NFC Notes: Jonathon Brooks, Kirk Cousins, Bryce Young, Falcons, Panthers

Falcons

Atlanta had a rough outing in Week 11 where they were blown out on the road against the Broncos. Falcons QB Kirk Cousins knows they didn’t do enough to win and feels they need to re-evaluate themselves going into next week. 

“Not good enough today,” Cousins said, via D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “The Broncos deserved to win and it’s disappointing. Now we have to go back and fix what wasn’t good enough, and make sure we play our best football starting against the Chargers.”

“There’s no magic formula, but I think having conversations this week is important. What are we doing well? What are we not doing well? How do we fix it? Those are important questions to ask, but the answers are even more important as to how you fix it. That’s to be determined. Those are important dialogues that still need to happen and time will tell. We’ll look back and see how the answers to those questions were.”

• ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports Falcons WR Darnell Mooney‘s early returns from testing on his hamstring indicate the injury is not serious.

Panthers

• Panthers HC Dave Canales expects second-round RB Jonathon Brooks to make his debut in Week 12 against the Chiefs. (Joe Person)
• Canales adds RB Miles Sanders (ankle) is out in Week 12. (Person)
• Canales announced QB Bryce Young will start against the Chiefs but noted it’s still a weekly decision. (Person)

Panthers

Panthers QB Bryce Young is looking more and more confident after regaining his role as the team’s starting quarterback.

“This is about the continued progress. It’s about Bryce looking more and more confident as he’s out there in Germany,” Panthers HC Dave Canales said, via The Athletic. “Just felt a real confidence and an aggressiveness to his play and all those things. And of course the end result — winning.”

Panthers veteran WR Adam Thielen said he’s seen the strides that Young has taken in his second season in the NFL.

“It’s kind of the things you looked for him coming into Year 2 to take the next step,” Thielen said. “Just having that demeanor around the building, in the huddle, on the field. I think you’ve seen that the last two weeks.”

Canales expects rookie RB Jonathon Brooks to make his professional debut this week against the Chiefs.

“I fully expect J.B. to make his debut this week against the Chiefs,” Canales said. “We have some practices to go through to make sure we’re ready to go there. Same thing with Thielen.”

Brooks said he’s ready for the wait to make his rookie debut to be over.

“Obviously, the competitive spirit in me is just really anxious to get out there and play football again,” he said. “Just to be able to compete with my team and just go out there and play the game that I love and do the things that I know how to do. … I think everything worked out how it’s supposed to.”