Broncos

Broncos DC Vance Joseph received HC interviews for the second offseason in a row, but ultimately will return to Denver for 2026 after not getting a job this cycle. Broncos HC Sean Payton admitted he’s selfishly excited to have Joseph back on the staff and is confident Joseph will get more chances in the future. 

“I’m thrilled he’s back, selfishly, and yet there’s that part of me with what he was able to do and how that benefited our team, I’m quite sure he’s going to have another shot at this thing,” Payton said, via Jon Heath of the Broncos Wire. “I’ll do anything and everything I can to help him. He’s been fantastic to work with. His command of the room with the players on defense and what they’re doing is super impressive.”

Despite getting passed over, Joseph is remaining confident in his process and plans to keep focusing on doing the best he can with Denver’s defense every day. 

“It was a process,” Joseph said. “Obviously, I didn’t get a job last year, and that’s OK. My focus now is to get back in position, and that’s winning games for the Broncos and being a great defense again. It’s a process that is different every single year.”

“I can’t be concerned about the outcomes, [I can] just keep pushing forward, winning games and being in position to interview. That’s an honor by itself. So I am not discouraged. My focus is the Broncos’ defense right now. I do want to be a head coach, but there are seasons for that. Right now, my focus is strictly on our defense being better this year.”

Chargers

• Chargers WR Ladd McConkey will be a full participant at the start of training camp: “I feel like this is probably the most talented roster I’ve been on since I’ve been here. Now we just gotta go do it.” (Rhim)
• Chargers QB Justin Herbert on rookie WR Brenen Thompson: “He’s gonna be very good. We saw it early on that he was gonna be. He’s skilled. He’s fast. He’s gonna make a lot of plays for us.” (Rhim)

Chiefs

Chiefs RB Emmett Johnson enters his rookie year after being a sixth-round pick out of Nebraska. Johnson said he’s capable of being a receiver out of the backfield and has always tried to be productive as a pass-catcher. 

“I’ve always done it since high school,” Johnson said, via ChiefsWire. “My brother’s not here, but we always do 200 catches a day, so I try to make sure I get out here early enough to catch the ball, so I have no drops.”

As for playing under OC Eric Bieniemy, Johnson said the coordinator is always pushing him to improve, and he enjoys his coaching style. 

“Oh, he’s (Bieniemy) going to push you, man. He’s going to push you a lot,” Johnson said. “He wants the best for me at the end of the day; I’m not going to take anything personal. I pride myself on hard coaching, so I really love that he’s here. He’s pushing me to be better every single day.”

Raiders

Despite being in a QB room with veteran Kirk Cousins, Raiders first-round QB Fernando Mendoza is keeping his focus on helping the team win games, no matter what that looks like. The rookie signal-caller made it clear he’s not competing with Cousins, but rather that they are pushing each other to be the best versions of themselves for the team. 

“Being a part of the Silver and Black, we want to compete every single day and do the best that we can for the organization and best for the team so we can win games,” Mendoza said, via the team website. “Everybody in the quarterback room is a top-tier quarterback and it’s going to be competing with each other, not competing against each other.”

“Competing with each other [is] pushing each other to be the best quarterback we can possibly be for the Las Vegas Raiders, and to enable [us] to then win as many games as possible. Against [is] withholding information, wishing maybe not the best intent on somebody.”