AFC Notes: Jaguars, Texans, Titans

Jaguars

Jaguars second-round CB Tyson Campbell said he feels “more confidence” in himself and continues to work on his development on a “week-to-week” basis. 

“Seeing the consistent results brought more confidence,” Campbell said, via the John Oehser of the team’s official site. “It’s week-to-week, finding something to get better at. It’s having faith in myself, self-talking with myself that each week I’ve got to get better at something and try to be consistent.”

Jaguars HC Urban Meyer praised Campbell and called him a “really gifted” cornerback.

“He is a really gifted guy and he cares deeply,” Meyer said. “I’m really high on him right now.”

Texans

• According to Aaron Wilson, the Texans are going to start OL Max Scharping at right guard on Sunday. 
• Texans DC Lovie Smith said DB Lonnie Johnson Jr. has embraced his switch to cornerback after playing at safety earlier this season: “Lonnie has embraced it. Guys who do well in practice and deserve time, we give it to them.” (Aaron Wilson)

Titans

With five picks in the past two weeks as the Titans offense has disintegrated following the loss of RB Derrick Henry, QB Ryan Tannehill now has 13 on the season which leads the entire NFL. The Titans are hesitant to blame all of those on Tannehill, though. 

“(The interceptions) really all have their own story,” Titans QB coach Pat O’Hara said via SI.com’s John Glennon. “Some of the stories are shorter than others. Some you know right away, and there’s an explanation of why certain ones happen. But at the end of the day, it’s our job to protect (the ball). We have to protect the ball. Ryan knows that, and he’s really done an excellent job of that in his time here. We’ve had some turnovers here in the interim. We’re certainly going to work on that. This is a great week to kind of self-scout what we’ve been doing, who we’ve been doing it with, strengths and weaknesses.”

Tennessee is still in decent position for the playoffs but 0-2 the past two weeks against the Texans and Patriots is concerning. The Titans revived Tannehill’s career by putting him in an environment where he was asked to do less, now HC Mike Vrabel says it’s time for him to do more to make up for an injury-riddled supporting cast. 

“I think Ryan has to be better,” Vrabel said. “I think everybody has to be better around him. We have to be better (blocking) in the middle of the pocket, we have to be better on the edges, get open quicker, be decisive and then ball placements and decision making from the quarterback. That is what it is. We do need to be better throwing the football with whoever we are throwing it with. It starts with protection. It starts with getting open and then the quarterback having the trust to throw to the guys and just like that.”