{"id":770028,"date":"2026-02-23T00:07:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T00:07:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/770028\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T00:07:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T00:07:17","slug":"afc-notes-brian-thomas-demeco-ryans-jaguars-texans-titans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/770028\/","title":{"rendered":"AFC Notes: Brian Thomas, DeMeco Ryans, Jaguars, Texans, Titans"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jaguars WR Brian Thomas<\/a> Jr. was one player that many expected to grow from his rookie season; the sophomore slump kicked in, partially due to the fact that the team acquired WR Jakobi Meyers<\/a>. However, even without second-overall pick Travis Hunter<\/a> on the field, Thomas was never able to get things going and is hoping to return to positive growth this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just adversity, [which] gives you a lot to grow from,\u201d Thomas said, via Mike DiRocco of ESPN<\/a>. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t call it frustrating. I mean, it just gives you something to build off. You know what you\u2019ve got to do and you know what you got to do to sustain [success].\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJust growing, getting better with the offense,\u201d Thomas added. \u201cIt took a little time, but yeah, for sure, I definitely think [I hit a stride]\u2026Just got more comfortable and just was able to go out there and play a little bit more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jaguars HC Liam Coen and GM James Gladstone both addressed Thomas\u2019 season during the team\u2019s locker cleanout day.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think you point to wins and losses as really what it comes down to,\u201d Coen told reporters. \u201cWhen you\u2019re part of a team that wins, typically that wealth is shared, so it\u2019s never truly going to be about one player. I continue to pour into every single one of these guys as will [receivers coach] Edgar Bennett and as will Grant [offensive coordinator Grant Udinski] and as will our entire staff continue to pour into guys to try to get the most out of them to help our team win as many games as humanly possible, and B.T, will 100% be a part of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWith Jakobi\u2019s arrival, it certainly allowed B.T. to continue to level up in areas that fit within the system itself that were fit for his skill set and allowed him to be the best version of himself down that back stretch of the season,\u201d Gladstone noted.<\/p>\n

The Raiders are hiring Jaguars defensive assistant Mario Jeberaeel as offensive run game coordinator. (Tom Pelissero<\/a>)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Texans GM Nick Caserio spoke about the great experience he has had with HC DeMeco Ryans<\/a>, who has exceeded his expectations and led the team to the playoffs the past two seasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything starts with the head coach,\u201d Caserio said, via DJ Bien-Aime of ESPN<\/a>. \u201cI think he\u2019s grown. You can ask him. He\u2019s grown from the time he started until now. Obviously, the playcall thing, passed that to [defensive coordinator Matt] Burke. There is no ego with him at all. He just wants what\u2019s best for the team and what\u2019s best for this organization. Period. End of story. I can\u2019t say enough great things about him, the job he\u2019s done.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c[Ryans] was unbelievable,\u201d Caserio added. \u201cI would say his consistency, how steadfast he was and being able to get the issues fixed and addressed. DeMeco is one of the best human beings I\u2019ve ever been around in my life. He is also one of the most competitive individuals that I\u2019ve been around, which is why I think we resonate with one another. Grateful for the opportunity to work with him on a day-to-day basis. And looking forward to working with him on building the 2026 team.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just proud of the team that we\u2019ve had this year,\u201d Ryans told the media. \u201cProud of the things we were able to accomplish from a really rough start to a season and to battle back and to finish the season strong, make the playoffs. [The 2025 season] didn\u2019t end the way we wanted to end. We just got to keep plugging away, finding a way to win that divisional round. That\u2019s one of the goals that we have to get to the ultimate goal. You got to win there. We got to find a way to get it done.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Titans are hiring Dolphins assistant strength coach Brent Callaway. (Matt Zenitz<\/a>)
\nThe team also added former NFL DL Tanzel Smart<\/a> to the coaching staff as an assistant DL coach. Smart played for the Jets when HC Robert Saleh was in New York. (Jim Wyatt<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Looking for the latest NFL Insider News & Rumors?<\/p>\n

Be sure to follow NFL Trade Rumors<\/a> on X.com<\/a>\u00a0and FACEBOOK<\/a>\u00a0for breaking NFL News and Rumors for all 32 teams!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jaguars WR Brian Thomas Jr. was one player that many expected to grow from his rookie season; the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":91089,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2056],"tags":[109300,19734,3607,7,221,253,2368,6913,1302,1642,109364,6,901,6043,109380,222,128],"class_list":{"0":"post-770028","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston-texans","8":"tag-brent-callaway","9":"tag-brian-thomas","10":"tag-demeco-ryans","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-houston","13":"tag-houston-texans","14":"tag-houstontexans","15":"tag-jakobi-meyers","16":"tag-james-gladstone","17":"tag-liam-coen","18":"tag-mario-jeberaeel","19":"tag-nfl","20":"tag-nick-caserio","21":"tag-robert-saleh","22":"tag-tanzel-smart","23":"tag-texans","24":"tag-travis-hunter"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116117035336314777","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/770028","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=770028"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/770028\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/91089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=770028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=770028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=770028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}