AFC Notes: Trent Baalke, Tank Dell, Jaguars, Texans, Titans

Jaguars

• SI.com’s Albert Breer believes Jaguars GM Trent Baalke could retire after the season and doesn’t think there’s a great chance he will return with Jacksonville next season. 
• Jaguars TE Brenton Strange was fined $7,720 for unnecessary roughness (leg whip) in Week 15.

Texans

Texans WR Tank Dell is finally back in Houston after a severe knee injury suffered against the Chiefs. Several teammates including QB C.J. Stroud and RB Joe Mixon plan to rally around him, along with HC DeMeco Ryans.

“It’s not easy seeing your brother go down like that,” Stroud said, via Aaron Wilson of Click2Houston.com. “I’m just tore up, but at the same time, I got to be strong for him. For anything whether it goes left or right, up or down, I have to praise my Lord and savior. It’s not easy, but I try to use it as motivation. It’s not easy to just let it go. That’s my best friend. It’s not easy to move on and just keep playing. I tried to do the best that I could. My teammates helped me up. I appreciate the guys just talking to me because I was going through it. This will be another road in the bump for Tank. It sucks to say, but, at the end of the day this is not the end for Tank. It’s just the beginning.”

“Man, obviously, it’s an unfortunate injury,” Mixon commented. “Tank fought his ass off to get healthy with everything he was going through in the offseason. My man showed up to work each and every day with the best mindset and attitude. It’s an unfortunate situation. That’s the nature of this game. You can never take it for granted. The only thing we can do for Tank is be there for him. My dawg hurt on the ground. You never want to see things like that. That’s your brother right there screaming in pain. There’s really nothing you can do. That s— sucks. I just tried to do everything I can and let him know that we’re there for him, praying over him, holding him and let him know: ‘God got you.’ At the end of the day, you never want to see anybody in our sport get hurt like that. You just got to be there for him. It’s a lot of emotion that goes into it. You know who Tank is for us. That was a big loss for us. It is a big loss.”

“All our thoughts and prayers are with Tank right now,” Ryans told reporters. “You guys can see what he means to our entire team. It hurts to see him go down like that. He was having a fantastic game.”

• Ryans on Dell: “We’ll still be evaluating to see where he is, still meeting with doctors to see what’s next for him. It is a significant knee injury. Our thoughts and prayers are with Tank at this time.” (Wilson)
• Ryans said the team also lost G Shaq Mason to a knee injury: “We lost another starter in Shaq. I thought Kendrick (Green) did a nice job.” (Wilson)
• Mason will continue to undergo more tests on his knee and the thought is he may have avoided a serious injury. (Wilson)
• As for S Jimmie Ward, Aaron Wilson reports that there is no structural damage or fracture in his foot, with more imaging to come.

Titans

• Titans DL Jeffery Simmons on the team falling to 3-12 on the season: “I would hope it bothers everybody on the locker room. 3-12, I didn’t expect this coming out of camp. But we fought. Didn’t quit. What we have to do is play for momentum next season.” (Turron Davenport)
• Titans HC Brian Callahan mentioned that both OL Dillon Radunz and S Amani Hooker left the game against the Colts due to shoulder injuries. (Terry McCormick)