Bengals Bytes (6/6): Taking action

Bengals: Is It The Year Of Marvin Lewis?
Time is ticking away. The start of the 2016 NFL season is around the corner. The AFC North is primed to be the center of the football universe, as usual. But, there’s one thing on the minds of football purists and Bengals faithful. Is this the year? Is this the season the Cincinnati Bengals prove how far they’ve come? Marvin’s Men have been battle tested. This should be the year.

Bengals-Steelers war of words has hopefully hit rock bottom
The offseason in NASCAR is often referred to as the "silly season," but the real silly season has occurred the last few months between the Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers. Truth be told it's all been pretty silly between the two for quite awhile: cheap shots, in-game fights and a constant war of words.

The Bengals Are In Their Glory Years
Last year, Cincinnati outscored opponents by 140 points. That’s the largest margin in franchise history. In 2011, the Bengals drafted Andy Dalton and A.J. Green, and the franchise has been in the playoffs every year since. In fact, over the last five years, Cincinnati has outscored opponents by 378 points, which is also the best rate over any five year period in Bengals history. As a result, it’s pretty easy to make the case that we have reached peak Bengals

Random Bytes

Talib remains hospitalized; White House trip unlikely for him
Broncos cornerback Aqib Talib remains hospitalized in Dallas, contrary to multiple reports that he has been released. Per a source with knowledge of the situation, multiple Broncos officials (including coach Gary Kubiak) have spoken with Talib, who has told the team he is fine. At this point, Talib remains hospitalized primarily for the purposes of observations.

Rob Gronkowski shaves head in 7th annual "Buzz Off" for cancer
Rob Gronkowski got a fresh haircut for a great cause Sunday. The Patriots tight end shaved his head for kids with cancer in front of fans and his fellow teammates as part of the seventh annual "Buzz Off" at Gillette Stadium. The fundraiser aims to help children battling cancer.

Bruce Miller changes positions again, from DE to FB to TE to WR
At Central Florida, Bruce Miller was an all-conference defensive end. Then the 49ers drafted him and moved him to fullback. With the arrival this year of coach Chip Kelly, the 49ers no longer use a fullback, so Miller’s position changed again, to tight end. But in recent practices, Miller has been trying a new position again, lining up at wide receiver.

Eddie Lacy, Rex Ryan, Jeff Fisher facing make-or-break seasons
June is upon us and the 2016 season opener is less than 100 days away. OTAs have been in full swing for several weeks, mandatory minicamps are just around the corner and training camps begin next month. The temperature is rising. It's go time. Every new season brings increased expectations for players and coaches, and some are running out of chances. For that bunch, it's time to put up or shut up.

Denver Broncos happy to put football matters aside to meet president
The Denver Broncos still have plenty of things remaining on the offseason to-do list. They have one unsigned rookie remaining: quarterback Paxton Lynch, the team’s first-round pick in this year’s draft. They have just $6.568 million in salary-cap space, according to NFL Players Association figures, a total that will need some attention in the days and weeks to come if the Broncos are going to get everything done they'd like to get done.

Arizona Cardinals' Tyrann Mathieu aims to combat New Orleans violence
Tyrann Mathieu was back in his hometown of New Orleans on Saturday, hosting his first-ever youth football camp less than two months after he told the New York Daily News, "I don’t think I can go back to New Orleans. I don’t think that’s possible." At the time, Mathieu said he received death threats after he called the man who shot former New Orleans Saints defensive end Will Smith a "coward," and spoke passionately about the culture of violence in his hometown in a Twitter rant and with multiple media outlets.