Bengals Bytes (11/14): John Ross talks about being limited

Bengals notebook: John Ross limited, Bullock's back and second-half futility
First-round pick John Ross has practiced without issue for the last few weeks, and head coach Marvin Lewis decided to make him active over Tyler Boyd on Sunday. But the rookie saw just six snaps – bringing his total to 17 in three games. He saw one target from Andy Dalton, a deep ball that Ross stopped running on. He admitted he didn’t follow through on his assignment on that particular play, but his options to make up for it were limited.

Bengals' Burfict avoids suspension for contact with official
Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict won't be suspended for the contact with an official that got him ejected from a 24-20 loss at Tennessee. A league spokesman said Monday that Burfict faces a fine only. He pushed an official's arm out of the way on the sideline in the second quarter after quarterback Marcus Mariota ran out of bounds. Two plays earlier, Burfict drew an unnecessary roughness penalty for hitting Mariota out of bounds.

Jeremy Hill of Cincinnati Bengals opts for season-ending ankle surgery
Cincinnati Bengals running back Jeremy Hill has elected to undergo season-ending ankle surgery, but head coach Marvin Lewis seems to think the decision was premature. Hill landed on the injured reserve list Saturday ahead of the team's 24-20 loss at Tennessee, one week after hurting his ankle in the final practice before the Week 9 game at Jacksonville. He was scratched from that game and did not practice all last week; however, Lewis said he was surprised to learn Hill had decided to end his season with surgery.

Opinion | Bengals struggles can be traced back to draft
In recent years, the Cincinnati Bengals have been known as a team that builds through the draft, selecting players they scouted throughout college and then developing their skills. They rarely make big splashes in free agency, and their roster is often among the highest in terms of percentage of players who were drafted by the team. In 2016, the Bengals led the NFL with 38 players on their 53-man roster that the team drafted. This season they have 36.

Vontaze Burfict being provoked by officials, according to Cincinnati Bengals teammate
The Bengals player said he has heard officials cursing at Burfict on multiple occasions, and there is video that shows officials coming into contact with the linebacker three times in the past four games.

TDBH: Blake adds to legend as Pickens “Dishes,” Houston
Blakemania takes another improbable turn today at Riverfront Stadium when third-string quarterback Jeff Blake comes out of the X-Ray room and teams with ubiquitous wide receiver Carl Pickens to manufacture 10 points in the final 2:34 and Doug Pelfrey delivers the winning points on a 40-yard field goal at the gun in a 34-31 victory over the shell-shocked Oilers. After Dave Shula claims his first win over Houston in his third season as Bengals head coach, the Oilers fire head coach Jack Pardee the next morning and replace him with defensive coordinator Jeff Fisher even though Blake strafes his top-rated AFC pass defense for 354 yards and four touchdowns. The Bengals move to just 2-8, but this one seems a lot more important than that.

Titans finish what Bengals can't
The offense finally re-discovered the big play and torched a Tennessee defense leading the NFL in fewest passes of 20-plus yards allowed with quarterback Andy Dalton’s touchdown throws of 37 and 70 yards, respectively.

Lewis News Conference 11/13
I’m really disappointed for our guys (that we didn’t) put enough good plays (together) to finish the football game and win the game. They fought their butts off. There were a lot of positive things in the game. With the defense, I saw some different things. We settled down and began to play pretty well in the second half. Our Achilles’ heel — as we could tell after the game — was third downs on both sides (of the line of scrimmage). You have to prevent them from marching down the field by stopping them on third down defensively, and you want to have more opportunities to score more points by winning on third down more often on offense. That has to be a key point and emphasis for us.

Lewis doubts Tez story, elaborates on Hill
Look for the Bengals to sign a running back to the active roster as early as Tuesday to fill the vacancy left by Jeremy Hill’s abrupt departure to season-ending injured reserve on Saturday. Since Hill was a surprise scratch last week in Jacksonville with an ankle issue, there had been indications head coach Marvin Lewis was mystified by the injury. On Monday Lewis admitted he’s surprised Hill has opted for surgery now.

AFC North Bytes

Roethlisberger rips TNF: 'It's miserable'
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger added himself to the growing contingent of NFL players taking issue with Thursday Night Football. "It's miserable, it's terrible, they need to get rid of this game I think," Roethlisberger said during a radio appearance on a local Pittsburgh station, according to John Breech of CBS Sports. "Just play on Mondays and Sundays. It's so tough on guys, you're beat up, you're banged up. It's a very violent, physical game we play."

Lions could have been called for delay of game on Browns’ sneak before halftime
The Browns committed the bonehead play of the day on Sunday in Detroit when they ran a quarterback sneak from the 2-yard line with 15 seconds left in the first half and no timeouts. The play ended, as quarterback sneaks tend to, with a big pile of players in the middle of the field, and by the time everyone got unpiled, there was no time left in the half.

Ravens: Three Things To Watch For After The Bye
The Baltimore Ravens have been here before. Entering the bye week below .500 for the third consecutive season, the Ravens (4-5) need to make up ground on the rest of the AFC to get into a playoff spot. With only one game remaining against an AFC team with a winning record and little room for error, the Ravens have to finish the season strong, especially against conference foes.

Random Bytes

Philip Rivers in Concussion Protocol, Status for Week 11 Against Bills Uncertain
Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers is in the concussion protocol. According to Greg Beacham of the Associated Press, Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn said Rivers self-reported concussion symptoms Monday. Jack Wang of the Los Angeles Daily News noted Kellen Clemens will play quarterback if Rivers cannot during Sunday's game against the Buffalo Bills.

Colin Kaepernick Named 2017 Citizen of the Year by GQ; Featured on Cover
Colin Kaepernick, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback who remains unemployed due (at least in part) to his protest of systemic racism during the national anthem, is GQ's 2017 Citizen of the Year.

Gareon Conley Reportedly Placed on IR by Raiders with Shin Injury
Oakland Raiders rookie cornerback Gareon Conley is still dealing with a shin injury and reportedly has been shut down for the season. ESPN's Field Yates reported Monday the Raiders have placed Conley on injured reserve. Scott Bair of NBC Sports Bay Area noted he suffered the injury in a June minicamp and hasn't played since Week 3.