AFC South Notes: Colts, Jaguars, Texans

Colts

Zak Keefer of the Indianapolis Star mentions that the Colts have had second-round pick Braden Smith working at right tackle lately, due to some injuries they’ve been dealing with.

“I mean, I think he has good feet,” Colts HC Frank Reich said of Smith. “He is smart, and he understands the game. He’s shown an aptitude. Position versatility — it’s a little bit different. There are times I can see, especially early on, that he hasn’t played out there much, but is getting better.”

• Kevin Bowen takes a look at some players who are trending up and down for the Colts at this point in training camp.
• Some players on the rise, according to Bowen, include DE John Simon, OL Braden Smith, WR K.J. Brent, RB Jordan Wilkins and CB Kenny Moore.
• Conversely, Bowen lists OT Austin Howard, LB Antonio Morrison, DE Tarell Basham, DE Kemoko Turay, DE Tyquan Lewis and LB Anthony Walker trending down.

Jaguars

Jaguars CB Jalen Ramsey mentioned in an interview with GQ that he believes they should have trusted QB Blake Bortles more last year to keep throwing the ball.

“Blake do what he gotta do… I think in crunch time moments, like last year’s playoff game — not as a team, because we would have trusted him — but I think as an organization, we should have trusted him more to keep throwing it,” Ramsey said. “We kinda got complacent and conservative. And I think that’s why we lost. We started running it on first and second down, throwing it on third down, every single time we were out there. [The Patriots] caught on to that.”

Ramsey explained that Bortles did a good job of executing what he was asked to do last year.

“(Nick Foles) won them a Super Bowl so he’s good enough to do that,” Ramsey said. “He had a hella good team, too, though. But as long as you can do what the team asks you to do, then you’re straight. Like people say Blake sucks, but he took us to the AFC Championship game off strictly doing what was just asked of him: not turning the ball over, running Leonard [Fournette] to death, letting the defense get some turnovers, and putting us in a good field position to capitalize on.

“That was what we asked him to do. Playoff Blake is good. People can say whatever but playoff Blake is good. I think that’s how it is with a lot of teams: as long as you do what that team is asking you to do, and you do it well with the rest of the team, then you can be considered good-or at least not bad. You not a bad quarterback if you do what your team asks of you.”

Texans

Texans DE J.J. Watt (leg) said he has “no doubt” that he will be fully recovered and start Week 1’s game against the Patriots.

“Oh yeah, I mean there’s no doubt,” Watt said, via Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle.

When asked his expectations for the 2018 season, Watt replied that he is focused on “what I can control.”

“There’s really no good way to answer that question, so I’m literally focused. I control what I can control. Through all my injuries, that’s probably the biggest thing I’ve learned, is control what you can control. All I can control is today; workouts, practice, meetings, and then tomorrow I’ll be able to control that.”