AFC Notes: Travis Etienne, DeAndre Hopkins, L’Jarius Sneed, Jaguars, Titans

Jaguars

Jaguars HC Doug Pederson discussed what he would like to change on offense heading into the 2024 season. One priority mentioned was easing the workload of RB Travis Etienne.

“We have to get Tank going, bottom line,” Pederson said last week, via Adam Stites of the Jaguars Wire. “He is too good — that’s why we drafted him. I think early he had some ‘what is that?’-type plays for whatever reason, right or wrong. Again, in and out of the lineup. He is a young player that we’re excited about. Like we talked about last year, we take some burden off of Etienne a little bit, keep him healthy for the remainder of the season.”

Titans

The Titans traded for former Chiefs CB L’Jarius Sneed this offseason and immediately signed him to a new four-year deal. Tennessee GM Ran Carthon spoke on the trade and how thrilled he is to add Sneed to their defense.

“It’s a huge get,” Carthon said, via Jim Wyatt of the team’s website. “It gives you three top-flight corners in him and Chidobe [Awuzie] and Roger [McCreary] that can just flat-out cover people. He matches Chido’s energy of being a physical, aggressive corner that can also play in run support. You see a lot of the way game is going with the toss crack, and forcing the corners to come up there and play more in run support, and we have guys who are willing to stick their face in there and tackle people.”

“You did your due diligence prior to them franchising him, and then when he was franchised, you kind of got a feel on where it could possibly go. And then [the Chiefs] got the deal done with Chris Jones. You study other teams and try and figure out where they are, so it was one of those things where we used a patient and diligent approach, and when the opportunity presented itself, we were in a position to do it, and we made it happen.”

Titans

Titans WR DeAndre Hopkins discussed how strong he feels the Tennesse passing game can be with the addition of WR Calvin Ridley in free agency.

“I think my game is not just being on the outside, or on the inside,” Hopkins said, via Jim Wyatt of the team’s website. “I’ve tried to take pride in that over the past couple of years, focusing on beating guys on the inside. Earlier in my career I was just kind of really on the outside, and I realized that I could have success everywhere on the field. And I think just utilizing me wherever I am needed, if it is blocking, chipping, doing whatever I need. Wherever I can be useful, that’s where I’ll be. I think the sky is the limit, especially after getting a guy like Calvin. So I am very excited about this offense.”