AFC Notes: Russell Wilson, Broncos Raiders

Russell Wilson

Broncos HC Nathaniel Hackett plans to watch how many hits QB Russell Wilson takes closely, especially after he agreed to a five-year, $245 million extension. One that includes $165 million in guaranteed money and will keep him with the team through 2028.

“We want him to play 10 years here, 12 years, 15 years,” Hackett said, via Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com. “The way you do that is by extending it, by running the ball and protecting the quarterback. Those are the two most important things, and I think that he understands that and sees that.”

“For us, we talk about the intention of the play, what we’re trying to accomplish and what we’re trying to attack and why,” Hackett added. “So that he knows when to throw to that No. 1 (read) or progress on to two. As a coach, you always plan on never getting past two. But the reality of it is, that sometimes happens. The idea is to limit those as much as possible. We don’t ever want him to get touched.”

Not many are expecting the veteran to have an adjustment period, including WR Courtland Sutton, OC Justin Outten, and even Wilson himself.

“Not really,” Wilson said of any adjustment period. “Just keep getting the ball to the right guy at the right time and have some fun while doing it. It’s been a blast. I feel amazing and feel the best I’ve ever felt. I feel strong, I feel fast, I feel confident and no fear. I feel like a winner.”

“We know to be where we’re supposed to be on our routes because he expects us to be in the right place,” Sutton said. “And we know if it breaks down, we have to help him, be there for him, get to a spot where he can get us the ball. Because we know he isn’t going to believe a play is ever over in those situations.”

“Some guys will force a window when they decide that’s being aggressive, just to push (the ball) to a certain guy,” Outten said. “And they don’t see the whole picture. He sees the entire picture, and the video he watches through the week helps him with that. Even when we had Dallas here for a joint practice, for one practice, he was grinding on those guys to know where the trouble would be in certain situations … young guys sometimes just want to be special, make a play, force something in there that isn’t there. He understands we’ll have another down. He’s learned from any bumps and bruises he’s had along the way and knows the difference between a play that can be made in those situations and when to move on to the next down.”

Broncos

Broncos GM George Paton said rookie TE Greg Dulcich was really close to returning before tweaking his hamstring again, which caused the team to opt for a more conservative approach and place him on injured reserve to start the season.

“Hamstrings are strange,” Paton said, via Broncos Wire. “He was really close to coming back then he tweaked it. I wouldn’t call it a setback, but he just can’t get over that hump. He thinks he can probably be ready maybe in a week or two, but we don’t — and I’ve said this a number of times — we want to protect him from himself, so we’re going to do that. We’re going to take the conservative route, which we like to do with these types of injuries. He’s going to help us win a lot of football games this year. He’ll be ready after those four games are up. In the meantime, he’ll be training, and you guys see him working. We look forward to getting him back.”

Raiders

Raiders DE Clelin Ferrell spoke about his new role in DC Patrick Graham‘s system that has him lining up against slot receivers. 

“It’s pretty cool being out there with the DBs, talking, doing our little thing,” Ferrell said, via Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. 

Ferrell explained that Graham’s scheme is “very multiple” and many players are asked to play various roles. 

“Pat is very multiple in what he does,” Ferrell said. “So a lot of guys, not just me, are asked to do multiple things.”

Ferrell added that he’s open to his new role given winning is the most important factor. 

“I come from a program in college where, when you just focus on that, everything else will take career of itself,” Ferrell said.