AFC Notes: Broncos, Patriots, Raiders

Broncos

• Broncos OL Lloyd Cushenberry is set to get the bulk of the team’s reps at center during OTA’s. Broncos HC Nathaniel Hackett said that OL Quinn Meinerz and OL Graham Glasgow will also get reps this offseason at center. (Nick Kosmider)

Patriots

Patriots OLBs coach Steve Belichick said that second-year OLB Cameron McGrone hasn’t lost a step after missing all of last season as he recovered from an ACL injury he suffered during his college career. 

“It was exciting to have him on the field last year for those couple weeks before he reverted to IR or PUP,” Belichick said, via Zack Cox of NESN. “When he was practicing, it was really exciting to see him out there. One thing that I noticed is that all the other guys on the field had been playing football for months, and then he had been coming off of a year or whatever of not playing football, and he really didn’t look in any sort of way out of place on the field, which I thought was impressive.”

Patriots LB coach Jerod Mayo also had good things to say about McGrone.

“What I did see out there last year was a guy who could fly around, make a lot of plays in the run game and the passing game. We’ll have to see how it goes, but at the end of the day, we’re expecting him to help the [linebacker] room,” Mayo said via Mike Reiss of ESPN. “Cam did a great job staying engaged in the classroom when he couldn’t go on the field [last year]. This year, I would say he’s healthy, back out here running around, he looks good and he’s also picking up the defense. But it’s one thing to look good right now in shorts. We have to carry this into training camp and to the season.”

Raiders

When studying film of the Raiders’ offensive line, former OL coach Mike Tice said C Andre James must improve his footwork and have better technique. 

“Center is a problem. He just spreads his feet and he just hops around,” Tice said, via Ted Nguyen of The Athletic. “He needs really good technique if he’s going to be that small.”

As for RT Brandon Parker, Tice pointed out that the tackle misplaced his second step in pass protection against the Chargers when putting his back foot behind his front foot. 

“That’s called stacking and that’s not good,” Tice said. “What happens when you do that is you don’t have any space between your legs and you have to get yourself in balance before you could change directions, so it’s wasted movements. Jackie Slater did that and he’s in the Hall of Fame but he’s no Jackie Slater.”

Regarding OL Alex Leatherwood, Tice mentioned that his balance was off when blocking against Chargers DE Joey Bosa. 

“Right now, he’s turned toward the sideline and leans with his shoulders,” Tice said. “He needs to keep himself in balance. He’s a good athlete but he needs to play athletic. He just got himself out of whack there.”