NFC Notes: Jimmy Graham, Buccaneers, Panthers, Saints

Buccaneers

Buccaneers HC Todd Bowles said that there is no timetable for the team to name a starting quarterback.

“We don’t have a timetable on it,” Bowles said, via Jenna Laine of ESPN. “We’ll name it when we name it. We feel comfortable with where we’re at, so we’ll go from there.”

“They’ve had it all camp; they’ve had it all spring. We don’t worry about the continuity part — everybody has gotten plenty of reps together,” Bowles continued. “Two weeks will be fine for us. We just need some game time, so everybody is going to play. It was all about whether we were going to keep the offensive line in the ballgame. We really wanted to see Kyle in a two-minute situation, so once we got to the two-minute situation and Kyle got that in, we really didn’t want to play Baker in the second half because we were changing the lineup. We wanted John to get some of the work, so we left [Mayfield] out.”

Panthers

Panthers HC Frank Reich has no concerns about LT Ikem Ekwonu despite him giving up a sack in the preseason, which Reich attributed to miscommunication.

“Lot of confidence in Ickey,” Reich said, via Mike Kaye of the Charlotte Observer. “I have no concerns about him playing winning football and being one of the true anchors to our offensive line. And the year that he had last year, the training camp that he’s had, I think not only is he going to be a really good player for us, I think he’s going to be a good leader. We have had a couple of miscues that he’s been involved in, but those things will get worked out.”

Saints

Saints HC Dennis Allen spoke about veteran TE Jimmy Graham experiencing a medical episode that was described as a “likely seizure” that led to Graham becoming disoriented.

“You won’t see him tonight out here. He’s still really recovering,” Allen said, via Fox 8 NOLA. “He’s still shaken up, but he’s actually in a pretty good spot. We’re thankful that medically it wasn’t more serious than it was. Yeah, I think he’s in a good spot. But we’re going to rest him tonight.”

• Graham on what he has learned since leaving New Orleans: “Since I left the building, I had to learn how to block. I was on big play-action, run-first teams, so that was not an option.” (Katherine Terrell)