NFC Notes: Alvin Kamara, Kyle Trask, Buccaneers, Panthers, Saints

Buccaneers

Heading into the final season of his rookie contract, Buccaneers QB Kyle Trask is yet to take a snap in a regular-season game for the team. Tampa Bay GM Jason Licht used a second-round pick on Trask in 2021 and still has zero regrets over the choice. 

“You know you guys know me by now,” Licht said, via Scott Reynolds of the Pewter Report. “I will tell you where I made a mistake and I will admit it and say, ‘You know I’ve learned from that.’ I’m not making any apologies for taking Kyle Trask.”

“You know you’ve got teams that have – in back-to-back years – taken quarterbacks in the Top 10, and it’s a premium position. You want to hit on it. You get desperate, teams get desperate [looking for a franchise quarterback]. You see what teams give up in trades, you see what they’re doing in money – guaranteed money – all these things to get their quarterback. So to take one in the second round – I have no apologies for that.”

Panthers

Panthers LB Josey Jewell is enjoying learning the system being deployed by DC Ejiro Evero and ILB coach Peter Hansen.

“Coming back to this type of defense with Coach E and Pete [Hansen] and some other guys, it’s been awesome,” Jewell said, via PanthersWire. “These last couple of weeks have been great to get to know the guys, feel each other out a little bit, communicate and really just be able to move and understand where people are gonna be. So it’s been very valuable for us.”

As for having his most productive season in 2022 with the Broncos when Evero was Denver’s defensive coordinator, Jewell feels grateful to have familiarity with Evero as he transitions into a new organization. 

“I mean, I’m already coming to a bunch of new things,” Jewell said. “New players to play with, new people upstairs. So to have the familiarity with some of the coaching staff is amazing for me. And picking up the old lingo we used to have in Denver is big. Gives me a step up from where I’d be with the coaching staff I haven’t been with.”

Saints

Saints RB Alvin Kamara left mandatory minicamp early as he negotiates a new contract extension. New Orleans RB Jamaal Williams is in complete support of his teammate while he looks for a new deal. 

“Me personally, just as me as a man, I respect everybody as the man they are and the decisions they make as a man,” Williams said, via Bobby Kownack of NFL.com. “So whatever they do is up to them.”

“Me at all times, I support them and whatever they do because I just love that for them and who they are as a person, and Alvin is a tremendous, great teammate, awesome person, 100 percent. He stays 10 toes down on his business and what he believes in. That’s just him. I’m behind him 100 percent of what he does because he’s just looking for his well-being. That’s all we want for each other.”