AFC Notes: Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs, Raiders, Aaron Rodgers, Derek Carr

Chiefs

Chiefs DE Frank Clark‘s sack in the Divisional Round tied him with Hall of Fame DL Reggie White for the fourth-most postseason sacks of all time. HC Andy Reid had high praise for Clark and considers him to be a “relentless player.” 

“He’s always fired up but he – I guess there’s a little something extra there that he has but he’s a relentless player all the time,” Reid said, via ChiefsWire. “His numbers speak for themselves throughout his career. It’s quite a record – or opportunity for a record there with the sacks in the playoffs. You’ve got to get there first to get them, right? And, so he’s had a lot of opportunities to do that when he was in Seattle and now here.”

As for WR Kadarius Toney‘s recovery from a hamstring injury, Reid thinks Toney never allowed himself to fully heal because of his desire to play.

“The main thing was that the hamstring was healthy, that was kind of the hang-up and it kept occurring,” Reid said, via ChiefsWire. “Knowing him now, I’m not sure he ever let it get to the healing point because he wants to play, you know it’s one of those things. I’m sure he was saying, ‘I’m okay, I’m okay, it’s fine,’ but (it’s) because of his desire to be out there, he loves to play the game. That’s what I’ve noticed most is that he wants to be in there so we backed him up a little bit and just made sure that he could be – kind of get healthy in that area and he’s been doing great since – knock on wood there but he’s been doing great.”

• Chiefs HC Andy Reid says WR Justin Watson (illness) was the only player who did not participate in Friday’s practice. (Matt Derrick)
• Chiefs OT Orlando Brown Jr., who is set to be an unrestricted free agent this offseason, said the most important thing on his mind is winning the Super Bowl: “The current goal is winning the Super Bowl. To me, that’s what’s most important right now.”

Patrick Mahomes

Chiefs HC Andy Reid said that Patrick Mahomes is moving around well in practice and will be good to go for Sunday’s game. 

“He looks good. He’s moving around good,” Reid said, via the team’s official Youtube. “He’ll go out and play.”

Reid added that WR Mecole Hardman is progressively improving from his pelvis injury and they’ll continue to evaluate him. 

“He’s worked his tail off. I think he’s feeling better than what he was, definitely, last week,” Reid said. “So, we’ll see how he does.”

Raiders

While all the buzz as of late has centered around the Jets, Jason La Canfora of the Washington Post believes the Raiders are the best fit for Packers QB Aaron Rodgers this offseason.

“If Brady is in San Francisco, then I think Rodgers goes to Vegas,” a GM tells La Canfora. “I don’t see him in New York.”

There’s the obvious connection to Davante Adams and La Canfora believes it would not cost more than a “mid-round pick” to get Rodgers from Green Bay.

• As for Derek Carr, an NFL GM tells La Canfora that Carr is likely the best the Jets could do this offseason in terms of addressing their quarterback position.
• La Canfora expects the Commanders and Ravens to be linked to Carr as well this offseason.