NFC Notes: Buccaneers, 49ers, Seahawks

Buccaneers

• According to the Athletic’s Greg Auman, free-agent S Marcus Gilchrist, who worked out for the Buccaneers on Monday, is weighing his options with interest from multiple other teams. 
• Buccaneers HC Bruce Arians says LB Shaq Barrett is out with an ankle injury but should return soon. (Eduardo Encina)
• Buccaneers LB Jack Cichy will make his debut in Friday’s Week 2 preseason game against the Dolphins as he continues to work back from a torn ACL in 2018. (Auman)
• New Buccaneers S Darian Stewart‘s deal is for one year and the veteran minimum of $930,000, though it does include incentives. (Auman)
• Asked about surprise players in camp, Arians said he’s been surprised at how few players have surprised him: “I’m waiting on three or four guys to show me something.” (Auman)

49ers

49ers HC Kyle Shanahan has made it known in recent days he needs more out of his receiving corps, and his comments have been aimed specifically at WR Dante Pettis. Shanahan says Pettis still has room to grow and he wants him to compete, backing that up by playing Pettis in the preseason opener despite sitting 20 other regular starters. Shanahan still has high expectations for the second-year receiver but wants to ward off the sophomore slump that impacted a few 49ers in 2018. Shanahan and others also Pettis to play with more tenacity and physicality to reach what San Francisco believes could be No. 1-receiver potential. 

“I know what he’s capable of,” 49ers CB Richard Sherman said via the Athletic’s Matt Barrows. “If he wasn’t capable of being incredibly successful and being a great player — a No. 1 receiver — in this league, then who am I to try to pull something impossible out of him? But he’s definitely capable. He’s beyond capable. He’s incredibly talented.”

• Barrows believes the Week 1 timeline given for a return from injury for DE Nick Bosa, CB Jason Verrett, RB Jerick McKinnon, C Weston Richburg, CB K’Waun Williams and WR Trent Taylor might be overly optimistic in several cases. 
• 49ers QB C.J. Beathard injured his right thumb late in the 49ers preseason opener and sat out practice with the digit wrapped. (Cam Inman)

Seahawks

Seahawks second-round WR D.K. Metcalf had a quiet preseason debut, catching only one pass for eight yards. However, the rookie was inches away from hauling in a couple of long passes that would have made his debut as spectacular as all the praise he’s received from the team for his work during the spring and summer. 

“He can make a lot of plays,” Seahawks QB Russell Wilson said via Curtis Crabtree. “You saw in the game, he’s a fingernail off of two massive, big plays. I think he’s going to be really special for us. I think, the key for him is, a key for any great, highly touted player and anybody really is to remain humble and keep working. That’s just the key. He’s got great humility. He’s got great poise. He’s confident. He’s competitive, as you can imagine. He’s got all the athletic ability in the world and so it’s our job to give him a chance and let him make plays.”

Metcalf was thought by some to be a potential first-round talent in this past year’s draft. He ran a blistering 40-yard dash at 4.33 seconds at the Combine despite checking in at 6-3 and 228 pounds. However, poorer results in the agility drill combined with questions about Metcalf’s injury history pushed him to the last pick in the second round, where Seattle traded up to snag him. 

“I don’t think his work ethic and his mentality is ever going to be in question,” Wilson said. “I think he’s going to be ready to roll and everything else. I think too, he’s fired up because I think people doubted him and also, he has a little bit of a story. People thought he may not play football or whatever because of his neck and different things like that. Sometimes, the people with stories, they’re the ones that really come up and shine because they have something to overcome.”