NFC Notes: Buccaneers, Falcons, Panthers

Buccaneers

Buccaneers CB Richard Sherman said he went into “energy-conservation mode” in Week 4 after being informed he’d play in the entire game. 

“Once they told me I was going to play the whole game, then I started getting into energy-conservation mode throughout the game,” said Sherman, via Joey Knight of the Tampa Bay Times. 

Sherman mentioned that his legs felt like “Jell-O” in the fourth quarter but made sure to save some energy for the final going. 

“You hate to say you saved some for the swim back, but it was like, you don’t have a choice at that point, because I don’t know exactly what I have for the rest of the game. … And even still then in the fourth quarter, my legs were like Jell-O, but you’ve just got to soldier through and do what you can to help the team.”

As can be expected, Sherman felt like he was drinking from a firehose trying to get up to speed in DC Todd Bowles‘ notoriously diverse defense. 

“(Bowles) has a lot of variety in his packages and what he likes out of his corners,” Sherman said. “It took a lot of hours of just going back and forth, and a lot of questions that may have been dumb for other guys to ask, but I didn’t know.”

• Buccaneers CB Jamel Dean (concussion) and RB Giovani Bernard (knee) returned to Thursday’s practice. (Greg Auman)
• Buccaneers veteran DE Jason Pierre-Paul was spotted with a cast on his right hand. 

Falcons

At 1-3 to start the season, the Falcons are in a rough patch. The offense has yet to really find its groove amidst struggles on the offensive line and there are questions about 36-year-old QB Matt Ryan‘s arm strength. However, the veteran quarterback says there are better days ahead still for both him and the team. 

“I know I can play,” Ryan said via Fansided’s Matt Lombardo. “I feel like I can play for a long time. My body feels really good. I really think, we’re in a spot where we’re 1-3, but we’re a team that’s gotten better every week. I think we’re going to continue to do that. If we can knock some wins off around the way, stay relevant, stay in the mix, we’re a group that can be a very good football team if we continue to work at it and build as the season goes along.”

Panthers

• The Athletic’s Joe Person and Jeff Howe note that Panthers director of player personnel Pat Stewart‘s 10-year stint in New England from 2007 to 2017 helped facilitate the trade between the two teams for CB Stephon Gilmore. 
• The two say it appears the Patriots had two other offers on the table from other AFC teams so the Panthers knew their best shot at getting Gilmore was in a trade, not free agency. 
• Person and Howe write the Panthers’ goal is to sign Gilmore to an extension but both sides are fine with waiting to see how things play out, potentially for the rest of the season, before making a move. 
• Panthers OC Joe Brady was non-committal on RB Christian McCaffrey (hamstring) for Week 5: “We’ll see.” (David Newton)
• McCaffrey said feels good and believes he suffered his hamstring injury due to the short rest before Week 3’s Thursday Night game: “I don’t prefer Thursday night games. You go through a lot in a football game and get two days to recover. … But it is what it is.” (Mike Garafolo)