AFC Notes: Melvin Gordon, Broncos, Orlando Brown, Chiefs, Raiders

Broncos

Broncos RB Melvin Gordon said he is embracing the competition for the starting role against Javonte Williams.

“I told [GM George Paton] I’m not going to lay down,” Gordon said, via BroncosWire. “I’m not going to lay down, man. I’ve always had that mindset that I have to go get it and that they’re bringing someone in here to take your job. I know a lot of people are wanting me to take a backseat. I get it. It’s been like that for a while. It was like that when I was with the Chargers. Everyone wanted Austin [Ekeler] to start. I just come out here and do my thing.”

Gordon reiterated that he has “extra motivation” this offseason. 

“Thanks for the motivation, everybody. I appreciate y’all for the extra motivation. I need it. I will go out there and do what’s best for the squad. I put my best foot forward every time I go out there, then I’ll see what happens. The goal is to make them want to play me.”

Gordon added that he’s focused on learning new HC Nathaniel Hackett‘s system and thinks the competition with Williams will bring out the best in both of them. 

“I know we’re going to do our thing — me and ‘Vonte’ are going to do it,” Gordon said. “I don’t really know how we’re going to do the reps and things like that. The goal right now is to really master the playbook and let things play out. I’m definitely going to be ready to battle. That’s what it is. It’s going to make us better — it did last year.”

Chiefs

Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes is “very confident” that OT Orlando Brown‘s contract situation will be figured out.

“I’m very confident, just because I know Orlando,” Mahomes said, via ProFootballTalk. “I was with him yesterday, actually. So I hang out with him a lot. He loves football. He loves the Kansas City Chiefs. He loves being here in this organization. So now it’s just kind of the stuff that’s always tough is the business side of this. All of us want to provide for our families in the long term and next generations. So I know he’s trying to get that all handled.”

Mahomes reiterated that Brown loves being a part of the organization. 

“But as far as loving the Chiefs and loving football, there’s not another person in this building that loves it as much as he does.”

Raiders

While Raiders running backs Josh Jacobs and Kenyan Drake attempt to get healthy on the sidelines, other running backs such as Brandon Bolden, Ameer Abdullah, and rookie Zamir White are taking reps.

Former NFL RB Maurice Jones-Drew believes that White could make a big impact for Las Vegas. 

“I don’t know if he can catch the ball or not because they didn’t use him that way at Georgia,” Jones-Drew said, via Vic Tafur of The Athletic. “But he was a highly touted back coming out of high school and when you watch his tape, he breaks tackles and runs just like Josh Jacobs. … You just got Josh Jacobs in the fourth round. The ACL scared people, but when you watch his tape, he runs through tackles, has contact balance and good vision, is explosive, he does everything that you’re looking for. They’re not that creative a running team, they don’t create explosive plays in the running game — they’re like downhill, A-gap, a little power, they’re not a zone-stretch team. And if you watch his tape, that’s what he is. That’s what he does well.”

Meanwhile, Bolden had good things to say about both Jacobs and White and thinks that the group of running backs in Vegas is solid.

“I mean, what doesn’t impress you about Josh?” Bolden said of Jacobs. “Josh is a hell of a back, a hell of an athlete, very patient, very explosive. And he can do a lot of things with the ball. So, I mean he brings a lot to the game, and he helps everybody out. I mean, even in pass protection and stuff like that, too. We are going to try to add our two cents into Josh’s thing. He’s going to add into the rest of us and we’ll see how good we can be as a room.”

“He’s still diving off into the playbook and just trying to gather information and being able to retain it and go out on the field, he’s doing fairly well,” Bolden said of White. “We’ll figure it all out here in the end. But as of right now, we are just trying to learn, learn each other, learn the playbook and get ready for some football.”