Bengals

Bengals WR Tee Higgins is grateful to be heading into a season for the first time in years without the “big headache” of a contract standoff looming between him and the team.

“Honestly, I’m in a good space mentally now,” Higgins said via ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. “Not having to think about it. Just training my mind, free mind, not having to know where you’re going to be.”

Contract talks dragged out between Higgins and the Bengals for a long time and included a year on the franchise tag and a trade request, though throughout it all Higgins never wanted to leave Cincinnati.

“You put in the trade request, but you really don’t want to go nowhere,” Higgins said. “It’s like, ‘Are they really going to trade me?’ And if they trade me, then I have to shift my whole mindset. I’m not with this team no more, I’m with this new team. I wanted to be here, but if I was to get traded, I would have made that shift then. I didn’t want to make it too early, I would have been clocked out and I didn’t want that.”

Higgins is anticipating having his best season yet, with a renewed focus on staying healthy and some wrinkles from the offense like putting him in the slot more.

“That’s what they are trying to get out of me, put me in different places and different spots on the field,” Higgins said. “Sometimes I’m in the slot, running routes I haven’t run…[I can take advantage as] a big guy in the slot, usually having a nickel on me, a smaller guy.”

Browns

The Browns haven’t decided on a starting quarterback yet for Week 1, but the competition does seem to be thinning. At the end of the day, Browns HC Kevin Stefanski said the player who makes the fewest mistakes will likely be the one who gets the nod.

“The guys understand what it’s going to take to win football games,” Stefanski said via Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer. “And I don’t care what your name is, I don’t care who you’re talking about at quarterback, the big thing for this football team is not giving the ball away. We led the league in giveaways the last two seasons, and that’s a really hard way to win football games. In ’23, we were able to overcome it, taking the ball away at a great clip. We didn’t do that in ’24.

“We need to do a way better job offensively of taking care of the ball. Doesn’t mean we aren’t gonna throw interceptions. We are. Doesn’t mean we aren’t going to fumble. We are. But we have to do a much better job of making the defense earn it, so we keep our defense off the field. I’d say that’s something where all the guys know how important that is.”

Ravens

Ravens QB Lamar Jackson has quieted any doubters about his passing ability last season after becoming the first player in history to throw at least 40 touchdowns and fewer than five interceptions in a year. Baltimore QB John Harbaugh said the facts show Jackson is a historically good passer, and he praised his relentless work ethic for getting Jackson to this point.

“He is a historically good passer,” Harbaugh said, via the “This is Football” show. “And that’s really quite a statement because of the narrative that’s been surrounding him ever since the beginning. Lamar Jackson can throw the football. He can throw it every kind of way, he can make every kind of throw any kind [of] way you want. He’s as good as any passer that there’s ever been — and I think now the numbers are proving that.”

“I’d say the work that you do — if you’re going to be good at anything, great at anything, you’ve got to work at it all the time. I read a story just recently about a classical piano player, he’s 95 years old, and he’s working six to eight hours a day on playing the piano, and they ask him, ‘Why do you still work six to eight hours on the piano?’ And his comment was, ‘I feel like I’m just starting to make some progress. So, that daily, everyday working at your craft kind of thing, I think, is what Lamar does.”

Steelers

Steelers OC Arthur Smith gives credit to his father, FedEx founder Fred Smith, for his ability to change his game plan on the fly this offseason, as the team has continued to acquire new players, including QB Aaron Rodgers.

“I’ve had to adapt,” Smith told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “I give my old man a lot of credit, being an ex-Marine and adapting to situational awareness and always evolving. That’s what we’ve done every year. Things we did from year to year, you played to your strengths and try to fit the strengths to your team. Necessity forces you to adapt.”

“I like his flexibility,” Rodgers added, via the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “Arthur is not rigid in what he’s doing. He wants to tailor the scheme to the personnel that he’s got. … We’re trying to find what guys do best and implement that into the offense. I love that about Arthur, so we’re going to keep doing that.”

Per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, Steelers GM Omar Khan said their uncertain quarterback situation for much of the offseason actually helped them be aggressive with other trades and signings: “When you’re not paying a quarterback [top dollar], you obviously have more flexibility. It’s good to be in a position where you can engage in conversations regarding pretty much anything that’s out there.”
The Steelers eventually signed Rodgers to a one-year deal. Rodgers has said he’s planning for this to be his last year, which means the Steelers will need a new starter next year. However, he’s not looking ahead: “We will figure things out after the season.”

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