Broncos

Broncos OLB Nik Bonitto is the leading producer in one of the league’s best pass-rushing groups. Denver RT Mike McGlinchey and OLB Jonathan Cooper spoke on his first step and instincts that allow Bonitto to be among the game’s elite. 

“I’ll tell you right now the guy across the locker room [Bonitto] has one of the best [first steps] I’ve ever seen, and then he has elite quickness after it. He’s speed-to-speed; that’s rare,” McGlinchey said, via ESPN’s Jeff Legwold.

“He’s awesome, I think he’s the best pass rusher,” Cooper said. “… His instincts are off the charts, his get-off … he’s smart out there, his instincts, the way he’s able to constantly rush. I’ve said, you think his rush is over, but it’s not, it’s a spin back, a counter back, and with his speed, he’s super gifted, super athletic.”

Bonitto went into detail on how he can use a multitude of factors to get an advantage in timing the snap. He also talked about the friendly competition in the position group to be the fastest off the ball. 

“I feel like it’s an accumulation of all things,” Bonitto said. “It’s being better at how you study the cadence of the teams that you’re playing, understanding the play clock and being more comfortable in who you are as a player to take some of those chances sometimes.”

“I always work on the things physically in getting out [after the snap] and being explosive. But I always feel like it’s more study and refine to make those improvements. … And then in this group, everybody works, everybody gets out quick [after the snap] — you don’t want to be the last guy there. But physically there is quickness and all of that, but the real differences are studying and knowing when to take that chance.”

Chiefs

Jets RB Breece Hall was a frequently talked about trade target for Kansas City. Chiefs owner Clark Hunt admitted that he was intrigued to see who GM Brett Veach would potentially add during the deadline.

“If he feels like we have a need, he’s not shy about going out and addressing it,” Hunt said, via ESPN. “I think that’ll be true again this year.”

Jets HC Aaron Glenn was very reluctant to part ways with Hall this year, however.

“I think I’ve said this a million times over and over: Breece was not a guy I wanted to get rid of,” Glenn said. “I mean, he’s a damn good player.”

Despite sitting at 5-4 and third in the division, Chiefs DL Chris Jones didn’t believe that the team needed to make any drastic changes.

“I don’t think we need to make any drastic changes, and I feel like we have the guys to do it,” Jones said. “There’s still room for improvement. If we plan on winning, especially the front four, we’ve got to affect the quarterback. We’ve got to. It makes it easier for the [entire] defense. We’ve got to take advantage of one-on-one [matchups]. When we get a single block, you’ve got to win. That’s huge going forward. We’ve got to emphasize on winning our one-on-ones.”

Raiders

With the Raiders’ hiring of Pete Carroll this past offseason, every head coach in the AFC West has at least one Super Bowl appearance in their career. Carroll talked about the influence his peers’ success has on him and went into the challenges of going against the other great coaches in the division. 

“Isn’t that something?” Carroll said, via ESPN’s Ryan McFadden. “If you’re going to be any good, you’ve got to beat the best teams. You have to beat them, and so if this division is loaded with that, then that’s what’s going to make us what we are. … I’ve got to get my act together.”

“Going against Andy and Sean and Jimmy, it couldn’t be any more challenging because these guys are terrific football coaches, and they’re going to have a complete team.”