AFC Notes: Treylon Burks, Christian Kirk, Colts, Jaguars, Titans

Colts

Colts owner Jim Irsay said he plans on attending DE Dwight Freeney‘s Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

“I wouldn’t have missed it for anything,’’ Irsay said, via Fox 59. “To get a chance to do a third guy . . . is humbling. I don’t take that for granted.’’

Irsay said he will eventually have a full recovery after suffering nerve injuries in his leg.

“It’s frustrating because I’m normal in so many ways, but I just can’t push off on (the left leg),’’ he said. “It sucks. I can stand on it, but I can’t walk, yet. It’s like 75% weak. But it’s (getting better) every day. The best neurosurgeons in the world are telling me, ‘Jim, you’ll be fine. Your recovery is just going to take some time.’

Irsay added that he never relinquished control of the franchise.

“Look, I was always involved in every major decision,’’ he said. “But in terms of being back where you’re really enjoying that, that’s where I am. From an energy standpoint, and everything else, you just feel blessed. And you feel back.’’

Irsay has big praise for HC Shane Steichen and is looking forward to getting QB Anthony Richardson back under center this season.

“I think Shane is a young Don Shula. I can’t tell you how much I think of him as a great young coach. Better than I even thought was possible. He’s not like (Mike) Ditka or (Frank) Kush who cusses at people, but he just is demanding and on the details. He doesn’t mess around. Everything he does is designed for us to be a better football team.’’

Jaguars

Jacksonville WR Christian Kirk missed the final five games of last season and expressed his frustration with how the year ended. Kirk mentioned how they’re using last year as fuel for 2024 to push each other at all times.

“I feel like I’m a little bit more — not on the edge, but I’ve got a little bit more of a bite to me this year just with my sense of urgency within practice of just not only pushing myself, but everybody else around me,” Kirk said, via Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk. “Basically saying, we can’t wait. We can’t wait for the opportunity to come to us. We’ve got to go take it.”

Titans

Tennessee envisioned WR Treylon Burks stepping into a massive role following the trade of WR A.J. Brown. Despite a slower start to his career than he would have liked, Burks has kept his head down and worked in hopes of proving himself right.

“I feel terrific,” Burks said, via Jim Wyatt of the team’s website. “I just dedicated myself to it, and just wanted to grind. It’s just something different that I wanted to try, and obviously it has helped a lot since we started camp. I started doing it at the end of OTAs and I kept it going all the way through. I wanted to change my body drastically, and I’ve done that.”

“I am here just to prove myself right, man. I am not here to prove anybody wrong. Just do what God set in front of me to do, that’s what I am going to do.”