AFC Notes: Patrick Mahomes, Tom Telesco, Chargers, Chiefs, Raiders

Chargers

Josh Henschke reports that former Michigan strength coach Ben Herbert has informed players that he is leaving the program to follow HC Jim Harbaugh to Los Angeles.

Chiefs

Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes is now in the Super Bowl for the fourth time in his career but says he isn’t taking it for granted.

“You don’t take it for granted,” Mahomes said, via Pro Football Talk. “You never know how many you’re going to get to, or if you’re going to get to any. It truly is special just to do it with these guys after what we’ve been through all season long, guys coming together, it really is special. But I told them the job’s not done. Our job now is to prepare ourselves to play a good football team in the Super Bowl and try to get that ring.”

“If I had my choice, I’d rather do it at Arrowhead,” Mahomes added. “So after we go to the Super Bowl and hopefully win it, we’ll try to get it back at Arrowhead next year.”

Raiders

Raiders owner Mark Davis said GM Tom Telesco was the right fit for the team and pointed out the Chargers’ impressive roster.

“I had to get the right guy, at the right time, to fit the Raiders,” Davis said, via ESPN’s Paul Gutierrez. “It was always a battle to play the Chargers. They always had good talent. At times, great talent. They scared you. I actually liked him, which was different for me with guys from other teams. I respected him.”

Raiders HC Antonio Pierce recalled the first time he met Telesco during the team’s second interview and said that he’s excited for the opportunity to work with him and build a competitive, sustainable roster.

“He knows I was poking at him trying to get him going, trying to get that AP juice out of him, but he stayed very poker faced, which I was like, ‘OK, cool, this is good,‘” Pierce said. “But I think as this relationship grows, like anything else, it’s going to have its ups and downs. We’ve got to be adults and grown men about it. We’ve got to hash it out. We’ve got to understand our roles, check our egos at the door, like everybody else in the building, but understand that we’ve got a plan, and that plan is to do it together, be hand in hand with it. Obviously, if he goes down, I go down. That’s just how it is. That’s the nature of the beast. We get it. But that’s not our plan. Our plan is to win, put a team in place that is competitive each and every week and gives ourselves an opportunity to win.”

Telesco added that the roster-building aspect will be a “partnership” between he and Pierce.

“As far as building the roster, you’re working through the vision of the head coach. How does he want to play on offense? How does he want to play on defense? How does he want to play on special teams? And you build it that way. There’s a lot of discussions. You work through things. We’re going to be able to bounce ideas off each other.“