NFC Notes: Jonathon Brooks, Spencer Rattler, Falcons, Panthers, Saints

Falcons

• Falcons HC Raheem Morris announced S Micah Abernathy will miss a “significant amount of time” with his knee injury while S Justin Simmons should be fine with a hamstring injury. (Tori McElhaney)
• Morris adds they will continue to evaluate LB Troy Andersen‘s knee injury as the week continues. (McElhaney)
• Morris spoke on their plethora of options when it comes to offensive pass-catchers: “We are kind of spoiled. We have five legitimate people that you want to get the ball to, maybe more. And all of a sudden Ray-Ray pops up. There  is no way to make all those guys happy every single week.” (Josh Kendall)

Panthers

Panthers second-round RB Jonathon Brooks is nearing a return from his torn ACL suffered in his final collegiate season. Carolina HC Dave Canales outlined Brooks’ profile and where he thrives in the offense.

“Explosive ability. Combination of size and speed,” Canales said, via Joe Person of The Athletic. “Body control I thought was really rare for what we’ve seen in the past couple of years. A really fluid catcher out of the backfield, the ability to hit the home run to take it the distance.”

Although RB Chuba Hubbard has seen success this season, he’s looking forward to how Brooks can complement his game on the field.

“Me and him have created a great relationship, brotherhood. We like to joke around with each other a lot,” Hubbard said. “Happy he’s able to come back now. He’s going to be an exciting part of our offense. From his Texas film, he’s shown a lot of great, different abilities.”

Saints

Saints QB Spencer Rattler is focused on improving as much as possible ahead of his second NFL start and talked about where he can make changes.

“I would say, just chilling a little bit in the pocket,” Rattler said this week, via John DeShazier of the team’s website. “Don’t try to extend too much when not needed. Listen to your feet and maintain elite focus every single rep throughout the game, no matter the score. Take completions and move the chains. I think getting a game under your belt helps a lot with live reps, live bullets. It’s been a long time since I’ve gotten live reps, getting hit and stuff like that, a full game. It was great to be out there. Obviously, you don’t take that for granted.”