Colts
Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero reported that Colts GM Chris Ballard and President Pete Ward both tried to talk owner Jim Irsay out of hiring Jeff Saturday as the team’s interim head coach over other qualified coaches who were already on the staff.
“Here’s the deal: I’m completely comfortable in who I am as a man,” Saturday told NFL.com. “I know I can lead men. I know I know the game of football, and I’m passionate about it. I have no fear about whether are you as qualified as somebody else. Bro, I spent 14 years in a locker room. I went to the playoffs 12 times. I’ve got five dudes in the Hall of Fame that played with me. You don’t think I’ve seen greatness? You don’t think I’ve seen how people prepare? How do they coach? How are they GM? How do they work? I’ve won (one Super Bowl), and been to two. Here’s the deal: None of us are promised a good job. I may be terrible at this, and after eight games, I’ll say, ‘God bless you. I am no good.’ I could be really good at it. I got no idea. But I dang sure won’t back down.”
- Rapoport and Pelissero also confirmed they offered QB coach Scott Milanovich the play-calling job without any adjustments to his existing contract and were turned down.
- Beyond criticisms over Saturday leapfrogging other candidates with more experience, including minority candidates, other executives pointed out to CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones that Irsay’s heavy-handedness will have other ramifications: “I wish they realized they are watering down the attractiveness of that job which they will face in eight weeks when there are other openings.”
- Another Black executive vented to Jones: “[Irsay] just said in front of the whole nation he got him because he doesn’t have experience. These people have us chasing our tails for what they’re looking for. With those programs, I’m done with all that shit. Pick somebody else.”
Texans
Texans OC Pep Hamilton believes that offensively, the team needs to do more to get their skilled players involved in games.
“I think just from our standpoint as a coaching staff, we have to understand that over the course of the game there is going to be adjustments made,” Hamilton said, via TexansWire.com. “There’s going to come a time in the game where you have to give your elite playmakers a chance to go out there and make plays in those critical situations, and that’s the nature of the National Football League. You watch games from week to week and there are a lot of different ways to win games, but it all starts with the playmakers. So, we’ve got to give those guys a chance to go out there and make plays for four quarters.”
- Texans HC Lovie Smith doesn’t feel it’s time to make a change at quarterback, but said of the performance from QB Davis Mills: “It wasn’t good enough.” (DJ Bien-Aime)
Titans
- The Titans ruled out CB Elijah Molden with a groin injury in his first game back from injured reserve. (Turron Davenport)
- Titans RB Derrick Henry on going into the injury tent: “I had to go to the bathroom.” (Paul Kuharsky)
Looking for the latest NFL Insider News & Rumors?
Be sure to follow NFL Trade Rumors on TWITTER and FACEBOOK for breaking NFL News and Rumors for all 32 teams!
