Broncos
Last year at almost this exact same time, Broncos QB Jarrett Stidham was named the starter for the Raiders after they benched Derek Carr to avoid triggering some injury guarantees in his deal. He parlayed his performance in the last two games of the season into a notable backup contract with Denver, and now he has another chance to level up with a two-game audition for the Broncos following the benching of QB Russell Wilson. Stidham says he’s ready for the moment.
“I’ve always had a lot of confidence in myself,” Stidham said via Aric DiLalla of the team’s official website. “That’s never wavered or anything.”
“I don’t think I need to overthink it,” Stidham added. “Just do what I’m coached to do. We have a great staff and a great group of guys around me. I’m just going to do my job to the best of my ability, do the certain things that I need to do on each and every play and move the ball down the field and hopefully score a lot of points and get a win.”
Chiefs
- CBS Sports analyst and former agent Joel Corry notes the franchise tag for Chiefs DT Chris Jones will be $32.17 million, which would easily be the largest tag for a non-quarterback in NFL history.
- Corry adds he wouldn’t be surprised to see a tag-and-trade scenario unfold with Jones if he and the Chiefs continue to be unable to work out a long-term deal.
Raiders
When the Raiders claimed CB Jack Jones off waivers from the Patriots, it reunited him with his college head coach, Raiders interim HC Antonio Pierce. The reunion has been great for Jones, who has two pick-sixes in back-to-back games for a suddenly frisky Raiders defense.
“He’s done a good job of learning the defense on the fly,” former Bengals HC Marvin Lewis said via the Athletic’s Vic Tafur. Lewis was an advisor at Arizona State and has been consulting Pierce with the Raiders this season. “He has smoothed out some of the rough spots and made some big plays. He’s had this ability to make plays his entire career. He has tremendous ball skills and he is a willing tackler. He is smart enough to understand the plan each and every week, and he’s been consistent.”
Of course, the Raiders got Jones because he couldn’t keep his head on straight in New England after a promising rookie year. He was arrested this year on weapons charges that were later dropped, and disciplined by the Patriots on multiple occasions. Pierce got him at Arizona State because he couldn’t stick at USC due to bad grades, and he was suspended at Arizona State after a fight with a teammate. So who knows how living and playing football in Las Vegas is going to go.
“He’s always been a wild card, sometimes hit or miss, good or bad,” Pierce said. “But he’s a very good football player. Football means a lot to Jack. Football is a way for him to get out of the hood, to be honest, where he came from. He used those resources to benefit his life, his family.”
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