NFL Notes: Panthers, Ravens, & Steelers

Panthers

• Aaron Wilson reports that the Panthers recently worked out free agent CB Josh Victorian.

Ravens

The Ravens released a number of statements denying any involvement in tipping the Colts off about the Patriots deflating footballs.

Statement from Ravens:

“Prior to the AFC Championship game, no one from the Ravens talked to the Colts about deflated footballs. We knew nothing of deflated footballs. John Harbaugh has been consistent in his answers to reporters about this since he was first asked on NBC-TV at the Super Bowl.”

Statement from HC John Harbaugh:

“I’ve been consistent from the beginning when asked about whether the Ravens tipped off the Colts about deflated footballs. I’ll say it again – we didn’t. We knew nothing about deflated footballs.

“As a former special teams coach, I know that members of the kicking group from teams talk to their counterparts all the time about conditions, including field, weather and footballs. I learned this morning that our kicking consultant (Randy Brown) sent a text to Coach Pagano on Jan. 16 suggesting to the Colts that they pay attention to how the officials rotate the kicking balls into the game. Coach Brown’s text did not mention the Patriots and did not complain about anything the Patriots did. The Colts never responded to Randy’s text, and he had no further communications with the Colts on this matter.”

Steelers

Steelers OLBs coach Joey Porter shared what he told former first-round pick Jarvis Jones about the team’s expectations for him in year three.

“The first year was the first year, you don’t judge that,” Porter said, via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “The second year I thought you started off pretty good. You had two sacks in the first three games and then you got hurt. So they’ll be patient with you then. But please believe they’re counting on you to have a big year this year, they are. You’re going to get scrutinized, I’m going to get scrutinized. I’m going to help you the best I can to play at a high level. You put in the work to prepare yourself to play at a high level, and we’ll go from there.”