AFC Notes: Colts, Jaguars, Texans, Titans

Colts

The top question for the Colts this season will now become whether they can fix QB Carson Wentz. But independent QB coach Jordan Palmer says the biggest issue they’ll need to solve, more than his mechanics or ability to read the field, is Wentz’s confidence. 

“The best should be in front of him,” Palmer said via the Athletic’s Zak Keefer. “But it’s not just the change of scenery that will do it.”

Palmer highlights the two different kinds of confidence: reactionary and self-generated. Reactionary is dependent on a player’s environment, which is great if things are going well, not so much when adversity hits. 

“Then, if everybody says you’re a bum, you start to believe that too,” Palmer said. “Doesn’t matter who it is. The locker room. Your wife. The media. Twitter. Whatever. You react to what you hear. And it can affect you on the field.”

Palmer says self-generated confidence, based on an internal belief in oneself, is much more important when it comes to the quarterback position. 

“You don’t need anything from the outside. Everybody can say you suck, and you don’t give a shit. It’s completely irrelevant to you,” he said. “I try and do that with my guys. I’ll give you Joe Burrow as an example. Everybody last year was saying he’s going to the Bengals, no talent around him, no offseason, no preseason games, he was going to struggle. He said, ‘I don’t care. They have me.’ It’s a total mindset. And you can train it. Carson might have had it, or lost it, I don’t know. But that doesn’t mean anything for what happens next.”

Jaguars

• Jacksonville.com’s John Reid notes the Jaguars are certainly in need of a tight end after they declining the team option on TE Tyler Eifert, as TE James O’Shaughnessy is also set to become a free agent this offseason. The team saved $5.25 million by declining the option.
• Jaguars HC Urban Meyer announced that the team had hired former Texans VP of Communications Amy Palcic as the head of their communications team. 

Texans

• ESPN’s Sarah Barshop thinks the $16.4 million franchise tag would be too steep for the Texans to use on WR Will Fuller. 
• The Texans moved on from assistant director of pro personnel C.J. Leak, area scout Ryan Cavanaugh and pro scout Steven Price on Tuesday. (Aaron Wilson)

Titans

• ESPN’s Turron Davenport predicts the Titans will place the franchise tag on TE Jonnu Smith. 
• According to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport, the Titans paid 2020 first-round OT Isaiah Wilson only $430,000 of his projected $610,000 base salary due to his late-season suspension.