Buccaneers
- Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield isn’t content with his progression after a revived career in Tampa Bay: “The second you take it off the gas, they’ll eat you alive. I’ve dealt with that. I’ve dealt with the ups and downs and realized if I don’t try to bring my best stuff to work every day, it’s going to be a failure… That’s the point: How good can I get?” (Jeff Howe)
Falcons
Falcons WR DJ Chark debated retiring due to injuries at the age of 28 after seven seasons; however, Atlanta wanted him on a one-year contract.
“I prayed on it,” Chark told the team website. “I think God wanted me here. Running routes is just therapy for me. He needed work, so I would just go with him and run the routes that he was working on here. Once I got here, everybody from the staff to all the coaches made me feel welcomed and wanted. So, I felt like it was the right decision.”
It was actually Falcons backup QB Easton Stick, who vouched for Chark after their time together with the Chargers.
“He always had a script, so just getting the plays from him,” Chark said of Stick. “I go home; I write them down. A lot of them are sticking. Sometimes, I can just look at the play and, as long as I know who’s the X and Z, I can kind of figure out the formation and what play is being ran.”
“We know the type of player he is,” Falcons GM Terry Fontenot said of Chark. “He’s had some unfortunate injuries in his career, but he showed up in really good shape. He’s a really smart guy. He’s already picking things up really well.”
Panthers
Panthers HC Dave Canales was asked about some of the biggest competitions in training camp, and cited the battle for the starting center competition between Austin Corbett and Cade Mays.
“Yeah, I think we’re just gonna let them both kinda play it out and alternate days with who goes with Bryce [Young],” Canales replied, via PanthersWire.com. “That chemistry matters. How the whole group works with communication and all those things—we’re looking at all of it, and we’re gonna evaluate it. Again, I love competition. I love asking guys to bring their best. They don’t have to go above and beyond of who they are, but it requires all of you.”
Another competition noted by Canales was for the kicking job, between veteran journeyman Matthew Wright and undrafted rookie Ryan Fitzgerald.
“I don’t know that right now, but I do know we gotta give them fair opportunities to kick here—on the skinny uprights—and also to get into games and see if we can count on them and from what distance to make that decision,” Canales continued. “And, of course, the kickoff comes into play. Who can place it just inside that 20 and let the ball run a little bit to give our coverage unit an advantage? So all those things are gonna come into it. We need more opportunities to be able to make that.”
- Joe Person reports Panthers G Chandler Zavala is week-to-week after hurting his knee on Monday. Person adds the injury is related to his patella tendon, but it did not rupture.
Saints
- Per ESPN’s Katherine Terrell, Saints HC Kellen Moore said S JT Gray has a hamstring injury.
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