AFC Notes: Travon Walker, Jaguars, Texans, Titans

Jaguars

Jaguars HC Doug Pederson is expecting a big jump out of DE Travon Walker next year with a full offseason to hone in on his craft.

“You know, I love Travon, his compete,” Pederson said, via Sports Illustrated. “I loved his length, his athleticism, his strength, love the way he practices the preparation. I think one of the things that I appreciated with Travon is how he kind of improved because, you know, some of these young guys don’t know how to study the game as well and being able to show him how to study what to look for who to study, study great edge rushers in our game, and try to take some takeaways from that. And again, there’s so much room for improvement with him just like Trevor, we can only go up right? And he can be a really dominant impact player for us. Plus he’ll have an off-season to rest. Last year he was blown and going with 30 visits, combine, all that stuff. And now he’s had a chance to recover, he’ll get back in the weight room and start working on his craft.”

• According to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport, TCU RB Kendre Miller (knee) is ahead of schedule with his recovery and met with the Jaguars on Wednesday before his pro day. 
• LSU DT Jaquelin Roy met with the Jaguars following his pro day on Wednesday. (Mike Garafolo)

Texans

Texans HC DeMeco Ryans revealed during a recent interview that there has been no decision on who will call the plays for the team defensively. 

“I think at the end of the day, it’s all about leading people, growing the people that are around you and seeing something in the people that are around you, seeing certain traits and trying to help develop them more, trying to give them more of a leadership role, give them more command over running whatever particular part of our program, giving them the autonomy to take it over and see how they thrive in it and micromanage, letting people grow, letting people develop, knowing that there may be hiccups along the way, but that’s how you learn,” Ryans said, via TexansWire.com. “That’s how I learned. No one micromanaged me. They allowed me to make mistakes and it allowed me to grow and become better.”

Titans

Titans GM Ran Carthon said they plan on addressing the receiver position through the 2023 NFL Draft or free agency. 

“We are going to look to address it,” Carthon said, via Jim Wyatt of the team’s official site. “We are not trying to fill everything via free agency, but if that’s where the best option comes from, we’ll address it that way. We just have to be patient, and exercise patience and allow that to come to fruition.”

Carthon said he likes the receivers they have under contract like Treylon Burks, Kyle Philips, Racey McMath, Mason Kinsey, Reggie Roberson Jr., and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine.

“I like that group,” Carthon said. “I think it’s a young, promising group. I am really excited to see what a healthy Kyle can do. I think he put some really impressive snaps together in the slot. I think Treylon’s best ball is ahead of him. And I am also excited to see what a healthy Nick can do. He played the majority of the year on that knee injury, and just a testament to his toughness, his grit, he finished it out. I am excited about this young group.”

Titans HC Mike Vrabel reiterated they are looking to find the “right pieces” for their receivers group. 

“I think we are trying to put the right pieces in place,” Vrabel said. “Whether it’s a big, fast guy, a small, fast, guy. (Whether) it’s a smaller, quicker player. You’re trying to find what the fit and the value is at every position. Ran and I and everybody on the coaching staff, personnel side, we all understand we are going to have to find some guys to get open and catch the ball, that are hard to tackle after we catch it. So, we are going to continue to do that.”