AFC Notes: Matt Ryan, Colts, Travis Etienne, Jaguars, Texans

Colts

Colts QB Matt Ryan is handling his benching professionally. He admitted he’s disappointed, but understands that he didn’t perform as well as he should’ve.

“As a player, as a competitor, you want to be out there and want to go,” Ryan said, via Herald Bulletin. “It’s a part of the deal in this league. You’ve got to produce, and you’ve got to go out there and play. Frustrated that we weren’t able to do that in the first seven games, but you move forward. Life in this league is week to week, and the production has to be there. Obviously disappointed personally but here for the team.”

Colts C Ryan Kelly said hearing the news that Ryan would be benched is tough, but the team needs to do everything it can to move on and get ready for Washington.

“I mean, that’s a tough situation — tough for everybody,” Kelly said. “Love the guy (Ryan). I’ve said it…eight times now, but I get close to all these guys. So it sucks, man. It is what it is, but it’s Wednesday. We’ve got a big week this week. We’re 3-3-1, got the Commanders coming to town, man, and they’ve got a good front seven. So you take the news when it comes, but now we’ve got to move on and get ready for this week. So we’re gonna do our job better than we’ve done it ever before.”

Colts HC Frank Reich said there were no concerns from veteran leadership about making the switch to QB Sam Ehlinger.

“The answer is no, but even if someone did, I would never say that in here,” he said. “That would be inappropriate to say in here. That wouldn’t be very smart of me to say in here if I had that kind of conversation with a player one-on-one. But, no, I didn’t. I’ll tell you right now there were none of those conversations.”

Ryan said he’s going to focus on getting fully healthy and staying ready in case his number is called.

“The minute you start to make assumptions about how things are going to shake out — you just never know,” Ryan said. “For me, No. 1 it’s about getting healthy, getting myself into a position where I feel good and then staying ready.”

Jaguars

Jaguars RB Travis Etienne said he and RB James Robinson were beginning to find their groove together and felt that their games complimented each other.

“I feel like we were really coming on together, really meshing together, really complementing each other’s game,” Etienne said, via Jags Wire. “When you’ve got a guy like that, you picture big things. It didn’t come to fruition, but it’s not to say we’re not going to both be great. We’re just going to be great on our own terms. That’s just the business of it.”

Etienne was humble when asked if he was ready to take on the bulk of the team’s carries. He added that Robinson hid a lot of flaws in his game and now it’s on him to make up that production.

“That’s a tricky question because I feel like James really hid some of the flaws in my game so early in my career,” Etienne said. “But I feel like it’s on me to grow up really fast. That’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to put in that extra work and grow up fast. As a competitor, you want to be that guy. Now that’s here and I have my now plate to look at and I don’t have to take off no one else’s plate. That’s why I’m going to put my head down, work, and get really good at the things they pay me to do.”

Texans

Texans second-round LB Christian Harris commented on his first game with the team since being drafted, having not played since his time at Alabama.

“I think the first game there are some things I can definitely improve on,” Harris said, via Aaron Wilson. “I just got to look at it right now and help my team win next week. That’s really all I care about right now.”

“It was my first game in a long time,” Harris added. “I’m just trying to correct all the things I really can so I can win next week. It was fun to be able to be out there again. Obviously, I want to continue to get that opportunity and develop with that.”