AFC Links: Dareus, Ravens, Bortles, Raiders

Bills defensive tackle Marcell Dareus was placed on the active/non-football injury list yesterday, and today we have learned the reason: Dareus has yet to pass a conditioning test, per Mike Rodak of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Dareus has had a tumultuous offseason — he was arrested in both May and June, and could face an NFL suspension. His 2015 fifth-year option was exercised, but the pair of legal incidents, combined with a failure to stay in shape, could conceivably dissuade Buffalo from offering the 2011 third overall pick a contract extension. More from the AFC:

  • 2013 wasn’t as kind to the Ravens as was 2012, but Lardarius Webb is more optimistic about 2014.“Oh yeah, my team is going to bounce back,” Webb told Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun. “Last year wasn’t that bad. A lot of people want to say it was bad just because we didn’t make the playoffs. We don’t usually not make the playoffs…There were a few games that left us out of the playoffs. We just have to learn from it. We have some young guys, and we just have to keep growing up with all those guys. I like where we’re at and we just have to keep on going.”
  • Wilson’s colleague at the Sun, Jeff Zrebiec, previews the Ravens’ defensive line, and believes Baltimore will keep seven players at the position group.
  • In an interview with Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida-Times Union, Jaguars head coach Gus Bradley allows that rookie quarterback Blake Bortles has a chance to start a preseason game. “It would be late [in the preseason] if he did, and we’ll see how things go,” said Bradley. “We’re really excited about Chad [Henne] and what he’s going to do so we’ll see how it goes with him until that fourth preseason game.”
  • The Raiders want to implement a run-heavy offense in 2014, and Scott Bair of CSNBayArea.com previews an offensive line that will need to improve if Oakland is to succeed in that goal.
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