AFC Notes: Colts, Jaguars, Texans

Colts

• In addition to interviewing with the Bears, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer mentions Colts DB coach Jonathan Gannon is a potential defensive coordinator candidate with the Falcons, the Eagles if they hire Josh McDaniels, or with the Chargers under new HC Brandon Staley.
• Colts QB coach Marcus Brady is a candidate to join the Texans as offensive coordinator if Houston hires Bills DC Leslie Frazier, per Breer.

Jaguars

As new Jaguars HC Urban Meyer navigates the leap from college to the NFL, one of the questions will be how he navigates the talent parity in the NFL compared to college. There’s a decent chance Meyer loses more games in his first year with Jacksonville than he did his entire tenure at Ohio State. Dealing with that will be a challenge but Meyer is leaning on former Cowboys HOF HC Jimmy Johnson, who made a similar leap from Miami to Dallas. 

“Losing’s gonna be difficult for Urban. He knows that. But he’s got a better team with more draft picks than I had when I got to Dallas. He’s not gonna have to go through 1-15,” Johnson said via NBC Sports’ Peter King. “Through the draft, and through free agency, and with the cap money they have, I think he can turn it around fast. But he goes into it with his eyes open. He knows it’s different than college. But I think it’s a great hire for Jacksonville, and a great move for Urban. The opportunity is there, and just like anybody who has had the success in college that he’s had, it’s always in the back of your mind, ‘Can I meet that challenge in the NFL?’ That’s what’s driving him now. For a competitor like him, with the resources Jacksonville has, it’s a fantastic opportunity.”

• ESPN’s Field Yates reports former Ohio State assistant Anthony Schlegel will leave his radio role and join Meyer’s Jaguars staff as the strength and conditioning coach. 
• Former Ohio State assistant athletic director Ryan Stamper will join the Jaguars as the director of player assessment. (Albert Breer)
• Jaguars interim GM Trent Baalke remains in the running to take over as the full-time general manager. Breer notes he has the support of Jaguars co-owner Tony Khan and Meyer is doing his research on him before signing off. 
• He adds if the Jaguars hire former Falcons interim HC Raheem Morris as defensive coordinator, he could bring former Chiefs DC Bob Sutton with him as a part of the new staff. 
• Breer mentions former Chargers HC Anthony Lynn is another candidate to join the Jaguars staff as an offensive coordinator. 

Texans

• NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport says teams have started calling the Texans about QB Deshaun Watson to see if he’s available. Rapoport notes no one inside the Texans organization has said they would trade Watson, nor has Watson requested a trade yet. 
• However, Rapoport says the Jets, Dolphins and Panthers are teams who would seem to have both the need and draft capital to potentially pull off a deal if Watson becomes available. 
• On ESPN’s Get Up, Adam Schefter says it’s still early with Watson and the Texans, and the team’s hire at head coach will be a factor in how things unfold, but Watson is currently not returning calls from the organization due to his discontent with their decisions. 
• Schefter points out that Watson has unique leverage with his no-trade clause to essentially choose his destination in a deal should he decide to withhold his services. It’s leverage that’s common with NBA stars, not so much in the NFL. 
• ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky said from talking with people he knows connected to the Texans that the situation behind the scenes, “is worse than what’s being reported. It’s worse than what can be said on television.” (Get Up)
• Bills DC Leslie Frazier is seen as a real candidate to land the Texans head coaching job and he could bring Colts QB coach Marcus Brady with him as offensive coordinator. (Albert Breer)