AFC Notes: Broncos, Chargers, Chiefs, Raiders

Broncos

Game management has been a huge problem spot for Broncos HC Nathaniel Hackett in the first two games of his tenure. So after realizing he didn’t have the resources on his current coaching staff to handle it, he went outside the building to hire retired former Ravens coach Jerry Rosburg as a game management consultant. Hackett said it wasn’t an embarrassing decision to make. 

“No,” Hackett said via NBC Sports’ Peter King. “For me, I felt empowered that I was able to make a decision. Hey, let’s fix it. I’m the leader of the team. Let’s do it. This was the first time, the past two games, that I felt I was hurting my team. Did I have enough info? I don’t know. But I knew the setup wasn’t right. I needed help to make the tough decision.”

• Broncos DT D.J. Jones is in the concussion protocol following the Week 3 win against the 49ers. (Mike Klis)
• Broncos LB Baron Browning had to leave the game with an apparent knee injury but it was just a scare and he returned to play later. 

Chargers

Chargers HC Brandon Staley said his decision to leave QB Justin Herbert in the game down four touchdowns late in the fourth quarter was that Herbert wanted to finish the game with his teammates, despite playing through a painful rib injury.

“He wanted to be out there with his teammates,” Staley said via the Athletic’s Daniel Popper. “He felt good, and he wanted to finish the game. He wanted to give our group some energy. We were going to protect him there at the end with really sound protection the best we could. But it was more about him wanting to finish with his guys.”

“What wins out in the end is always the long term,” Staley added. “Always. And there was just that point where he wanted to make sure that he finished with his teammates. And until you’ve been in that position, it’s hard to explain. But it was important for us to do it.”

Chiefs

The Chiefs surprisingly lost to the Colts in Week 3 and while they are mixing in some new receivers to their offense, QB Patrick Mahomes says he doesn’t expect to have any growing pains. 

“I don’t expect any growing pains,” Mahomes said, via Adam Teicher of ESPN.com. “Obviously have new players and you don’t know everybody’s going to respond to tough situations. . . . We’ve got to gel all together. It starts with me. There were certain throws I was putting on guys’ back hips instead of in front of him. There were certain situations where we were just barely off of it.”

• Chiefs HC Andy Reid didn’t commit to keeping K Matt Ammendola for Week 4 after he missed a field goal and an extra point: “I can’t tell you that. Brett (Veach) is working through all of that right now.” (Adam Teicher)

Raiders

• Raiders HC Josh McDaniels revealed CB Nate Hobbs is currently in the concussion protocol. (Tashan Reed)
• Raiders WR Davante Adams said the team needs to start faster: “I am frustrated and angry. I expect more. It’s not easy to win in this league, we know that…but we expect more and we’ll do it better as we move forward…We can’t be flat early.” (Vic Tafur)