CINCINNATI (WKRC) — Bengals running back Chase Brown used Cincinnati’s bye week to step away from football, recharge and spend time with his young son before the team begins a pivotal stretch of AFC North games.

Brown said the break offered a rare chance during the season to be fully present with his family.

“It was a nice week to just reset,” Brown said. “I got to spend a ton of time with my son.”

Brown said his son is currently fascinated by riding his small bike over curbs and obstacles, making the week away from the facility far from inactive.

“He’s good clay,” Brown said, borrowing a phrase once used by a special teams coach. “He’s pretty athletic, and his coordination is ahead of schedule.”

The third-year running back said he largely disconnected from team group chats and football during the break, with one exception: watching his brother play for Atlanta. Brown said he did not watch another NFL game that Sunday.

Now, the Bengals are back to work as they prepare for an important division matchup at Baltimore. Cincinnati enters the week at 3-2, while the Ravens, Steelers and Browns are each 4-2.

“With where everybody’s record is at right now, every divisional game is going to have a lot of weight to it,” Brown said. “It’s going to be super scrappy, and you know it’s going to come down to probably the last five minutes to four minutes.”

Brown said Baltimore’s veteran defense will again challenge Cincinnati with its communication, personnel continuity and changing pre-snap looks.

“They’re probably going to present us with a bunch of different looks,” Brown said. “They always do some crazy stuff that’s going to challenge our protection.”

Brown has been heavily involved in recent games against Baltimore, recording at least 15 touches in each of the past four matchups. His favorite memory came in Cincinnati’s Thanksgiving win over the Ravens last season, a game that followed a lengthy travel delay.

“Everybody eating turkey after the game is a lot of fun,” Brown said. “With that adversity and then going into a Thursday night game to win, it was huge.”

The Ravens now include former Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson. Brown said the league’s roster turnover makes those reunions more common, but that does not change the assignment.

“I have a ton of respect for Trey and his game and what he did for Cincinnati,” Brown said. “At the end of the day, he’s wearing a different jersey, so you’ve got to go out there and play.”