Broncos

The Broncos signed TE Evan Engram to fill HC Sean Payton‘s joker role. Engram said he likes to call himself “a cleaner,” which represents his work ethic, energy, leadership, and ability to “embrace adversity.”

“I like to call myself a cleaner,” Engram said, via Aric DiLalla of the team’s site. “A guy that’s going to come in every single day and do what he’s asked at the highest level possible. A guy that’s going to embrace adversity, embrace challenges, but also bring a great amount of energy and leadership even in those times of adversity and humbleness in times of success. I want to earn everything that’s going to come my way, and hopefully, God willing, I can stay healthy and stay on the field and do what I do best, which is make plays with the football.”

Engram said there are high expectations in Denver. 

“Just the expectations that are here, the team that’s here, the quarterback that’s here, the coach that’s here,” Engram said. “I literally can go on for days. I’m blessed to be here. Everything happens for a reason, and I’m really glad to be in Denver.”

Engram is embracing Payton’s joker position, which was a “big part of the pitch” in his recruitment. 

“That’s a cool thing just to embrace,” Engram said. “Sean talked about it a lot. It was a big part of the pitch coming here. The fans are great here, so just was kind of embracing that narrative a little bit. But I definitely see that as something that’s got to be earned with the way I work, the way I come in and learn the offense and gain the trust of Sean and Bo [Nix] and the rest of the coaches and the rest of the players.”

Chargers 

Chargers OC Greg Roman said there is a big difference with Justin Herbert this offseason, now entering his second year in their system. 

“If you were watching our practices this time of year last year and this time of year this year, that would answer itself,” Roman said, via Eric Smith of the team’s site. “It’s really important, huge. The benefit of having time on task together, working together, understanding each other better. Understanding what I’m looking for, how he might be looking to do things. That working symbiosis, it’s very important. Our guys are out there working and it’s completely different than it was last year. We’re a lot further ahead.”

Roman mentioned things got “choppy” last season after Herbert missed time in training camp after injuring the plantar fascia in his right foot, while he also suffered a sprained ankle to his opposite foot in Week 2. 

“It was a little choppy at times,” Roman said. “It was kind of the perfect storm in that regard. We had to bob and weave a little bit there, rope a dope if you will. That’s tough to do in this league.”

Roman called the first month of the 2024 season their “training camp” for Herbert. 

“We had a great offseason and then Justin missed most of training camp,” Roman said. “The month of September for us last year was training camp in a big way. We got out of it 2-2 but if you really want to look at our offense, you need to look at October through the end of the year to see where we rank and all that.”

Chiefs

Chiefs DT Chris Jones said he and his teammates are looking at their Super Bowl loss as a sign that they need to do more to reach their goals.

“I think you can use a lot of things as motivation, especially this past season,” Jones said, via Pro Football Talk. “The biggest motivation is making it to the big game and losing — not only losing, but losing the way we did. A lot of people in the building think we could have done better. We think we’re better, and we’re focused on getting back to the mountaintop now.”

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