ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) Jerry Jeudy says he’s working on his hand-eye coordination and doing exercises to strengthen his grip ahead of some offseason work with his quarterback so he can cut down on the dropped passes that plagued him his rookie season.

Just who will be throwing those passes to the Broncos wide receiver was the subject of some musing during Jeudy’s media tour for Old Spice.

Denver safety Kareem Jackson, who played with Deshaun Watson in Houston in 2017-18, said in a recent interview with TMZ Sports that he’s had conversations with the Texans’ disgruntled quarterback and that Watson expressed that ”Denver is a place that he’s interesting in landing.”

Watson has requested a trade and the Texans say they’re not interested in dealing him.

Jeudy chimed in Thursday.

”It would be exciting to have Deshaun Watson there” in Denver, Jeudy told ESPN radio. ”You know he’s a great quarterback. He’s had a great career at Houston. We are looking forward to a decision.”

Jeudy also told The Associated Press that Broncos incumbent starter Drew Lock ”is a great quarterback” and that he was eager to work with him in the coming months to establish a better rhythm heading into the 2021 season.

Lock’s standing as the Broncos starter has been the subject of speculation in Denver following a so-so second season and the hiring of new general manager George Paton.

Paton, according to the Dan Patrick Show, offered Lock to Detroit along with the ninth overall pick in the NFL draft for QB Matthew Stafford before the Lions dealt Stafford to the Rams for Jared Goff in a blockbuster deal.

Asked about the trade rumors swirling around Lock, who led the league with 18 turnovers last season, Jeudy said on a Zoom interview from Florida, ”That’s not in my situation to be handling, but I feel like Drew is a great quarterback.”

”As of right now, I ain’t hear nothing but that he is my quarterback and I’m ready for next season so we can do better and be better than we were last year,” added Jeudy, who partnered with Old Spice to promote the brand’s (hash)ThisOrThatSBLV Challenge on TikTok.

Jeudy, the former Alabama star and 15th overall pick in last year’s NFL draft, caught 52 passes for 856 yards and three touchdowns in his rookie season, well shy of expectations.

Regarded as the best route runner to come out of college in at least a decade, Jeudy proved his hands weren’t nearly as ready for the NFL.

He had two crucial drops in a season-opening loss to Tennessee and dropped a half dozen passes in a 19-16 loss to the Chargers in Week 16.

Coach Vic Fangio said he hoped that would be a ”defining moment” in his career and Jeudy responded with a season-high 140-yard game against the Raiders in Week 17 that included a 92-yard TD that was the longest pass play in the league in 2020.

Catching passes from his quarterback ahead of any offseason program is the next step in Jeudy’s wide receiver rehab and something nobody in the league was allowed to do last year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

”Oh yeah, just getting ready for the offseason, just knowing each other’s tendencies, getting the timing down pat, it’s going to help us a lot during the regular season,” Jeudy said. ”The only thing I really need to work on is my hands. I feel I had too many drops that led me to a lot of missed opportunities.”

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TAMPA, Fla. (AP) Like most NFL cornerbacks, Carlton Davis plays with a short-term memory but never forgets a bad performance.

The third-year pro and the rest of Tampa Bay’s young secondary was dominated by Tyreek Hill during the regular season and are eager to redeem themselves against the speedy Kansas City Chiefs receiver in the Super Bowl.

Hill had 13 receptions for 269 yards and three touchdowns in a 27-24 victory over the Bucs on Nov. 29. He had seven catches for 203 yards and a pair of TDs in the opening quarter alone, with Davis primarily playing single coverage.

”I play defensive back in the NFL, so you’re going to have your share of losses. It doesn’t change who I am or what I do or how I approach the game. I’m going to continue to be a dog and go out there and give it my all,” Davis said.

Davis, fellow cornerback Jamel Dean and safeties Jordan Whitehead and Antoine Winfield, Jr., aren’t making any bold predictions or revealing any secrets about defensive coordinator Todd Bowles’ game plan, but they expect to fare better against Hill when the teams meet again Sunday.

First of all, Dean didn’t play in the earlier game. And, as Davis noted, the secondary – comprised of four starters and a pair of key reserves drafted over the past three years – has played much better in helping Tampa Bay go 7-0 since the loss to the Chiefs.

”We’re just going to go out there and do what we do. It’s not about them, it’s always about us. The more you make it about them, the more it becomes about them,” Davis said.

”I’m going to always be myself. It didn’t work out the first game as far as what we did in our game plan, but we corrected it,” Davis added. ”We’ve got a great game plan going in, but I’m going in with the same mentality and that’s to dominate.”

Davis led the Bucs with four interceptions this season. Sean Murphy-Bunting, a second-round draft pick in 2019 who’s bounced back from injuries to play a key role in the postseason, had interceptions in each of Tampa Bay’s three playoff victories.

Bowles made some adjustments after the first quarter of the Week 12 meeting against the Chiefs, who built a 17-point lead before Tom Brady got the Bucs offense going in the fourth quarter.

Murphy-Bunting felt the secondary held its own against Hill, Travis Kelce and the rest of Kansas City’s talented playmakers after the slow start, proving to themselves that they can play with the defending Super Bowl champions.

”We can’t always go into games like: `They have this guy, they have this guy, they have this guy,’ because we have guys, too,” Murphy-Bunting said.

Davis said the secondary continues to grow as a group, motivated in part by naysayers who’ve portrayed them as a liability for much of the season.

The 24-year-old is still bothered, though, by a preseason ranking he read that listed Tampa Bay’s defensive backs last among 32 teams.

”Just imagine you coming to work every day doing your job and not only you’re not getting credit, but people are saying you’re not doing your job. People just aren’t realizing what you’re doing, and it’s frustrating. Not just for me, but for all of my guys and that’s definitely something that we carry on our shoulder,” Davis said.

”We’ll continue to carry it, not even until we get out respect, just until we’re done playing because it’s something that you never forget. It’s something that’s always on mind,” he added. ”To be slept on is one of the worst feelings ever, so that’s definitely our driving force.”

Bowles, understandably, is encouraged by the way the defense performed in playoff wins at Washington, New Orleans and Green Bay in the NFC championship game.

”We’ve been very opportunistic in the back end,” Bowles said. ”They’re coming together and making plays at the right time. They smell blood, and they go after it.”

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WASHINGTON (AP) President Joe Biden’s dogs will make an appearance during the Puppy Bowl this weekend.

The two German Shepherds, Champ and Major, will appear alongside first lady Jill Biden in a public service announcement focused on mask-wearing set to air during Puppy Bowl XVII.

The event, which features a group of rowdy puppies playing in a model stadium and airs as an alternative to the Super Bowl every year, is focused on raising awareness about adopting shelter pets – something the Bidens have experienced themselves. They adopted Major from the Delaware Humane Association, and he is the first shelter dog to move into the White House.

In the 30-second spot, Jill Biden sits with the family’s dogs before a fire at the White House and speaks about how, for many Americans during the coronavirus pandemic, ”our pets have been such a source of joy and comfort.”

”The unconditional love from a dog is one of the most beautiful things on earth, and we owe it to them to keep ourselves healthy,” she continues. ”So please keep wearing your masks, even when you’re out walking your dog, right guys?”

The ad closes with a bark, and directions to visit the Centers for Disease Control’s website for more information about preventing the spread of COVID-19.

WASHINGTON (AP) President Joe Biden’s dogs will make an appearance during the Puppy Bowl this weekend.

The two German Shepherds, Champ and Major, will appear alongside first lady Jill Biden in a public service announcement focused on mask-wearing set to air during Puppy Bowl XVII.

The event, which features a group of rowdy puppies playing in a model stadium and airs as an alternative to the Super Bowl every year, is focused on raising awareness about adopting shelter pets – something the Bidens have experienced themselves. They adopted Major from the Delaware Humane Association, and he is the first shelter dog to move into the White House.

In the 30-second spot, Jill Biden sits with the family’s dogs before a fire at the White House and speaks about how, for many Americans during the coronavirus pandemic, ”our pets have been such a source of joy and comfort.”

”The unconditional love from a dog is one of the most beautiful things on earth, and we owe it to them to keep ourselves healthy,” she continues. ”So please keep wearing your masks, even when you’re out walking your dog, right guys?”

The ad closes with a bark, and directions to visit the Centers for Disease Control’s website for more information about preventing the spread of COVID-19.

Brett Favre looks at the quarterbacks on display this weekend with an admiration as strong as the throws he made as a Pro Football Hall of Fame player.

From Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl, to the likelihood of Peyton Manning entering the same hall, to former teammate Aaron Rodgers perhaps taking a third MVP award. It’s quite a collection.

Favre played against Brady, sees some of himself in Mahomes, has been a long-time friend with the Manning family, and, well, Rodgers is his successor in Green Bay, where Favre won three straight league Most Valuable Player honors. Rodgers will find out during NFL Honors on Saturday night, when The Associated Press hands out its individual awards, if he will get the hat trick.

”No question this is the best year statistically for Aaron.” Favre says. ”The head scratcher is why they haven’t finished. If I were a betting man, I look at it two ways. Before the Packers-Bucs game, if I were a betting man, I would have a hard time betting against Brady. But there is no question in my mind that the hottest team in football, AFC or NFC, didn’t matter, was the Packers.

”Obviously Brady can win against anyone, you don’t bet against him because he will prove you wrong. But I thought, going into Lambeau – earlier in the year when they played the Bucs – the Packers were not playing as well, not as consistent. But here lately they were consistent, and I was thinking this could even be a blowout just because Aaron was playing so well. I don’t know if a quarterback has ever been on top of his game in the last eight weeks like Aaron had.

”There is no question Aaron played the best. He is consistent every year, don’t get me wrong, but statistically speaking he was unbelievable. And his M.O. is lots of touchdowns and lots of points and very little turnovers, and that has always amazed me. I was always a risk taker, gunslinger, whatever you want to call it. Aaron is not that different from the way I played. The big difference is he doesn’t turn the ball over from an interception standpoint.”

Favre, who co-hosts a show on SiriusXM NFL Radio, is eager to hear the Hall of Fame results, while recognizing nobody will be surprised to hear Manning’s name as a first-time inductee. Favre has a longstanding relationship with the Mannings, from playing against Peyton and Eli to growing up as a fan of their dad, Archie, at Ole Miss, as well as a friendship with the entire first family of quarterbacking. Favre used to have phone conversations with Peyton when he was a Tennessee Vol.

”When you start talking about just playing the quarterback position, the only thing Peyton didn’t have as far as quarterback, that the new age of quarterback has, is mobility,” Favre explains. ”But he had everything else. And savviness. He and I have joked and talked about it.

”I get a kick out of all the mumbo-jumbo stuff he would do at the line – and it worked. Probably the last half of my career I spent more time trying to figure out how to trick the other team, how can I get them offsides or how can I get them to show what they are going to do blitz-wise? … And I say all that because all that stuff Peyton did, surely (offensive coordinator) Tom Moore didn’t say, `Hey Peyton, come here, let’s do this. I want you to act like you are changing to eight different plays.’ Peyton came up with all that and it worked, and statistically I don’t know if he could have been any better for such a long time.”

Long time certainly applies to Brady, in his 21st pro season and 10th Super Bowl, with six rings. Favre was in a similar position to what Mahomes is now – back in January 1998, when he was the youngster coming off a Super Bowl victory and facing the ”old-timer” in John Elway.

”My style of play when I was up and coming was very similar to John Elway: arm strength, mobility, leadership and all that stuff was very similar,” Favre recalls. ”I took a lot of pride in that and he and I talked about that.

”It’s obviously different, the pandemic and the attention and all this stuff. I am sure Patrick has heard a bunch until he is blue in the face: `What’s it like playing against Tom Brady in the Super Bowl. … How would you feel if he won his whatever number of Super Bowls?’ I am sure Patrick has handled it gracefully.

”Much like myself: `John has come close many years, this may be his last opportunity, how would you feel Brett?’

”Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to win the game. I felt like crap when we lost, to be honest with you.”

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TAMPA, Fla. (AP) Ryan Jensen’s introduction to Tom Brady last March began with some predictable small talk over the phone.

You know, the kind of stuff new teammates shoot the breeze about: the city, living arrangements, family.

But after about three minutes, the Buccaneers’ new quarterback switched the conversation with his new center to business. And it took an unexpectedly odd turn.

Jensen was being told – more like ordered – by the six-time Super Bowl champion to make sure he gets in the habit of taking a towel, coating it with baby powder and rubbing it on his backside so it’s never sweaty when he reaches for the football.

”That’s keeping his hands dry and keeping the ball dry,” Jensen explained while somehow keeping a straight face. ”At that point, he’s done this for such a long time and had so much success, I mean, you’ve kind of got to listen to him.

”You going to backtalk him? I just don’t think that’s how that works.”

Yes, the relationship between centers and quarterbacks is, uh, special, and it helps everything work on offense.

”It didn’t take too long, really,” Jensen said of building a rapport with Brady. ”We both kind of have a fiery spirit and, you know, I think that has helped us quite a bit, getting to know each other and knowing what we’re about.”

Towels and powder, however, weren’t the only things Jensen had to get used to.

”I used to wear a glove on my right hand and I used to cut the tips of the fingers off, but he brought it up,” recalled Jensen, who’s in his eighth NFL season and third with the Buccaneers.

”Hey, do you always wear a glove?” Brady asked.

”I’m like, `Yeah,”’ Jensen said. ”And he goes, `All right, well, you’re not going to wear a glove anymore.”’

Brady’s recent centers in New England didn’t. And just like that, Jensen’s glove was gone.

”I mean, when Tom Brady tells you to do something, you usually do it,” a smiling Jensen said. ”It was a little bit of an adjustment at first, especially not wearing a glove. I used to always wear a glove and you start getting your hands pretty torn up not wearing a glove as an offensive lineman.”

Kansas City’s Austin Reiter and Patrick Mahomes have also built a solid center-QB relationship over the last three seasons.

Well, except for Mahomes still not correctly pronouncing Reiter’s last name.

”I call him REE-ter, just because when he first got here, I called him REE-ter and he never corrected me,” Mahomes said. ”So I’m like the only person left that still calls him REE-ter instead of RYE-ter. But don’t tell him that. He’s a great guy.”

Reiter, who was claimed off waivers by Kansas City in 2018 after he spent his first three NFL seasons with Washington and Cleveland, just let Mahomes mangle his last name for a while.

”I think at that time, I just stopped trying to correct people and I just kind of dealt with it,” Reiter said with a laugh. ”It’s kind of gone on my whole life. So, you know, the player he is, he can call me whatever he wants.”

Truth is, Reiter has become arguably Mahomes’ most vital teammate on offense – especially considering the center is the only player starting at the same position he was in during the Chiefs’ Super Bowl run a year ago.

Their bond is strong – pronunciations aside – with the quarterback joining in on a Saturday night meeting tradition among the offensive linemen.

”I mean, I’ve even opened up Pokemon cards with him before, so I think our relationship kind of got on a high level after that,” Mahomes joked. ”He’s been super important. The center who has been there, can kind of direct traffic, get guys going in the right direction. It’s definitely helped out when you have a different group of guys working on the offensive line.”

Jensen said every quarterback he has worked with, from Brady and Jameis Winston in Tampa Bay to Joe Flacco in Baltimore, has ”some sort of unique quirk to them.” And getting to know them is crucial for a center.

”There’s a trust factor in that to make sure we’re on the same page,” Jensen said. ”Communication starts with me and Tom to get it out to the other guys. And having a relationship that you trust each other with is huge.”

A lot of that comes with time – and patience. And a willingness by the center to adjust.

Reiter insisted Mahomes doesn’t have any noticeable quirks, but acknowledged he hadn’t really considered it until he was asked a few times about his quarterback during the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl.

”You just slowly mature – mature to where we may change up the cadences,” Reiter said. ”Or he may say one cadence and I can tell in his voice, I’m like, `This is what he means.’ I think that’s where like all that time and all those reps come into place.”

And all those baby powder-coated towels. And bruised and battered gloveless hands.

”I would definitely say we’re pretty much on the same page 100% of the time when it comes to how he wants certain looks (identified) and things like that,” Jensen said of Brady. ”Over the course of the year, that relationship – in that aspect – has grown tremendously.”

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AP Pro Football Writers Dave Campbell and Josh Dubow, and AP Sports Writer Fred Goodall contributed.

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There will be about 25,000 fans inside Raymond James Stadium for the Super Bowl on Sunday. One reason the Buccaneers and Chiefs won’t be playing before oceans of empty seats is Kansas City helped to prove it was possible to have folks in the stands.

The Chiefs hosted the Texans in the kickoff to the season. From the start, they followed a plan to allow 22% of capacity – approximately 17,000 fans – for each game at Arrowhead Stadium. Fans had to go through temperature checks; sit in small groups and pods; adhere to strict social-distancing measures; and wear facemasks whenever they weren’t eating or drinking.

Even when COVID-19 numbers were spiking around the country, the Chiefs never experienced an outbreak traced back to their fans. And as the season wore on, other teams began to follow their blueprint for allowing fans into their own stadiums.

Chiefs president Mark Donovan said they take tremendous pride in that as an organization.

”To be the team on that stage the very first weekend and launch NFL football and do it successfully, and then be the last playoff game before the Super Bowl and close that window and do it successfully, that’s a memory I’ll share with everybody here for a long, long time,” Donovan said.

PREPPING FOR NOISE

Tampa Bay coach Bruce Arians wanted to make sure his Bucs are ready for something they haven’t dealt with much during this season played during a pandemic: noise.

The Bucs had 16,009 in the stands when they routed Atlanta 44-27 to wrap up the regular season. Approximately 25,000 fans will be allowed inside Raymond James Stadium on Sunday, so Arians pumped up the speakers during the Bucs’ 1-hour, 45-minute practice Thursday.

Arians said communication was easy with nearly empty stadiums during the regular season. He used the speakers before the NFC championship in Green Bay where Arians said it was very loud for his offense.

”I’m hoping there will be some crowd noise when we’re playing defense because our guys are used to talking to each other,? Arians said. ”They’ve talked to each other all year and now all of a sudden, they’ve got to use hand signals.”

Linebacker Jason Pierre-Paul was limited at practice Thursday after sitting out a sore knee Wednesday. Defensive tackle Steve McLendon was given the day off.

Wide receiver Antonio Brown (knee), safeties Antoine Winfield, Jr. (ankle) and Jordan Whitehead (shouder) and linebacker Lavonte David (hamstring) all worked. Tampa Bay added tight end Cameron Brate to the injury report with a strained back that limited him.

The Chiefs moved indoors in Kansas City because of snow and a temperature in the low 30s.

Chiefs left tackle Eric Fisher (Achilles tendon) and rookie linebacker Willie Gay Jr. (knee, ankle) were not available. Wide receiver Sammy Watkins (calf) and running back Le’Veon Bell (knee) both practiced after being limited Wednesday.

Thursday marked the final time talking to the media for the Bucs and Chiefs until after the Super Bowl.

”I’m real happy,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said with a thumb’s up.

BRADY’S PORTUGUESE

Tom Brady’s six Super Bowl rings don’t protect him from being trash talked in his own home.

Asked by a reporter to say hi to his fans in Brazil if he knew any Portuguese, Brady praised his 10-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter for how fluent they are in the language. His wife, model Gisele Bundchen is from Brazil, so Portuguese is spoken regularly at home.

”Unfortunately, their dad is way behind and in his understanding of how to speak the language,” Brady said. ”But I can usually understand a lot of things my wife will say: Papai nao sabe de nada, which means Daddy doesn’t know anything. I usually get that a lot in the house.”

Brady may not be able to speak Portuguese as well as the rest of his family, but the Tampa Bay quarterback knows enough to understand most of what they’re saying, especially when it’s about him.

”I know when they’re speaking Portuguese, kind of what they’re saying, even if they’re, you know, taking shots at their dad …,” Brady said. ”Sometimes when I use my Portuguese words, my daughter will be like, `Daddy, you spoke Portuguese’ which is pretty great. So she’s very fluent.”

BUCKET LIST OPPORTUNITY

There will almost certainly be a moment Sunday when Tyrann Mathieu, the ball-hawking All-Pro safety for the Chiefs, bears down on bruising Buccaneers running back Leonard Fournette and tries to make a tackle.

The fact that it will happen in the Super Bowl? Mathieu called it a ”bucket list” moment for both of them.

You see, long before they became NFL stars, or even standouts at LSU, they were making plays for St. Augustine High School in New Orleans. Mathieu was a couple years ahead of Fournette, so they never really played together, but he always kept his eye on the next football prodigy coming out of the all-boys parochial high school.

”It’s great to see him having some success and be in the situation. It’s great for both of us,” Mathieu said. ”Growing up in New Orleans, it teaches you a lot not only as a person but the person who you want to become in the future. The different teachers and coaches we had, they were really hands on, and that put is in the mindset to dream big and work hard.”

TOM TERRIFIC

Tight end Cameron Brate was already a well-established player, but like many of his Tampa Bay teammates he was a bit star struck by their new quarterback when Tom Brady picked the Bucs.

The first text greeting he received from Brady prompted him to vet the number with wide receiver Chris Godwin, to make sure the message was actually from the three-time NFL MVP and six-time Super Bowl champion. Brate, Godwin and wide receiver Scotty Miller eventually got together for a throwing session at a local high school on a summer Saturday.

”I just remember being so nervous the night before, just to go out and catch passes, just routes on air, something I’d done a million times, just because he’s Tom Brady, you know? He just makes everyone feel very comfortable, made us all feel very comfortable right away,” Brate said.

”It’s just been a ton of fun getting to know him and being his teammate and being part of his legacy. Hopefully I can help add one more championship this year to his ring total.”

FAN CUTOUTS

Philadelphia Eagles fans have helped raise more than $260,000 for the Eagles Autism Foundation through the cutouts taking the place of fans who couldn’t attend during the pandemic.

Ryan Hammond, executive director of the Eagles Autism Foundation, said Thursday that 4,900 cutouts were bought by Eagles fans from around the world, and the response helped the autism foundation top the $10 million mark over its first three years.

”While we couldn’t celebrate in person this year, we were all together in spirit thanks to this fun and creative program that truly represented the very best of Eagles fans everywhere,” Hammond said.

Most NFL teams gave fans the opportunity to buy cutouts for games, with most of the money going to team foundations for their charities.

Philadelphia’s cutouts included healthcare workers and fans such as actor Morris Chestnut, Diplo, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Savannah Guthrie, soccer star Carli Lloyd, actor Ryan Phillippe and others. Fans were able to pick up their cutouts at the end of the season.

WALKING ON

Buccaneers defensive coordinator Todd Bowles’ son has decided to play football at Rutgers as a walk-on player.

Todd Bowles Jr. was one of 10 February recruits to join the Scarlet Knights and Greg Schiano, who coincidently coached the Bucs for the 2012 and ’13 seasons. The linebacker from Jesuit High School in Tampa has ties to New Jersey from the time his father was coach of the New York Jets (2015-18).

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AP Sports Writer Dave Skretta and Tom Canavan and AP Pro Football Writers Dave Campbell and Teresa M. Walker contributed to this report.

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TAMPA, Fla. (AP) NFL players and their union want the league to continue fighting for social justice and they’re still seeking an increase in the number of minority coaches.

After briefly joining NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on stage Thursday to highlight the remarkable collaborative effort it took to reach the Super Bowl on time, NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith urged the league to make more progress.

Two minorities were hired for seven head coach openings this offseason. There were three Black head coaches when the Rooney Rule was adopted in 2003 and there are three now, despite several changes to the rule to help promote more opportunities.

”When you look at the recent round of coaches and hirings, the nicest thing I can say is not good,” Smith said.

”I believe that we should move to a system where there is somebody in charge at the National Football League of diversity inclusion. I think you have to increase transparency about what’s going on in the hiring process. I think you have to increase accountability where we actually use metrics to find out how well we’re doing on the field with head coaches, with assistant coaches, with team front offices, with league front offices and with NFL ownership. And I think you have to decrease the barriers that have existed for other people in this business to unionize.”

Smith added the union plans to present a proposal to the league. He cited corporations have been seeking diversity at work for many years.

Goodell said earlier the league is not satisfied with the recent hiring cycle. The New York Jets hired Robert Saleh, the first NFL coach who is known to be Muslim and the son of Lebanese immigrants, and Houston hired David Culley, making him only the league’s third Black head coach hired.

Goodell said having two minority coaches hired this year wasn’t what they expected and not what they expect moving forward. Goodell noted three African-American general managers were hired with more diversity also seen among coordinators.

”I think we all know there’s a problem,” said Sam Acho, a former player and current executive vice president of the NFLPA. ”A lot of the players believe if you want to see change, you need to see different faces and different voices that are at the table trying to make some of those changes. Players are doing it but also there needs to be buy-in from ownership, which I think they’re taking steps. But it’s not nearly enough and more needs to be done.”

Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy wrote an open letter to NFL owners about the state of minority hirings.

”Progress to me is if we can get people to the table, if we can get people being viewed and have an opportunity,” Dungy said.

”Bring everybody to the table and let’s talk about who fits our needs and what we’re looking for. If we get that, we’re going to see the progress that we’re looking for.”

Veteran linebacker Wesley Woodyard said players want to know they’ll have opportunities to become coaches or general managers or hold other executive positions in the front office in the future.

”It does frustrate players, especially African American players, because we see ourselves as potential leaders within the NFL community,” Woodyard said.

”We want to inspire ourselves to be head coaches. We want to be GMs. But if you have guys like (Chiefs offensive coordinator) Eric Bieniemy who has been an NFL legend, who’s done great things within his office, within the team that he’s going to back-to-back Super Bowls, that frustrates us as players …. If we don’t create these platforms to put everybody on the same level and let these owners know that players are playing in this league, we give so much to the league and they want to be coaches, too, one day, and I think that’s a system that we have to put in place.”

Players stepped up their activism throughout the season and were encouraged by the league’s actions.

”Moving forward, the collaborative effort of both the players in the league and organizations, I think that should continue using the momentum that we had last year and finally being able to see players putting together initiatives and organizations finally really backing them up authentically, the league really backing them up, doing it not just for making a donation, but through their social platforms as well because that’s huge,” Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas said.

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AP Pro Football Writer Teresa M. Walker contributed to this report.

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No matter how many times Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes might find themselves pressured by a pass rusher during the Super Bowl on Sunday, there’s an exceptionally strong chance that they’ll find a way to throw the ball before they’re thrown for a loss.

There are few quarterbacks in NFL history who’ve minimized sacks as much as Brady and Mahomes, one of the few ties that bind these superstars at opposite ends of their career arcs with significantly different playing styles.

Of all active quarterbacks in the league with a minimum of 1,500 pass attempts, Mahomes has the best career sack percentage (3.82), albeit with only three years as Kansas City’s starter. Drew Brees is second (3.83). Brady is third (4.69).

Expand the list to the all-time leaders, and Mahomes is fifth and Brady is 11th. The 43-year-old owner of six Super Bowl rings and three NFL MVP awards had the third-best sack percentage in the league (3.3) in 2020, his first season with Tampa Bay. The 25-year-old Mahomes was sixth (3.6).

”He makes our jobs easier if anything,” said Andrew Wylie, who has moved to right tackle for the injury-altered Chiefs. ”He’s extremely talented and has great pocket presence where, if he does get a little bit of pressure, he knows what to do to get around it. He gets that ball out fast, too, so we love blocking for Patty on this team.”

Whether Mahomes with his escape ability and improvisational skills or Brady with his savviness and vision, each of them have effectively used the art of avoiding the sack in their engineering of a potent offense on the cusp of a championship.

”Knowing how to work with your offensive line and knowing how they’re trying to protect you or how they’re trying to throw guys by you or push them in front of you to give you another lane to run and throw with, it’s something that you have to build that chemistry with,” Mahomes said.

Brady didn’t miss a beat in his move from New England, meshing well enough with his new blockers and enjoying a wealth of down-field targets on the way to a Buccaneers scoring average that ranked third in the league.

”Tom does a really nice job of trying to put us as an offensive line, the guys protecting him, in a good position either from a protection standpoint or a concept standpoint,” left guard Ali Marpet said, ”or just from a communication standpoint so you have everybody on the same page. He does a nice job of a lot of things that all have a small role in him not getting hit.”

Wide receivers have to win their routes and find their way open. Running backs have to know how and where to pick up a blitz. Quarterbacks need to be able to diagnose before and after the snap where the pressure is coming from. The coaching staff has a major role in this, of course, with the onus on the play caller to keep the team out of vulnerable situations and unfavorable matchups.

It’s not oversimplification, though, to declare that sack totals will spike in a hurry if the linemen aren’t able to sustain their blocks. The guys up front for the Bucs were immediately aware of their greater calling as soon as Brady signed.

”Their expectations, our expectations, peoples’ expectations of us, it all went up, and considerably with the offensive line. The first thing you say is, `If Tom can stand straight up in the pocket, he’ll be all right.’ Well, who does that fall on?” said offensive line coach Joe Gilbert.

The Bucs and Chiefs have also shown that it’s possible to field a top-tier offense and a championship-level team without the necessity of high draft picks or expensive free agents filling spots along the offensive line.

Both teams have devoted plenty of salary cap space to the position, to be sure. Still, the Bucs will play in the Super Bowl with only one first-rounder, rookie right tackle Tristan Wirfs. Marpet and center Ryan Jensen came from small colleges. New right guard Aaron Stinnie, who has replaced the injured Alex Cappa, went undrafted and was claimed off waivers from Tennessee last year.

The Chiefs have only one starter, center Austin Reiter, who was slated for the lineup before the season started, with their latest injury inconveniently coming to left tackle Eric Fisher in the AFC championship game.

”Man, it doesn’t matter if they know our names. We know what we do,” Wylie said. ”We’re going in there Sunday to take care of business, man. That’s the thought process that we all have.”

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Andy Reid came up in the West Coast offense where the quarterback performs almost like an NBA point guard, using short passes that talented playmakers can turn into long gains.

Bruce Arians’ offensive philosophy has relied on the mantra ”no risk it, no biscuit” as he wants to quarterbacks to take chances downfield even if it sometimes leads to mistakes.

The approaches may be diametrically different but both have been successful. Reid and Arians have consistently run prolific offenses that have helped the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers reach the Super Bowl.

But Reid and Arians reached title game because both coaches have also shown the ability to adapt. Reid has gradually used more shotgun and spread formations over the years, helping Patrick Mahomes develop into the game’s top QB.

Arians has altered his offense a bit this season in Tampa Bay to cater to Tom Brady’s strengths, incorporating more motion and a few more shorter passes to go along with the deep strikes that remain a staple.

”If you’re not looking for new things every year, you’re falling behind,” the 68-year-old Arians said. ”You can look at what some other people do. But if it really doesn’t match your personnel, it’s not a fit for you.”

There are plenty of differences in the two offensive philosophies, but they can be boiled down to two key statistics from SportRadar that sum up how the passing games thrive.

The Bucs led the NFL this season with 42 completions that traveled at least 20 yards downfield, while the Chiefs ranked 14th with 26 deep completions this season.

”You can’t hit a home run unless you’re going to swing for one,” Arians said. ”You can’t do anything special in life sitting on a fence.”

Kansas City led the league by gaining 2,447 yards after the catch as Mahomes took advantage of playmaking ability of players like Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce. Tampa Bay ranked 17th with 1,874 yards after the catch.

Reid’s offense creates space – the receivers have the second best average separation for receivers, according to NFL NextGen stats, at 3.8 yards per throw.

”Coach Reid does a great job of giving you multiple looks out of certain formations, certain motions, certain movements,” Kelce said. ”What that does is it helps kind of keep the defense in a reactionary position if you perform them the correct way.”

When Brady arrived in Tampa Bay this season after two decades in New England, there were questions about whether the 43-year-old quarterback had the arm strength to thrive in Arians’ offense.

After a midseason lull when he missed on 23 straight deep balls, Brady has completed 25 of 52 deep passes over the past eight games, nearly doubling his completion percentage on deep throws from the first 11 weeks.

Including the playoffs, Brady’s average throw has traveled a career-high 9.4 yards downfield and his 43 deep completions are the most since SportRadar began tracking air yards in 2016.

The average depth of throw is still lower than Arians’ offenses have done in the past as there’s been a meeting in the middle with the two philosophies with Brady taking more chances downfield and Arians adding more motion and other aspects that Brady used so successfully in New England.

Arians’ former quarterback in Arizona, Carson Palmer, said he believes his old coach has been helped out by having Byron Leftwich call the plays.

”So I think just taking that off of his plate has really helped him evolve into an even better head coach,” Palmer said.

Reid is heavily involved with designing and calling the offense in Kansas City even if he does lean on coordinator Eric Bieniemy as well.

The offense that Mahomes has turned into the NFL’s most prolific has evolved greatly from the one Reid, who turns 63 in March, learned as an assistant under Mike Holmgren in Green Bay in the 1990s and then took to Philadelphia before arriving in Kansas City in 2013.

Reid started adding more spread elements with Smith and has supercharged that with Mahomes, who came from an Air Raid system in college.

”Certainly Andy Reid and what he’s morphed that offense to around Patrick Mahomes is dramatically different than we saw with Alex Smith, is different than what we saw at the time he was in Philadelphia,” NFL Network analyst and former Baltimore head coach Brian Billick said. ”He’s been able to adapt exactly to the talent, beginning with obviously Patrick Mahomes.”

Smith completed only 36 deep passes in his first three seasons combined with Reid from 2013-15 but the offense started to change when speedy Hill arrived in 2016. In Smith’s last year as a starter in 2017, he had 32 deep completions and increased his average length of throw by more than a yard to 7.7 yards downfield.

Mahomes has taken that even another step with his strong arm and ability to extend plays allowing for more deep strikes. He had 37 deep completions in 2018 with an average depth of target reaching 9.1 yards.

Those numbers have dropped a bit the past two years as defenses have employed more schemes with two deep safeties to limit Kansas City’s big-play ability.

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AP Pro Football Writer Rob Maaddi contributed to this report

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