AFC Notes: Marlon Humphrey, Dorian Thompson-Robinson, Bengals, Browns, Ravens

Bengals

• Bengals HC Zac Taylor said OT Orlando Brown Jr. (fibula) is “good to go” for Week 17, via Jay Morrisson. 
• Taylor also said G Cody Ford will start in place of Cordell Volson. 

Browns

• Brown OC Ken Dorsey said QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson (calf) is expected to start Week 17 against the Dolphins, per Mary Kay Cabot.

Ravens

The Ravens’ 31-2 beating of the Texans on Christmas resulted in Baltimore’s third straight win since their Week 14 bye and overtaking the Steelers for the AFC North’s top spot. CB Marlon Humphrey is glad to be back on top of their division and knows they’ll have a difficult season finale against the Browns. 

“That feels good,” Humphrey said, via Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic. “I know the Browns are probably just as excited as we are to try to not let that happen. So, it’s very exciting to be able to enjoy this Christmas, enjoy the days off. I’ll be honest with you, I’m going to go home and enjoy the baby, enjoy the wife, but I’m ready to get back to work. I want that AFC North. It feels good to get that hat and T-shirt, and hopefully everybody can enjoy a day or so and then lock back in.”

Their win over Houston also marked the team’s third in 11 days. John Harbaugh is proud of the entire group for responding well to the challenge. 

“These guys took these three games in 11 days and smashed it, obliterated it, tore it up and made it into a bunch of smithereens laying around everywhere,” Harbaugh said. “I’m proud of the guys, how they did it. They did a great job.”

At one point, Baltimore’s defense struggled to maintain its reputation as one of the league’s best. Humphrey mentioned having “tough conversations” with several players to get things right. 

“I’m not going to lie, I think when I have conversations with some of the guys one-on-one, two-on-two, there were some tough conversations,” Humphrey said. “We still believed, but it did seem far away, because it just seemed like every single guy was having a mishap at just the wrong time. Like I said earlier in the season, it seemed like luck just was not on our side. We kept being like, ‘What are we doing wrong? What are we doing wrong?’ And it was simple. We just needed to get all 11 guys doing their job. … When we do that, we’re a really tough defense. When we’re not, we look average, and that’s not the standard. Today, I thought the standard was there.”