AFC Notes: Broncos, Chargers, Chiefs

Broncos

Broncos QB Teddy Bridgewater didn’t do a great job at taking care of the ball during Sunday’s loss to the Raiders. HC Vic Fangio blamed game-script and falling behind as key reason’s why the Broncos turned the ball over.

“Teddy hasn’t been a turnover guy,” Fangio said, via Denver Post. “Part of that is when you’re falling behind and you’re throwing it a lot. That’s the risk you run. Once you become an unbalanced offense, the chance of throwing interceptions goes up. They went up in this game.” 

Bridgewater admits that he could’ve done a better job with ball security and keeping his team in a position to win the game.

“When you win, you point the finger at your teammates and when you lose, you point the thumb at yourself,” Bridgewater said. “Today was definitely one of those days where I point the thumb at myself. I take responsibility for the things that went wrong, whether it was the turnovers or being better in many (other) areas.”

• Fangio expects Bridgewater to play on Thursday despite a foot injury that would have had him limited in practice. (Ryan O’Halloran)
• The Broncos brought in free-agent LB Pita Taumoepenu for a visit. Denver ended up signing him to the practice squad. (Aaron Wilson)

Chargers

• Chargers HC Brandon Staley said that the team is keeping it’s options open during the upcoming trade deadline. “We want to make sure that we’re exploring an avenue if there is one. And if there isn’t, that’s OK, too.” (Daniel Popper)

Chiefs

One of the changes the Chiefs made heading into Week 6 against Washington was replacing RT Lucas Niang with veteran Mike Remmers. Niang had a hamstring injury which contributed to the decision. Remmers has been exposed in the past but he held his own on Sunday. 

“I thought he did a good job,” Chiefs HC Andy Reid said via Arrowhead Pride’s Pete Sweeney. “He was solid in there. I thought he really held his own. That defensive line, I have a lot of respect for — there’s a lot of first-round picks on that defensive line. I thought for his first outing, he did a real nice job.”

Reid talked last week about expanding WR Josh Gordon‘s role, but the receiver saw his snaps increase from nine to just 11 in his second game in Kansas City. 

“Yeah, it just didn’t work out that way, but we’ll keep bringing him along,” said Reid. “I think he’s just starting to get comfortable with this whole thing. We had him in for a couple few plays. I don’t know what it totaled out, but he’ll be fine. We just keep working through everything.”