to say now to this point. It’s been four years now, so everyone gets it.”

Ravens

Ravens QB Lamar Jackson rushed 16 times for 122 yards in Week 1 against the Chiefs. When asked if 16 carries is sustainable over a full season, Jackson responded he doesn’t want to find out and has running backs like Derrick Henry and Justice Hill to lean on. 

“I don’t know. I’m not trying to find out. We’ve got Derrick Henry, Justice Hill, those guys,” Jackson said, via Ryan Mink of the team’s site. “But I’m going to do whatever it takes to win. That type of game, sometimes you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.”

Jackson said he is feeling great despite missing Monday’s practice to rest.

“I felt great. I’m not going to lie to you,” Jackson said. “At the end of the day, I’m a grown man too, just like those guys. I feel pretty good. I came out of the game pretty good. We’re going to keep it going.”

Jackson recalled one play against the Chiefs where he lowered his shoulder on a run to lunge into CB Jaylen Watson. 

“I’m just playing football,” Jackson said. “I think I’ve got hit like that before going down the sideline and about to step out and somebody hit me. I’d rather hit you than you hit me.”

Steelers

Steelers QB Russell Wilson said he’s playing it safe when it comes to his health and return.

“I’m just trying to be smart,” Wilson said, via ESPN. “Got to do a lot of work today on the field and everything else, throwing and all that, so just trying to be smart.” 

Steelers HC Mike Tomlin said Wilson’s limited participation in practice was intentional.

“We got a battery of some movement work for him scheduled for [Wednesday], and then as is our usual practice, we’ll meet with docs after [Wednesday’s] practice, and we’ll probably have some more clarity then about what the rest of the week looks like.”

Wilson admitted that he was frustrated when he realized the severity of the calf injury that he suffered in training camp.

“I think when it happened in training camp, I was disappointed,” Wilson said. “I knew it was pretty strong, pretty good calf injury, and so that was disappointing. But we kept our head up, we worked our butts off every day in the training room. … We spent a lot of time just to kind of get ready, and so when I tweaked it again it was like, ‘OK, yeah, we got to be smart here and not crazy push it too bad. So, I think that was the frustrating part. Obviously, I want to be to be out there in between the white lines with our teammates.”

Wilson said that he’s itching to get back on the field and regain the form that he had during his tenure with Seattle.

“Anybody who knows me, I always want to go and play and that’s how I get my mind ready, my body ready for that, to play,” Wilson said. “At the end of the day, I believe you got to play dinged-up sometimes. I think Coach, he’s also and the trainers just want to be smart, too, as well just because it’s early in the season. I think that if this is the last game of the season kind of thing or one of those kinds of games, we’re definitely going. I think right now I want to go, but we also, too, want to be smart, too, as well.“