Bengals
Bengals DE Myles Murphy is entering the third year of his career after not recording a single sack in 13 games last season. Cincinnati DC Al Golden said it is time for Murphy to produce.
“Yeah, I think it’s time, right? It’s time. I’m really excited about him, but it is time,” Golden said, via Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic. “He knows that it’s time to go. And we’re really counting on him. We really are. We really are.”
Bengals DL Jerry Montgomery feels a duty to unlock Murphy’s potential.
“It’s my job to get whatever dog that he has in him out,” Montgomery said. “That’s my job. I have to find ways to get him there consistently. So that’s what we do. But he’s got it. He’s got what he needs to play at this level, it’s just my job to get it out of him.”
Murphy missed the first month of last season after suffering a sprained MCL in training camp. The third-year defensive lineman admits he looked “hesitant” and lacked confidence after returning.
“I looked hesitant,” Murphy said. “Not too confident knowing the move is going to work. Even when I did have clean wins, it was hesitant.”
Browns
Browns QB Joe Flacco has taken fewer reps this offseason in comparison to Kenny Pickett, Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders. Flacco admitted his veteran stature means he doesn’t need as many snaps, but added that he still needs reps to get ready for the regular season.
“I think there’s probably some truth to the fact that maybe I don’t need as many reps,” Flacco said, via Michael Silver of The Athletic. “But I do need reps. And not only do I need reps, I want reps. I like reps. I want to get better. And also, I want to be able to show guys, hey, I can still do it.”
Browns HC Kevin Stefanski said he wants a thorough evaluation process of Pickett, Gabriel and Sanders.
“I’m very open-minded,” Stefanski said. “I want to make sure that we go through this process, that we give these guys reps and learn from it.”
Stefanski understands that they still need to give Flacco work with the first team.
“Joe’s seen it all and he relies on his experience, but I think it’d be unfair to Joe to give him nothing,” Stefanski said. “Because number one, he’s got to stay sharp. Technically, he needs to work on all those fundamentals and types of things. But also, he wants to show what he can do. And I think his teammates want to see it as well.”
Ravens
Ravens HC John Harbaugh said Andrew Vorhees is “in the lead” for the starting left guard job and admitted Ben Cleveland struggled in the first few days of training camp.
“Andrew Vorhees is in the lead. Something would have to change,” Harbaugh said, via Jeff Zrebiev of The Athletic. “I will say, with Ben, he’ll tell you, the first, three or four days didn’t look too good. Then, the next three or four days looked really good. … Andrew has looked good all the way through, so he’s in the lead at this point.”
Ravens secondary coach Chuck Pagano said veteran CB Jaire Alexander is proving to be a “special” player in practice.
“He’s special,” Pagano said. “He has so much juice and so much energy and so much swag. And then when he gets out there, he’s been telling us, ‘I haven’t played football since November. I have to ease into this.’ And then he jumps out there and looks like he hasn’t taken a day off.”
Alexander recorded two interceptions, causing a huge celebration from his defensive teammates.
“That’s love. That’s respect,” Pagano said. “When that happens, it’s easy to tell. These guys know that guy is not only a great player, but they love him as a human, as a teammate.”
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