NFC Notes: Chris Olave, Jeremy Chinn, Falcons, Panthers, Saints

Falcons

• Falcons HC Arthur Smith on releasing S Jaylinn Hawkins: “I have a lot of respect for Hawk. I wish him the best in the future.” … “Circumstances change.” (Tori McElhaney)

Panthers

• PFN’s Adam Caplan says the Panthers had no contract talks with S Jeremy Chinn before the start of the season. He also talked to some evaluators who thought Chinn’s play regressed in 2022 after a promising first two seasons. 

Saints

Some teams are struggling on offense this season because they just don’t have the talent to consistently have success at the NFL level. That doesn’t necessarily appear to be the problem for the Saints with a quality trio of wide receivers in Chris Olave, Michael Thomas and Rashid Shaheed. 

“We’ve got a lot of weapons,” Olave said via ESPN’s Katherine Terrell. “I don’t get why we’re not so explosive, but it’s everybody in the building. We know what we’ve got, we know what we can do, but we’ve just got to put it all together.”

Olave has been New Orleans’ leading receiver with over 400 yards on the season and at least one highlight grab almost weekly, but he hasn’t been immune to the struggles on offense. In the loss to the Buccaneers, he had by far his worst game as a pro with one catch for four yards, and his frustration on the sidelines was evident. Some of the team leaders discussed that with him after the game. 

“I knew I was wrong in that situation,” Olave said. “I feel like I came back and did a lot better the next week, even though not having too much of a big game, just being in the game, showing support to my teammates. I feel like it carried over the last two weeks.”

• Per ESPN’s Ed Werder, the Saints are reshuffling their offensive line for Thursday night’s game against the Jaguars. Left guard Andrus Peat will move to left tackle while new practice squad OL Cameron Erving will be elevated to start at right tackle. Former first-round OT Trevor Penning will back up both. 
• Saints HC Dennis Allen expects LB Demario Davis to be a game-time decision. (Katherine Terrell)