Bengals

The Bengals still have a hole at the swing tackle position as they approach the regular season. They also made a major shakeup by releasing veteran OL Cody Ford this past week, the former frontrunner for the role. Cincinnati HC Zac Taylor said he’s hoping someone jumps out to take control of the role in the remaining time of training camp. 

“I think we’re always open to everything,” Taylor said, via Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic. “These guys are really competing. I feel like I’d like to see someone grab it and us be able to say that. But certainly with time still to practice, we got some stuff to sort out.”

Bengals OL coach Scott Peters named third-year OT Javon Foster as someone who has made a “big jump” with his development and is vying for the No. 3 tackle role. 

“Javon, big jump from Day 1 to now as he has taken to the coaching, he has done much better,” Peters said. “If you are vying for that third tackle spot, you got to be consistent, reliable and be able to do it on both sides. I think Javon felt better at left in the past, now he went out and played really well at right. I thought he had a good game. It’s good to see the improvement. You see that growth, with more reps, you expect him to develop.”

Taylor feels like they have players “in-house” and they still have time to figure things out. 

“I think the easiest focus for us is we have guys in-house that we believe in and continue to get reps with them,” Taylor said. “I still feel like we have several practices left to get all that ironed out. And, a lot of times, this thing goes into the season sometimes where you decide who fits you best and what are the combinations that you’d like to utilize in certain situations. So I think we got really good guys that are pieces on the roster right now that I’m still really encouraged by. Probably not quick at any position to say, ‘Hey, this guy’s absolutely our backup right now with training camp still to go,’ and O-line’s no different there.”

Browns

Browns QB Shedeur Sanders is entering the second year of his career and is set to be the backup quarterback behind Deshaun Watson. Cleveland HC Todd Monken said they knew early on that Watson was ahead of Sanders, but he has been pleased with what he’s seen from the second-year quarterback.  

“Every player is a little bit different,” Monken said, via PFT. “You see quarterbacks go in there and right away play well, and you’ve seen others that need some time, and that’s at every position. Some, it happens quicker than others, some have further to go. I know this, from the jump in the offseason, when he showed some things that I really liked, the way he’s wired — that’s when we made the decision to give him more reps. That’s when we decided to make it a competition for Shedeur, and for us. That was the point of it all, to get where he’s at today.

“Because early on, in my opinion, it was pretty obvious that Deshaun was ahead, his experience, right? He should be, there’s no difference there. We made that decision, and where he’s at today is a byproduct of that. I’m excited about the long game for him. There are certain things he has to continue to work on, and he’s going to continue to grow leaps and bounds because he’s a sponge — takes it all in, he really does. So, I just think it’s a matter of time before we get a chance to see that.”

Ravens

• Ravens QB Lamar Jackson was asked about not running as much last season and responded, “I was hurt last year.” (Jeff Zrebiec)
• Jackson was then asked if he’ll run more again this year, to which he said he’ll do whatever it takes to win. (Zrebiec)