Colts

Colts HC Shane Steichen remains critical of the team’s performance and was unclear when asked if QB Daniel Jones would remain the starting quarterback, but said Jones gave the team their best chance to win.

“It wasn’t good enough, flat-out wasn’t good enough,” Steichen said, via NFL.com. “We got outcoached, we got outplayed and we’ve got to freaking learn from our mistakes in a hurry. The effort and the energy has to be there every week. If not, you’re going to get beat like that. Clearly, I’ve got to do a better job, plain and simple. It starts with me as the head coach. I’ve got to do a better job to get these guys ready to go. That wasn’t it today.”

“I’m going to evaluate everything, every position going forward,” Steichen added.

Jaguars

Jaguars WR Brian Thomas Jr. has been the subject of trade rumors as the deadline approaches. Jacksonville HC Liam Coen praised Thomas for staying mature amidst trade talks and recording a touchdown in Week 8’s win over the Colts. 

“He’s a young dude, but he’s very mature,” Coen said, via JaguarsWire. “Like he’s not an immature guy that you’re emotional and gets too high and too low. And he said it last week, he’s just going to continue to come out and do his job and I think I said at some point last week that he was going to make plays for us in this game. We all had belief that was going to happen and we’re going to continue to believe that.”

Coen added that they will keep getting Thomas involved as long as he’s on the team. 

“We’re going to continue to work with him and continue to try to get the most out of every player, especially BT. I have been impressed with the way that he’s able to block out the noise, continue to be integrated with everybody. I was proud. I was very happy for him to see him make that play on the first drive of the game on a critical third-and-goal to go,” Coen said. 

Texans

Texans QB C.J. Stroud is in the final year of his rookie contract before entering his fifth-year option for 2027. One anonymous NFL coordinator told ESPN’s DJ Bien-Aime and Jeremy Fowler that Stroud’s development looks like what they expected. 

“He looks like he was expected to look after his rookie year,” the coordinator said. 

An anonymous AFC executive thinks Stroud could position himself as the league’s highest-paid player. 

“He’s making himself a lot of money,” an AFC executive said. “New tax bracket. If he keeps playing like this and they somehow get in the playoffs and make a run, there’s no reason why he can’t be somewhere close to the highest paid.” 

An anonymous defensive coach can see how Stroud has improved as a passer and is playing with more command. 

“I thought in the past he was too quick to scramble, but he’s standing in there and trusting things, delivering the ball,” the coach said. “Just feels like he’s playing with more command.”