AFC Notes: Urban Meyer, Trevor Lawrence, Jaguars, Steelers, Texans

Jaguars

The Jaguars had a rough Week 1 performance that included No. 1 pick Trevor Lawrence throwing three picks and losing 37-21 to the Texans.

Urban Meyer told reporters after the game that this is “a marathon, not a sprint” and they are still “a work in progress.”

“I’ve been warned that this is a marathon, not a sprint… we’re still a work in progress…,” Meyer said, per Mia O’Brien. “I did not expect that today [but] I believe deeply in this team. Line up and go again.”

Jacksonville was penalized 10 times in the game. Meyer said this was “the biggest disappointment” for him.

“Self-inflicted, seven penalties on the first three or four drives… That was the biggest disappointment,” Meyer said.

• Meyer said he believes in this team moving forward: “We’ve all gotten our ass kicked before; let’s tighten up and go. I believe in this team. I believe in our staff. We’ll come back to work. I believe in those guys.” (John Oesher)
• As for rookie QB Trevor Lawrence, Meyer said: “I love Trevor. We all do. He’s just going to get better and better. … Trevor’s going to be great. He’s a very accurate passer. Today at times he wasn’t. We’ve got to figure out why.” (John Oesher)
• Lawrence took the play for the turnovers: “Turnovers – it’s all me. You’re not going to win many games with three turnovers, especially when the margin is minus three. It’s not good. You’ve got to watch them, correct them and move on.” (John Oesher)

Steelers

Steelers’ LB T.J. Watt said he is glad he didn’t have to sit out any games over his contract dispute and isn’t worried about the pressure of living up to his massive deal.

“I’m glad we didn’t get to that point,” Watt said Friday, via Brooke Pryor of ESPN. “Man, I’ve been dealing with pressure my whole life. I’m built for this. And I truly believe that nothing monetary will change me as a person. The work that I put in will not change. It will only grow. It’s my job to prove all these people that have put this amount of money to me and stood on the table to say they want me here, to prove them right. I know I can do it. I know exactly what it takes. I’ve been doing it my whole life. It’s just about continuing to do it and staying hungry. And I guarantee everybody here right now and everybody in this building, I am still hungry. When you go through something like this, and you’re trying to stand up for what you believe in and you’re doing it by yourself, having reassurance from the people that you care about their opinion the most means a lot. There are definitely some moments through this whole process where you do feel like you’re almost by yourself, and that’s why it’s so important that those guys said those nice things.”

Texans

Sunday’s win over the Jaguars “means everything” to Texans QB Tyrod Taylor, who said the team has blocked the outside noise out and has focused on the members within the locker room.

“It means everything to me and I know it means a lot to the guys in the locker room,” Taylor said, via Mark Berman of KRIV. “Since day one, coach Culley made it important that we not focus on outside perception. I think that was something the guys leaned on in the locker room. Just playing for one another. Not necessarily doing it for anything outside the locker room… Just playing for the guys next to you.”

• Texans DT Vincent Taylor suffered an ankle injury in Houston’s win over the Jaguars and will have an MRI on Monday to determine the severity of the issue. (Aaron Wilson)
• Texans HC David Culley was impressed with the way his team started fast, and mentioned they played a very clean first quarter: “A fast start for us would be don’t turn the ball over (and) basically on defense, make them go the long way. In the first quarter, we didn’t have anything negative happen to us.” (Aaron Reiss)

• Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports that the NFL hasn’t made a decision about QB Deshaun Watson because it doesn’t have to at this point in time.
• The Texans are content to pay him to not play and Watson is content to not play and get paid for it. Therefore, the NFL has no reason to get involved in the situation.