AFC Notes: Broncos, Chiefs, Jaguars

Broncos

Broncos DL Dre’Mont Jones is growing more and more comfortable in the team’s defense.

“Everything feels different to me. From us being more in tune with the defense and knowing what’s going on and my alignments,” Jones said, via Denver 7. “I feel like I am lining up in different areas instead of just being one-dimensional. Kind of how it was last year when I was a three [technique]… I feel like I can go on both sides of a three-technique and play some wide five [at end], and I like it.”

Jones was able to produce pass rush from both the interior and from the edge during the team’s joint practices against the Cowboys. He hopes that what he’s putting together in practice will transfer over to the game.

“I can take a lot from [the practices]. The repetition, showing my ability to myself that I can win out here,” Jones said. “I am going onto the field and doing the things I need to do. I feel like if you don’t win on the field at practice then you are not going to win on the field in the game more times than not.”

• Broncos HC Nathaniel Hackett said WR KJ Hamler‘s return to the field went well: “We had to take him out, he was having such a great time. I think it was great for him to catch the ball, take a couple pops, and you want him to want to stay in in those situations … Very encouraging.” (Jeff Legwold)
• Mike Klis of 9News reports that Broncos executive Mac Freeman is leaving the team and his responsibilities will now be taken care of by recently hired team president Damani Leech.

Chiefs

Chiefs ST coordinator Dave Toub commented on WR Skyy Moore’s progress as a punt returner during his press conference on Monday.

“I think he’s building confidence every game,” Toub said, via ChiefsWire.com. “I really liked that second one where he went after it; it was a short kick. We had a right return call, but there was not a lot of blocking over there, but he still went up and caught it and saved us some yardage, and held onto the ball when he got hit. So, I mean, that was good to see. He’s getting a lot more confident with his catching and his ball reads, so we’ve got to keep working him. I tried to get him as many as I could in that last game.”

“If you fair catch it, obviously you can’t return it, so he was trying to steal it,” Toub said of Moore’s recent performance. “He was trying to get something out of it. I like his courage right now; that’s a good thing to see. You want to have a returner who is willing to take chances. It’s a tough job. I tell our guys, ‘You’ve got quarterback, then you’ve got punt returner as far as the toughest jobs in the NFL.’ I think it’s hard. You have to have courage, and you have to have toughness. The ball reads and everything that goes along with it. You have to trust your teammates and that they’re going to block for you because you don’t get to see it a lot of times…Yeah, the decision-making is huge. That’s a big thing. In a regular season game, a fair catch, I would’ve been fine with that. He made a fair catch on the first one; that was fine. I like the fact that he tried to steal it. That was a good thing to see.”

Jaguars

Jaguars RB James Robinson is preparing to play in Week 1 as he returns from a costly injury in 2021, with HC Doug Pederson continuing to bring him along slowly.

“It has always been [my goal] since I got hurt. I mean, the timeline matched up so that was my goal to come back Week 1,” Robinson told John Shipley of SI.com. “I feel pretty good. I mean, obviously, we’re still taking stuff slow, got a little bit until the first game. So yeah, just doing what I can and doing what they’re letting me do, but I feel pretty good right now.”

“I don’t think you go full steam ahead. I think you gradually increase his reps. You don’t want to stress his body, but at the same time, he needs to get enough work where he’s possibly ready to go for Washington if that’s the case,” Pederson said about Robinson. “It’s kind of the expectation, the hope, that he can be there at that point, and if not, listen, it’s okay. We’re comfortable with the guys behind him, and we’ll go with what we have.”