AFC Notes: Colts, Jaguars, Texans

Colts

• Albert Breer of SI.com says while the trade for QB Carson Wentz now appears to be regrettable, the Colts will likely have to wait for other dominos to fall this offseason before making a decision on whether to keep, trade or outright release him.
• Zak Keefer of The Athletic goes through the reasons the Colts will keep Wentz around, including the need for stability and the chance to build more rapport over a full offseason with teammates like WR Michael Pittman and RB Jonathan Taylor.
• Keefer adds no matter who is at quarterback, the team needs to improve at both wide receiver and tight end. He also notes a lateral move at quarterback, which is about the best option that looks to be available, is not a guaranteed way to improve the team. 
• There are also several other teams in the market for a new quarterback this offseason, which could mean the Colts would have trouble landing a coveted quarterback.
• The Colts are hiring Richard Smith as their new linebackers coach. (Mike Chappell)

Jaguars

• PFN’s Aaron Wilson reports Jacksonville Jaguars have finalized a deal to hire former Bears OLB coach Bill Shuey to the same role.

Texans

While appearing on The Jim Rome Show, Texans GM Nick Caserio explained the process of promoting Lovie Smith from defensive coordinator to head coach and mentioned that his experience with the organization last season was a factor in their decision. 

“It’s a long, winding road,” said Caserio. “You don’t go directly from point A to point B. So, had the opportunity to talk to a lot of good coaches throughout the course of the league. I think the way the league sets up the processes for coaches and candidates, who you’re interviewing, who you don’t interview. Sometimes it gets a little jaded and a little misguided. But we talked to different coaches throughout the course of the process and Lovie was somebody that obviously having been here last year, having been in our building, certainly respect his viewpoint and opinion of our team.”

Caserio said that he sat down with Smith earlier in the offseason to go over the direction of the organization, which made it evident that he would be their choice. 

“So, as we worked through it, he was a good resource on a number of different topics. Had the opportunity to sit with him at different points and get his 50,000 feet view maybe of our team, where we were, some of the things that happened from a program standpoint.”

Caserio reiterated that signing Smith to be head coach made “the most sense” going forward.  

“So, a lot of this is taking a lot of information and processing information and arrived at an endpoint that we feel makes the most sense. And that’s really kind of where we ended up at the end with Lovie.”

• PFN’s Aaron Wilson reports the Texans hired Joe Danna as their new S coach. Danna has previously worked as an assistant with the Falcons, Dolphins, Jets, and Jaguars dating back to 2008.