AFC Notes: Jim Harbaugh, Antonio Pierce, Chargers, Chiefs, Raiders

Chargers

• Dan Graziano has heard that Jesse Minter and Jay Harbaugh could follow Jim Harbaugh from Michigan to Los Angeles.
• However, Graziano adds that the bulk of Harbaugh’s staff will be composed of coaches in the current NFL pool.

Chiefs

• The Kansas City Chiefs officially ruled out DT Derrick Nnadi (triceps) and G Joe Thuney (pectoral) from the AFC Championship game.

Raiders

Raiders HC Antonio Pierce said he never met new GM Tom Telesco before being hired by Las Vegas this week but got a strong first impression of him. 

“Me and Tom had never met prior,” Pierce said, via NFL.com. “Obviously, I had watched his body of work with the San Diego Chargers and then, lastly, with the Los Angeles Chargers. Obviously, when we met, when he came in the other day, I could see that he was genuine. He was poised, he was calm. He had a plan. He presented it. It was well thought out.”

Pierce plans on hashing out all ideas with Telesco and working together toward an overall plan. 

“I think as this relationship grows like anything else, it’s going to have its ups and downs. We got to be adults and grown men about it. We got to hash it out. We got to understand our roles. Check our egos at the door like we do with everybody else in the building, but understand that we got a plan. And our plan is to do that together. Be hand in hand with it. Obviously, if he goes down, I go down. That’s just how it is. That’s the nature of the beast. We get it, but that’s not our plan. Our plan is to win, put a team in place that is competitive each and every week and gives ourselves an opportunity to win.”

Telesco needs to study the Raiders’ roster including the quarterback position with Aidan O’Connell. 

“I have a lot of learning to do to figure out this team from the inside, not from the outside,” Telesco said. “Obviously, Aidan played pretty well against us. That’s a plus. But I need to get a lot more in depth with this team as far as more than just a couple games, and then talk with the staff. And we’ve got to do that at every position. That’s really, probably No. 1. At least for me, I have to know this team as well as I knew the team I just came from, which I don’t yet. But I’m gonna get there pretty quick.”