NFC Notes: Buccaneers, Falcons, Saints

Buccaneers

• NFL Spokesperson Brian McCarthy says that the matter involving Buccaneers’ WR Antonio Brown and any potential fake vaccination cards remains under review by the league. (Pro Football Talk)

Falcons

Falcons QB Josh Rosen feels like he’s “more at peace” with this stage of his career after being the No. 10 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. 

“I’m more at peace with who I am and how I think about myself probably than I have ever been in my career,” Rosen said, via Michael Rothstein of ESPN. “So I wake up in the morning with maybe a little bit more pep in my step than I’ve had the past couple years.”

Rosen said he replicates Matt Ryan‘s habit of writing play calls in order to study and memorize their playbook. 

“He’s a big writing guy,” Rosen said. “He likes writing calls over and over again as a way to get it in his head, and I like that technique a lot, too. So every morning you come in and you write out the calls and you say it to yourself and quiz yourself and you write it again and again and again. And it just burns it into your subconscious so you don’t even have to think about it on game day.”

Rosen believes that he wasn’t studying the Falcons’ game plan on an effective level prior to taking Ryan’s example. 

“I wasn’t studying our game plan enough,” Rosen said. “And here I’ve been doing that a bunch more and it just allows you to play really quick and operate and know your progression in your sleep. Like dream about those pass pictures. That’s allowed me to establish a foundation, to know your game plan inside and out and move on to how is this going to apply to who you’re playing.”

Saints

• Saints’ HC Sean Payton on the team’s offensive struggles during the recent loss: “I had a pretty hard time finding any positives in anyone’s individual offensive performances.” (John Hendrix)
• Payton on QB Taysom Hill and QB Ian Book playing behind QB Trevor Siemian: “We felt Taysom could definitely be the backup if we needed him to be, and we feel strongly about how Ian (Book) is doing.” (Hendrix)
• Payton commented on the play of Siemian who is doing his best in a tough situation: “I think that there are a number of plays in that game that he’d like back, and it’s pretty hard to play efficiently there when you’re averaging a yard and a half running the football and the stress then falls on the passing game and the pass rush.” (Hendrix)
• When asked why Hill didn’t play his usual snaps, Payton pointed out his foot issue: “Just because of his (foot) injury and the type of injury and where it’s at, we didn’t think that was in his best interest or our best interest.” (Mike Triplett)
• When it came to saying more about the quarterbacks for this week, Payton was stern with the media: Payton: “This is gonna be one of those weeks where I know (the media) doing your job are gonna want to discuss the injuries and who’s healthy and you’re gonna want to discuss the quarterback. And quite honestly and respectfully I’m not gonna discuss any of it.” (Triplett)