Bengals

Bengals QB Joe Flacco had a great second game with the team, throwing for 342 yards and three touchdowns in their win over the Steelers. Flacco is enjoying every moment in this game and admitted the pressure is still there in his 18th NFL season. 

“You have to,” Flacco said, via SI.com’s Albert Breer. “Because, listen, it is fun. It’s enjoyable when you’re doing things like last night. And there’s a lot of pressure, man, with this game. And even though I’ve been playing it for so long, I still get those feelings before a game. They’re not that much fun—I don’t want to have those feelings. But fighting through that, you don’t get to experience the level of fun that I had last night, unless you’re able to get over those feelings. And, yeah, that takes it to a whole other level.”

Bengals

After losing the starting CB battle in Cincinnati, DJ Turner II quickly earned the job back and has been playing at an elite level. Bengals HC Zac Taylor reflected on the conversation they had before the season-opener when he informed Turner he wouldn’t be a starter. 

“He said, ‘Just promise me if I work at it, that I’ll have the opportunity,'” Taylor said, via Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic. “He’s had the opportunity, and all he’s done is stand on his word.”

Bengals DC Al Golden couldn’t hold back how impressed he’s been with Turner’s ability to be consistent and make progress every single day. 

“I don’t even know where to begin,” Golden said. “He’s changed his whole process. He’s engaged at an elite level right now. For all the young guys in our building, just watch his process right now. It’s pretty impressive.”

“He’s the same guy every day and it’s the consistency that allows growth. There’s no days where he is going backwards. His technique has been great. He’s not afraid of taking on the go-to guy on the other side every week when we give him that assignment. He’s so much better at the top of the routes right now in terms of dropping his hips and staying in phase, making plays on the ball.”

Ravens

The Ravens’ loss to the Bills during the season opener left an emotional carryover that bled into the rest of their season.

“It was that Bills game that put a beating on us mentally where it felt like everything was ending, even though it was the first game,” one veteran player who spoke on the condition of anonymity said, via The Baltimore Sun. “When we have so much time to recover, such a long season, and we let that carry over.”

The offensive personnel have seemingly grown frustrated with OC Todd Monken in recent weeks.

“It just feels different. I just don’t feel like guys are being put in positions to succeed with this offense,” one veteran offensive player told The Sun, aiming his criticism at Monken, now in his third year in Baltimore. Asked what he meant, the player said, “It’s freakin’ Lamar Jackson, how can you not find ways to have success with him? But I’m pretty sure if you put [Chiefs quarterback] Patrick Mahomes out there for us right now, the same things would be happening.”

Baltimore is working to integrate a lot of new players into the offense, which could lead to a lapse in communication.

“We got a lot of young guys around here,” one offensive player said. “They haven’t been around to build up battle scars, so it may get to them mentally, emotionally in their head. O-lineman, we have a lot of young guys, special teams, especially on defense right now. You’re already gonna have nerves regardless, and then if things aren’t going well you’re going to have the outside noise. It’s a lot stacked up against you. I think that’s the difference from the past — we had more mature teams.”