Bengals
Bengals LT Orlando Brown Jr. believes that first-round OT Amarius Mims will be a future All-Pro after his strong rookie season.
“Hopefully, we’re having two All-Pro tackles here in the future,” Brown said, via the team website. “He was extremely productive. He worked his tail off. He came in with an extremely positive attitude and he only got better. I think that’s what you’re going to continue to see through his career. The trajectory headed upwards. Continuing to get better and to work hard.”
He came off of the bench with a broken hand to play fourteen snaps after his consistency was called into question during his time in college.
“He stepped up, man, and I know he’s got a lot of pain. I’m proud of him going in there and delivering,” said Bengals HC Zac Taylor.
“I know what kind of player I want to be. I know what’s expected of me,” Mims said. “From year one to year two needs to be the biggest jump, in my opinion. We knew going into that game Cody was the best option. Coach had faith in me as an emergency. I felt like Orlando and Cody did a great job. It’s the league. You’ve always got to be ready no matter what. Injuries bother everybody. It’s about being available. The whole hand situation, I’m still dealing with it. Just watching all my games. Come back even better. I don’t put a good or a bad on my rookie year. I just put there’s a lot I need to fix and I’ll continue to fix.”
Ravens
Ravens HC John Harbaugh said the team is in wait-and-see mode with WR Zay Flowers as he recovers from a knee injury.
“That’s in we’ll see mode,” Harbaugh said, via PFT. “He’s working hard to get back and we’ll see toward the end of the week if he’s practicing. He could play without practicing, for sure, if he feels healthy enough and it’s safe for him.”
Steelers
Steelers QB Russell Wilson told reporters that he hopes to return as the team’s starter next season after starting 12 games for Pittsburgh in 2024.
“That’s the plan,” Wilson said, via ESPN. “I love it here and everything else, and I think we have a great football team. “Obviously it didn’t end the way we wanted it to, and I think there’s a lot more to do.”
“I think they’ve known that I’ve always wanted to be here and play here, but it is also a process,” Wilson replied when asked if the Steelers reciprocated his desire to return. “We haven’t had those meetings yet, so we will have those and we’ll go from there.”
“I thought I played well,” Wilson noted. “There’s moments I wish I played a little bit better. I feel like I had two plays that I wish I had back, just to be honest with you. The one in Kansas City and the one in the Ravens game. Other than that, those two plays in particular, I competed, and I gave it my all. Obviously felt like we didn’t play good enough when we needed to as a team. I hated missing games. I hated missing those first six games. I don’t really miss games like that and that kind of was disappointing, but I love how guys made plays.”
Wilson doesn’t plan on retiring at this point and told reporters he wants to continue his career as long as possible as long as he feels well both physically and mentally.
“That’s always been my plan is to play as long as possible,” Wilson said. “I’ve said that since I was a rookie. That’s always been my kind of thought process. I feel great physically, mentally, emotionally. If you want to play twenty-plus years, you got to love it, and I love the process. I love the mentality, and I love competing with my teammates, so that’s always been the plan. And so, I just trust the process and trust that we will have those conversations when the time comes.”
- Steelers HC Mike Tomlin on the playoff loss: “They were the better team Saturday night. That is not comfortable for me to say but it’s true…. So that leads to sober conversations to have and assessing the ‘why.’” (Chris Adamski)
- Steelers LB Patrick Queen was dealing with a “really bad bout” of the flu and received four IV bags before playing the game. (Ian Rapoport)
The post AFC Notes: Russell Wilson’s Future, Bengals, Ravens, Steelers appeared first on NFLTradeRumors.co.