AFC Notes: J.C. Jackson, Davante Adams, Broncos, Chargers, Raiders

Broncos

Broncos WR Courtland Sutton took his share of the blame for Denver’s record loss to the Dolphins. Although Sutton was the team’s leading receiver, he fumbled twice which contributed to the score getting out of hand.

“Disappointed, frustrated, mostly with myself, trying to do too much,” Sutton said, via Broncos Wire. “Can’t put the ball on the ground, it’s unacceptable. We always say that when we are carrying the ball, we’ve got everybody’s’ dreams, goals and aspirations. I put the ball on the ground twice today which is very frustrating. The overall outcome of the game is – there’s losing and there’s getting your butt handed to you. I think that we got our butt handed to us today. It’s frustrating, especially sitting at 0-3 right now.”

Sutton added that the team will regroup and it’s still early enough in the season to where they can still accomplish the goals they set out to meet.

“The positive part of it is that it’s early. First three games, still have a lot of season left ahead of us. But for us, it’s going into the week and understanding that this is unacceptable. This can’t happen again. This won’t happen again. All of us are going to have to look in the mirror and be real with ourselves and figure out what it is going to take. Coach told us it’s going to take more. It’s going to take more. It’s going to take being uncomfortable. It’s going to take guys going to different levels  that they haven’t been to so that we can make sure this does not happen again.”

Chargers

Chargers CB J.C. Jackson was deactivated in Week 3 and injury was not necessarily the reason why. Asked about it after the game, Chargers HC Brandon Staley essentially admitted they benched Jackson after he had a hand in the defense’s struggles the first two games. Jackson, a major free-agent signing for Los Angeles just last year, was understandably unhappy. 

“I don’t know, what else do they expect me to do?” Jackson said via NFL Media’s Bridget Condon. “I told coach [Staley] what else do you expect me to do? I’ve been doing everything. I came back from my injury pretty fast. I’ve been putting in extra work after practice, even in meeting rooms. The DBs every Friday we all meet to do extra film and being a good teammate, so I don’t know what it is. I’m still kind of confused and still don’t have answers to why I’m getting treated like this.”

“I know what I can do,” Jackson added. “I know that I can help the team so it kind of frustrates me that I’m not starting and that coach has me sitting out, and I’m one of the best players on the team. I’m one of the best [defensive backs] that we have.”

It’s been a turbulent time for Jackson, as last week an arrest warrant was issued for him in Massachusetts for a probation violation stemming from a speeding arrest in 2021. Staley said that wasn’t a factor in the decision to sit Jackson, it’s purely related to his play and he can earn his way back into the lineup. It’s also worth noting that while Jackson is playing, he tore his patellar tendon last year and that’s a tough injury to rebound from right away. 

“That’s exactly what it is, I’m not 100 percent,” he said. “I know that the doctors know that. I’m not 100 percent so I’m doing my best. We’re giving the team what they want. I’m doing my best and I don’t know what they expect me to do.”

Raiders

The Raiders’ loss to the Steelers on Sunday night dropped them to 1-2 on the season and was their second straight loss. Raiders WR Davante Adams had a message of urgency for Las Vegas after the game, saying that right now the team is not doing the right things to establish a winning culture. 

“It’s not my mentality to sit here and try to take all season and figure it out,” Adams said via Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “You use these early games like this to establish an identity. We’re not doing things the right way to establish a winning culture. . . . We’ve got to go out there and do it. That’s the theme of this year — doing it. Not just talking about it and figuring out what we need to do. We did all that last year. This year we gotta be about it.”