AFC Notes: Colts, Jaguars, Titans

Colts

Colts HC Shane Steichen said that the team will have a detailed plan on offense, but added that he plans on trusting his instincts more often than not.

“Obviously, we’re going to have a detailed plan on how we want to get things done,” Steichen said, via the Herald Bulletin. “I go with my gut feeling on a lot of things. I’m a gut-feeling guy, especially on game day. I’ll have a gut feeling on when to do certain things as a play caller, all of those different things. Again, we’re going to be aggressive and all those different things.”

Steichen added that the team will build their scheme around their personnel and won’t try to fit a square peg in a round hole.

“The offense is going to be dictated on who’s playing quarterback,” he said. “That’s how you build the system. What does he do well? What is their strength? But not only the quarterback. It’s the (other) players, too. What does (Michael) Pittman Jr. run well, receiver wise? The tight ends, the backs, Jonathan Taylor, the offensive line, what do they do well? We want to do a hell of a job of trying to put our guys in position to make plays.”

Colts owner Jim Irsay said that because the team needed to find a young quarterback, combined with Steichen’s history of developing that position well, made him a great fit for the team.

“I think what we learned in the end was that we just felt that Shane had a lot of that offensive magic, which is hard to find in this league,” Irsay said. “Offense, in my mind, can be a little more complex and takes a longer time to develop. Knowing that we’re going to have to find a young quarterback to develop, that’s a key factor.”

Steichen said the offensive identity will revolve around their aggressiveness, even though how they attack defenses will look different on a week to week basis.

“We’re going to throw to score points and run to win,” he said. “Now that can look different each week. Sometimes I’ve went into games saying we’re going to throw it a bunch and then we end up running it 45 times. Flow is going to dictate that. I know we have some pieces in place to get that done, and we should be ready to roll.”

Jaguars

• SI.com’s John Shipley predicts the Jaguars will end up re-signing TE Evan Engram to a three-year, $40 million deal that includes $27.5 million in guaranteed money. They might need to use the franchise tag to extend the negotiating window but Shipley believes a deal ultimately gets done. 
• Shipley notes the Jaguars would love to keep RT Jawaan Taylor but it’s entirely possible he gets offers in free agency in the neighborhood of $15 million a year, and it will be tough for Jacksonville to do better than $10 million or so with the presence of former second-round OT Walker Little as a replacement. 
• Shipley is optimistic about the Jaguars’ chances of re-signing DE Arden Key after he played well and was a good fit in the defensive system in 2022. Something like two years and $16.5 million could be enough to get Key to turn down free agency. 
• He also thinks DL Dawuane Smoot could be re-signed on a two-year deal with a low 2023 salary as he recovers from a torn Achilles. 
• The Jaguars will have to make some cuts and Shipley says CB Shaquill Griffin is the most likely. He adds one of either WR Jamal Agnew or DL Roy Robertson-Harris will likely have to be cut, and he thinks Jacksonville’s depth on the defensive line and Agnew’s skill as a returner tip the scales toward Robertson-Harris, even though he played well down the stretch in 2022. 
• Shipley notes restructures for LT Cam Robinson, WR Christian Kirk, WR Zay Jones, DT Folorunso Fatukasi and S Rayshawn Jenkins could give the Jaguars a good amount of cap space to work with at the expense of tying the team to each player for two more years.  
• The Jaguars announced they have hired Florida International OL coach Greg Austin as an offensive quality control coach. 

Titans

Before he took an assistant job with Tennessee this past year, Titans OC Tim Kelly was also the play-caller for the Texans during QB Davis Mills‘ rookie season. Mills talked back in August about the difference in Kelly’s system vs former Texans OC Pep Hamilton who held the job this past year. 

“[Tim Kelly’s offense is] completely quarterback-driven pre-snap and the big focus from Pep when he stepped in this role was he wants to take as much off the quarterback as he can so we can play fast,” Mills said via USA Today’s Mark Lane. “Obviously, we have a lot of control in making sure we’re in the correct protection and the correct mike point, basically confirming or changing anything, but the center does the initial point and making the initial calls. So, that takes a lot off my plate, especially in the run game. We can go out there and play fast when the center is pointing it.”