NFC Notes: Buccaneers, Panthers, Saints

Buccaneers

Buccaneers HC Bruce Arians said he is “very optimistic” that WR Chris Godwin (finger) by Week 9 but is glad they have an “insurance policy” with recently signed Antonio Brown. 

“I think it’s very optimistic that he’ll be back in a week, but it could be possible. We don’t know, really, how long. Again, that’s why we have the insurance policy,” said Arians, via Adam Schefter

• Arians mentioned that he was “totally surprised” by Godwin’s fractured finger injury and is hopeful that he’ll only miss one game. (Greg Auman)
• Arians said Brown should be ready to play “next week” after participating in team meetings and working with the strength staff. (Auman)
• To accommodate Brown, Arians plans to use more four-receiver sets: “We started introducing a more four-wideout-package, so we could have all those guys on the field.” (JoeBucsFan.com)
• Buccaneers OC Byron Leftwich has a pre-existing relationship with Brown that goes back a long time that he thinks will help him deal with the mercurial veteran: “I’ve known him since he was a kid. We’ve been extremely honest with each other from the second I met him.” (Jenna Laine)

Panthers

Panthers second-round rookie Jeremy Chinn has been one of the league’s most prolific tacklers and was named the defensive rookie of the month in October for his efforts. While he’s lined up mostly at linebacker, Chinn’s versatility is his big selling point as he can also play safety and move around Carolina’s defense. 

“Jeremy Chinn is the ‘Real Deal’ Holyfield,” Panthers S Tre Boston said via the Athletic’s Joe Person. “The guy plays 110 mph each and every play. He has those young, fresh legs, and he’s able to use them. He’s not afraid to hit. He can do just about everything,” Boston said. “The guy is — shoutout to his parents — because he’s a freak of nature. He’s one of those guys who’s built like a safety/linebacker/can do it all.”

Saints

Saints WR Emmanuel Sanders admitted that he fears his COVID-19 symptoms could take a turn for the worse at any time. 

“Every night I go to sleep I’m like, ‘Lord, please, let me like wake up in the morning feeling good,’” Sanders said on Uninterrrupted’s 17 Weeks podcast, via Pro Football Talk. “Like, I don’t want to wake up in the middle of the night and like, can’t breathe. And like, shit just goes south, right? That’s like my biggest fear in watching that shit, it intensifies my fears, right? Because people can say whatever you want and everybody could say, ‘Oh yeah, I’m not scared to get COVID.’ But in the back of your head, and you may think you’re healthy but in the back of your head, you don’t know this virus. Nobody knows anything about this virus. You don’t know how your body’s gonna react and you don’t know at any moment, like if shit will go south, right?”

Sanders explained that he really wasn’t feeling like himself before he officially tested positive. 

“I just felt like I was like loopy,” Sanders said. “Like I was sitting in meetings and my mouth just kept watering and I was like, what the hell? Why is my mouth watering? And it was like that feeling that you’re going to throw up, but I didn’t feel like I was going to throw up, but my mouth was watering like something was coming. It was like weird. And so I told my coach, I was like, ‘Dude, my mouth keeps watering like I’m getting ready to throw up or something.’ I’m like, yo, it feels weird. And then it was like I just felt like loopy. I just didn’t feel like myself. I was like, I feel like I’m getting ready to catch the flu or something. It was weird. So I told my coach that and he was pretty much the one who was like, you should go tell the trainers. And so then I went and told the trainers, but I just didn’t feel like myself. Even when I was running, how I was running, like my body, it just didn’t feel right. I was running, but I was exhausting so much energy into running that it felt like abnormal. I didn’t feel like myself.”

• According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Saints WR Michael Thomas (hamstring/ankle) returned to practice Thursday.