AFC Notes: Justin Herbert, Broncos, Chargers, Chiefs

Broncos

• The Broncos hosted DT Anthony Montalvo for a workout, per Mike Klis. 

Chargers

Chargers LB Khalil Mack and WR Keenan Allen are just two of the many players on the team to notice the more vocal leadership style of QB Justin Herbert.

“He’s coming around as a leader,” Mack said, via Lindsey Thiry of ESPN. “It’s very important for the football team because that’s the guy that has the ball in his hands more than anyone. You want to know that you can follow that guy on and off the field.”

“He’s more comfortable in every setting,” Allen explained. “[On the] sideline, in the huddle before we got out, in the huddle breaking us down. He’s giving speeches now. In the past, a Herbert huddle breakdown would consist of, ‘Hey, Chargers on three!’ Now, it’s a, ‘Hey, good day, we did this, this and this and that, that and that, and Chargers on three!”

“I would say it’s a fourth-year thing,” Allen added. “The contract is a big thing. You get to settle down, your nerves leave you a little bit. Now you can just play football. It’s all about football now and you can settle in a little more.”

Herbert acknowledged the responsibilities and challenges he has now that he is the face of the franchise, with others such as HC Brandon Staley and RB Austin Ekeler weighing in on the star quarterback.

“That’s kind of the role of the quarterback is to have that big responsibility,” Herbert said. “I look forward to that challenge. I’ve grown each year. I’ve gotten better at that. There is still room for improvement, but I’m going to be the best quarterback, teammate, whatever the team needs me to be. I’m up to the challenge and willing to do it. Over the past couple of years, I’ve done my best to get better in every regard of our game, whether that’s being a leader or whether that’s speaking up or whether that’s speaking up or just playing quarterback and being a good teammate. That’s just part of the job.”

“He has really grown in that way every single year that I’ve been here,”  Staley said of Herbert. “But I think that, now in training camp, after the contract extension, and knowing what we need, as a team and he certainly knows his place on our team. I just think that you’ve been able to see the best of him in that way.”

“Me hearing him out there, he understands the protections now. He’s seeing it. He’s switching the calls,” Ekeler noted. “Not that he hasn’t in the past, but now he’s really on it right away.”

Chiefs

Chiefs’ rookie DE Felix Anudike-Uzomah feels he still has a long way to go with his development 

“Development-wise, I still have a ways to go,” said Anudike-Uzomah, via ChiefsWire. “I got a little bit better. I got the hang of things, but obviously, it’s just preseason … but it was good work just to have me go out there and play against real people, play against NFL people that are different than my teammates.”