AFC Notes: Broncos, Chargers, Titans

Broncos

Broncos RB Melvin Gordon would like to see Drew Lock play with more confidence going forward and believes the quarterback has the talent to be successful. 

“I just want to see Drew be more confident,” Gordon said, via Kevin Patra of Around the NFL. “I feel like he got the swagger to do what he needs to do. I feel like he got the talent to do what he needs to do. He’s just got to have that confidence in himself. I think right now he’s stuck with trying to, instead of just proving it to himself, he might be stuck trying to prove it to the fans and to the coaches and to all these coaches that, hey, I’m the guy. He’s been battling. It’s just like he hears the noise. We all like to say we’re ignoring it, but we hear it, we hear it. And he hears it. I think he’s just got to get over that, man. He got the swagger, he got the confidence, fearless out there, he’s not afraid to chance it and give a guy an opportunity.”

Gordon points out that Lock didn’t benefit from a veteran ahead of him on the depth chart during his first two years in the league, and thinks the competition with Teddy Bridgewater will “bring the best out of him.”

“I think another thing is, too, he didn’t have a guy like Philip Rivers or Tom Brady or someone in front of him to really learn from, to really like learn the game and really get it, so it’s kind of like him having to do it on his own,” Gordon said. “He’s just been kinda having to do it on his own, man. That’s another reason. I think them bringing Teddy here, giving him that competition, I think that’s really gonna bring the best out of him. I think we definitely gonna see another Drew, another side of him. I think we just gonna see more confidence. I can tell in meetings already that he’s taking on that… You can see it. You can see it, like just the way he talks. … You can tell the confidence.”

Gordon mentioned that he’s encouraged Lock to be louder in the locker room and to ‘fake it ’til you make it’.”

“Sometimes it’s ‘fake it ’til you make it.’ Sometimes you gotta fake it ’til you make it, man. I told him that before, too, in the locker room. I said, ‘Bro, if it’s not your strong suit to like just kinda be just loud,’ I said, ‘just fake it, bro. The guys are watching, bro. You gotta fake it, bro. And you fake it and eventually become who you are, but just fake it ’til you make it, bro.'”

Chargers

Chargers HC Brandon Staley said he wants their offense to be a “complete team” and believes the offensive line additions of C Corey Linsley, G Oday Aboushi, and G Matt Feiler will provide Los Angeles a “winning edge.” 

“We want to be a complete offense and we really want to be a complete team. And I think that’s what’s gonna allow Justin to be as good as he can be,” Staley said, via Kevin Patra of Around the NFL. “I think everybody knows how special he is, but I think what we wanted to be able to do is become a line-of-scrimmage team. Those guys that you mentioned in free agency, those guys have all played at a really high level up front in this league. And we feel like Corey Linsley and Justin kinda being able to run the show in the middle of our team, that’s gonna be a winning edge for us. But just becoming a more physical team. We drafted Rashawn, who we’re really, really excited about. And I think that that’s gonna allow our skills guys to really express themselves. You guys know, Keenan [Allen], Mike [Williams], Austin [Ekeler], Jared Cook. We’ve got a lot of weapons and it’s certainly gonna allow Justin to play at a high level.”

Titans

Titans’ HC Mike Vrabel commented on the situation involving rookie DE Rashad Weaver.

 “He has been attentive since he’s been here, has been a good teammate, and has taken to coaching. We understand the severity of the accusations against him, and we take them seriously. We are going to let the legal process play out,” he said via Jim Wyatt of the team website. 

Weaver’s legal issues had an added spotlight on them because of how epically 2020 first-round OT Isaiah Wilson flamed out of the NFL in the past year, but Vrabel defended the Titans’ evaluation process.

“Having talked to [general manager] Jon [Robinson] and having met with Jon as much as I have, his scouts and our coaches – we stand by the process of evaluating players,” Vrabel said via SI.com’s David Boclair. “There’s always going to be things that come up, and we’ll do our best to do everything we can to avoid those and then work through them when they happen.”

  • Titans’ rookie T Dillon Radunz says his main goal is to learn the playbook and all of the play calls: “The better you know the playbook, the faster you play. I’m learning the playbook, getting familiar with it. Speed and violence. If you don’t know them you can’t play fast.” (Turron Davenport)

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