AFC Notes: Broncos, Chargers, Raiders

Broncos

• Broncos WR Jerry Jeudy (ankle) said he feels “ready to go” for Sunday’s game after missing time since Week 1: “Yeah, of course, especially just being on the sideline, not being able to compete with your team to go out there and try to win. So, yeah, it’s very frustrating. But now, I’m back in action. I’m ready to go.” (Troy Renck)
• Regarding Broncos QB Teddy Bridgewater saying it is “not time to panic, but almost,” Von Miller responded that he’s felt a sense of urgency since Week 4’s loss to the Ravens: “If you ask me, the Ravens game was the time to go. We’ve got a lot of different personalities and different styles of leadership. I wouldn’t necessarily call it panicking but it’s time to sound the alarm.” (Mike Klis)
• Miller reiterated that the sense of urgency is at an “all-time high” right now: “The sense of urgency has to be an all-time high. We can’t go out here and lose. However you want to shade it or however you want to lace it up so the pressure doesn’t seem real. But the pressure is real. And this is reality.” (Mike Klis)
• Miller added that the Broncos cannot lose too many more games if they want to make the playoffs: “We’ve lost 4 in a row after winning 3. We can’t lose too many more if we want to be the team we set out to be. If we want to win games later on in the postseason, the time is now. I love those guys but I don’t really agree with it. The time is now to win.” (Mike Klis)

• Broncos HC Vic Fangio said WR Jerry Jeudy looked good in his return to practice: “I thought he had a good practice (Tues). Ran around good. Looked good running routes. I was pleased with how he looked.” (Ryan O’Halloran)
• According to Troy Renck, the Broncos wanted to work out LB Todd Davis when LB Josey Jewell got injured, but the two sides couldn’t agree to a deal.

Chargers

Regarding the Patriots’ Week 8 game against the Chargers, TE Hunter Henry said he has “a lot of appreciation” for his former team. 

“They gave me an opportunity in this league, took a chance on me and drafted me,” Henry said, via CBS Boston. “I’ll always have a lot of appreciation for them. Who knows where I’d be. I’m very thankful for the memories and the people I ran into there.”

Henry called Sunday’s in Los Angeles a “bittersweet” experience for him. 

“My wife, my family, and community are from out there. That was the hardest part, the relationships we built there and just separating from those,” Henry said. “Organization-wise, I was very excited to come here and pumped to be a part of this organization. There were some hard times, but the excitement overshadowed that.”

As for playing with Patriots QB Mac Jones compared to Chargers QB Justin Herbert, Henry said “everybody is different” and is focused on continuing to build chemistry with Jones. 

“Everybody is different and it’s a different situation here than it was there. There is a continuance of growth, and that will continue to keep going,” Henry said.

Henry feels the offense “exploded” in its 54-13 win over the Jets in Week 7 despite only having two receptions for 23 yards and a touchdown. 

“We kind of exploded last week. We executed at a high level against a good defense that throws different looks at you and has a tough front,” Henry said. “We were really balanced, and that was a big thing that we were proud of. Our pass game and our run game complemented each other, so we have to continue that and continue to get better at that.”

• Chargers HC Brandon Staley said the team signed K Dustin Hopkins due to his “experience.” (Daniel Popper)

Raiders

• Raiders HC Mark Davis said that the organization reached a settlement with former HC Jon Gruden on the remaining six years of his 10-year contract. (Vic Tafur)
• Regarding the Raiders firing former president Marc Badain, chief financial officer Ed Villanueva, and controller Araxie Grant back in July, Davis explains that “accounting irregularities” was the reason for their dismissals.
• Davis explained the situation with Badain, Villanueva, and Grant: “I think it’s pretty much clear now, or I don’t know if it is clear now, but it was pretty much accounting irregularities. That’s why the CFO left, the controller left and the president left, that’s what it was. … I will say it wasn’t not paying enough taxes — we overpaid our taxes, that’s one of the good things about it.”
• Davis adds that Badain’s accounting irregularities may have begun while the organization was in Oakland and that his resignation “might be fairly characterized” as a forced exit.