Bengals
Bengals CB Cam Taylor-Britt had a down year, where he was benched before returning to the lineup due to an opportunity created by injury. Taylor-Britt admitted he didn’t play with enough confidence last year and knows he needs to play with more passion to get back to the level of play he expects.
“I don’t think I played with confidence,” Taylor-Britt said, via ESPN’s Ben Baby. “Yes, I can go out there and stay hyped and everything, but I hate for somebody to catch a ball, and I think it happened too many times. Happened too many times, and that’s what kind of knocked that [confidence] down.”
“I was talking to some people, and they were like, ‘Where’s that fire that Cam played with?’ And I think that’s what I need to play with, man. That fire under me.”
Browns
Browns QB Shedeur Sanders told reporters that he isn’t motivated by his fall in the draft and doesn’t feel the need to get revenge on teams that passed on him.
“My job here isn’t to prove people wrong, it’s to prove myself right, and I fully have self-belief, you know, and what those people say, that’s just their opinion,” Sanders said, via Pro Football Talk. “So, I don’t truly care. They don’t really live in my mental space about that type of stuff. It really doesn’t do anything for me.”
Ravens
Ravens LB Roquan Smith is looking forward to their Week 1 matchup against the Bills after they lost to Buffalo 27-25 in the Divisional Round.
“Yeah, just how I like it,” Smith said, via NFL.com. “Revenge is best served as a cold dish, you know. So, it will be nice to get up to Buffalo and get a little payback for those guys from the end of the year.”
Smith continued to reflect on last year’s Divisional Round loss, saying he’s confident Baltimore has “everything it takes” to be the league’s best team.
“Honestly, man, those guys won the game fair and square last year, you know that. Misery sets in all offseason,n and you use that as motivation throughout the offseason,” Smith said. “So, just knowing that we have everything it takes to be the best team in the NFL. You have to show that game in and game out, and it’s going to start up there in Buffalo. Just like everything we’ve gone through throughout the offseason and how it ended, it’s just about unleashing it on those guys. And I’m sure they have the same plan.”
Smith is also excited to play his former team, the Chicago Bears, in Week 8.
“I’m very excited for that one, you know,” Smith said. “I have a couple of guys over there that I still know, keep up with, and a lot of my friends are still in Chicago. So, I know a lot of them are going to be here at the game. It’s going to be one that I’m looking forward to for a little while now. I’m very excited about it, so whenever and wherever we play them, I’m excited about that one.”
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