NFC Notes: Bruce Arians, Buccaneers, Falcons, Kyle Pitts, Panthers

Buccaneers

Former Buccaneers HC and current senior adviser Bruce Arians said he was in contact with OC Byron Leftwich every day during the team’s three-game losing streak which resulted in their record dipping to 3-5. 

“I talked to Byron every day when that was happening,” Arians said, via JoeBucsFan. “He doesn’t read the papers and nothing bothers Byron. That’s what I love about him and that’s why he’ll be a damned good head coach one day, because he weathers everything. And Todd does, too.”

Arians added that he is “really optimistic” about the team going forward. 

“I’m really optimistic about the rest of the season,” Arians said. “First off, we’re getting healthy. Tom smiled at practice last week for the first time this season. He’s going to be fine. I love the swagger we played with Sunday, especially defensively. It’s been missing. Seattle’s a good running team, but that kid (Walker) went nowhere.”

Arians thinks that criticism against Leftwich has been unfair and feels Tom Brady wasn’t playing up to standard along with their running game struggling. 

“I don’t think it was fair to Byron,” Arians said. “Nobody is going to say that Brady was playing bad, but he was playing bad. We also had growing pains on a young offensive front and we weren’t running well. There comes a time as a play-caller when you’re losing yards running the ball and you say, ‘Forget this, I’m putting the ball in Tom’s hands.’”

Falcons

Falcons HC Arthur Smith thinks TE Kyle Pitts is still having a “good season” despite his lack of production thus far. 

“There’s been a lot of different reasons, some of it’s just timing with the routes,” Smith said, via ProFootballTalk. “I mean, [Pitts] has been successful; he doesn’t have the Tyreek Hill numbers everybody — you guys panic and act like it’s some great failure, but Kyle’s had a good season. Certainly, we don’t have a ton of passing attempts either so that’s certainly, a part of it but like a lot of things that we do, we can do it better and that’s what we’re looking to do.”

Smith reiterated that there are several issues contributing to Pitts’ struggles this season. 

“I’d be discouraged if it were one thing where a guy wasn’t necessarily productive, when in man, not just in zone but I don’t think that’s necessarily been the case. There’s a lot of things, sometimes there’s been a comedy of errors, timings sped up, maybe it’s the pressure, maybe the ball comes out quick, you don’t get into a clean pocket, or we have missed him, whatever it is. There’s a lot of different reasons but I’m very confident in both of those guys, especially Kyle.”

Panthers

Panthers WR Rashard Higgins thinks that Baker Mayfield benefitted from spending time on Carolina’s bench given it was a “humbling” experience for the quarterback. 

“Absolutely,” Higgins said, via Joseph Person of The Athletic. “And I think he needed it. People need humbling experiences,” Higgins added. “There’s things that we go through in life and it humbles you. Being a backup, seeing someone else (starting) and just knowing the feeling of, damn, you’re not the man right now. You’re not the starting quarterback. You probably needed that, bro. So we’ll see how his timeout’s been.”

Mayfield mentioned that he gained some added perspective by helping QB P.J. Walker prepare. 

“When you’re starting and game planning and focusing on what you’re supposed to do, some things you can let slip a little bit. And it’s not a bad thing. You’re focusing on doing your job,” Mayfield said. “But being able to ask P.J. how he wants a route run and being able to communicate that. Or just being able to be another voice behind the scenes to where we can be efficient.”

Mayfield admits that he speculated whether his window to be a starter with the Pathers already closed but remained focused on staying ready to play. 

“I think there were times where you questioned it,” Mayfield said. “But just always stay ready. That’s the clichéd thing to say, but it’s what you have to do.”