AFC Notes: Broncos, Chiefs, Raiders

“As a center, a lot of people expect the center to know everything,’’ Cushenberry said, via Mike Klis of 9News.com. “You have to be smart. You don’t get a pat on the back for being smart as a center. You’re supposed to do that. That’s what I try to do every night. I get home and the first thing I do is watch the film, study a little bit, and take a little time off. Before I go to sleep, same thing. It’s an every night process.”

Cushenberry adds that LG Dalton Risner and C/G Graham Glasgow are two of the most knowledgeable players he has been with on the offensive line.

“Of course, Graham. He knows a little about a lot,’’ Cushenberry said. “He knows everything. You ask him any questions, and he knows about it. Dalton and Graham are up there with me.”

Chiefs

Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy acknowledged that it will be difficult to replace Tyreek Hill but is confident that GM Brett Veach has done will to mitigate the loss at receiver. 

“If you’re in this business long enough, change is inevitable. It happens,” Bieniemy said, via the team’s official Youtube. “You can always replace the player but you can’t replace the person. Tyreek was loved. He’ll be missed. But now it’s time for us to make sure we’re developing the people that we have and getting them to do the things that we need. And I thought [G.M. Brett] Veach and his staff did a hell of a job of selecting the guys that we’ve brought in.”

Bieniemy thinks that additions of WRs Marquez Valdes-Scantling, J.J. Smith-Schuster, and second-round Skyy Moore will be beneficial for their offense. 

“I think these guys have embraced the process. They all bring something different to the table and that’s the unique part about it. I think there’s going to be a lot of diversity because everybody presents something different. So it’s going to be new, it’s going to be exciting. And like I said, it’s been fun. And you hear us out there — it’s a lot of fun because these guys are learning something new for the first time. And so that’s what’s exciting about it.”

Raiders

Raiders HC Josh McDaniels said he’s been looking forward to being a head coach in the NFL once again and thinks they’ve put together a strong coaching staff. 

“I’ve been looking forward to an opportunity like this for a couple years now and I’m so blessed to have the staff that we have and the group that we have working, and the support staff that we have around me,” said McDaniels, via Levi Edwards of the team’s official site. “They make my job easy. I’m just trying to keep us on schedule and on time and those kind of things, but I couldn’t say enough things about the staff here.”

McDaniels added that he cannot replicate Patriots HC Bill Belichick and wants to “be myself” as a head coach. 

“I’m not Bill [Belichick] and I can’t be. I’m just going to try to be myself and hopefully I can be a good leader for our team.”