AFC Notes: Chargers, Chiefs, Raiders

Chargers

The Chargers’ run defense has allowed the most rushing yards in the league through five games and pass-rusher Joey Bosa says the team must be more physical and consistent.

“We have to be more physical on blocks,” Bosa said, via Daniel Popper of The Athletic. “I have to do a better job of getting blocks off of me. Just fitting the gap isn’t enough. I have to shed them and make some plays and be more effective when it comes to that.”

• Chargers elevated LB Breiden Fehoko and DL Cole Christiansen to their active roster. (NFLTR)

Chiefs

Chiefs’ QB Patrick Mahomes and HC Andy Reid both offered praise for WR Josh Gordon after his first game with the team. Reid says he is happy with the progress that Gordon has already made in Kansas City.

“It just shows he makes plays happen,” Mahomes said, via ChiefsWire.com. “It was kind of a broken play where I was scrambling out to the right and he’s such a big target, I could still see him, so I put it up there, having trust in him and he went up there and made a play. I thought he did a lot of good things. We came off the ball hard, he ran fast, did stuff, didn’t have any missed assignments or anything like that. Just continue to incorporate him in this offense and I think it’ll help everybody a ton. I think as he gets more accustomed to our offense and how we run it and how we do things. You’ll see him get utilized more and more over time. His skill set is something not a lot of people have in this world. To be that big, that fast, that strong so I think as you get more comfortable – and you see this in receivers all the time, when they start trusting that what they’re doing is the right thing, in that offense you’ll see him make more and more plays.”

“He did good,” Reid said of Gordon. “If we hadn’t gone into the hurry-up mode, he would’ve had more. I was thinking somewhere around 20 plays to get him in, and he got nine, but we also jumped into the hurry-up late in the third quarter, so it cut him off of some plays there. But I like the progress he’s making.”

• Chiefs elevated DE Demone Harris to their active roster.

Raiders

According to Albert Breer, there were “rampant” rumors in league circles this spring that the Raiders could be make scouting changes following the draft. However, GM Mike Mayock and his staff managed to survive.

Breer says that Mayock and staff are now fighting for their jobs and while there aren’t many major moves they can make during the season, they can at least improve the overall working relationship within the team and help interim HC Rich Bisaccia.

Breer fully expects the team to play hard for Bisaccia.

“It’s fine to say Mayock can hold down the fort,” a rival executive with knowledge of the Raiders’ inner workings tells Breer. “But the president is gone, the head coach is gone, maybe the GM, too. This is a great chance to reshape the franchise. I know Mark’s been thinking about how to do it. This is his shot to.”

Breer’s source specifically mentioned Washington’s total teardown and rebuilding the franchise around HC Ron Rivera and president Jason Wright as a model for the Raiders to consider.

• Gil Brandt of NFL.com believes that Raiders’ DL Clelin Ferrell could benefit from a change of scenery, as the former fourth-overall pick has only recorded sacks in four of his 30 NFL games so far.