NFC Notes: Falcons, Panthers, Saints

Falcons

Panthers CB Stephon Gilmore shadowed Falcons TE Kyle Pitts for most of the game, holding him to two catches for 13 yards. Pitts said after the game that going up against Gilmore was his “welcome to the NFL moment.”

“He’s a great player, kinda gave me a Welcome to the NFL, so I know I gotta come back and be better next week,” Pitts said, via the team’s official website. “He did some different things that I haven’t seen before, so it’s just time for me to go back in the lab and fix some things.“”

Falcons HC Arthur Smith believes this is a great learning opportunity for Pitts to be able to grow and advance his game.

“They did a nice job covering him – he’s a rookie,” Smith said. “…He made a couple plays, a couple nice plays. He’s not gonna go off for 200 yards every game; we got a lot of other guys that can move the ball and score but give [the Panthers defense] credit.”

Panthers

Panthers HC Matt Rhule didn’t eliminate the possibility of the team adding another quarterback in the near future, but added that the team wanted to give QB Sam Darnold an opportunity to show what he’s worth. Panthers QB P.J. Walker, who Rhule coached in college at Temple, is expected to be the team’s starting quarterback if Darnold is unable to go due to the concussion he suffered in Week 8.

“I don’t think there’s a guy in the locker room that doesn’t believe in him. I think most of our guys (who) see him in practice and saw him last year against Detroit know that he can lead us,” Rhule said via the Athletic’s Joe Person. “All that being said, he has to protect the football. We can’t go out there and turn the ball over. That’s really the tale of our season.”

Walker earned Rhule’s ire on one play that was nearly intercepted in the end zone. Walker had two end zone interceptions in his lone start last year. 

“He yelled, I yelled back,” Walker said. “After he yelled at me, I was already onto the next play once I realized it was an incompletion. I expect that from him though. That’s the way I want to be coached. That’s the way I’m sure a lot of guys want to be coached. That’s the reason I came here, to be honest.”

• Person says he thinks that based on Rhule’s comments it’s more likely Carolina gets RB Christian McCaffrey back in Week 10. But he’ll practice Wednesday and the team will know more then: “Obviously, he’s one of the best players in football. He brings something. You saw what it was like having Shaq (Thompson) back out there. You saw what it was like having Stephon (Gilmore) go out there and play. Great players make plays at crucial times.”
• Rhule mentioned that the way fourth-round RB Chuba Hubbard and new RB Ameer Abdullah have played means he wants them to have a role even when McCaffrey comes back: “To me it’s not just about Christian. It’s about, hey, those guys have really emerged for us. So we want them all to play. So we’ll see where Christian’s at this week. But just in general with him coming back, forget about what’s happened. I want to see Chuba Hubbard on the field, too. And I want to see Ameer on the field, too. So it’s a good problem to have.”
• Rhule added the team is a defensive team and that their identity on offense needs to be to establish the run early and often: “We’re gonna have to come to terms with we’re a defensive football team. When we play good defense and win the takeaway battle, we’re gonna win games. Part of that on offense is running the football.”

Saints

• The Athletic’s Larry Holder expects the Saints to be aggressive in pursuing a new quarterback in 2022, as Jameis Winston didn’t establish himself in his audition before his knee injury and Winston is the one who beat Taysom Hill out during training camp.