Jaguars
Jaguars HC Doug Pederson isn’t concerned about rumors surrounding GM Trent Baalke and is focused on making the relationship work in order to bring success to Jacksonville.
“A lot of these reports that are out there are from a lot of unnamed sources,” Pederson said, via Albert Breer of SI. “I can remember my time in Philly, back in ’16, there were a lot of unnamed sources that thought I wasn’t very good as a head coach. But they never put their name to it. And I’m like, ‘Well, what good is that? If you’re gonna say something, at least own up to it.’’And so my philosophy with things like that is I want to get to know the person. I want to get to know Trent Baalke, what makes him tick, his family, his likes, his dislikes, and his history as a GM. All those things. He’s had a lot of success in this league. And I’ll tell you something — we’ve connected from day one, all the way back to my first interview with the Jaguars. . . . I can go sit in his office, he can come to sit in mine and we don’t even have to talk ball. We just tell stories and that’s how you get to know people.”
- Michael DiRocco of ESPN notes Jaguars veteran C Brandon Linder ($9.5 million cap hit, all saved via release) could find himself a cap casualty, simply due to his inability to stay healthy.
- DiRocco adds the Jaguars’ decision with LT Cam Robinson will be crucial. A second straight franchise tag would be $16.5 million while DiRocco estimates a long-term deal would be $17-$18 million a year. If he walks, it paves the way for the team to use the No. 1 pick on a tackle.
Texans
- According to PFN’s Aaron Wilson, former NFL QB Josh McCown is “extremely highly regarded” by the Texans and nearly became their head coach but is not expected to join their staff at this time. Houston officially announced their 2022 coaching staff Monday and McCown was not on it.
- Per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, Broncos QB Teddy Bridgewater would make a lot of sense for the Texans as a backup, mentor or veteran alternative to Davis Mills in 2022.
- Fowler adds he’s heard Houston really liked what veteran QB Tyrod Taylor brought last year, so re-signing him to serve as a backup for another year is a possibility.
- Texans LB coach Miles Smith, son of new HC Lovie Smith, hopes the team will bring back impending free agents Kamu Grugier-Hill and Christian Kirksey: “We’ll see if they come back. I would enjoy it if they did. The NFL is a business.” (Wilson)
- Texans TE coach Tim Berbenich said OC Pep Hamilton has been a great mentor to him, dating back to their time with the Jets: “He was teaching me football, teaching me the offense…It’s a tight end-driven offense for sure. It’s a run-first operation. Pep is going to try to move the ball and score points and adapt that offense.” (Wilson)
- Texans RB coach Danny Barrett commented on the state of the team’s running game, saying ideally they’d have a home run hitter and an every-down back: “We’re working on trying to get that going. Work in progress right now.” (Wilson)
- New Texans OL coach George Warhop said he will evaluate OL Tytus Howard and is not committing to playing him at tackle, but rather fielding the best five offensive linemen. (Brooks Kubena)
Titans
- Jim Wyatt of the team website believes while the Titans will likely draft a tight end, the team could end up bringing back TE Anthony Firkser, TE Geoff Swaim, or TE MyCole Pruitt.
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