Buccaneers

The Buccaneers have veteran coach Tom Moore, who is a four-time Super Bowl champion as an assistant, on their staff as a consultant. Tampa Bay HC Todd Bowles commented that Moore and RB Bucky Irving have a close relationship, comparing them to the Disney movie “Up”.

“Their relationship is kind of like the old man and the little Boy Scout kid in that movie,” Bowles said, via Dan Pompei of The Athletic. “Somehow, they formed this unlikely bond. I mean, it’s coach-player, but they’re damn best friends too, and I love it.”

Irving had a difficult upbringing in Chicago, including the loss of his father and brother. He’s grateful to make it this far to the NFL. 

“The things I had to see growing up made me pray to God every day that I could go in a different direction and not get caught up in the things that were going on around me,” Irving said. “I feel everything happened for a reason and God gave me some challenging things to go through so I could get where I am now. I know they are watching over me and really proud.”

Moore praised Irving’s vision as a ballcarrier and ability to make tacklers miss. 

“He’s blessed,” Moore said. “He has great vision, the ability to make people miss and can go the distance.”

Falcons

Veteran Falcons WR/KR Ray-Ray McCloud III says there will be no surprises on his end if QB Michael Penix is able to lead the team to the Super Bowl.

“I’m excited, and I’m not gonna be surprised by any of it,” McCloud told Pro Football Network. “I’ve watched Penix every day for the last year at practice, and I’m just ready to see him go into an experienced year, a polished year, and see how it goes — go all the way to the Super Bowl.”

Panthers

Panthers CB Jaycee Horn admitted that the team did not play well on defense last season and noted that Carolina needs to bounce back and make improvements ahead of the first game of the season.

“We don’t need to be anything close to that,” Horn said, via the team’s website. “You kind of want to throw it out of your mind because it’s a new season, but at the same time, it’s on the back of your mind too, because that should be really all the motivation you need to come back to camp. You don’t want nothing like that to happen again. It was a lot of injuries and a lot of stuff of that nature, but at the same time, the stat book is what it is. Like, we weren’t a good defense last year, so this year we just have to go even harder than we did last year. It’s out there, yeah. I mean you know it is what it is. You’ve just got to go about handling it the right way, bouncing back.”

• Carolina hosted UFL CB Nick Whiteside for a workout, according to Panthers Wire.