Jaguars
Jaguars HC Liam Coen said fourth-round RB Bhayshul Tuten has been solid in their offseason program but admitted he still needs development.
“I think he’s done a solid job,” Coen said, via the team’s YouTube. “He needs a lot more work, which all those guys do.”
Coen said the biggest adjustment for running backs from college to the NFL is in the blocking game.
“A lot of the running backs, man, it’s a huge jump from protection systems in college to the pros and that’s usually where you see the tempo slowing down for them,” Coen said. “Like playing slower, thinking more, when pass pro starts to kind of bog the mind. Then let’s call it, you got five different tracks of footwork for a running back to learn.”
Coen added that all the information they are giving to running backs can slow them down at this point of the offseason.
“We’re trying to teach the why and sometimes that can slow a back down in this phase, especially when it’s tag, and people are in awkward positions when you’re trying to stick your foot in the ground to run vertical to run through them, you can’t. It’s awkward.”
Texans
UFL executive and former Cowboys FB Daryl Johnston says he has done a lot to help CB Damon Arnette make it back to the NFL after a rough start with the Raiders.
“I put a lot of effort into just making sure that Damon was in the right spot mentally, had put his past behind him,” Johnston told KPRC 2’s Aaron Wilson. “There was genuine remorse about what had happened and then you get with the appropriate people to get the facts of the matter and, then, you weigh all those different elements into it. When we got down to it, we really felt that Damon had earned the right to have a second opportunity to change his life around. So, we’re very proud of what he’s done with this opportunity. He’s still got a long way to go. I talked to Damon the day he signed with the Texans and said, ‘Hey, congratulations, that’s great stuff. I know it’s been a long journey, but you are just at the beginning. You’ve got so much work to do.’ And so I’m gonna be on him all the way through training camp, making sure that he’s got a friendly voice talking to him.”
Arnette feels that he is in a different place in his life compared to where he was when the Raiders drafted him in the first round out of Ohio State.
“I had to take a look in the mirror,” Arnette said. “I had to make some serious life changes. And the main thing that I did was I invited back my support system, my foundation, and that’s probably something I will never let go of again because I see how dangerous it is to be trying to navigate in a new world, new environment, new situations with no experience. So, I definitely learn from that end. I said to coach Johnston, I needed him to tell me no, that I couldn’t play. That hurt my heart, you know what I’m saying? Because I’m thinking I’m doing everything right, but obviously I wasn’t because things just kept happening and I had nobody to blame but myself. I’m always thankful for (Roughnecks) coach CJ ( Johnson ) and coach Johnston. It was just a blessing to be here.”
“I’m 28 years old right now with three kids, with a mom and dad that loves me and has my back right now,” Arnette added. “With coaches, I feel like I’ve proved a complete turnaround. All the coaches that have been with me right now, I feel like their words would be more valuable because I’ve said a lot of things in the past. What I would say is what they see on film, that’s me being out of commission for three years. I’m a dawg on the field. I’m more of a professional now than I ever was before. I wasn’t a professional before. I was just a dawg. I found professionalism and a calm state of mind. I feel like I’m the best version of myself that I’ve ever been.”
Even Arnette’s former coach during his time with the Raiders, Jon Gruden, said that he is proud of the way the cornerback has been able to make changes and get a second NFL opportunity with the Texans.
“He’s got a whole new identity,” Gruden said. “He doesn’t look the same. He doesn’t act the same. He’s not the same. He has changed his identity. He changed the circle of people in his life, in a good way. He’s focused. He’s determined. He’s got to make up for some time that he lost.”
Titans
Titans first-round QB Cam Ward has been hosting meetings this off-season with the team’s rookie skill players before the start of OTA’s and he’s been putting in language to the offense that helps get everyone on the same page.
“In a way, those meetings, where Ward leads the room, were his own way of working to put that new language to work and get his own practice at using it,” SI’s Albert Breer wrote. “Of course, it’s not the only way the challenge is being attacked in Nashville. He also has a meeting with coaches every morning where the staff puts one protection in, going through the rules and the what-ifs in-depth on each one. In the afternoons, the coaches have him run another meeting with the rookies to give him full ownership of what they’re teaching.“
The post AFC Notes: Bhayshul Tuten, Cam Ward, Jaguars, Texans, Titans appeared first on NFLTradeRumors.co.