AFC Notes: Browns, Chiefs, Raiders

Chiefs HC Andy Reid said they are working to put RBs Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Jerick McKinnon in “certain spots,” while RB Isiah Pacheco is currently more in a “learning experience.” 

“We know Clyde is good and [McKinnon] can play,” Reid said, via Adam Teicher of ESPN. “These guys, they’re all good, they’re all talented. [Running backs coach Greg Lewis] does a good job of trying to work them in certain spots. But it’s more of a learning experience with [Pacheco], and the more you see, the more you utilize him.”

Reid mentioned that Edwards-Helaire receiving his lowest snap counts of the season over the last three weeks was because his “numbers got skewed” due to three-and-out situations. 

“It’s a crazy thing because we don’t go in thinking that [Edwards-Helaire won’t play much]. But because of the way the series worked [against the Jaguars], short series here and he gets in for three plays and he’s out — we don’t have that many three-and-outs as an offense — and he happened to be in one of them. The numbers got skewed and it’s kind of what happened with Pacheco before that. We’re working through it and it’s not because of his ability.”

Reid said that Pacheco got an increased workload in Week 10 given he was playing well. 

“He was going [well], so we tried to get him into the flow,” Reid said. “He did a nice job with it. We’re lucky that we have three guys we feel that comfortable with putting them in.”

Raiders

Raiders TE Darren Waller doesn’t have concerns about QB Derek Carr placing blame on some players on the team for not buying in and as a result, having one of the worst records in the league.

“We know each other,” Waller said Thursday, via Adam Hill of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “We know how we’ve shown up, and we’ve been teammates for four years, so those kinds of things don’t affect our relationship. We just know that’s the way things go sometimes and nobody’s trying to take those things personally.”

“I get it,” Waller added. “When it comes down to a season where you’re not meeting expectations, and a dude has signed a shiny new contract and there are big expectations for him, it’s frustrating. People can throw me under the bus and blame me. It is what it is and how it’s going to be. I know how it goes, and I’m tough enough to handle it.”

• Raiders RB Josh Jacobs became the tenth player in NFL history with more than 850 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns in each of his first four seasons, with seven of the other nine players being enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.