AFC Notes: Colts, Texans, Titans, Malik Willis

Colts

• NOLA.com’s Jeff Duncan notes the Colts previously made a back-channel attempt to get former Saints HC Sean Payton in 2016 and could be a candidate to land him this offseason. 
• Duncan points out the Colts are in decent cap and roster shape and will have a high pick to potentially draft a quarterback of the future. But it’s not clear if Payton would want to work for owner Jim Irsay. 
• He adds it would not be surprising to see Payton sit out another season if he doesn’t like his options this offseason, even though he wants to coach again. 
• Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer also expects the Colts to get some buzz as a potential landing spot for Michigan HC Jim Harbaugh if he’s interested in returning to the NFL. 

Texans

Texans QB Davis Mills spoke highly of the job G A.J. Cann has done for them this year. 

“A.J. has been extremely consistent all year, securing the inside of the offensive line and being a really good leader out there,” Mills said. via TexansWire.com. “He’s a veteran in this league, and we know he’s going to do the right thing.”

“He’s been winning his one-on-one matchups. This past Sunday, he played extremely well. I think he had one of the highest grades on the offense throughout the game. We’re excited.”

Titans

Titans HC Mike Vrabel wants third-round QB Malik Willis to show more comfort as a passer and go through his progressions more effectively. 

“I think just overall just comfort level, being quicker with progression, not holding in, not waiting things out,” Vrabel said, via NFL.com. “Knowing that you don’t have all day. Being good operationally. I thought he made some good decisions, some really good decisions to pull, when to give it, extend. I thought when he was decisive, he was able to get to some guys. Unfortunately, Chig (Chigoziem Okonkwo) put the one on the ground and dropped it, but he got to (Robert Woods) and he got to Nick (Westbrook-Ikhine) on third and long and he was able to get to Woods in his zone. So, there were some things there that were good, but obviously just want to continue to progress.”

Vrabel thinks that Willis had a strong week leading up to Saturday’s game.

“I thought it was good last week,” Vrabel said. “I thought he was into it. I thought he controlled the operation in practice and everything else that we were doing and in meetings and on the field and then ultimately up into the game. The leadership and everything that’s, you know, whether it’s Malik or anybody else, we’ve always tried to say that there’s no restrictions on leadership. We just ask everybody to know what to do and go out and play a certain way and prepare a certain way. When you do that, you’re more than welcome to lead anybody you want.”

All of these comments were before Willis was benched for Thursday night’s game against the Cowboys