The Bengals’ newest receiver has taken one of the more unusual routes to a 53-man roster, and Dohnte Meyers is already making noise in Cincinnati.
Meyers’ path included season-ending shoulder surgery in Canada while he was with the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the CFL, then a return that helped deliver a Grey Cup title and opened the door to an NFL opportunity. Now he’s on the Bengals’ roster, and he’s drawing steady praise from two of the biggest voices in the building, WR Ja’Marr Chase and QB Joe Burrow.
“Football is not always friendly,” Meyers told the team website. “That was just mentally refreshing to experience, not just all the good stuff but coupled with the story, the journey to get there…I feel like I developed a healthy relationship, not only with myself but with the game and the craft.
I just came from winning, the goal is to win. There’s high expectations… This is the cream of the crop right here.
When you look at who you want to go and make history with, this is what you want to be a part of.”
Chase said Meyers has been showing up in the moments that matter most during camp.
“Dohnte’s been making plays with the Ones,” Chase told Kay Adams during training camp. “He has maybe three or four plays out of the whole day with the Ones, and he makes plays.”
Burrow echoed that sentiment, pointing to Meyers’ quickness and his background in the CFL.
“That’s the kind of guy he is,” Burrow added. “He’s had a great camp.
He’s quick, shifty, understands what we’re trying to do. He’s played a lot in the CFL.
He comes over here and hasn’t played a lot in the NFL, but he’s got a lot of reps under his belt.”
In Baltimore, the Ravens have made an early call at center, choosing C Jovaughn Gwyn over Ethan Pocic for the Week 1 job at the pivot. HC Jesse Minter made clear, though, that the decision is not permanent.
Minter said Gwyn’s familiarity with OL coach Dwayne Ledford helped the staff feel comfortable with the move. “He came in with a lot of experience with Coach Ledford and some things schematically that carry over.”
He also stressed that the Ravens still view the position as unsettled long term. “I think we have two really capable centers.
One is obviously more proven, but he’s also coming off a major injury.” (Zrebiec)
The Ravens also brought in K Jake Moody to keep pressure on K Tyler Loop after some late preseason hiccups, but Minter said Loop has been steady since Moody arrived on the practice squad. “I have a lot of confidence in Tyler going into this first game to kick really well.” (Zrebiec)
Baltimore is also still sorting out a couple of injury situations. The team plans to evaluate DT Nnamdi Madubuike and LB Teddye Buchanan during the week to determine whether they can play.
Both are coming off major injuries, and Minter said no final call has been made. “We’ll kind of see how it shakes out to see if it’s possible for Week 1.”
(Zrebiec)
Pittsburgh’s Aaron Rodgers decision came with a familiar face in the mix. Rodgers chose to return for his age-43 season after the Steelers hired his former HC Mike McCarthy, and former Steelers HC Mike Tomlin believes Rodgers would have played even if he had still been on the sideline.
Tomlin said on The Dan Patrick Show, “I believe he would have,” and then laid out why he thinks Rodgers was always wired for another season. “Just spending 12 months with Aaron, man, this guy has a love affair with football and all components of it-the process, you know, meetings, team development.”
Tomlin also pointed to Rodgers’ appetite for the grind. “He loved training camp last year, you know what I mean?
Not a lot of guys enjoy training camp settings the way I watched him enjoy it. And so, I just think, man, he’s built for it.
He’s healthy. He’s certainly capable, and so I think that he would have strongly considered it regardless of circumstance.
That’s just my gut feeling.”
Along the offensive line, the Steelers have at least started leaning one way at right tackle. McCarthy initially kept things close to the vest, but he later said veteran OT Dylan Cook has taken most of the first-team reps this week. (Kaboly)
McCarthy also singled out Steelers first-round OT Max Iheanachor, saying the rookie has impressed him even though the missed practice time makes things more complicated right now. “Make no mistake about it, he can play.” (Farabaugh)
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