AFC Notes: Broncos, Chargers, Chiefs, Raiders

Broncos

Broncos’ WR KJ Hamler says that the injury he sustained was nothing serious, yet it still bothered him anyway mentally.

“It was very light and very mild, but I didn’t want to take any chances on it and wanted to be fully prepared for camp and have no setbacks,” Hamler said, via Ryan O’Halloran of The Denver Post. “I’ve never had this nagging injury before so I’m just trying to see what I can do differently and be over-prepared and be more hydrated because when I come back to Denver, the altitude really affects me. Finding the sweet spot of how to train and figure how much I should be running and lifting. I figured out I need to do a track-based routine to get my legs right.”

Chargers

• The Athletic’s Daniel Popper reports RT Bryan Bulaga injured his right hand during practice.

Chiefs

Chiefs second-year LB Willie Gay is ripe with confidence heading into the 2021 season, likely attributed to having a full offseason where he has time to work with his teammates and coaches to dissect the playbook.

“Last year, I’ll be honest man. You have confidence as a player because you’ve been doing it your whole life, but when you can’t prepare like you normally do and you get a new playbook, your confidence level goes down a lot,” Gay said, via Nate Taylor of The Athletic. “Having OTAs and this good training camp and learning even more, it boosted my confidence a lot. Being able to understand the scheme enough to make plays, it really helps.”

• ESPN’s Adam Teicher reports WR Tyreek Hill has knee tendinitis and CB Charvarius Ward was poked in the eye.

Raiders

Raiders HC Jon Gruden called DE Clelin Ferrell a “unique” player given he can line up on either end, is a quality run defender and can pass rush on the interior. 

“Ferrell, he’s a good player,” Gruden said, via the team’s official Youtube. “He’s unique because he can play right end, he can play left end, he’s a good run defender. I think his best pass rush might be inside — and you saw that against the Jets when we allowed him to do that last year.”

Gruden added that Ferrell will have to compete for snaps with DE Carl Nassib.

“But certainly, he’s going to be competing, he and Carl Nassib, who had a really good spring. They’re going to have to earn their snaps, and if you know Cle, you know he will compete. And you probably should count on him being a big part of this.”

• According to NBC Sports’ Peter King, Gruden does not have a win-now mandate from ownership heading into 2021 and his job appears to be fairly safe. 
• King cannot say the same for Raiders GM Mike Mayock, however. 
• ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports Mayock has tested positive for COVID-19. Mayock, 62, is currently at home and says he feels “very good” while noting he has been vaccinated.