Buccaneers

Bucs HC Todd Bowles said that QB Baker Mayfield has to do a better job of taking care of the football and minimizing turnovers.

“Well, he knows he’s got to take care of the football, and we don’t want the turnovers,” Bowles said, via Bucs Wire. “He doesn’t want them either. We’ve got to get better at that and understand there are times you just have to get down – understanding the play call and knowing when you’ve got the first down, knowing when the game’s on the line, and knowing when it’s not. So, obviously we don’t like the turnovers, and he’ll be better this week.”

Bowles was happy with the team’s offensive performance but believes that they can be more efficient.

“We scored 27 [points] and still had the turnovers, so we’ve got to do a better job not turning it over,” Bowles said of Tampa Bay’s offense. “We just want to be effective and have positive plays, and I think we can be an effective offense.”

Falcons

• Falcons QB Michael Penix Jr. on where he’s at in his recovery: “I’m still working (toward playing). I’m close. I’m close. I know I’ve been saying that, but I’m close. … There are just some goals I want to hit. I am going to keep those to myself.” (Josh Kendall)
• Penix continued: “I am running my own race. It’s not really a mental thing. Mentally, I want to be out there with the guys. I want to be out there with the guys.” (Kendall)
• Falcons QB Cooper Rush said he and Penix split first-team reps at practice on Wednesday. (Kendall)
• Penix was again listed as a full participant in practice on Thursday. 

Panthers

The Panthers made the surprising move to waive CB Jimmy Horn this week. Carolina HC Dave Canales explained they needed a roster spot to promote LB Tyrel Dodson from the practice squad and had a conversation with Horn to assure him that they see his progress. 

“Yeah, the roster spot drove it,” Canales said, via PanthersWire. “But certainly for Jimmy, and we had a great conversation—he and I and Dan [Morgan] talked about it. Wanted to make sure he understood that we see the progress that he’s making, we see the strides. And right now, with what the roster was doing, I didn’t want him to go in the tank and be discouraged. We want him to come back. We want him to be here on the practice squad, because he brings a lot to what we can do. And this isn’t the end of that story. This is just a part of it. And right now, we have to make the best decisions, I have to those hard decisions along with Dan to make sure we get guys out there that we feel confident with.”

• Panthers OC Brad Idzik praised first-round OT Monroe Freeling‘s ability to not make the same mistake twice: “He doesn’t blink.” (Mike Kaye)

Saints

• ESPN’s Katherine Terrell reports Saints Zach Wood is expected to miss a significant amount of time with a calf strain. 
• Terrell adds it’s a grade II strain for Wood, which could keep him out for four to six weeks. 
• Saints WR Chris Olave popped up on the injury report with a hamstring on Thursday, but the team said it was precautionary and not expected to be a problem. (Nick Underhill)