AFC Notes: Colts, Jaguars, Texans, Titans

Colts

• Colts DC Gus Bradley says third-round S Nick Cross is a great athlete but needs more confidence and will play based on the matchup, with veteran S Rodney McLeod providing a stronger communicator defensively against a team like the Chiefs. (Joel A. Erickson)

Jaguars

Jaguars veteran DE Dawuane Smoot, who has been around the organization during multiple regimes, believes they’re now “turning the corner to being something special.”

“It’s been all worth it, going through a rebuild each year,” Smoot said, via Jaguars.com. “Now, I feel like we’re finally starting to get it. We just started. It’s only three. We still have a long season to go. But I feel like we’re turning the corner to being something special.”

Texans

Texans veteran DE Jerry Hughes explained that they had too many issues with technique on defense and not playing disciplined which led to their loss to the Bears on Sunday. The Bears had a lot of success with the ground game and ran up 281 yards rushing. 

“Technique,” Hughes said, via TexansWire.com. “We’ve got to use our hands. We’ve got to be in our gaps. In this league you can’t arm tackle guys. Running backs are way too strong. They’re way too powerful.

“For us it’s just about being gap disciplined, knowing how we’re going to be attacked, pre-snap, getting a little bit of intel, and then just executing whatever Coach Lovie [Smith] calls, not worrying about the ins and outs or whatever little nuances that might be there on the field. Whatever Lovie calls, we’re going to go out there and execute it.”

Titans

Titans HC Mike Vrabel spoke about the team needing to make improvements at cornerback. In the meantime, GM Jon Robinson is still offering praise for CB Caleb Farley, who knows he hasn’t lived up to expectations yet.

“We have got to find some guys that can go out there, cover, challenge, and compete,” Vrabel said Sunday, via Turron Davenport of ESPN. “We’ll keep searching, and we’ve got some guys here that we will give another look to this week.”

“Extremely competitive, excellent size and speed for the position that he played,” Robinson said of Farley. “He was an easy guy to evaluate off of the film and really just checked every box for us.”

“You can only get better, work harder,” Farley said. “Continue to do what they ask you to do. It sucks. It’s embarrassing. There’s really no direct answer for it.”

• The Titans worked out DB Mike Brown, WR Rico Gafford and DB Mark Gilbert. (Aaron Wilson)