AFC Notes: Will Anderson Jr., Michael Pittman Jr., Colts, Texans, Titans

Colts

Colts WR Michael Pittman Jr. displayed his toughness by playing through a back injury on Sunday and said that his dad pushed him to play if he was able to.

“He just said if I felt like I could be effective, that I should play,” Pittman said, via PFT. “And we sat there and we talked for an hour because I had to talk to a lot of people before I kind of made that final plan. And he was one of the people that I talked to, the closest, obviously. Because he’s been there. He’s played through a lot of things. So, I just kind of took his advice.”

• Colts HC Shane Steichen believes QB Anthony Richardson will be ready to play in Week 7 pending a setback. (Joel A. Erickson)

Texans

Texans DE Will Anderson Jr. said the team doesn’t need any superheroes and they need to continue playing complimentary football on both sides of the ball.

“It’s complementary football,” Anderson said, via SI’s Albert Breer. “I just think we have to be sound in all three phases, special teams, offense, and defense. At the beginning of the season and up until this point it was like the offense had a good game or the defense had a good game. We want to play complementary football. We want all phases to be on one, and for everybody to do something to help us win, not just one side of the ball. We have weapons on each side of the ball to help us do that. That’s the vision going into this season.”

Anderson understands that he can still make an impact on the game even if he and DE Danielle Hunter aren’t racking up high sack totals.

“Last year, I got a sack the first game of the season, and then I didn’t get another sack until Week 8 or 9,” Anderson explained. “Going into this [season], I was like, Man, we just got to keep chopping. If you don’t get a sack this game, keep getting one percent better. Just have a consistency. Keep your mood uplifted, keep it positive, and don’t get down on yourself. Things like that happen. I think we did a really good job of staying together as a group. We just got to keep going. We’re winning our rushes. We’re getting to the quarterback. We just got to get them on the ground and take the ball. I think that’s what everybody did.”

Anderson said he and QB C.J. Stroud came in with a mindset to change the culture of the team and build a sustainable winner.

“Me and C.J., we talk a lot about this,” Anderson added. “One of the biggest things we wanted to do was come in and change this culture. We’ve been sticking together and, along with the help of other guys, we’ve been trying to change the culture. We know how special both of us can be, and how guys feed off us, and how our energy is contagious. We just want to keep leading the right way and keep setting a good example for the team of what we want this team to be. I think the guys have been responding right. It just takes everybody.”

Titans

Titans WR Calvin Ridley finished Week 6 with eight targets and zero catches with six of his targets coming in the second half. Ridley took the blame for his poor performance but also expressed his desire to be more involved earlier in the game to get into a rhythm.

“I need some in the beginning of the f*****g game too,” Ridley said, via ESPN’s Turron Davenport. “This s**t is getting crazy. I sucked today and got to do better. But I got to get the ball a little earlier so I can be in the game and here with the team and play well also.”

• Titans HC Brian Callahan called RB Tyjae Spears week-to-week with a hamstring injury and noted his status is in question for Week 7. (Terry McCormick)
• Callahan spoke on QB Will Levis‘ status: “Didn’t see anything that made me feel like Will Levis wasn’t healthy enough to make the throws on Sunday, and could play.” (Jim Wyatt)
• He continued to praise Levis and believes he can improve: “I think we have a young guy who has the potential to be a really good quarterback in Will Levis. So far, he hasn’t reached his potential. We’re working on it.” (Wyatt)
• Callahan also discussed OL Leroy Watson filing in: “Leroy wasn’t terrible and he wasn’t great. We’ll keep looking at it.” (McCormick)