AFC Notes: T.J. Watt, Lamar Jackson, Bengals, Ravens, Steelers

Bengals

Bengals WR Andrei Iosivas is ready to take on a bigger opportunity if WR Tee Higgins ends up elsewhere.

“I’m hoping I can get the confidence from the coaches,” Iosivas said, via ESPN’s Ben Baby. “I’m not sure if they can pay Tee. He’ll probably get a lot of money. He’s a really good receiver. Hopefully I can step into that role.”

Ravens

Ravens OC Todd Monken brought significant change to the offense in his first season which led to QB Lamar Jackson being in more traditional shotgun formations instead of the run-heavy sets with former OC Greg Roman. Monken was happy with how they performed last season but wants them to be even more efficient this upcoming season.

“We want to streamline, [and] we want to make it better for all of our players – Lamar [Jackson] especially – and we want to streamline it in a way that we become a more consistent offense,” Monken said, via Kevin Oestreicher of the Ravens Wire. “And everybody is striving for that.”

“I thought there were a lot of really great things we did last year, but we can strive to be more consistent [and] certainly start faster. We have to work to start faster. That’s inevitable, but [in] Year Two, we should be able to do that.”

Steelers

After seven seasons in the league with multiple significant injuries, Steelers LB T.J. Watt is starting to feel the wear and tear. Watt knows his time in the NFL is limited, increasing his drive for a championship now. 

“I feel old,” Watt said, via Teresa Varley of the team’s website. “This is the first time in my career that I’ve started to feel old. It’s weird. It’s very strange. But it’s also kind of a check to understand that I don’t get to play this game forever.”

“I understand that I’m not going to be able to play this game for 10 more years, so I need to be able to make each and every day count, each and every year count. I need to and do everything possible to bring another championship back to this city.”