Bengals News (6/5): Friendly competition

Fitzpatrick Reflects How Bengals Impacted His Career
He could have added, "and Bengals icon," because if Tom Brady doesn't want to shake his hand, all of Bengaldom does with word that Fitzpatrick is ending one of the longest and most unique careers in the history of the NFL. It lasted through 17 seasons, 166 games and nine teams during parts of three decades, four presidents and a Mount Rushmore beard.

5 things the Bengals must do in 2022 to return to the playoffs
The AFC got a lot better, and so did the Bengals. Still, the AFC West welcoming Russell Wilson as the Denver Broncos’ new quarterback and Davante Adams as the unique number one wideout for the Las Vegas Raiders makes this conference a lot more competitive.

Ja’Marr Chase targets competition with Justin Jefferson as sophomore
After his record-breaking rookie season that was effectively a head-to-head competition with Jefferson’s numbers, Chase just found out he’ll be in a showdown with his former LSU teammate again.

Bengals Roster: Realistic expectations for B.J. Hill in 2022
As the Bengals headed into the beginning of last season, head coach Zac Taylor knew he had to boost his defensive lineup, so he signed sack machine defensive end Trey Hendrickson from New Orleans. He then turned around and signed a one-year deal with a defensive tackle they knew well, Larry Ogunjobi, out of Cleveland. However, it was the trade for Hill that left the coaches and fans pleasantly happy.

Bengals film breakdown shows Joe Burrow was right about sack stat
“Here’s the thing about sacks. There’s good sacks and there’s bad sacks,” Burrow said on the podcast. “You look at the stats, yeah, I got sacked a lot, but you look at when they happened, third-down sacks, who cares about third down sacks? I try and extend the play as long as I can on third down to get the first down, unless I’m in field goal range and it’s going to back me up, then I’ll throw the ball away and get some points. But I think sacks are an overblown stat.”

Peter King: Ryan Jensen was joining Bengals before Tom Brady call
“…right before Ryan Jensen was making the decisions, ‘should I stay or should I go’ … I believe that Ryan Jensen probably would have gone to Cincinnati, if that weekend Tom Brady didn’t call him and say ‘hey listen, I’m coming back, are you in?'”

Around the league

Browns signing RB D'Ernest Johnson to one-year deal worth up to $2.4 million
The Cleveland Browns and running back D'Ernest Johnson have agreed to terms on a one-year contract worth up to $2.4 million with more than $900,000 in guarantees, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Saturday.

Giants' backup QB Davis Webb: Daniel Jones is 'the smartest quarterback I've been around'
These are big words coming from Webb, who has played alongside some quality quarterbacks in his time. Before Manning, Webb was teammates with 2018 NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes at Texas Tech. And for the last three years, he has shared a locker room with Josh Allen, one of the sports' up-and-coming QBs who has re-established the Buffalo Bills as a playoff-caliber team.

Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott still feels he has 'something to prove' after injury-hampered season
But Elliott forged ahead, playing through the pain for the the rest of the season and into the playoffs, putting up numbers that might not have been to up to his usual standard but were still outstanding considering the circumstances.

Houston Texans betting on Davis Mills to keep climbing in Year 2 at quarterback
Mills was familiar with the experience of being called something other than his name -- fans are known to get creative when addressing opposing quarterbacks -- but this particular moment left Mills a little confused, because there was no one named Jeff in the vicinity. Rather than make the moment more awkward, Mills continued walking.