Broncos

Following a dominant defensive performance against the Jets, Broncos CB Patrick Surtain II campaigned for OLB Nik Bonitto to be the Defensive Player of the Year frontrunner. Despite the early hype, Bonitto isn’t ready to have those discussions and is focusing on stacking wins. 

“It’s a long season. I still have a lot of room to grow in my game. A lot of games to just keep playing and keep trying to stack these wins. I’ve got a lot of ways to go before we start even having those conversations,” Bonitto said, via Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk.

Chargers

After nearly blowing a 13-point lead late in the game, the Chargers pulled out a victory after a clutch 42-yard completion to WR Ladd McConkey to set up the game-winning field goal. Los Angeles HC Jim Harbaugh couldn’t hide his praise for the quarterback for persevering and making his best plays when the moment was at its biggest. 

“That play will be burned in my mind until they throw dirt over top of me,” Harbaugh said, via the team’s YouTube. “Justin Herbert back to throw, defender wrapped around him. He’s able to mighty man it, shake it off and hit Ladd McConkey.”

“On a physical level, it just can’t really be done by many. Just a couple of guys who can do that. On a mental level, it’s an emotionally hijacking thing to have that occur. To keep your wits about you and still be able to be spun around and visualize where there is at least somebody you can get the ball to. Then having the presence of mind to relocate, relock back in and make an accurate throw — that’s just reserved for the best of the best.”

• ESPN’s Adam Schefter said the Chargers are looking for a running back ahead of the upcoming trade deadline. (Pat McAfee)

Raiders

Raiders HC Pete Carroll acknowledged that it might be best for the team to keep TE Brock Bowers out through the week 8 bye.

“I’m hopeful, but we’re looking after him,” Carroll said, via PFT. “There’s a big bye coming up and all that kinda stuff. An extra week, a couple of weeks you’d get, before you’d have to come back. I’m optimistic always, but that doesn’t mean we’re getting him back. You look at the long haul of it, it might be best to just guarantee that he’s full speed and back. So we’ll see how we handle that.”

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