AFC Notes: Nick Bolton, Bryce Young, Broncos, Chiefs, Raiders

Broncos

Broncos HC Sean Payton said it was remarkable to see LB Alex Singleton play through a torn ACL in Week 3, only experiencing a “little soreness” following the game until realizing he suffered a substantial injury. 

“It was kind of remarkable [that he played through it],” Payton said, via BroncosWire. “Then he reported [that] he felt a little soreness. They looked at it, we looked at it some more, and then sure enough he’ll be scheduled for surgery probably about two weeks from now.”

Payton was surprised to see testing reveal Singleton suffered a torn ACL. 

“I’ve had players that have had ACL [tears], but I’ve never seen one in this fashion,” Payton said. “And I was able to look at the MRI. I’ve never seen one where he felt like he could have played another game that night. Now the next morning there was swelling, but that’s pretty remarkable.”

Broncos QB Bo Nix feels it’s tough on their defense to lose Singleton given he’s a player who improves everyone around him. 

“That one’s tough,” Nix said. “Really tough. Alex is a great teammate. Alex is a great football player. He does a lot on the field for us. He’s one of those guys that when he’s on the field, everybody feels a lot better. It’s going to be tough. We’re going to have to definitely play big and play important roles around him. You can’t replace a guy like Alex, but I think you can rise up around him and help that loss out a little bit. [I’m] definitely pulling for him with his recovery. We hope he has a great offseason and gets ready to go again. [It’s a] huge loss for us, but we’re going to continue to get better around him and make sure that we have what it takes on defense. Then offensively, we always just have to raise up our game and play better.”

Chiefs

Chiefs LB Nick Bolton had a huge tackle on RB Bijan Robinson to help close out their win over the Falcons in Week 3. Kansas City DC Steve Spagnuolo credited Bolton for fighting through injury and praised his understanding of the game.

“Yeah, it was great to see Nick (Bolton) make that last tackle, I mean, well, you all know, he gutted it out. His back was bothering (him), and he went back in,” Spagnuolo said, via Ed Easton Jr. of the Chiefs Wire.

“Nick just coming back and doing what he did. I think we all know this about Nick: He’s got such great football instincts. He feels things, and he studies the game, so he knows ahead of time when teams are going to do certain things. But, I thought he played great.”

• Chiefs HC Andy Reid said DE Michael Danna (calf) will likely not play this week and they will hold him out until the injury calms down. (Matt Derrick)

Raiders

• When taking a look at possible trade proposals for Panthers QB Bryce Young, Tashan Reed of The Athletic could see the Raiders giving a 2025 fourth-round pick in exchange for Young. 
• Reed, citing a league source, writes that Las Vegas explored trading up from No. 7 to No. 1 in the 2023 NFL Draft to draft Young but was ultimately outbid by Carolina. 
• Reed reports there are people within GM Tom Telesco and HC Antonio Pierce‘s current regime who believe Young’s 18 games with the Panthers haven’t been enough to evaluate him fully. 
• In the end, Reed feels the Raiders would only make a move for Young if Gardner Minshew‘s performance drops significantly and if Aidan O’Connell fails to develop.