Bengals

Bengals DC Al Golden said he wasn’t disappointed in DL Shemar Stewart for being a healthy scratch last week; he was disappointed for him.

“I’m not discouraged at all in Shemar. I’m really not,” Golden said, via Sports Illustrated. “I think that was unfortunate. I was really hoping to see him take a big jump last week, and I have the same hope as I sit here today. I’m disappointed for him. This has been a hard start.”

Stewart, who held out of most of his first offseason while negotiating his rookie contract, has been present but injured during his second year. Bengals HC Zac Taylor is supportive of Stewart as he continues to get himself right.

“He’s doing all the right things,” he said. “I mean, he’s getting better every week. This is his training camp for the most part. I think he’s been doing a great job of practicing. We’re just in a really tough spot with our inactives right now. Sometimes we’re really healthy, sometimes we’re beat up at a position where we need another guy up. So unfortunately we just had to pull from the D-line, and it’s a really deep D-line group and it’s really difficult to choose who’s going to be an active there.”

Taylor doesn’t anticipate any major moves at the deadline. Aside from the trade that sent DL Dexter Lawrence to Cincinnati, the team has usually been relatively quiet on the trade market.

“I feel great (about the current roster),” Taylor said when asked about the trade deadline. “I hate that our players have to deal with things that get made up sometimes. That’s a part of it. It’s a fun conversation for people. We really like our guys.”

Browns

Browns RB Dylan Sampson was activated from injured reserve ahead of Week 7, leading to him recording 45 rushing yards on six carries in their win over the Titans, along with three receptions for 32 yards. Sampson tried to use his time recovering to observe the game and learn. 

“Yeah. I think just with anything in life, you got to find the benefits of it,” Sampson said, via the Akron Beacon Journal. “So I actually, for a lot of the games, had to be in the box upstairs, but I was able to see everything and all the coaching points. Kind of just see the way of thinking of the coordinator and our head coach. So it was so much that I learned in those couple weeks that I could just provide when I get back.”

Sampson reiterated that attending games in the coach’s box helped him understand their game plan and defensive structures they were facing. 

“Being up in the box is kind of like I’m a fan, but I’m a fan who knows the game plan,” Sampson said. “So I have a bird’s eye view of seeing everything that’s going down, defensive structures, plays that we’re running. And if you allow yourself to, there’s so much to learn just within those game in and games out and coming back and watching the film over, even though I’m not playing. So things I could take and incorporate into me basically just starting the season midway.”

Cleveland finished with 183 rushing yards against Tennessee after averaging 94.5 rushing yards going into the game. Browns RB Quinshon Judkins thinks their performance is a testament to sticking with HC Todd Monken‘s guidance. 

“I think just having the same mentality,” Judkins said. “Really going out there and just harping what coach said, just taking what they give us, you know what I’m saying? Just going out there, same rules, same execution, just playing each play.”

Ravens

• Per Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic, Ravens G Olaivavega Ioane practiced on Thursday, just four days after suffering an MCL sprain.