AFC Notes: Broncos, Chargers, Travis Kelce, Chiefs, Raiders

Broncos

Broncos HC Nathaniel Hackett talked about his decision to give up play-calling and hand that part of the job to QB coach Klint Kubiak. While Denver scored a touchdown on their opening drive, they still only scored 16 points and ended up losing to the Raiders in overtime. 

“For me, I want to do whatever I can to help this team,” Hackett said via Pro Football Talk. “We’re so close, we continually talk about this over and over again. A couple plays here and there, and there’s a lot of different outcomes. I have to look at myself first, to see if there’s something that I can do to give some kind of spark to the offense. So I thought it would be good if I stepped away from that, let Klint get upstairs to be able to see it from a bird’s-eye view up in the box and see if that would help us. It allowed Justin [Outten] to be down on the sideline and be able to talk with Russell, talk with him about the runs. I thought that would help us, and I wanted to be sure I had that opportunity to give that to him.”

Chargers

• Chargers WR Mike Williams aggravated his high ankle sprain on Sunday, according to HC Brandon Staley. (Daniel Popper)
• On Monday, Staley added they think they avoided “a significant re-injury” but that they will “find out a lot more in the next couple days” as Williams works back into practice. (Popper)
• Chargers LB Kenneth Murray left Sunday night’s game with a neck stinger but is already feeling better. (Popper) 
• Staley mentioned they’re expecting to get RB Joshua Kelley back from injured reserve this week. (Popper)

Chiefs

There’s not much more to say about Chiefs TE Travis Kelce as he puts up great numbers week after week. His quarterback making the throws says Kelce deserves to be talked about as one of, if not the single, “greatest tight end of all time.”

“He just competes,” Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes said after Kelce caught the game-winning touchdown against the Chargers on Sunday Night Football — his third of the game and NFL-leading 11th of the season. “He’s gonna keep fighting until the very end. When you see that, not only is it impressive for him, but it gets other guys going. Like I said, he’s one of the best if not the best tight end of all time, but he’s coming to work every day to get better. So that shows you, whenever you step in the facility, you’re like, ‘Man, I’ve got to get to work, if this guy is doing that, I have to at least match that.’”

• Chiefs HC Andy Reid on bringing OT Lucas Niang back up to speed: “He’s made some nice progress over the last couple of weeks. I’m not telling you that he’d be the starter but I think he’s ready to get in probably the two deep.” (Matt Derrick)
• Reid said “it doesn’t look good” for RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire, who suffered a high-ankle sprain. Reid would not rule out injured reserve at this point in time. (Derrick)

Raiders

• According to Bleacher Report, former Raiders LB Blake Martinez opted to retire just two weeks after selling a rare Pokemon card for $672,000. His contract with the team for this season was worth $1.035 million in comparison.