AFC Notes: Doug Pederson, DeMeco Ryans, Shane Steichen, Colts, Jaguars, Texans

Colts

Colts HC Shane Steichen says that his team played a different game than they are used to after putting up just ten points in a loss to the Falcons on Sunday.

“It wasn’t us,” Steichen said, per the team website. “It wasn’t us, you know what I mean? You don’t want to see it. You got to stop the bleeding and again, that starts with myself going forward. So, we got to get that corrected.”

Jaguars

The Jaguars continue to struggle across the board after a strong start to the season and it’s been hard for them to come up with solutions in recent weeks. 

Jaguars HC Doug Pederson challenged his team to show some pride and fight to get things corrected. 

“I can’t go out there and do it,” Pederson said, via JaguarsWire.com. “You know, [offensive coordinator] Press [Taylor] can’t do it. [Defensive coordinator] Mike Caldwell can’t do it. I mean the players at some point have to have enough pride to not turn … listen, they’re not trying to turn the ball over, but there has to be a sense of urgency to have the ball security to protect the football, and it’s not there right now.”

Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence has had his share of blame for the team’s performance, but Pederson stressed that the problems go beyond the quarterback. 

“You can’t pin this all on the quarterback, right?” Pederson said. “I mean, everybody else practiced. As a team, it wasn’t good. The sense of urgency wasn’t there, we didn’t execute very well on offense, the turnovers keep piling up, the run game, all that kind of stuff. It just affects the whole process. So, it’s not one guy, it’s the coaches, myself, the players, we’re all in this together.”

Texans

Texans RB Dameon Pierce has had a frustrating season compared to his rookie year but received a nice consolation prize in the loss against the Browns with a 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, drawing praise from HC DeMeco Ryans.

“Dameon gave us the spark we needed, he gave us the spark to get us back into the game,” Ryans said, via Aaron Wilson of Click2Houston.com. “Putting him back there at the kickoff return is something we explored throughout the week, and he did a really good job of practicing it. And, he showed up. He showed up and made a big-time play for us to spark our entire team. Proud of Dameon and what he was able to do for us today.”