AFC South Notes: Colts, Jaguars, Texans, Titans

Colts

Colts HC Frank Reich said the team’s playbook will not change under QB Jacoby Brissett and believes the offense will “accentuate” the quarterback’s strengths. 

“It’s a great question and I think that sometimes that gets overplayed,” Reich said, via Kevin Bowen of 1075TheFan. “I might of mentioned this before – I am not sure – I had the experience of when I backed up Jim Kelly, we’re running the K-Gun offense and everybody thought when Jim got hurt, that we would have to go to plan-b offense for me because I wasn’t as talented as him. But that’s not how it rolled and that’s not how we’ll roll. The same thing when Carson Wentz got hurt and Nick Foles came in. Completely different quarterbacks in many respects, same offense, but it’s just interpreted in a slightly different way. We will accentuate some of Jacoby’s strengths and some of our team strengths in a different way, but the playbook won’t change.”

Reich mentioned that Brissett is hard to tackle and can extend plays due to his “functional play strength.”

“He’s got great functional play strength,” Reich said. “In the pocket, he is hard to bring down. He can extend plays and you have to do that a lot in this league. When somebody rushes by you and a big defensive lineman puts his hands on you, he is not fazed by it. He can keep his eyes down the field. He’s got this toughness about him.”

• According to Bleacher Report’s Mike Freeman, the Colts privately believe there’s a good chance QB Andrew Luck unretires and returns to the team at some point in the future. 
• However, Freeman says a source close to Luck would be “stunned” if that ever happened.  
• Per ESPN’s Rich Cimini, the Colts will receive the lower of the Jets’ two sixth-round picks in exchange for CB Nate Hairston, the second which was acquired from the Chiefs for LB Darron Lee. 
• Colts second-round WR Parris Campbell has a good chance of playing in Thursday’s Week 4 preseason game. Campbell has missed several weeks with a hamstring injury. (Kevin Bowen)
• Colts WR Devin Funchess was held out of practice with back spasms. Funchess missed a game last year with the same injury and Reich says they are trying to avoid a repeat: “He’s making good progress and we feel fairly confident he’ll be ready.”

Jaguars

Jaguars LB Quincy Williams said his goal is to play at an “elite” level now that his meniscus surgery is behind him.

“I don’t want to just be a pro; I want to be elite. Before the injury happened, my biggest thing was I want to be the best one out here. I want to be the fastest one out here,” Williams said, via Phillip Heilman of The Athletic. “Then the injury came, so it was about keeping my same mindset. When I come into work, even though I wasn’t out there with my teammates, this is stuff I’ve still got to work on and still got to remind myself of (if I’m going) to be elite.”

Williams admitted that his initial fear was that this could be a career-ending injury when doctors suggested surgery. 

“I’m scared of the hospital anyway,” Williams said. “I ain’t never had surgery. When (the team doctor) said surgery, I was thinking like, ‘Dang.’ The first thing that came to my mind was ‘career-ending.’ It’s the knees. I need my knees. He was like, ‘Surgery.’ I was like, ‘Dang, it’s over with.’”

Titans

The Titans have been installing yet another new offensive coordinator this offseason, which has become a regular trend for QB Marcus Mariota. This year, however, the new guy is 2018 TE coach Arthur Smith, leading to a little bit more familiarity and a head start on the transition. While that hasn’t been on display during the preseason, Mariota is confident they’ll be ready for the regular season.