AFC Notes: Austin Ekeler, Brandon Staley, Tom Telesco, Broncos, Chargers, Raiders

Broncos

Broncos HC Sean Payton doesn’t expect TE Greg Dulcich‘s setback to prevent him from playing the rest of the season and he expects to see him at some point in the final three games.

“No, no, it didn’t,” Payton said, via Broncos Wire. “In fairness to the question — I usually don’t like talking about injuries, but I just want to make sure [you know] — this was unrelated to his hamstring. He just had some swelling and soreness in his foot. We took him off weight-bearing for a day or two. I’m anxious to see how he does this week. I expect him to play at some point in these final three weeks, but I don’t want you to think it was something that was going to preclude him from doing that. We’ll see where he’s at this week.”

Chargers

Chargers RB Austin Ekeler said the team was blindsided by the firings of former HC Brandon Staley and GM Tom Telesco.

“There’s anger, there’s confusion, but there’s also a sense of, ‘We gotta make sure we stay together,‘” Ekeler said, via Chargers Wire. “As a captain on the team, trying to keep people moving forward. The game was clearly terrible for us.”

Ekeler added that the team found out about the regime change via social media.

“As us players, we don’t know about any of this stuff,” Ekeler said. “They’re not calling us up like, ‘Hey, this is what happened.’ I’m finding out from Instagram and Twitter that Tom and Brandon had been let go. It’s something I’ve never had to deal with in any of my years playing football — where you actually get rid of a coach in the season.”

Ekeler added that Telesco was the main reason why he got a shot with the team due to him keeping him on the roster a few years back.

“It sucks,” Ekeler said. “Tom’s the reason I’m even here talking to you guys. Tom’s the guy that has the biggest part in setting that 90-man roster. He decided to put me on there No. 3, Austin Ekeler, back in the day a few years ago. My relationship with Tom, over the years, has been pretty tight because of that. He obviously believed in me again to bring me back for another contract. No one ever thought it would come down to what we’re going through right now.”

Ekeler touched on the uncertainty of his career beyond this season and said that it’s definitely not a guarantee that he’s back with the team next season.

“This is my last year of the contract here,” the seventh-year running back said. “I have no idea what’s going to happen with me because I still have three games left. It comes down to what’s the opportunity? I want to have the best opportunity for myself. Does that lie in football, or does that lie somewhere else? Because whatever I put myself in, I’m going to be all-in. It consumes me. I’m talking to my fiancee…do I lean into football? Do I lean into going post-career? It really comes down to what’s the situation? How does this look for us? Is it a one-year deal? Is it a two-year deal? What are we trying to do here? Is the money good? This is going to be real life for me. So these will be the conversations we will be having with GMs and putting it out there, but if we find a good situation, then absolutely coming back and tearing it up again.”

Raiders

• Raiders interim HC Antonio Pierce is optimistic both RB Josh Jacobs and LT Kolton Miller will be available against the Chiefs this week. (Vic Tafur)