AFC Notes: Colts, Travis Etienne, Jaguars, Texans

Colts

Colts DC Gus Bradley wants to get DE Kwity Paye comfortable with being a powerful pass-rusher this season.

“I think it’s just right now, that’s the big emphasis for us is the get-off and the disrupt up front,” Bradley said, via ColtsWire.com. “Kind of let him loose a little bit, all those guys up front. Obviously, it’s not chaos but just the mindset of getting off and setting the line of scrimmage. To affect the quarterback this day and age, you got to be able to affect the quarterback and it starts with a good get-off.”

“You see his skillset and his speed and overall athleticism,” Bradley added. “So, I think we’ll have a better judgment in training camp when we actually go team, full-speed but what he’s asked to do up to this point has been good.”

Jaguars

Jaguars RB Travis Etienne is entering his first true season in the NFL and has fielded questions about if the team will use him in a way similar to 49ers WR Deebo Samuel.

Jags OC Press Taylor and HC Doug Pederson have certainly seen what Etienne can showcase in practice this offseason.

“Whatever’s going to give us the best opportunity to put Travis in positions to succeed is what we’re going to do, whether that’s him as a receiver coming in the backfield or as a running back leaving the backfield to be a receiver,” Taylor said, via Michael DiRocco of ESPN. “Whatever that may be, I think that kind of evolves as the season goes, or week by week even, really. The speed’s real. I mean that was obviously something everybody knew coming out of college not having a chance to see a lot of the stuff he was able to do last year because he wasn’t able to play, so the speed’s very real. He did a good job of just showing understanding of the different roles we’re trying to see. We’re throwing him in all different positions just to see what he’s comfortable with, what he needs to work on as we move forward, and give him plans moving further into summer coming back for training camp. But he’s been really receptive to everything. He’s shown an ability to grasp a lot of different things and show that he’s capable of doing things.”

“I’m sure they plan on getting the ball in my hands,” Etienne said of being versatile like Samuel. “I feel like I’m a special player with the ball in my hands. I feel like I definitely have the [physical skills] to do that. I feel like, for me, the biggest thing I want to do is get out there in Week 1, tear it up, and just be myself again, honestly. However coach wants to use me, and I’m willing to do it. I just want to help the team win games.”

“Gosh, it’s just exciting to get him out here and get him on the grass this whole offseason and really work with him,” Pederson said. “He’s doing a great job handling a lot of information we’re throwing at the guys and putting him in different spots. [We’re] just seeing what he can do right now.”

Texans

Texans GM Nick Caserio isn’t buying the idea that the Browns could potentially recoup draft picks in the trade that sent QB Deshaun Watson to Cleveland.

“Any trade — forget about this particular one — any trade that takes place, so there’s a process that you have to go through,” Caserio said, via Pro Football Talk. “Teams agree on that and then once you agree on that, it gets submitted to the league. The transaction gets processed and it goes on file with the league. Unless there’s somebody that’s gonna go in there, you know, overnight in a mask and try to get on a computer, and may have a cyberattack like that, I’m not sure anything that can be done there. No different than a draft day trade. Even though it kind of happens more in real time. You have an agreement in place, OK, you contact the league. Or we have a trade, we have an agreement, send the paperwork along, and everybody goes on their merry way. Unless I’m missing something, or unless [you] call Goodell and ask him for interpretation and opinion, I would say that whatever trades have happened have happened in the past, and now we’re just focused on training camp and moving forward with the team.”