AFC Notes: Jim Harbaugh, MVS, Aidan O’Connell, Chargers, Chiefs, Raiders

Chargers

• Chargers’ new HC Jim Harbaugh said Los Angeles was the right fit largely because the organization’s ownership heavily pursued him: “They made it clear they liked what I did and how I did it,” via Albert Breer. 

Chiefs

Chiefs HC Andy Reid said WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling stayed confident despite recording a couple of dropped passes and has responded incredibly well over the last few games. 

“I’m proud of him because he — he played well for us last year. This year, he had a couple of drops in big situations, didn’t hang his head, didn’t lose confidence,” Reid said, via ProFootballTalk. “Kept battling, working with Pat [Mahomes]. And he just kept it going, figuring that it would turn around. And here he comes up with these last few games, where [he’s had] huge catches — very similar to what he did last year in a couple of games. So, I’m happy for him most of all and that he was able to recover, or whatever you want to say, from what was going on earlier.”

Reid thinks Valdes-Scantling’s intelligence and work ethic helps him produce in critical situations. 

“As long as you’ve got skill mixed in with that, then you have a chance,” Reid said. “But he’s going to work at it. And he understands that you can go into a slump. Sometimes that ball looks big, sometimes it looks small. And he worked through that, did a good job with it.”

Raiders

Raiders GM Tom Telesco said he will need to work quickly to find out if fourth-round QB Aidan O’Connell can be the guy for the team moving forward.

“I have a lot of learning to do to figure out this team from the inside, not from the outside,” Telesco said, via PFT. “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 going to get there pretty quick.”

Raiders HC Antonio Pierce echoed Telesco, adding that the team will look at all options this offseason while saying that O’Connell played well last year given the opportunity.

“I thought we saw growth with Aidan,” Pierce said. “At the end of the season, he was playing some really good football. Obviously, that led to some wins for us. But taking care of the football, being responsible, being more vocal, I think he put himself in a position to learn what it’s like to be a pro in the offseason. Because he can reflect on what he just did. If he didn’t have those opportunities, he would never know what mistakes he’d made. So I think it’s a great learning tool for him. Now that we have it on film, like Tom said, to evaluate it and really look at it going forward.”