AFC Notes: Colts, Jaguars, Texans

Colts

Mike Derice, who was the Colts area scout before departing for a job with the Giants in recent months, explained what they liked about third-round TE Jelani Woods.

“(Woods) moves so much better from a receiving standpoint, just the way he bends and goes out of his routes and acceleration through his cuts,” Derice said, via 107.5 The Fan. “So you look at a guy with his size and his length, he’s just always open, no matter if he’s covered because he’s just so long. He has good hands, and he’s able to shield the ball with his body from a DB.

“That’s what makes him unique: that type of length is just hard to find with that type of speed.”

Woods is more of a physical tight end in terms of his blocking ability, which Derice thinks will help him at the next level.

“There’s some guys who are tight ends that aren’t known for their blocking, and their willingness to try is part (of that),” Derice says. “(Woods) gave effort all the time as a blocker, and it may not always have looked pretty, but he gave effort.

“Some of those long guys have a tough time playing with great knee-bend and great leverage to move guys, but he had that capability. It’s just that you want to be more consistent through contact. So I don’t anticipate he’ll have some growing pains in that regard. It won’t take that much to develop, it’s more teaching.”

Jaguars

• Michael DiRocco of ESPN says a poor camp would place former first-round LB K’Lavon Chaisson on the roster bubble, as he currently has two career sacks in 31 games.

Texans

Texans QB Davis Mills spoke about the importance of having OC Pep Hamilton as a mentor after being promoted from quarterbacks coach. 

“I mean, he’s just a great coach altogether,” Mills told Texans Wire during his Davis Mills Quarterback Challenge. “He’s been in the position and done it at a high level for a long time and been around some great quarterbacks and helped them become great quarterbacks. He played quarterback himself and will still come out and sling the ball around at practice to show us what needs to be done. He wants the best out of us and we push him as well to give us his best every day. We’re all pretty tight in the QB room and we’re excited to see what’s next this year.”

Mills also commented on the rookie group he came in with and how they have been adjusting to the coaching changes.

I think we’re a really tight class,” Mills added. “Obviously, we came in and we only had a five-man draft class. We went through a lot together and had to go through some tough experiences as rookies. I think the team has done a really great job and we’ve done a great job ourselves in trying to become the players we want to be.”