AFC Notes: Broncos, Chiefs, Eric Bieniemy, Raiders

Broncos

Broncos CB Patrick Surtain said that he’s looking to build upon the positive aspects of his game that gained him all-rookie honors.

“The best thing that I can do is to be able to work on little bits and things — little pieces of my game or add little bits and pieces to my game,” Surtain said, via the team’s official website. “Also, work on things that you know you’re good at, but you know that you can improve on, too. Just that little bit of management for myself. That’s what I’ll be able to do.”

Surtain plans to put in some early film-work on the players within his division to help formulate a game plan to slow them down.

“You start on it early, before training camp, before we start on that phase of training camp,” Surtain said. “Just keeping an eye on them, keeping an eye on tendencies, looking at route concepts — all of that — and what they like to do. You can always get an eye on them early.”

Chiefs

Regarding a situation between former RB LeSean McCoy and Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy, HC Andy Reid said that Bieniemy has a straightforward approach with players and it rubbed off on McCoy the wrong way. 

“Sometimes it’s hard on a veteran player,” Reid said, via ProFootballTalk. “Maybe their performance level isn’t what it used to be, and it’s hard to take sometimes. But [Bieniemy is] going to push you to try to maximize what you’ve got. That’s one of his strengths. . . . He’ll come in and shoot you straight. Sometimes you want to hear it. Sometimes you don’t.”

Reid thinks that McCoy was “on the back side” of his career when he signed with Kansas City, which was difficult for the running back to accept. 

“I’m a big LeSean fan,” Reid said. “In my eyes, he’s a future Hall of Fame running back. If you look at it statistically, he’s tremendous. But he wasn’t the youngest pup in the kennel here. He was on the back side and sometimes that’s hard to take.”

Reid added that Bieniemy commands a lot of respect from their players and wasn’t alarmed by McCoy’s criticism of the offensive coordinator. 

“You see the love that the players have for him. He’s got all these guys standing up for him and saying positive things,” Reid said. “He’s a heck of a football coach and I’m disappointed that he hasn’t had a chance and optimistic that he’s going to have one in the future.”

Raiders

Raiders DE Maxx Crosby has already begun to develop a strong partnership with incoming pass-rusher LB Chandler Jones, who joined Las Vegas this offseason from Arizona.

“Chandler’s been incredible since [he] got here,” Crosby said, via Pro Football Talk. “He’s a great leader. I think he’s going into Year 11 now. He’s got over 100-plus sacks. So I’m constantly asking him questions. The cool thing about Chandler is he’s one of the most humble dudes I’ve met. He’s super humble about the things he’s done. He asks me stuff all the time and it throws me off because I look at his career and that’s something that I aspire to do. He’s been incredible since Day One and is definitely someone I look up to.”