AFC South Notes: Colts, Jaguars, Texans, Titans

Colts

Stephen Holder of The Athletic reports that the Colts declining the fifth-year option on S Malik Hooker doesn’t indicate an end to his time with the team.

Holder also notes that the Colts drafted S Julian Blackmon in the third round of the draft, and GM Chris Ballard mentioned during the draft process that he thinks Blackmon is a “legitimate free safety” in the NFL. Ballard also seemed disappointed about the way Hooker played at the end of 2019.

“Malik was solid,” Ballard said. “Wouldn’t say he was great. He had some moments of being really good. And I thought he tailed off a little bit there at the end.”

On Monday, Colts HC Frank Reich also shared his thoughts about Hooker, who tore his ACL as a rookie, and has played in 13 and 14 games each of the last two seasons.

“In ’18 Malik was coming off the (torn ACL) and got better as the year went on. Last year, I really felt like Malik had a really good year. I thought physically, you could feel Malik’s presence on the field. Malik is not the most outgoing, bubbly personality. He’s got a lot of juice and intensity (though) in him and I think you really saw that come out last year, when he was healthy when he started playing real physical and making plays on the ball.“So really excited and expecting big things from him this year.”

Holder adds that injuries, questions about scheme fit, and concerns over consistent impact have led to indecision on Hooker’s future with the Colts. He also notes that Hooker ranks in the top 5 of all safeties in interceptions per game (7 picks in 34 games) since entering the league in 2017.

Jaguars

New Jaguars RB Chris Thompson had a long wait a in free agency that finally ended last week after the Jaguars signed him to the roster. Though Thompson has flashed electric play-making ability throughout his career, a lengthy injury history and the difficulty getting a physical contributed to his wait. 

“A lot of teams wanted to know if I’m healthy,” Thompson said via NBC Sports’ Peter Hailey. “Given that we can’t travel, teams can’t see doctors, teams can’t see us, there’s question marks around me.”

Thompson’s familiarity with Jaguars OC Jay Gruden, who was his head coach for the past several seasons with the Redskins, helped sway him to join Jacksonville over a potential opportunity with the Rams.

“It’s weird because we’re going into this thing where training camp is basically everybody’s preparation for getting ready for the season,” Thompson said. “You have to weigh the options of what’s smart to do… You go with people that you’re comfortable with. I’ve been in that system for a long time.”

Texans

The Texans’ surprising decision to deal star WR DeAndre Hopkins for relative peanuts will have rippling ramifications across the NFL landscape throughout this season and onward. One will be the impact on Houston’s locker room, particularly with some of the reports that came out about Texans HC Bill O’Brien‘s relationship with Hopkins. Houston’s players have for the most part toed the company line in their public responses to questions about the trade but DE J.J. Watt acknowledged the deal surprised everyone. 

“Anytime you have a guy like Hop, who in my opinion, has the best hands in the game and is obviously one of the top receivers of the game, it certainly catches your eye, that’s for sure,” Watt said via Jimmy Traina of SI.com. “It’s always tough to lose a guy like that, no matter what the situation is. It’s above my pay grade and it’s something that obviously the team and the organization feels is in the best interest of the team. So as a player on the team, I do my job and I go to work and I play the games, and the G.M. and the owners, they do their job and they try and do what they feel is best for the team. And so, all I can do is show up and go to work and hope that all the guys that we have are great contributors to our team.”

Titans

• Jim Wyatt of the official team website doesn’t think Titans WR Corey Davis is necessarily on the trade block despite Tennessee declining his fifth-year option. A lot depends on how Davis plays out his contract year.