Bengals

• The Bengals officially listed DE Trey Hendrickson (hip) and DE Cedric Johnson (calf) as questionable for Week 8.
• Cincinnati listed C Matt Lee (knee), DE Cam Sample (knee), and CB Marco Wilson (hamstring) as doubtful.
• The Cincinnati Bengals officially designated Johnson to return from injured reserve on Wednesday.
• This opens Johnson’s 21-day window to practice before being activated.

Browns

• Browns OC Tommy Rees reviewed third-round QB Dillon Gabriel‘s performance in bad weather: “It starts with taking care of the ball. That was the difference in the game. for Dillon to manage the game in tough conditions … proud of him in that manner.” (Tony Grossi)
• Rees spoke highly of the Patriots’ run defense: “They’ve limited explosives, their secondary tackles well, fundamentally sound. All of our guys got to buy into the run game. Got to continue to find ways to be explosive because they’ve limited that.” (Grossi)
• He also expressed excitement to potentially get RT Jack Conklin back: “Some continuity would be great. Excited to get him back.” (Grossi)
• Rees talked about what Gabriel’s next step in progressing will be: “Dry day would help. Just got to put him in the right positions during week to make sure he has confidence in those plays. He wasn’t trigger-shy in camp. We just have to give him those opportunities.” (Grossi)

Steelers

Steelers HC Mike Tomlin doesn’t believe QB Aaron Rodgers will be short on motivation this week, facing his old team. Tomlin added that Rodgers has had a high level of motivation every week and expects him to carry that over.

“Aaron has been at it a long time,” Tomlin said, via PFT. “He’s got an awesome relationship with this game. I haven’t been with him for a long time, but he’s been fired up every single week. I imagine it’s going to be the same. I imagine some external things are going to make more out of it than it is for him. He’s playing and playing to win. That’s what he does. That’s kind of my perspective on it.”

Tomlin added that Rodgers has earned a leadership role within the team and everything he does off the field has been what has expected when the team signed him.

“I’ve been in this thing long enough you don’t stumble into 20-plus years of service in this business,” Tomlin said. “It still doesn’t make it less impressive, his day to day, what he’s willing to do. He’s been in the building all day today. He loves it. It’s who he is. He loves the process. He loves to talk ball. He loves to educate his teammates to get on the same page. He doesn’t tire in terms of seeking resolution to issues. There’s a lot of good things about him other than obviously his physical talents and skills that have been really impressive. Again, as I mentioned, not that I’m shocked by it, but it’s still highly appreciated.”

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