AFC Notes: Doug Pederson, Will Levis, Jaguars, Texans, Titans

Jaguars

Jaguars HC Doug Pederson rebuffed the suggestion that he’s already lost the confidence of the players.

“I would know. I talk to those guys every day. I see them every day. And no, I have not lost the locker room,” Pederson said, via the team’s YouTube. “I think these guys have done everything I’ve asked. They continue to play and practice hard and battle. And it’s a good group — the right leaders in there. They know — they know what we need to do. They’re not making excuses for it. I’m not making excuses. We’ve just got to go do it.”

Pederson pointed out they started 3-7 in 2022 and bounced back to finish 9-8 and win the AFC South. 

“But, obviously, you’re going to go through some setbacks in this league and there’s going to be some times where — you’re going to come on some hard times. That’s just part of this game,” Pederson said. “I’ve been there before. I’ve done that before. And we’ve always battled back. I mean, even when we were 3-7 in ’22, we found a way to win a game, and win multiple games. And that’s all it takes.”

Pederson is still finding some positives in their recent losses. 

“I think, too, when you look at it, and if you really look at these games with a calm eye and study the tape and see — I mean, it’s, there’s mistakes, yeah, there’s mistakes. Are they critical at times? Yeah, they’re critical at times. But there’s a lot of good, as we talked about the other day. And that’s what we have to lean on and we have to just continue to work.”

Texans

• Texans QB C.J. Stroud thinks Stefon Diggs got a “bad rap” on the perception of him as a teammate and is enjoying playing alongside the veteran receiver, per DJ Bien-Aime. 
• Texans WR Tank Dell is expected to play Sunday barring a setback, per Will Kunkel.

Titans

Titans HC Brian Callahan said Will Levis will remain their starting quarterback over Mason Rudolph once he’s recovered from the shoulder injury he exited with in Week 4. 

“I appreciate Mason’s professionalism,” Callahan said, via Jill Jelnick. “I appreciate how prepared he was and how ready he was to go into the game, but Will is our starting quarterback. I said it last night, and I’ll reiterate it again. When he’s healthy, he’s starting. Hopefully he’s healthy for Indy, and we’re ready to roll, and he’s the starting quarterback, because it’s hard to play quarterback in the NFL as everybody knows. It does take some development. Guys make young player mistakes, and you see it all across the league right now. We’re going to find out everything about Will we can. He’s going to continue to grow and get better and play better. He needs to play better for us, and at the end of the day, I believe that he will. That’s where I am with that whole thing. There’s no controversy. There’s no second-guessing. That’s what’s happening. That’s as clear as I can state it.”

• According to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport, Levis (shoulder) is still being evaluated but his injury doesn’t appear to be “overly serious.”
• Rapoport reports the team is still trying to figure out when Levis will be 100 percent but he is expected to be the starter when healthy.