The Cincinnati Bengals will be looking to clinch the AFC North Sunday with a win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in what figures to be a very physical game. Ahead of that kickoff taking place, Bengals wide receiver Marvin Jones has even gone on record now to suggest that open wounds should be expected during the game.
“It’s going to be bloody on both sides,” Jones said Wednesday, via ESPN.com. “We expect that.”
Steelers safety Mike Mitchell was asked Thursday to comment on what Jones said and he made it clear that he thinks the Bengals will be the team needing the Band-Aids Sunday in Cincinnati.
“We won’t be the ones bleeding,” said Mitchell, who injured Jones after a catch in the Week 8 meeting between the two teams, according to Chris Bradford of the Beaver County Times.
One day after the Bengals beat the Steelers, Jones took exception to Mitchell’s actions following his hit on him and he went as far as to call the safety “fake tough.”
“When you turn on the film, you don’t see him hitting anybody when they’re going head up. That’s fake tough,” Jones said to ESPN. “It’s whatever. He hit me. I just got the wind knocked out of me, and it’s OK. It’s whatever. When guys get all hyped off minor stuff like that, hitting somebody that’s not even looking, that’s fake tough to me.”
Needless to say, Mitchell and Jones are sure to have words on the field Sunday and they’re not likely to be the only ones as several Steelers players are probably still upset with the way Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict reacted after he knocked running back Le’Veon Bell out for the remainder of season with a knee injury during the first half of the last meeting between the two teams.
The Bengals remain 3-point favorites over the Steelers in what figures to be an exciting AFC North matchup on Sunday. The training staffs for both teams might also be busier than usual judging by the way the war of words between the two teams is starting to heat up.
