NFC Notes: Antonio Brown, Falcons, Saints

Antonio Brown

• Greg Auman reports that Buccaneers’ free-agent WR Antonio Brown‘s knee procedure was in response to “some discomfort” but it isn’t considered serious.
• Auman notes that Brown faces a 3-4 week recovery timetable and should be recovered in time for training camp. 
• Buccaneers GM Jason Licht said he doesn’t have any concern over Brown and expects him to officially sign his contract on Monday: “No, not concerned. The plan all along is to have him come in — I think he is coming in Monday to sign.” (JoeBucsFan)

Falcons

• Per Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, if the Falcons are going to end up trading WR Julio Jones, talks should heat up after June 1. He mentions the Raiders were the only team he’d heard connected to Jones during the draft. 
• Falcons QB Matt Ryan said he believes he can still play at a high level: “I’m of the mindset that I’m still playing really well.” (D. Orlando Ledbetter)
• Ryan did acknowledge the issues that come with getting older, but he thinks he can still block out the noise: “If you play well long enough you know these things come up … I still believe I am playing really well and have a lot of good football in front of me.” (Tori McElhaney)
• Ryan also stood by Jones despite trade rumors that have come up about the veteran: “He’s my guy. You let the other side shake out… He’ll himself ready to go.” (Ledbetter)
• Ryan also praised how much Jones has made his life easier over the years: “He’s probably impacted my career more significantly than any other player.” (Michael Rothstein)
• According to Ryan, HC Arthur Smith‘s system is a mix of a few that Ryan has played in before. (McElhaney)

Saints

Regarding his drafting philosophy, Saints HC Sean Payton said that he typically looks for “prototype” players who combine size, speed and length. That’s why New Orleans was comfortable taking DE Payton Turner in the first round even though it may have been higher than the consensus grade on him. 

“Look, part of it’s your scheme fit. And part of it is a little bit of my early days with [the New York Giants] and then with Bill [Parcells] in Dallas,” Payton said via Mike Triplett of ESPN. “The vision, especially in the early part of the draft, you’re hopefully drafting prototype player size, weight, speed. Clearly there are exceptions that become great players, and we’ve taken exceptions as well. But the length is important and the durability, stamina. There are times where there’s a little bit more energy required of a player that’s not as big.”