AFC Notes: Russell Wilson, Broncos, Chiefs, Jaguars

Broncos

Broncos HC Nathaniel Hackett said that he loved how his players responded to new QB Russell Wilson during practice on Monday. 

“Everybody’s coming in, they’re so fired up, they’re so excited to get out there,” Hackett said, via DenverBroncos.com. “In the end, that’s what you want. You want guys to come out here, you want them to want to practice and want to get better. Russ leads that charge. This guy loves practice. Just out there at the end he was like, ‘Wait, we’re done? Can we do more?’ And you’re like, ‘Man, I would love to, but we’ve got to tone it down.’ Baby steps. He’s awesome.”

The Broncos are installing a new offensive scheme this offseason and Hackett is aware of how much work lies ahead for them. 

“We have a very, very large playbook, and there’s a process of how you teach everything,” Hackett said. “[It’s] kind of like the foundations of what you want to build. Sometimes you have to put plays in that you might not necessarily run, but that are in other parts of the playbook. It’s just kind of understanding it and learning it in the proper way so when guys are out there, they can react fast. It’s just a long kind of deal, all the things that we do. Today was just kind of the very basics of what we do and then we’ll slowly start expanding that with the guys moving forward through Phase II and OTAs.”

Chiefs

• According to Albert Breer, the Chiefs are contacting teams with picks in the 20s region of the 2022 NFL Draft in order to trade up.  Breer writes that it’s possible for Kansas City to move up around 10 spots from No. 29 or 30 overall. 
• Breer could see the Chiefs targeting a receiver, cornerback, or pass rusher in the first round. 
• Georgia WR George Pickens told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler he thinks he’ll come off the board somewhere between picks 25 and 45, and the Packers, Chiefs and Cardinals are among the teams that have done a lot of work on him. 

Jaguars

Jaguars WR Christian Kirk spoke about signing a big deal early on in free agency which has had an effect on the contracts signed by other receivers this offseason.

“I know I was one of the first, but to me the way I look at it, it was bound to happen,” Kirk said, via JaguarsWire.com. “The cap changes every year and the market for all positions, it fluctuates. With the cap going up and with teams with more money to deploy, the wide receiver position specifically to have such a big impact on the game, you were going to see guys like Davante Adams and Tyreek Hill, and Stefon Diggs get the deals that they got…And yeah, I was one of the first ones and people want to say I shook up the market. But in my opinion, things like that were going to happen regardless, but it definitely feels good to be able to, I guess maybe take that first step for the position and kind of advocate for us to be considered to be one of the highest-paid positions in the league.”