NFC Notes: Graham Barton, Kirk Cousins, Buccaneers, Falcons, Panthers

Buccaneers

Bucs GM Jason Licht envisions rookie OL Graham Barton to become one of the leaders of the team and said he’s the epitome of what they look for in offensive linemen.

“He’s the epitome of what we look for in this culture that we’re building here that [head coach] Todd [Bowles] wants,” Licht said, via Fox Sports. “To not only lead our draft class, but to lead our team, we’re all depending on that O-line room, so the addition of him to that O-line room is going to help us out tremendously.”

Barton plans to prove his draft status and his lofty expectations on the field.

“Obviously, I haven’t played a snap in this league yet,” Barton said. “I have a lot of work to do to even be half as good as those guys. [I’m] just excited for the opportunity, you know, and appreciate their belief in me as a player and a person. I’m excited just to get to work with these guys, to prove them right, prove that they made the right decision, and just win some football games and be part of this culture.”

Barton explained how he was part of the change in culture at Duke’s locker room.

“I kept hammering it, kept referring to it at times and it just kind of stuck,” he said. “By the end of the year, we all had Dirt Devil T-shirts. In all seriousness, we just had such a great position room, and that identity was just about toughness and grit and playing through the hard stuff. … It encompassed all that, really spoke to who we were as a unit.”

Falcons

New Falcons QB Kirk Cousins is coming off a torn Achilles which has caused some concern to those around the team. Atlanta HC Raheem Morris gave a positive update on Cousins’ status 

“Kirk is every day improving,” Morris said, via the team’s YouTube. “So, we are kind of right at the point where he’s doing everything that we can do at this point at phase two, right? Which is nobody around him. There’s no contact. He’s all good with all those types of things. So, he’s been doing all those things.”

“Now, we got him in a limited basis, obviously because he’s still in his rehab and his treatment and all those types of things. But he’ll be doing a lot of the things when we get back because we still won’t have a lot of people in the pocket. Most of the stuff is jog-through, as you guys know in the offseason programs now. So, he’s full-go in those types of things. We’ll limit what he does as far as the amount, not necessarily what he’s doing when it comes to what we’re at, and what we’re able to do right now. It’s not like training camp where I’m worried about people being around his feet, because the pace is so [much] slower that we feel really good about where he’s at right now.”

Panthers

Panthers second-round RB Jonathon Brooks talked about his recovery from his torn ACL suffered last season at Texas.

“You gotta be mentally tough more than anything,” Brooks said, via Anthony Rizzuti of the Panthers Wire. “Physically, obviously, it gets better. Mentally, it gets better. But for me, it was more mentally. As far as rehab, it’s just the mental part of it that’s the hardest part to get through.”

“But I feel like it’s a blessing in disguise. God tested me. He’s making me a tougher person. But I’m still just blessed to be here, even regarding my situation.”