Buccaneers
Bucs rookie DT Desmond Watson is proud of his weight loss after being re-signed to the team’s practice squad.
“I’m proud of it,” Watson said, via PFT. “It’s a good number – obviously good enough to be signed back. I don’t want to say a specific number, but it’s been enough to obviously get signed back. I’m blessed.”
Watson is now practicing and is putting himself in position to be signed to the active roster if the team calls upon him.
“That was the longest I’ve had without practicing against people since I was like seven years old,” Watson said. “That was tough. It was definitely an adjustment, but it feels great to practice now. I feel blessed to be able to help this organization any way possible, so getting back into it, it feels great.”
- Buccaneers HC Todd Bowles is unsure when WR Jalen McMillan will return from his neck injury and is hopeful he’ll be able to play at some point this season: “I don’t know when he’ll return to practice, but he’s getting better. He’s still in the neck brace. That’s about the only update.” (Greg Auman)
Panthers
Panthers OC Brad Idzik said following RB Rico Dowdle‘s 206 rushing yard performance that the team having multiple capable backs is a “good problem to have.”
“Yeah, it’s a good problem to have,” Idzik replied with a smile, via Panthers Wire. “I mean, we got two guys that not only run the ball well, but they capture the culture of who we wanna be. It inspires the rest of the group. You get the defensive guys off the bench—they wanna go watch. You got the guys who wanna go in the game and block for ’em. It fires up the o-line, to watch them play physical and know the back’s gonna go through that first level and finish on the second and third level—whether it’s Chuba, Rico, Trevor [Etienne] did, too, he had some great carries in that game.“
- Panthers OT Taylor Moton said he injured his elbow last week against the Dolphins and isn’t sure whether he’ll be able to suit up in Week 6. (Joe Person)
Saints
Saints HC Kellen Moore said both TE Taysom Hill and TE Foster Moreau‘s roles within the offense will continue to grow as they practice and integrate themselves more.
“I thought they came out pretty well, so obviously the more time on task, the more we’ll be able to build those roles for those guys,” Moore said, via ESPN.
Hill has had very limited time with the new coaching staff and is looking to carve out his role within the offense.
“The reality is I’ve had three days of practice with his coaching staff and they’ve had three days of practice with me,” Hill said. “Everyone’s still learning through this process. I think it’ll be one of those things that just evolves through time.”
Moreau, who returned to the field after just three days of practice, said that he’s grateful to be a part of the organization and is looking to continue making a positive impact.
“It’s brutal, because… rehab is just pain dosing. It’s, ‘Hey, we’re going to be careful with you. But how much can you take before your knee says, hey, you need to stop?’ And that’s tough,” Moreau said. “That’s brutal for anyone. But, I mean, I’m extremely fairly compensated, and I’m extremely grateful to be here.”
Moore added that Hill has the ability to play quarterback and hinted at integrating him in a few of those packages.
“They were chomping at the bit last week when they had a chance to finally play, and so they were ready; they’ve done so much work on their own, and so I feel like (Hill has) progressed really, really well,” Moore said. “He leans on a lot of experience that he has … He can play quarterback in this league. He can obviously play all the other fun tool pieces that he’s done in the past, and so we’ll continue to utilize all of it.“
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