AFC Notes: Will Levis, Jaguars, Texans, Titans

Jaguars

• Jaguars HC Doug Pederson said QB Trevor Lawrence (AC sprain) and TE Evan Engram (labrum) underwent surgery this week and are expected to return in the spring, per Michael DiRocco.  

Texans 

Texans HC DeMeco Ryans said they are putting extra attention on Chiefs DL Chris Jones in Week 16’s matchup, pointing out he can line up in both interior and edge rusher roles. 

“Make sure you know where ’95’ is at all times,” Ryans said, via NFL.com. “Chris is an outstanding player, size, strength, pass rusher ability. Not only inside, he lines up outside, can get in on the edge as well, does a great job of batting passes down. He just totally impacts the game for them, and you see why he has been a dominant defensive tackle in this league. His pure will, strength, everything about him. He is just a great player.”

Ryans reiterated that no one can “fall asleep” on Jones. 

“For us, you have to have awareness where ’95’ is. No one can fall asleep on ’95,'” Ryans said. “You have to make sure you are aware. You have to go challenge him and you have to go compete. That is what this game is about and that is what I am most excited about, they have really good players, they have good players. Let’s put the ball down, compete and see what happens.”

Titans

Titans HC Brian Callahan said he still has confidence in QB Will Levis and didn’t rule out having a long-term future in Tennessee.

“I’m not worried about any long-term discussions at the moment, I’m trying to get this week done and win this week,” Callahan said, via Around The NFL. “Those are all things we can revisit again at a later date. Yeah, I expect Will to be the backup and he is, he’s under contract year. I still believe in Will. I still believe he can improve. Those things haven’t changed, but for right now, this is the best decision for our football team.”

Callahan appeared to separate himself from Levis and said that his lack of consistency and errors led the team to make the change at quarterback.

“It wasn’t for lack of coaching or pouring into,” Callahan said. “We’ve given, at every turn, as much as we can to try to put Will in position to succeed. He’s shown improvement. There’s a lot of things he’s improved at. It hasn’t been enough consistency at this moment. So, those are the things that we’re trying to fix. Those aren’t easy decisions ever.”

• Callahan said Levis has been “excellent” in the meeting room and in practice, but it hasn’t translated to gameday. (Terry McCormick) 
• Levis remains confident that he can be a starting quarterback anywhere in the NFL: “I still believe I can be the franchise QB for this team or somewhere else in the league.” (McCormick)