In today's edition of Around the AFC North, we take a look at an unusual hookup between an NFL player and a possible soon-to-be NFL player, and some trash talk from within the division.
Cincinnati Bengals: Ochocinco Teaming Up With Pryor
Just think -- if we had a player like Chad Ochocinco on the Cleveland Browns, we could fill this blog up with several posts a day on the receiver's shenanigans, just like Cincy Jungle is able to do. On second thought, I'm not so sure I could stomach that day in and day out.
Anyway, the latest oddity involving Ochocinco is the fact that he will be practicing with former Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback Terrelle Pryor today. Pryor is scheduled to hold a conference on ESPN today, and Cincy Jungle talks about why they think Ochocinco is being tied to the him:
Presumably, Rosenhaus is suggesting that Pryor will make an apology for his misbehavior at Ohio State (I'm sure we'll all weep at the sincerity of it all). The conference will be televised on ESPN, but before then it looks likes Pryor will be running around with the Ocho. This is likely nothing more than a stunt orchestrated by Rosenhaus, who is also the agent for Ochocinco (you might recall his bumbling effort to get the then-Chad Johnson traded in 2008). Pryor appears to be angling for an entry into the 2011 NFL supplemental draft, so Rosenhaus has likely recruited Ochocinco to help raise attention to Pryor's NFL ability (I suspect we'll shortly be hearing from Chad about how NFL ready Pryor is, what a great passer, mobile, etc. etc.), although Chad's endorsement might not carry a great deal of weight these days.
Pittsburgh Steelers & Baltimore Ravens: Woodley Trashes Flacco, What About McCoy?
Today, I'm combining the Steelers and Ravens into one section thanks to comments that linebacker LaMar Woodley made about quarterback Joe Flacco and the Ravens to the USA Today:
"No, not at all because they have to go through one team -- that's the Pittsburgh Steelers in that AFC championship. So in order for them to get to the Super Bowl, they have to beat us, and we're not gonna let that happen once we get that close. So that's not gonna happen in this lifetime."
Woodley did not stop being humble there, as he then talked about the Bengals and whether the absence of Carson Palmer could make a difference:
"Well, honestly, when they play against us, it really doesn't matter whether he's there or not. But as far as when they play against other teams, I think that missing him is a big piece of their team. … They're missing a lot of guys on that offense. So it's gonna be like starting over from scratch again if Carson don't come back."
Yikes. Should we even look what Woodley had to say about the Browns' Colt McCoy?
"Honestly, I think the guy's gonna be a great quarterback."
He wasn't kidding either.