News - AFC Notes: Philip Rivers, Brian Thomas Jr., Colts, Jaguars, Texans

Regarding the Colts' signing of 44-year-old QB Philip Rivers to their practice squad on Tuesday, Albert Breer of SI writes that the primary concern with Rivers will be his ability to hold up physically, rather than whether he can still throw effectively. Breer thinks Indianapolis' signing Rivers sends a message to the locker room that they are serious about competing and will do all they can to patch up a potentially disastrous situation. The Colts tried out four players on Tuesday, including DB Keion Crossen, QB Seth Henigan, DB Mike Reid, and Rivers, per the NFL Transactions wire. Jaguars HC Liam Coen said that WR Brian Thomas Jr. is getting healthier and his play has improved week to week since returning. 'I think just getting healthier,' Coen said, via Jags Wire. 'As a wideout and you've got an ankle, it's hard. It's hard to feel confident probably going out and cutting and running and stopping and making plays. I think right now he just feels better. He feels healthier.' Coen said that teams keying on Thomas has opened up opportunities for the team's other receivers. 'He's been practicing hard. He's been practicing at full speed,' Coen said. 'Him and the quarterback — Trevor — have worked at it, like they've worked, they've put time into it. And it showed up yesterday in a big way for us. That's an area of our offense that has been much needed, and to have it show up yesterday was such a good thing to see for us moving forward, for our confidence as a group. When you can attack, like I said, every blade of grass, you're just becoming that much more difficult to defend.' Texans DT Tommy Togiai finished Week 14 with 10 tackles, one sack, and two quarterback hits, filling in for the injured DT Tim Settle Jr. Houston HC DeMeco Ryans praised Togiai's consistency and doesn't think he's exceeded expectations because of the standard the defensive tackle holds himself to. 'Another guy that probably doesn't get recognized a lot is Tommy Togiai,' Ryans said, via Aaron Wilson of KPRC. 'He started it off for us. He was consistent all night. It was a relentless effort from our entire group.' 'Tommy hasn't exceeded expectations. Tommy expects high things from himself. I don't think there is a harder worker on our team than Tommy. I can vividly remember coming in the building in February after the playoffs and the first player I see in our weight room is Tommy. He's in there working out, squatting, grinding already. It's not a surprise to us what Tommy has done because in the background he's always working. As consistent as ever.'