Buccaneers
Buccaneers WRs coach Brad Idzik said WR Chris Godwin will do a “little bit of everything” in OC Dave Canales‘ system as an outside and slot receiver.
“You’ll see a little bit of everything,” said Idzik, via Scott Smith of the team’s official site. “And I know that sounds like coach speak, right? ‘Oh, I don’t want to give away our trade secrets.’ Chris [has shown] early on that he can stretch the field and that’s what I want to remind him of. He can stretch the field. I know he is coming off of the knee injury from last year, but he has already shown it out there. When you put him outside, this guy is a problem one-on-one. The thing that he brings in the slot, for me, that is a benefit to Chris and those are things that he naturally does. That just opens his window up. We talked about coming from a room in Seattle where with D.K. [Metcalf], we continued to develop his slot work from being an outside receiver. Chris has already shown that, and he already has experience with that, so we can use him in a lot of different ways right off the bat. But yeah, I don’t think we’re going to lose some of that outside stuff too when you just say, ‘Hey Chris, go win one-on-one, or hey Mike, go win one-on-one outside.'”
Idzik said they want to find ways to keep Godwin on the field after he missed two games last season.
“Really, the first call I had with him was, ‘We want to keep you on the field the best we can. I know you’re ready to run through a brick wall for your brothers, but we’re not going to ask you to do that every play,'” said Idzik. “You look at a [player’s] progression, I gave him the example of Larry Fitzgerald. Towards the end of his career, when he started to lose some of his explosion, his downfield ability, then he was limited to the slot. Chris is not there yet. Chris still has that ability to win outside, so we don’t need him banging every play. And when we ask him to do it, he’ll do it, willingly, and we love that about him. But we do want to preserve him, too. We want him playing here for a long time.”
Canales said Godwin has been very supportive throughout the offseason.
“Chris Godwin has been such an encourager – really positive, just supporting us and letting us know, ‘I got you, this is great,” said Canales. “For me, I just [tell] the veteran guys who’ve been around, ‘Hey, I get better when you tell me what’s giving you angst. If there’s something where there’s a little bit of gray area or you’re not sure what to do here, that’s where we need to work.’ We’ve had a good line of communication that way.”
Panthers
Panthers HC Frank Reich said during his recent press conference that the team felt QB Bryce Young looks ready for the NFL both physically and mentally. Reich also addressed Young working closely with QB coach Josh McCown.
“Obviously, mentally and physically looked the part in every way,” Reich said. “Threw the ball exceedingly well. You could tell he was in a good space mentally, really had a firm grasp on everything we asked. I thought Bryce did not only a good job with himself but just really commanding the huddle, kind of keeping everybody loose, keeping everybody dialed into what we were doing. I thought the guys did a good job.”
”Some of it’s a feeling-out process, like between he and [QBs coach] Josh [McCown], just talking about — we do allow a little flexibility and freedom with each quarterback within their footwork, depending on what they’re comfortable with,” Reich continued. “So, we kind of have certain requirements that are musts. And then we have other things that are more of a feel thing for each quarterback. So there’s a little bit of working that out with Bryce and Josh in this process. But that’ll go smoothly.”
Saints
Saints HC Dennis Allen said TE Foster Moreau is making terrific progress in his recovery and anticipates him being a full participant in the team’s activities without any restrictions.
“He’s doing outstanding,” Allen stated, via Saints Wire. “Huge shoutout to our medical group, in particular Dr. John Amoss for being able to identify this and making sure we have the proper medical treatment for Foster. I think he’s doing outstanding. And the type of treatment he’s receiving, we don’t anticipate that there’s going to be any limitations at all in terms of his ability to participate and perform, and his ability to recover, and that’s the most important thing.”
- Allen also mentioned on The Rich Eisen Show that WR Michael Thomas should be ready to play in the preseason.
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