Edge rusher Trey Hendrickson was never going to re-sign with the Bengals once he hit free agency. The only question was: Where was he going to sign?
Hendrickson ended up with the Ravens, a day after Maxx Crosby failed a physical with Baltimore to negate a trade with the Raiders.
On Wednesday, Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow reacted to his former teammate landing with an AFC North rival.
“Not very surprising,” Burrow said, smiling, via Shelby Dermer of The Cincinnati Enquirer. “I know Trey. I love Trey. I just know how he operates.”
Burrow and Hendrickson were teammates for four seasons, but both were injured last season. The quarterback played only eight games and the edge rusher seven, which are big reasons for the Bengals’ 6-11 record last season.
Both are now healthy, and if they stay that way, Hendrickson will chase after Burrow for two games this season. The teams are scheduled to meet Oct. 25 in Baltimore and Dec. 31 in Cincinnati.
“That’ll definitely be fun,” Burrow said.
But Burrow said it’s always fun when the Ravens and Bengals play, regardless.
“Any time we play the Ravens, that one is circled,” Burrow said. “That goes back years when Lamar [Jackson] and I were a lot younger. That’s always a battle when we get after it.”
The Cowboys have not played an international game since 2014 when they traveled to London to play the Jaguars. That is the only international game they have ever played.
For the first time, the Cowboys will give up a home game to play internationally in 2026, traveling to Rio de Janeiro to take on the Ravens.
The game in Brazil will take place Week 3 in a demanding start to the season for the Cowboys.
They play Washington at home in Week 2 before a 10-hour flight to Rio and an 11-hour flight home. The NFL then is sending the Cowboys to Houston for a noon CT game the following Sunday, which is followed by a Thursday night game at home four days later.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones dismissed the idea that travel is a concern.
“The wear and tear is a lot less than a night out on the town,” Jones told Jori Epstein of Yahoo Sports on Tuesday from the league’s May meeting. “Everybody ought to think about that. Stop, stop. It isn’t like they [would be] home in bed resting up.”
The Cowboys also have a stretch where they play three games in 15 days — the Titans at home on Nov. 22 followed by a Thanksgiving Day game against the Eagles and then a Monday Night Football game at Seattle on Dec. 7. The Monday night game on the West Coast will shorten the Cowboys’ off week in Week 14.
“Part of being a player, part of being that-age person, part of being all of that shape they’re in and what have you, is they’re able to have a little extracurricular in many ways,” Jones told Epstein. “It can be a lot more damaging just walking down the block.”
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson did not attend the start of Organized Team Activities, but running back Derrick Henry did, and Henry says he considers this one of the best times of the NFL year.
“I love putting the work in, conditioning, being in the weight room, being around the guys, and putting the work in in the offseason,” Henry said. “This time is when you get to tune up everything, make mistakes, learn from those mistakes, and then when training camp comes around, you’re rolling. But the offseason is just putting the work in as much as you can, so the results show.”
Henry is heading into his 11th NFL season, a time when many running backs have broken down, but Henry says the conditioning work he does on his own has him ready to go every year.
“I just try to take care of my body, get some body work throughout the offseason, just so I’m ready during this time and when camp comes, just doing my normal routine,” Henry said.
Henry said he hopes his teammates see from the results he’s getting at age 32 that it’s important to take offseason work seriously.
“I’m always trying to work as hard as I can, get as much out of the rep,” Henry said. “I like my work to show. . . . Trying to be a great example for myself, and the younger guys.”
Henry said he thinks he and new Ravens head coach Jesse Minter are on the same page about the importance of hard work.
“Excited to be here, excited to put in the work,” Henry said. “Get the work in so we can get the results we want.”
The Ravens have signed all of their 2026 draft picks.
Second-rounder Zion Young became the final member of the group to sign on Tuesday. The edge rusher signed a four-year deal with the team.
Young had 42 tackles, 16.5 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks, and two forced fumbles for Missouri last season. It was his second season at the school after opening his college time with two seasons at Michigan State.
Trey Hendrickson became the big addition to the Ravens’ edge rusher group after the team pulled out of the Maxx Crosby trade. Young joins Tavius Robinson, Mike Green, and Adisa Isaac as options to join him in the lineup.
Running back Derrick Henry down on the ground holding his knee is just about the last thing that the Ravens want to see at an OTA practice, but they got a glimpse of it on Tuesday.
Henry stayed down for a bit after banging knees with a teammate during drills. He eventually got up and got more work in 11-on-11 drills before giving himself a clean bill of health while speaking to reporters.
“I laid on the ground a little bit. The ground felt like a bed for a little while,” Henry said, via the team’s website. “And I saw you all looked hot and bored, so I was like, ‘I’ve got to give them something to tweet and write.’”
Henry’s on the money about the attention paid to star players going down in practice and the Ravens hope that eyeballs will be on Henry for more positive reasons the rest of the way.
