NFC Notes: Brian Burns, Desmond Ridder, Falcons, Panthers, Saints

Falcons

Falcons QB Desmond Ridder explained that WR Mack Hollins‘ outburst on the sidelines was not directed solely at him but every member of the offense for how they’ve played thus far.

“I was coming over saying whatever and he just had a break of emotion,” Ridder said via the Athletic’s Josh Kendall. “We have a standard of play for this offense and we haven’t been playing to it. He felt it was necessary to let his emotions out. You saw the video, it makes it look like it was directed toward me. It was directed toward me, toward the offense, toward everyone. He obviously plays with a lot of emotion. We know we weren’t playing the way we were supposed to be playing and that makes a lot of people mad.”

Hollins confirmed he wasn’t mad at Ridder specifically. 

“Somebody was like I saw that outburst with you and Des, and I said, ‘What are you talking about?’” Hollins said. “I didn’t know I did it toward Des, and then I saw the video I was like, ‘Wow, that looked like it was really at Des, like I really don’t mess with him at all, like we could fight right now.’ We never had a problem at that moment or after the game.”

Panthers

• Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer is doubtful the Panthers will be true sellers at the trade deadline but he adds they have to consider dealing OLB Brian Burns considering the two sides haven’t really been able to close the gap on extension talks over the past two seasons. 
• Breer writes the Panthers have to be honest with themselves about whether they’re willing to bite the bullet and pay Burns, probably north of $25 million a year and perhaps more. If not, it could make more sense to trade him rather than go through the potential drama of a franchise tag. 

Saints

Saints QB Derek Carr says the team isn’t stressing the slow start on offense too much just yet, pointing to all the talent the team has as a reason for optimism that they’ll get things turned around. 

“We have the right kind of people in the room,” Carr said via John DeShazier of the team’s website. “We have people that know what they’re doing, we have people that want to do it right and they can do it right. We want to get back on track just as bad as everybody wants us to. We know what we’re capable of. The best thing is, we just go out there and try to prove it again this Sunday. Make the corrections from what we’ve talked about, make our adjustments and things like that. But we have the right people, that’s for sure.”

Last week’s loss to the Buccaneers was a low point, and the shoulder injury that Carr played through couldn’t have helped even though no one in New Orleans was willing to cite it as a reason for the struggles on offense in Week 4. Going forward, Carr says he feels a lot healthier.