AFC Notes: Jeff Saturday, Colts, Jaguars, Titans

Colts

• The Athletic’s Jeff Howe talked to a number of executives and coaches for other teams who were all shocked by the Colts’ decision to replace HC Frank Reich with former Colts center and ESPN analyst Jeff Saturday: “Never seen anything like it. Will never see anything like it again.”
• Some cautioned that this could impact the Colts’ search for a new head coach if Saturday doesn’t get the full-time job after this season, as coaches with experience tend to be more selective about the opportunities they pursue. 
• While Colts owner Jim Irsay said GM Chris Ballard is safe, the feeling around the league is that he shouldn’t relax just yet: “They have whiffed at the QB position since he got there.”
• Another smattering of reactions from around the league, per the Athletic’s Zak Keefer: “Is this real? …This is crazy… Feels like a circus…Embarrassing.” 
• One theory outside observers, including coaches and front office execs from other teams and agents, have about the Colts is that Irsay is trying to effectively tank for a high draft pick, per Jason La Canfora of the Washington Post. A friend of Reich’s pointed out the moves to bench veteran QB Matt Ryan for QB Sam Ehlinger and fire OC Marcus Brady had Irsay’s fingerprints all over them: “Frank never wanted to change QBs and if he was forced to do it and it was up to him, he would have gone to [veteran Nick] Foles. [Reich] knew Ehlinger wasn’t ready to play. He would never fire Marcus Brady like that. Frank doesn’t fire anyone. That’s not how he operates. This is all Irsay. Frank will take the high road, and he won’t say anything about it. But that’s how it went down.”
• According to La Canfora, multiple players were irate when Ballard told them Irsay was firing Reich and hiring Saturday. Several even said they didn’t want to play in Indianapolis anymore, though the trade deadline is already past. 
• La Canfora adds QB coach Scott Milanovich was the top choice to call plays on offense but he turned it down, which led to assistant QB coach Parks Frazier being named the play caller. 
• Irsay’s decision to bypass a number of highly-qualified individuals on his current coaching staff to hire Saturday was demoralizing to the staff, per La Canfora. One source who has worked closely with members of the Colts’ coaching staff said: “I’ve talked to coaches there, and they are all like, ‘What the f— just happened? [Irsay] had three guys he could have promoted who could have done the job and he hires a guy off his couch from ESPN? Trust me, inside that building they know this is an absolute waterfall of s—. The coaches and players know this is a total tank job. That’s what they’re all talking about.”
• An agent added: “Jeff has a huge problem with that staff already. The owner just threw that staff completely under the bus. He could have helped Jeff if he handled it the right way, but Irsay completely butchered this. Everything he said was a smack in the face to the coaching profession in many ways. His comments were atrocious to the coaching fraternity, and now Jeff is supposed to be their boss. I don’t see how that’s supposed to work.”
• Saturday confirmed Frazier will call the plays on Sunday: “I think it was leaked about 10 minutes after I had the conversation.” (Andrew Siciliano)
• Saturday said the coaching opportunity came about when he was called by Irsay to ask why the team was giving up so many sacks: “First call came during the game on Sunday.” (Kevin Bowen)
• Saturday on why he took the job: “Because I care. This (losing) sucks. I care about the players. The staff, they sacrifice… These are my people. These people matter to me.” (Holder)
• Saturday on what his role will be with the team: “My role here is for eight games. When this is over they will do an exhaustive search and pick whoever the best guy is to be the head coach.” (George Bremer)

Jaguars

Jaguars S Andrew Wingard said he felt confident they would win Week 9’s game against the Raiders despite trailing 17-0 in the second quarter. 

“I’ll be honest, when we were down 17-0, I knew we were winning the game,” Wingard said, via Brett Hawn of FanNation. “The weeks before, we were up, and it was kind of like, ehhh. Playing from behind, I think, is easier than playing from ahead in this league, I really do, because every player, every coach in this league has pride in performance, and you know when you go down, it’s ‘Okay, we’re going to give them our best shot now.’ We knew, I kind of knew, and I always try to keep everyone up on the sideline because there’s going to be ebbs and flows. It’s like you can’t ride a roller coaster of emotion. You’ve got to stay level-headed, and that’s just what I try to convey to everybody, and it obviously paid off.”

Jaguars WR Marvin Jones thinks that they must “get on a run” now in the second half of the season. 

“It’s important because we have to get on a run,” Jones said. “I think we all know that, and we know what type of team we are in that locker room, we know who we have, we know what we can do. I think we’ve shown that, and obviously, getting that game and getting over that hump, it’s a new season. That’s how we all put it. We had the nine games and started a new nine games, and that’s how we’re rocking. It’s good to have that and for us to push forward.”

Jaguars HC Doug Pederson said that they must approach the second half of the season like a new year.

“Yeah,” Pederson said. “We started, if you break the season up into quarters, we were 2-2 in the first, then we sputtered to 0-4 in the next, and now you’re sitting here at 1-0 at the beginning of the third quarter. You just kind of have to approach it that way and attack your season that way. Great opponent this week, the Chiefs are one of the best teams in not only the NFL but in the AFC. We’ve just got to have a great week of preparation and not worry about what we’ve done but focus on what we can do.”

Titans

• Titans HC Mike Vrabel on the level of conditioning for first-round WR Treylon Burks after he has missed time with a foot injury: “Nothing can translate running with conditioning…especially as a receiver.” (Mike Giardi)
• Titans QB Ryan Tannehill told reporters that he is seeing improvement in his injured ankle. (Terry McCormick)
• Titans third-round QB Malik Willis may start a third game, as Tannehill says his ankle is “definitely getting better” but also that it’s something he’s going to be “dealing with for a while.” (Joe Rexrode)
• Titans DL Jeffery Simmons has a walking boot on his left leg and is still listed as questionable. (Turron Davenport)