AFC Notes: Travis Etienne, Derek Stingley, Colts, Jaguars, Texans

Colts

Regarding the Coltsโ€™ third receiver role, WRs coach Reggie Wayne said Alec Pierce and second-rounder Adonai Mitchell bring different traits to the group. 

โ€œThey got different traits,โ€ Wayne said, via James Boyd of The Athletic. โ€œAlec is still a guy that can take the top off a defense and can do all of those things down the field. He can do some things (in the) intermediate also. AD is a kind of a mixture of the same things, but he has a different โ€ฆ way of maneuvering his body. Itโ€™s kind of weird looking at times, but it works for him.โ€

Mitchell said he is focused on taking his game โ€œto that next levelโ€ in Indianapolis. 

โ€œItโ€™s the NFL, man. Everybody is good,โ€ Mitchell said. โ€œEverybody got a little something to them and the things that they do well. โ€ฆ At this point, itโ€™s just a matter of taking my game to that next level.โ€

Jaguars

Jaguars HC Doug Pederson said he plans on reducing RB Travis Etienneโ€˜s workload in an effort to keep him healthy and productive late into the season.

โ€œYeah, itโ€™s hard to put necessarily a rep count on it but you do want to keep him as healthy as you can throughout the season,โ€ Pederson said, via PFT. โ€œThatโ€™s why โ€” weโ€™ve talked about this too as a staff and myself โ€” making sure Tank [Bigsby] gets opportunities to get out there and take some of the pounding off of Travis. Again, just taking another step, Year 3 with us in the offense and just seeing his growth. I think thereโ€™s more out there that he can get yard wise. Itโ€™ll definitely be an emphasis utilizing him more so in the run game and making sure that those yards that are there that weโ€™re doing the right things, weโ€™re hitting the right holes, weโ€™re anticipating defenders and blocking schemes and all that kind of stuff. Then being able to take the wear and tear off him with Tank.โ€

Texans

Texans CB Derek Stingley Jr. had a strong finish to the 2023 season and previewed how dominant he can be as a lockdown cornerback. Houston DE Will Anderson and HC DeMeco Ryans spoke on how much Stingley means for their defense.

โ€œHaving a guy like that in the back makes our job so much easier just to go hunt, be free and be loose,โ€ Anderson said, via Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2. โ€œThey throw at Stingley, then theyโ€™re crazy, so having a guy back there like that is really a blessing.โ€

โ€œThroughout the entire year, whatโ€™s impressed me is just his confidence and his playmaking ability continues to shine,โ€ Ryans added. โ€œHe continues to step up in the big moments and heโ€™s gotten better with the more reps that heโ€™s gotten. Heโ€™s truly gotten better and shown why he was drafted where he was drafted because heโ€™s a top talent in the NFL and heโ€™s proven that over these past few weeks. Heโ€™s proven that heโ€™s a top corner in this league.โ€

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