AFC Notes: Patriots, Raiders, Ravens

Patriots

• Albert Breer’s understanding regarding the Patriots’ decision to have OC Josh McDaniels in their notoriously small and private draft room is that it’s a new development and reflective of McDaniels taking a step forward within the organization.
• The Patriots have hired Patriots Joe Kim as a pass rush consultant coach. (Field Yates)

Raiders

• According to Albert Breer, Raiders QB Derek Carr is off to good start under new HC Jon Gruden.
• Breer says that Carr has “identified with Gruden’s passion for football and is enthusiastic about the pushing and prodding he’s gotten from his new coaches, including coordinator Greg Olson and position coach Brian Callahan.”
• In fact, the group believes that they’re working with a special talent in Carr.

Ravens

Ravens veteran OLB Terrell Suggs said that the decision to promote Don Martindale to defensive coordinator should help them get “back to the way we used to do things.”

“These young, hungry bulls [can] kind of get back to the way we used to do things and taking the shackles off of us, so to say. … Sometimes a player can be shackled by the rules that come with the defense, but I think Wink is just going to allow us to go make plays,” Suggs said, via the Baltimore Sun.