AFC Notes: Kareem Hunt, Justin Herbert, Chargers, Chiefs, Raiders

Chargers

The Chargers have won their first two games under HC Jim Harbaugh after a dominating win over the Panthers in Week 2. Los Angeles S Derwin James Jr. mentioned what has driven their success on defense to this point. 

โ€œWeโ€™re just trying to change the narrative around here,โ€ James said, via Daniel Popper of The Athletic. โ€œWeโ€™re playing team defense. Itโ€™s not like one player is the hero every week.โ€

Chargers TE Hayden Hurst outlined their plan to dominate teams in the trenches.

โ€œFor it only being Week 2, this thing is greased up pretty good right now,โ€ Hurst added. โ€œWe want to impose our will on teams. And for two weeks, weโ€™ve done that.โ€

  • Chargers HC Jim Harbaugh said QB Justin Herbert (ankle) was feeling better on Wednesday and expects him to improve every day: โ€œCrystal ball? Expect him to get better every day. I was in a meeting with him. Said he was feeling much better and good today.โ€ (Ian Rapoport)

Chiefs

Chiefs HC Andy Reid said he hasnโ€™t decided whether second-round LT Kingsley Suamataia will continue as a starter after pulling him in the fourth quarter of Week 2 for Wanya Morris but admits Suamataia must improve some things. 

โ€œYeah, I havenโ€™t gone that direction yet as far as [being] the starter or not [being] the starter, but heโ€™s got โ€” heโ€™s obviously got things he needs to work on and get worked out,โ€ Reid said, via ProFootballTalk. โ€œLike I said last night, I felt like we needed to take a step back to take a step forward. Whether heโ€™s in or out, I still think that was the right thing to do there and if heโ€™s out this week, then itโ€™ll be the right thing to do with that.โ€

Reid hasnโ€™t lost any confidence in Suamataia.

โ€œWe havenโ€™t lost confidence in him and that he was going against a good player, and heโ€™s got to learn from it. I think he mentioned that to you. Heโ€™s got to take it in and get better and I would tell you that with some of our young guys that played last night. Theyโ€™ve got to just learn from the experiences that they get in these games.โ€

  • When asked about bringing back RB Kareem Hunt after releasing him six years ago following a video of him pushing a woman to the ground and kicking her, Reid said they felt Hunt needed a change of scenery and to find help: โ€œWe thought he needed a change of scenery and to get some help . . . We felt he did that.โ€ (Adam Teicher)

Raiders

The Raiders pulled off a Week 2 upset in Baltimore but HC Antonio Pierce is not settled with their performance and knows they can improve in a lot of areas. 

โ€œWeโ€™ve got a lot of things that we need to correct,โ€ Pierce said, via Mark Anderson of the Associated Press. โ€œIt was a win yesterday, but there were a lot of things in that first quarter that were ugly, in that first half that were ugly and in that third quarter that were ugly. Weโ€™re not worried about the Panthers. Weโ€™ve got to fix the Raiders.โ€

  • According to Aaron Wilson, the Raiders brought in LBs Steele Chambers and Andrew Parker for workouts on Tuesday.

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