AFC Notes: Jaguars, Texans, Titans, Kevin Byard

Jaguars

Jaguars owner Shad Khan said he never stopped believing in GM Trent Baalke even when times were tough before the arrival of HC Doug Pederson.

“I’ve known Trent now for three years. Okay, so I mean, I believe in him, okay, whether he was popular with the fans or not. I mean, that was for the fans to decide. My belief in him never wavered,” Khan said, via John Shipley of SI.com. “And, no matter what the noise was … one of the things like this event here, you meet a lot of, you know, GMs, present or past. And so, you know, he just proved what I thought he was going to do.”

“This was a tough month. Is that what you’re saying? I knew all along that I was. I had a vote of confidence from Shad,” Baalke said at Pederson’s introductory press conference last year. “As we went into the process, I had a plan. There was no timetable to announce the next head coach. We went into it with a very open mind. We had a process. We stuck to it. At the end of the day, it was about getting it right. I truly believe we got it right with Doug. Have no doubt about it.”

• Ian Rapoport reports that Tennesee DE Byron Young has had 11 top-30 visits including with the Jaguars and Seahawks.

Texans

• The Athletic reported the Bears and Panthers discussed what would effectively have been a three-team trade, with the Texans moving up to No. 1 and the Panthers coming up to No. 2. However, the Texans didn’t commit and Chicago pulled the trigger on Carolina’s offer. 
• According to NFL Media’s James Palmer, the Houston Texans are content to sit at No. 2 overall and take whichever one of Alabama QB Bryce Young or Ohio State QB C.J. Stroud is available. 
• Palmer says both players check a lot of the boxes the Texans are looking for and the team has pretty much narrowed down their board at the top of the draft to those two. 
• Ian Rapoport reports that Texas LB DeMarvion Overshown has visited with the Cowboys and will visit with the Broncos, Cardinals, Dolphins, Falcons, and Texans.

Titans

Regarding Titans S Kevin Byard declining a pay cut, HC Mike Vrabel said Byard is still under contract and he’s in communication with GM Ran Carthon. 

“Kevin is under contract, and Kevin is a valuable, valuable member of our football team,” Vrabel said, via Jim Wyatt of the team’s official site. “I’ve said that – his durability and his leadership… The communication has been really good (with him). I’ve tried to make a great connection with him as a player and captain on our team for five years. Those are conversations that happen between Kevin and his agent and Ran (Carthon) and myself, and we’ll try to find ways to continue with our football team.”

When asked if he expects Ryan Tannehill to be the team’s starter, Vrabel responded “of course” but wouldn’t fully commit to anyone. 

“Of course. Of course, we do,” Vrabel said. “We are in March, and we are continuing to build a football team, the best football team we can. And Ryan is getting healthy. He has been putting the work in. It is good to see him around the building. So yeah, we always expect that. But to make predictions – I think I have been through this last year (with A.J. Brown) – I am not going to commit to anybody being on our roster in September. I’ve seen it change too quickly. Of course, we want Ryan as our quarterback, and everybody else that has helped us win. That is what we want.”

Vrabel said he’s been communicating with LB Chance Campbell (knee) and OL Jamarco Jones (elbow) about their recovery and is hopeful they’ll compete for roles this offseason. 

“I’ve had communication with both those (players),” Vrabel said. “We’ve seen Chance back in the building as he recovered from the knee surgery. Jamarco, disappointed, I know he is disappointed in the injury and coming back and trying to compete in training camp. It didn’t work out like any of us wanted it to. He will have an opportunity, and we’ll just have to see. He has to come back healthy, he has to come back ready to go and I think he understands what the competition is going to be. We have to have competition throughout our roster, that is something that’s critical. That’s the only way everybody gets better.”

• According to Jeremy Fowler, Illinois S Quan Martin has eight pre-draft visits starting with the Titans on Tuesday.
• Ryan Fowler reports that Maryland OT Jaelyn Duncan has visits scheduled with the Bears, Cardinals, Raiders, Saints, and Titans.
• The Titans are hosting Houston WR Tank Dell for a top-30 visit. (Justin Melo)