AFC Notes: Patriots, Raiders, Titans

Patriots

• Mike Reiss of ESPN believes newly signed LB David Harris will be “mixed and matched” into the Patriots’ defensive scheme, similar to how the rest of the linebacking core rotates around ILB Dont’a Hightower.
• Reiss adds that Harris’ presence provides insurance for Hightower in case he gets injured.

Raiders

• Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk writes that Raiders first-round CB Gareon Conley should soon learn whether or not he’ll be charged with sexual assault for an incident that allegedly took place shortly before this year’s NFL draft.
• Conley’s lawyer indicated seven weeks ago that they should know if he’ll face charges between 6-8 weeks.
• It is worth mentioning that the Raiders have yet to sign Conley to a four-year rookie contract and could be waiting until they hear the ruling before doing so.

Titans

Jason Wolf of the Tennessean writes that second-year WR Tajae Sharpe could enter training camp with a “tenuous grasp on a roster spot.”

Wolf points out that the Titans have brought in veteran WR Eric Decker in recent days and used their first-round pick on Corey Davis, so there’s not a good amount of depth at the position. Beyond that, Sharpe is being investigated for an alleged assault and is coming off of surgery for a stress fracture in his right foot.

Titans HC Mike Mularkey said last week that Sharpe is among the players who will have to find a way to stay in shape in the coming weeks.

“Some of them like Tajae [are] going to have a hard time,” said Mularkey. “Obviously he’s not going to run right now, but he’s got to do something to stay in shape. You can’t come back and expect to get in shape in training camp. It’s not like the old days. Training camp is short. You used to be able to build into it in the training camps. You can’t do that anymore. You’ve got to be ready to go. No matter what your injury is, there’s something you can do, cardio-wise, to train.”