AFC Notes: Chris Jones, Aidan O’Connell, Broncos, Chiefs, Raiders

Broncos

The Broncos have increased the workload for WR Marvin Mims over the last few weeks, using him on punt returns and in both phases of the offense. Denver HC Sean Payton regrets not getting him involved as much as possible earlier because of his explosive ability to make plays in space. 

“I think as a coach, I’m mad at myself that we didn’t begin looking at this earlier,” Payton said, via Jon Heath of the Broncos Wire. “He does such a good job running when you watch him return punts that that vision can carry over to certain runs in your offense and then certain things in the passing game. That third down-and-8 where he kind of leaked out of the backfield, they dropped the coverage, it was hard for them to find… It’s hard to figure out what direction he’s going. It’s allowed us to expand some packages with him.”

Chiefs

The Chiefs have been surviving by the margins this season despite the strong record, including an improbable win on a botched snap in Week 13. Kansas City DT Chris Jones will take the wins however they can get them regardless of how it gets done. 

“When you look at the playoffs, most games are close, down-to-the-wire type of games, so there’s a lot we can build from this as a team overall,” Jones said, via ESPN’s Adam Teicher. “We’re just going to keep on winning, keep on winning. You can learn a lot from winning. It is better to win than have a pretty loss. We’ll take an ugly win, build from it and continue to get better.”

Raiders

The Raiders lost in heartbreaking fashion in Week 13, after they botched a snap and lost a fumble after being in Chiefs territory with a chance to win the game. Las Vegas C Jackson Powers-Johnson took the blame for the mis-snap and admitted he lost his composure when he didn’t go after the fumble. 

“I thought he was calling for the snap, I snapped the ball,” Powers-Johnson said, via ESPN’s Paul Gutierrez. “I’ve got to be better in that situation. We’re about to beat a really great team, and those miscommunications can’t happen. So I’m going to take full responsibility, and I’m going to put that loss on me.”

“I thought they blew the play dead, so the fumble wouldn’t count. But I guess that wasn’t the case, and I kind of lost it and shouldn’t have lost it. I’ve got to keep my composure.”

Raiders QB Aidan O’Connell also owned up for the mistake and said his claps told Powers-Johnson to snap the ball. 

“I was looking out to my right to make sure guys were set, and I starting clapping to … get the ball,” O’Connell said. “When I start clapping, that tells Jackson, basically, ‘Snap the ball.'”

• Powers-Johnson was fined $8,856.32 for Unnecessary Roughness (late hit) in Week 12.