AFC Notes: Davante Adams, Travis Kelce, Broncos, Chiefs, Raiders

Broncos

Broncos S P.J. Locke‘s role increased beyond special teams last season for the first time in his four-year career. Locke will compete to replace S Justin Simmons in the starting lineup, and Locke noted how much HC Sean Payton has helped him to this point. 

“I have the utmost respect for Coach Payton. We had plenty of talks about just my journey getting to the NFL,” Locke said, via Jon Heath of the Broncos Wire. “He can [talk] too and he has a story for everything. Everything I say he has a story behind it. He just gave me some confidence that he has confidence in me. That goes a long way with me. When a coach has confidence in me, it’s gives me a boost of energy and confidence in myself. When I play confident, I’m dangerous.

Chiefs

Chiefs TE Travis Kelce admitted that the 2023 season and subsequent championship took a toll on his body. As a result, he has spent the offseason preparing himself and his body for yet another long NFL season. 

“Last year was pretty taxing on my body,” Kelce said, via Adam Teicher of ESPN.com. “I’ve had more snaps than a lot of guys if not everybody in the NFL over the past five, six years, and I’m very prideful of that, but I know it has taken a toll on my body. So it’s just making sure that my body’s getting that rest and that ability to train harder and be able to withstand an entire 17-to-20-game season.”

Raiders

Raiders WR Davante Adams has a fresh outlook on the upcoming season after experiencing a disappointing 2023.

“I don’t live my life in the mindset of ‘things may get bad,‘” Adams said, via The Athletic. “I like to think it’s a fresh slate. I’ve got a whole new mentality. I didn’t come into last year in a bad place; it was just kind of the way the cookie crumbled. You saw raw emotion. That was just a genuine look at what we were going through. … I’m in a really good place right now.”

Adams added that he believes the team made the right decision by removing the interim tag from HC Antonio Pierce.

“When you have a player’s coach the way he is, he’s understanding and he’s very realistic, but he also upholds and maintains the standard of ball that he believes in and that we all believe in,” Adams said. “It’s really easy to follow a guy that understands the big picture and has the same common mindset that we have as players. It’s easy to get behind that.”

Adams will reunite with former Packers OC Luke Getsy, who is taking over the team’s offense this year.

“It feels a little bit more like the Green Bay years because I’m back in that offense with Luke now,” Adams said. “I’ve retained basically like 85 percent of this offense from when I played back in it in ’21. Having that familiarity just helps and relaxes you a little bit.”

Adams said he’s getting reps with both QBs Aidan O’Connell and Gardner Minshew. He added that he’s getting more experience with O’Connell as he’s been the primary starter in camp thus far.

“We get enough reps with both guys,” Adams said. “We’re all communicating. … Aidan’s running with the ones right now, but guys are getting enough opportunities to where they’ll get a solid evaluation. I’m definitely watching at all times and seeing everything and learning how the ball comes out with Gardner versus Aidan. … Obviously, (I’m) not having as many reps with Gardner, but it’s the conversation that we have (that matters). That’s kind of how Aaron (Rodgers) and I used to work. It wasn’t just about the reps we had in practice, but it was about the communication, the film that we watched together and just going off of timing and different things like that that are equally as important as getting those on-the-field reps.”