AFC Notes: Jaguars, Darrell Henderson, Ravens, Texans

Jaguars

Jaguars HC Doug Pederson commented on the team picking up RB Darrell Henderson off of waivers from the Rams to help out Jacksonville’s rushing attack.

“He’s a veteran guy, been in the league here a couple of years, and he’s a nice downhill guy, little bit bigger guy, and just a great opportunity,” Pederson said, via John Shipley of SI.com. “I remember looking at him when he was coming out and liked him then. Anytime you can add these types of players to your roster, it’s already a great room, comfortable with all the guys. This is not anything against Snoop (Conner) or JaMycal (Hasty) at all. We started the season with four, and this will give us an opportunity to keep four in that room.”

Henderson will not play this week as Pederson believes it is too soon for him to get up to speed after traveling from the West Coast.

“Oh yeah, it would be too soon. He just got here. I’m sure he got a little jetlagged from West Coast to East Coast and just trying to get caught up with some of the terminologies,” Pederson added. “Yeah, it’s ideal. We’ve got to get him sort of indoctrinated in there and kind of see what he can do. Obviously, we know what he’s put on tape, and it’s a little different running style probably from what he’s used to here, so we’ve just got to get him going and see what he can do. I love his physicality. He’s a downhill guy, kind of a one-cut guy. With seven games, we just want to make sure we can get him caught up to speed as fast as we can, and if that means him and JaMycal or JaMycal, whoever the combinations are, taking reps off of or taking snaps off of TJ (RB Travis Etienne Jr.) and helping, we can try to do that.”

• Pederson says the team wants to get Henderson acclimated quickly in order to take some of the work off of Etienne. (Shipley)

Ravens

Ravens OC Greg Roman praised TE Josh Oliver, who was acquired via a trade with the Jaguars and has been a strong blocking tight end in Baltimore’s scheme.

“Josh just flat out won a job; he won a roster spot in training camp,” Roman said, via Childs Walker of The Baltimore Sun. “It was definitely not a sure thing, and he just won it. For him to not be on the team for us would have been ridiculous with how he was improving. He just made us put him on the team, and he continues to make us play him.”

• Ravens QB Lamar Jackson said his injury is “getting better” with HC John Harbaugh hoping that he is able to start on Sunday. (Jamison Hensley)
• The Ravens have ruled out TE Isaiah Likely for Sunday due to an ankle injury. (Hensley)

Texans

The Texans claimed RB Eno Benjamin off of waivers earlier in the week. According to HC Lovie Smith, Benjamin is making progress in terms of picking up their offense. 

“He is getting better,” Smith said, via TexansWire.com. “It’s kind of hard when you come in late, it’s hard to get a whole lot of reps for our guys. I’m going to say the same thing about Amari [Rodgers] too. You get a chance to see him some, and what we’ve seen is that some of the things he displayed on why we claimed Eno [Benjamin]. He has good quickness, speed, he’s played good ball in the league. He is just trying to blend in right now and we’re trying to get as much of a look as we can from him. All of our news guys, we try to get that, but it is hard.”