AFC Notes: Will Levis, Evan Engram, Jaguars, Texans, Titans

Jaguars

Jaguars TE Evan Engram has had back-to-back great seasons with Jacksonville including setting a franchise record for receptions in 2023. Despite the massive success, Engram wants to become more of a depth threat this season. 

“My role was underneath being the security blanket for Trevor [Lawrence] underneath and getting the ball in my hands fast, [yards after the catch], getting up field and moving the chains,” Engram said, via ESPN’s Michael DiRocco. “I’ve done that really well and I think the next level for me is to improve that intermediate, deep range.”

“Making more explosive plays, downfield, more touchdowns, being a bigger red zone target. Those are my goals. I think that can take it to a whole other level.”

Texans

Texans HC DeMeco Ryans is excited to enter his second year as the leader of the team and said that everything that happened last season no longer matters.

“The most exciting thing, what I love about the NFL is it doesn’t matter what happened last year,” Ryans said, via Around The NFL. “You get to hit reset. To start back from ground zero, I love that, going back to our Day 1 fundamentals, installs, and seeing guys truly grow and seeing how far we can get before the Hall of Fame Game, see our young players get better and compete against each other. That’s what I enjoy most. I still enjoy — and it comes back to the Senior Bowl — I still enjoy the growth and development of young players. That’s what gets me going. That’s why I enjoy coaching is to just have some type of imprint on those guys to help them to go and achieve whatever they want to achieve in their careers.”

Ryans said that the team’s additions last year helped turn around the culture virtually overnight. This year, the message to his team is that they were within reach and lost some of their guys by only one score.

“That football season, 2023, is one I’ll always remember,” he said. “It was a special one because we were able to do it with special people. Getting C.J. and getting Will (Anderson) and Tank (Dell), so many young guys who contributed to flipping that culture in such a short period of time. It doesn’t happen easy, it doesn’t happen quickly without the right people. I’m very excited to have those guys and to work with those guys and to have the year that we had. People talk about how exciting of a year it was, but I throw up a stat to our guys this offseason, like, ‘Look, I know we won some games, but guys, look, we had 10 games within one score, and these games were down to the wire and we had to find a way at the end.’ That doesn’t change. That’s the NFL. It’s about being smart, being confident in those crucial situations, like the last two minutes of a game. Can you go perform? Can you be clear-minded and go execute the details of your job to the highest level? That’s what it’ll come down to. So I just always remind them, like, ‘Hey, we didn’t just blow everybody out!’ Those games can go either way, and you have to continue to prepare that way coming into this new season. It’s not just going to happen again. You have to start back over at ground zero and work your way back up.”

Titans

Titans OC Nick Holz said second-year QB Will Levis has put a lot of emphasis on being mechanically sound.

“I’m not sure I’ve ever been around a guy who’s so in touch with all of his mechanical things,” Holz said, via Turron Davenport of ESPN.

Levis commented that he’s always looking to refine something in his game. 

“Quarterbacks are weirdos,” Levis said. “We’re always tweaking something, feeling like something might be off. The ball wasn’t coming out the way that I would’ve liked it to, and I just started looking at what could potentially be the cause of it.”

Titans HC Brian Callahan said they are putting a lot of focus on Levis keeping a strong base and getting the ball out quickly. 

“One of the big things we’ve emphasized with Will is his base, how important that is to playing quarterback,” Callahan said. “Being able to play on time, being able to get the ball out quickly.”