AFC Notes: Colts, Jaguars, Texans

Colts

Colts QB Carson Wentz said he knows he doesn’t need to carry the team on his back.

“That’s something you try to do, you try to take that approach—I don’t need to do it all,” Wentz said, via Albert Breer of SI.com. “And I think human nature can sometimes get in the way of that. But I think Frank and really the rest of the offensive coaching staff, with what little work we’ve been able to do together, just really reinforced it. Throw to the open guy. First and second down, find a completion and move on. All that stuff. It’s been good.

Jaguars

Jaguars LB Joe Schobert said HC Urban Meyer is emphasizing staying in shape and working in the weight room.

“When Urban [Meyer] and the new coaching staff came in, everything’s about maximizing your value, using every single resource you have at hand available, using it as much as possible and taking advantage of the things you can take advantage of,” Schobert said, via Big Cat Country. “Like if your calf got kicked in practice, you can go in and get some ice on it, you can get guys working soft tissue work. Don’t be worried about being in the training room because the coaches are going to look down on it. They want you to take good care of your body. They want you to be better.”

Schobert also expects the team to be very successful very quickly.

“We take that to practice and the energy and the enthusiasm at practice has been one of the highest I’ve ever seen in spring. It’s been a lot of fun to just get out there and compete and follow what these coaches are laying down. Once we get to Sundays in the fall, I expect us to be in a lot of games, winning a lot of games and being successful.”

Texans

New secondary coach Greg Jackson is placing an emphasis on safeties Lonnie Johnson and Justin Reid creating turnovers.

“I think they’re good blitzers, [but] as far as safeties are concerned, that’s not an everyday thing for us,” Jackson said during his media press conference, via TexansWire. “We may do it every now and then, but I think those guys are better deep part of the field defenders and I think they’re better cover guys. They do blitz well, but we want to keep those guys on the back end of the field a lot more and have them go get the ball rather than blitzing the quarterback and making sacks.”

The Texans were one of the worst defensive units in 2020 and relied on exotic blitz schemes to generate pressure. In new DC Lovie Smith‘s Tampa 2 scheme, they will rely heavily upon the front-four to generate a pass rush.