NFC Notes: Falcons, Christian McCaffrey, Panthers, Seahawks

Falcons 

• Falcons HC Arthur Smith said the team will continue to evaluate the knee injury suffered by first-round WR Drake London.
• A source tells Adam Schefter that “it is not a serious injury.” 

Panthers

Panthers HC Matt Rhule isn’t worrying about RB Christian McCaffrey‘s injury history and plans on being aggressive with him this season. 

“I’m not spending my time worrying about, ‘hey, will Christian get hurt?’” Rhule said, via Steve Reed of the Associated Press. “We are thinking about Christian in one way only — and that’s attack.”

Rhule said they plan on using RB D’Onta Foreman this season and called him one of “our best players.”

“He plays a high-contact, high-percentage-of-injury position,” Rhule said. “We’re going to put him out there and play him. We want to have all of our best players for as long as possible.”

McAffrey feels that some of his injuries were out of his control after linemen fell on him during games. 

“I had a couple 300-pound guys fall on my ankle while I was already down,” McCaffrey said. “I would love to know if there is a drill someone has got out there to prevent that from happening, because I would do that every day.”

Seahawks

Seahawks QB Pete Carroll confirmed that QB Geno Smith will start their preseason opener against the Steelers. 

“He’s still going with the ones (and) he’s gonna start the game this weekend,” Carroll said, via the Associated Press. “He had a very solid day today, made some big throws today.”

As for QB Drew Lock, Carroll mentioned that he was impressive in their mock game last weekend with the second-team offense.

“I think it was his most solid performance. He’s had really good days too, but I think that was the best one under the circumstances,” Carroll said. “I really liked his poise and his comfort in the pocket, handling stuff, adjustments, calls he had to make at the line of scrimmage, all of that he handled very well.”