AFC North: Browns sign Austin Davis; Ravens unsure of Perriman's status; Steelers' Pouncey eligible to return Week 9

With the 2015 NFL regular season opening this week, here are the biggest stories from around the AFC North.

Cleveland Browns

Browns sign Austin Davis with Johnny Manziel sidelined
Surprise: The Browns have a new quarterback, and it's former Rams starter Austin Davis. After Sam Bradford was lost for the year in 2014, Davis started off strong to begin the year, but he was benched for Shaun Hill after several poor performances. Davis will serve as Josh McCown's backup with Johnny Manziel still dealing with a sore elbow.

Manziel had been shut down from throwing for much of training camp and the preseason because of elbow soreness, which the team revealed has been a problem for him since high school. It's unclear if he'll be able to backup McCown in Week 1, but he did throw some passes during today's practice.

Browns trade Terrance West to Titans
The Browns are giving up on running back Terrance West after one year and have shipped their 2014 third-rounder to the Titans in exchange for a conditional 7th-round draft pick. West led the Browns with 673 yards rushing and scored four touchdowns in his rookie season.

The trade now leaves Cleveland with two running backs on the 53-man roster: second-year man Isaiah Crowell and rookie Duke Johnson, who has been out due to a concussion sustained in the third preseason game.

Browns suspend OL coach
With the regular season here, the Browns have suspended offensive line coach Andy Moeller indefinitely, the team announced Monday afternoon. The Browns said in a statement that, "Over the weekend, Andy was involved in an incident, involving allegations that we take very seriously.  We have followed our internal protocol, determining that right now it is best for the team and for Andy to take time away from the organization to focus on his personal matters."

In 2011, the Ravens suspended Moeller after he was convicted of driving under the influence. He would remain with Baltimore through the 2013 season before he was named the Browns offensive line coach in February 2014.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Maurkice Pouncey gets Steelers' I.R. return designation
As was expected, the Steelers placed center Maurkice Pouncey on Injured Reserve with the designation to return. The move makes Pouncey eligible to return in Week 9, but the belief is he's more likely to return around Week 12 after he fractured his left ankle and fibula in the preseason.

Pouncey was Pro Football Focus' sixth ranked center in 2014 after missing most of 2013 with a torn ACL. With him out, Cody Wallace will be Pitt's starting center until Pouncey can return. The Steelers still return four of their five offensive line starters from last season, so they may be able to survive without Pouncey. Pouncey will not be able to play when the Bengals face the Steelers for the first time this season in Week 8.

Steelers restructure Lawrence Timmons' contract
The Steelers have restructured star linebacker Lawrence Timmons' current deal in order to convert $6.63 million of his base salary into a signing bonus. Timmons' new 2015 base salary is $870,000, and the move creates $3.32 million of cap space this year.

Steelers won't change playbook with DeAngelo Williams in for Bell
With All-Pro running back Le'Veon Bell suspended for the first two games of the season, backup DeAngelo Williams does not believe the Steelers' offense will change with him being the No. 1 back for that time. "They let me know that coming in," Williams said. "They are not going to take plays off or change plays according to what running back is in there. We are going to run our offense and run it to the best of our ability."

Baltimore Ravens

Ravens unsure about Breshad Perriman's status for the season opener
Ravens head coach John Harbaugh says there's still no timetable for rookie receiver Breshad Perriman to return to practice while recovering from a sprained PCL, and that his recovery has been slower than expected. Perriman missed the entire preseason after suffering the injury early in training camp. Baltimore grabbed Perriman with the 26th-overall pick in this year's draft, as they viewed him as the perfect WR to replace Torrey Smith, who left to sign with the 49ers this offseason.

Like Smith, Perriman is more of a deep-ball specialist who will stretch the defense and open up the rest of the field for other Ravens to work with. The 6'2", 212-pound Perriman had 50 catches for 1,044 yards (20.9 avg.) and nine scores in 2014 as a junior before declaring for the draft.

As of now, Steve Smith, Michael Campanaro, Kamar Aiken and Marlon Brown are Baltimore's top four receivers from last year who are still on their roster. Smith did catch 79 passes for 1,065 yards and six scores in 2014, but the latter three combined for just 55 catches, 624 yards and four scores.