AFC Notes: Colts, Anthony Richardson, Jaguars, Texans

Colts

Colts first-round QB Anthony Richardson is beginning to earn the respect of his teammates with his work ethic and his desire to be great. Colts DB Kenny Moore has taken notice of Richardson’s habits early on.

“He wants it,” Moore said, via ESPN. “And I think as a teammate, if you see another teammate who wants it — he wants to work hard and he wants to be consistent and he does it each day — you give him all the respect.”

Richardson said that due to his position he can’t afford to short-change himself when it comes to preparation and wants to make sure he’s at the top of his game constantly.

“My position, and the light that I’m in, I can’t do the bare minimum,” Richardson said. “The team would not allow that, I would not allow that for myself. I know the GM (Chris Ballard), coach (Shane Steichen) and the owner (Jim Irsay) definitely don’t want that from me. It’s just a matter of me putting the work in. I’m not just doing it for show. I actually want to learn this information, know this information for the team, because I don’t want to get thrown out there and I’m lost, and the team is like, ‘Why is this dude out there?’ I just want to make sure I’m on point with everything.”

Richardson immediately noticed the speed of the game after transitioning from rookie minicamp to practices that included the team’s veterans.

“It was way different from rookie minicamp,” he said. “I just see guys flying around. I pulled the ball [and ran] on a zone read one time, and the [defensive] end was chasing me. He was like right next to me. I’m like, ‘OK, this is different.’ It was definitely going fast.”

Richardson added every player in the NFL is physically gifted, but it’s the ones with a sharp mental side that are great players.

“God blessed me with that, and I’m thankful, but the game isn’t always physical,” he said. “Like I said earlier, we’re playing against pros. Those guys are physically gifted as well. Everybody is running 4.4s, 4.5s, 4.6s [40-yard dashes]. Just because I’m fast doesn’t mean I can just run around people, because they’re fast as well. I just want to get mentally better every day and go out there and play quarterback, and not just be a freak athlete that knows how to throw the ball far.”

Jaguars

Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence thinks having continuity on their coaching staff and roster is making things easier on him this offseason. 

“To have the same staff, to have a lot of the same players, to have that carry over, and the system, especially — this is the first time in a while I haven’t been learning a new offense,” Lawrence said, via the team’s Youtube. “So that feels good having that. Being able to focus on little parts of my game instead of just making sure I got the installs and I know the plan going into practice. Obviously, you look over that too, but not having that stress of learning the playbook, I can focus on my game and my mechanics.”

Texans

Texans S Jalen Pitre made a big impact during his rookie season but is planning on playing with more patience in his game during his second year.

“The biggest thing I would say is my patience,” Pitre said, via TexansWire.com. “I feel like I developed good patience throughout the year. It’s also one of those things that you could never perfect. So I’m trying to build on that and trying to just slow my eyes down, and that will allow me to play faster and make those plays that need to be made.”