NFC Notes: Christian McCaffrey, Derek Carr, Falcons, Panthers, Saints

Falcons

• ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler notes the sense he gets is that Falcons HC Arthur Smith is safe heading into 2024 barring some sort of dramatic late-season collapse. 

Panthers

Former Panthers QB Cam Newton spoke about his time at the organization in 2021 under Matt Rhule and thinks the coaching staff “didn’t know how to coach” Christian McCaffrey. 

“They should’ve never gotten rid of C-Mac,” Newton said. “First off, confidentially, I’m goin’ into waters where this is trusted source. This is information that a lot of people wouldn’t know unless you’re there. They didn’t know how to coach C-Mac. That’s the truth. There’s no reason why this guy is having 40 touches a game and he’s still practicing on Wednesday. They don’t know how to coach a star.”

Newton added he felt like he was “coaching the coach” in 2021. 

“Also, Matt Rhule comes into a situation where . . . that was an interesting dynamic, too,” Newton said. “By the time I got there, because I come back and I’m like, ‘Yo, I’m doin’ a lot of patchwork.’ I’m coachin’ the coach!”

In the end, Newton thinks Rhule was “in over his head” in Carolina. 

“But the moral of the story is—coaches have to also be held to a standard that players are as well. And Matt Rhule was in over his head as far as how to operate an effective and efficient NFL locker room. And he didn’t necessarily know it.”

Saints

Saints QB Derek Carr acknowledged boos by home fans he recently received and points out the team still has high expectations at 6-7. 

“I do understand that their expectations are our expectations,” Carr said, via ProFootballTalk. “So, their frustration, that’s the way they can show their frustration. My frustration, we show it in our way. All of our expectations were so high and our expectations still should be high. Everything is still in front of us. I keep staying this — this is the time to do it. This is the time to get hot, right now. I was on a team where this was when we got hot, and that was a great time in our stadium. There was great energy in the city. And we want to do that for our city.”