NFC Notes: Buccaneers, Falcons, Panthers

Buccaneers

Buccaneers WR Mike Evans is confident that the organization will figure out what to do at quarterback and continue competing at a high level. 

“We’ve got to keep doing what we’ve been doing,” Evans said, via NFL.com. “We’ll figure out the quarterback when we do. Hopefully, we find that out soon, so I can get in some work with him. But like I said (Brady), instilled things in us, work ethic, making sure we’re on top of our game, week in and week out. Making sure bodies are healthy, making sure they can feel as good as they feel. He definitely taught us that these last two years, and we’ve just got to keep it going.”

Evans said that he is not campaigning to the front office for a quarterback. 

“I’m not,” Evans said. “I got to play with Tom Brady, so that was pretty cool. Whoever the quarterback is, it’s my job to be as open as possible for them and catch as many balls as I can. I don’t know what the team’s thinking.”

Evans believes backup QB Kyle Trask is a “really talented guy” and benefitted from observing Tom Brady. 

“I know Kyle is a really talented guy. He sat behind Tom, watched a lot, observed,” Evans said. “He’s a really talented guy. … He has really great arm talent, and he’s a student of the game, sitting back learning this year. Hopefully, he has a big leap next year. I don’t know where we are going to go, but whoever it is, I’ll be ready.”

Falcons

Falcons owner Arthur Blank believes HC Arthur Smith and GM Terry Fontenot were “very successful” in their first year with the organization. 

“I would say they were very successful in their first year,” Blank said, via the team’s official site. “Any time you bring in a new coach and a new GM, particularly at the same time, you go through a bit of a transition. I think that they’ve taken stock of our roster and our coach has taken serious stock of how he wants to play the game, the players he wants and the schemes he wants in place. We moved significantly in that direction over this last football season, and now he more fully understands who his players are. While working with his coaching staff, we’ll see more refinement of that through free agency and the draft.”

Blank reiterated that the Falcons stayed competitive last season and were in the playoff hunt. 

“We wanted to be competitive and I think we were competitive,” Blank said. “The fact that we were in the playoff hunt, legitimately, through Week 17 is a sign of that and is really pretty amazing. The fact that all seven of the games we won came down to the last possession speaks strongly to the kind of culture [being] established. They know how to play under pressure and understand the way we expect them to perform. To me the arrows are all up, and I’m feeling really good about it and about them.”

Blank added that they want to re-sign impending free agents who are producing. 

“I’m excited to see how they’re going to handle this offseason,” Blank said. “We’ve spent a lot of time talking about free agency. We don’t have the final list yet, but we’re talking about how active we can be in free agency. We want to sign those players who have produced for us and are important parts of our roster. We want to take care of our own, if you will. We know who they are and how they can produce. We want to do that first and then look at free agency.”

Panthers

• According to the Draft Network’s Justin Melo, Florida OT Jean Delance met with over 25 teams at the Shrine Bowl and had “especially productive” meetings with the 49ers, Chargers, Panthers, Cowboys and Eagles.