NFC Notes: Buccaneers, Packers, Vikings

Buccaneers

Buccaneers HC Dirk Koetter told reporters on Saturday that QB Jameis Winston won’t play in the final preseason game.

“I think performance-wise, you’d have to give Jameis an A for the preseason,” Koetter said, per Rick Stroud. “I don’t think anybody in their right mind wouldn’t say that wasn’t an A performance on his part. I think he handled it well.

“He did a really good job of working on things he needed to work on. So, obviously, we’ve beat it enough. The situation is what it is. I wish it wasn’t that way, but it is. We’re going to miss him when he’s gone and we’ll be glad when he’s back.”

• Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, citing a source with knowledge of the situation, reports that Winston has whittled his list of potential new agents down to three.
• Rick Stroud mentions that while Buccaneers OC Todd Monken has called plays during the preseason, Koetter will resume play-calling duties for the regular season.

Packers

• Packers HC Mike McCarthy said that RB Ty Montgomery, who left Friday’s preseason game early with a foot injury, should be fine: “I’m told it’s nothing of a serious nature.” (Ian Rapoport)
• Packers rookie LB Oren Burks suffered a shoulder injury during pre-game warmups on Friday and wound up missing the game. Burks says his shoulder “popped out”, implying he sustained a dislocation. (Tom Silverstein)

Vikings

The Vikings elected to release veteran K Kai Forbath earlier in the week and move forward with rookie Daniel Carlson. However, Carlson missed two field goals during Friday’s preseason game.

“I’m going to chalk this one up to a bad night but hopefully it gets better,” Vikings HC Mike Zimmer said, via Pro Football Talk.

The Vikings later opted to go for two later on in the game instead of kicking a field goal. When asked if this was to give the offense more practice running two-point conversations, Zimmer responded: “No. Just let [Carlson] know that if he’s going to miss them, I’m going to go for two.”

Despite the disappointing showing, Carlson seems to be taking things well.

“[E]very kicker is going to have different misses in different situations,” Carlson said. “Luckily this is preseason, and we did get a win, so those are things I can be excited about, that it wasn’t the end of the world. But I think as a kicker you just got to be prepared for the highs and the lows and try to stay calm and consistent and just continue to do your job one day at a time and one kick at a time. Like I said, there’s nothing I can do right now to take it back, but I can get ready for the next kick that I get a chance to do.”