AFC Notes: Garett Bolles, Mark Davis, Broncos, Chiefs, Raiders

Broncos

After signing a four-year extension to remain in Denver, Broncos LT Garett Bolles talked about how important it is to him to remain with the organization for the rest of his career.

“It wasn’t easy,” Bolles said, via Susanna Weir of the team’s website. “I didn’t start off the way I wanted to start off here, but I get to finish how I want to finish. And just [to] get to be a Bronco for life, I’m just very grateful.”

• Broncos HC Sean Payton on Bolles after he signed a four-year extension: “The most important thing is he’s one of the best pass protectors in the league.” (Mike Klis)

Chiefs

Chiefs RB Kareem Hunt was ecstatic when he got the call to re-join Kansas City.

“It was more difficult just coming straight off the couch,” Hunt said, via The Athletic. “I love the game. I just love being out on the field. Whatever it (took) to win, I was willing to do that.”

Chiefs HC Andy Reid said that you have to make decisions in cohesion with the training staff and scouting departments to determine when a certain player is ready to join the fold.

“You have to listen to everybody, in particular the (player), and see where he’s at,” Reid said. “You get to know them in that period of time and make a judgment on it and go with it. It’s a sport where even the healthy guys and guys that have been with us from the beginning have a chance of getting hurt. We just make an evaluation with the different information.”

Chiefs CB Steven Nelson came out of retirement when he got the call to return to Kansas City. He said the time off that he got to spend with his family has left him rejuvenated.

“Just to be able to sit back and enjoy some time off with the family, at that moment it was really true,” Nelson said of his retirement. “I put a lot of time in this game. I guess it’s God’s plan.”

Nelson added that he’d stayed in shape before receiving the call from the team, just in case he wanted to give his career a final run.

“It’s one of the perfect scenarios, especially where this team has been,” Nelson said. “It’s a great opportunity. Right now, I’m just being open-minded. I’ve been at home for a while. I’m just coming in, putting my head down and working, like I’ve always done, and see where we go from there. I’m 10 years older, a lot wiser and a lot of things have changed. I think I just sat (in the Chiefs’ training facility Monday) and looked around like I was in my (rookie) year here. I was just kind of in awe.”

Raiders

Raiders owner Mark Davis isn’t happy with where the team is at heading into the final stretch of the season and will wait until the off-season to make a decision on HC Antonio Pierce‘s future.

“I’m very disappointed, obviously. I want to see progress,” Davis said, via The Athletic. “There’s no excuses. We have injuries and all of those things, but your team has to figure out how to get around those issues. The bottom line … is it comes down to me. And, if there’s going to be a finger pointed, it should be at me because, again, I’m the one who’s hiring the people who make the decisions on the field. There’s a misconception that I’m making a lot of decisions on the football field, but I continue to tell y’all that I don’t. I delegate to the people who I hire. I give them goals. And then I get out of the way and let them try to do it and let the results speak for themselves. At this point, obviously, we’re not happy, but you have to go through the season and then we’ll re-evaluate. Right now, I’m not in that position of evaluating anything going forward.”

While Davis hasn’t been as outspokenly confident in Pierce over the last few weeks, he did give him credit for the team continuing to play hard in a lost season.

“The one thing that this team has done is they’ve fought hard,” Davis said. “In every game, they’re fighting hard. That’s something that you don’t find all the time when things aren’t as good as you want them to be. That’s a positive, the way that this team has responded.”

Davis added that former Patriots and Bucs QB Tom Brady will have an undefined role with the team moving forward while he works as an analyst with Fox Sports but will have valued input in the direction of the team.

“When Tom was hired (as an analyst), I promised to Fox that we would not get in the way of Tom’s job and that he’s going to be one of the best announcers in the game,” Davis said. “Anything he does with the Raiders will be in the future, as far as that goes. Obviously, I talk to him all of the time and his input is greatly valued and will always be valued. We’ll see as time goes on how his role evolves.”

Brady will be involved in the team’s upcoming search for a quarterback. Davis said that he isn’t forcing the team to draft one in the first round.

“You’d have to talk to Tom Telesco,” Davis said. “And, of course, Tom Brady at some point will have something to say on that.”