AFC Notes: Broncos, Nathaniel Hackett, Chiefs, Kadarius Toney, Raiders

Broncos

Sunday’s win against the Jaguars was desperately needed by the Broncos given how rough the first half of the season has gone for Denver. Afterward, Broncos HC Nathaniel Hackett acknowledged it was a relief to be heading into the bye week with a win and looking at a back stretch of the season that doesn’t have nearly as many prime-time games to magnify their growing pains with new QB Russell Wilson. 

“The amount of adversity that we’ve faced, I don’t care what anybody says, it’s more than anybody,” Hackett said via Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer. “Through injuries, through schedules, and that doesn’t even count the games. So I think just seeing everybody battle through it, the defense playing at a high level, they’ve all played together for a long time. We’ve got an offense that hasn’t played well, but they haven’t played together a lot. They haven’t played as a group, so you gotta learn those ins and outs.

“And I gotta learn how to call plays for Russ, I gotta learn how to call plays for all the players. And we’ve been in the spotlight, all those things. And listen, we’ve got so much more that we have to do, so much more we have to correct. And there’s so much more room for being better.”

Chiefs

Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy said that they want to make sure recently acquired WR Kadarius Toney has chemistry in their offense before fully integrating him into the system. 

“Kid’s a very good football player, but we just want to make sure that he can mix in with our guys because we have some good players that are doing a very good job,” Bieniemy said, via ProFootballTalk. “We want the chemistry to work. Obviously, we still got to get some timing up with Pat. But as far as a football player, the kid’s a heck of a player, the kid’s a very, very smart kid and we just want him to fit in our culture and basically understand what we do and then put him in position to have an opportunity to be his best.”

Bieniemy is hopeful that a change of scenery will be good for Toney. 

“Obviously, the kid is a very talented kid,” Bieniemy said. “For whatever reason, it didn’t work out in New York. Sometimes a change in address is good for a number of reasons. So, we’re hoping that a change of address is good for this kid.”

Raiders

One of the Raiders’ big-time additions this offseason was signing OLB Chandler Jones as a free agent. Unfortunately for Las Vegas, that signing has not exactly paid dividends yet, as Jones has just half a sack and a tackle for loss after being one of the NFL’s most prolific edge rushers over the past several years. 

“He has done a good job for us in the run game,” Raiders GM Dave Ziegler said via the Athletic’s Vic Tafur. “We wanted to bring in a player with some length that could set the edge, and he has done a good job of that. From the pass-rusher standpoint, he has had some games where he has had some disruptive rushes and affected the quarterback.

“The sack numbers haven’t been there and he would like to finish at the quarterback more. But he still garners a lot of attention and protections get slid his way, he is getting chipped and checked which opens up opportunities for other teammates. We need them to capitalize on those opportunities.”