NFC Notes: Buccaneers, Rams, Redskins, Seahawks

Buccaneers 

Buccaneers GM Jason Licht took full responsibility for how things played out after they traded up into round two to select K Roberto Aguayo last year only to release him this past weekend.

“I’m owning up to it,” Licht Peter King of TheMMQB.com. “I’m owning up to it by releasing him. It was a bold move and it didn’t work out. I don’t know what else to say. I know I have the support of my coach and my ownership. At the time, I was bound and determined to get the best kicker we possibly could. I thought Roberto had the chance to be a special kicker in the league for a long time. That’s a position that had been a rough spot for us. What did I learn from this? I’ve said this before, but when we took him, we essentially anointed him. If I could do it again, I would have gone back and brought in competition to challenge him. I look back on that a lot. Roberto is a great kid, but the magnitude of that position, and the pressure on a 21-year-old — his performance is affecting the lives of men who have families to support. That got tough.”

Rams

• Rams HC Sean McVay told reporters on Sunday that WR Tavon Austin is expected to miss “at least another week” with a hamstring injury.
• However, Mike Florio reports that it wouldn’t be surprising if Austin misses a few more weeks of practice and preseason game action with this injury.

Redskins

Redskins senior VP of personnel Doug Williams explained that the key for QB Kirk Cousins this season is elevating the team to the next level.

“Everybody knows that Kirk can play this game,” Williams said, via John Keim of ESPN. “He’s proved that he can play it, and I think the key here is taking us to the next level. And he understands that the next level is important, not only to the team but also to himself, too.”

“Number one, nobody is more confident than Kirk Cousins. I think even from the fact that he decided to play on the tag, he’s confident in himself,” Williams said. “He knows what he’s done the last two years. And the way I look at that, I don’t think he’s going to do no worse this year than what he did the last two years because the offense is what he’s played in for the last two years. He’s got a good rapport with the head coach [and] the quarterbacks coach. And Kirk is not a guy that is hard to get along with. The players like him. … That’s what it’s all about; it’s about leadership.”

Seahawks

• Seahawks HC Pete Carroll mentioned after Sunday’s game that initial indications are that Jordan Simone suffered an ACL tear. (Curtis Crabtree)
• According to Carroll, WR Paul Richardson is dealing with an AC sprain and will be out a bit. (Curtis Crabtree)