• The Athletic’s Josh Kendall writes that he sincerely does not know how the Falcons’ quarterback competition will shake out and that it seems to be wide open. Having said that, his prediction is that veteran QB Tua Tagovailoa gets the nod in Week 1 because of his experience, accuracy and relative health compared to third-year QB Michael Penix Jr., who’s coming off an ACL tear. 
• However, even in that situation, Kendall would expect Penix to get a look at some point, given Tagovailoa’s injury history and Atlanta’s need to figure out what it has in Penix. 
• Kendall mentions it feels like the Falcons and the new leadership triumvirate of president Matt Ryan, GM Ian Cunningham, and HC Kevin Stefanski are viewing this season as an evaluation year to try and fix some foundational issues before potentially getting more aggressive in the future. 
• Kendall highlights former Georgia RB Cash Jones as an undrafted free agent he thinks has a real shot to stick, noting the team has moved him to receiver. 

Panthers

Carolina signed WR John Metchie III this offseason, reuniting him with QB Bryce Young from their days together at Alabama. Young talked about how important it was that they were able to get to work shortly after Metchie signed and feels Metchie has been great at doing the little things to maximize their connection. 

“We were really fortunate, we were both in the same area in the offseason when he ended up getting signed in the first place,” Young said, via the team’s website. “So because of that, we kind of got to get a little head start for the offseason of like, all right, here’s this, here’s the verbiage, here’s the little things, and now it’s filling out how the coaches want it, filling out how it goes with the room.”

“(He’s) doing a great job with the little details, and a lot of the time that’s the stuff. A good smart player will come in, and he’ll run the right route, but is it the right landmark, right timing, or the splits the right way? And he’s been doing a great job of studying to make sure that’s possible, taking it out to the field. He worked super hard.”

Metchie went into detail about how their chemistry can benefit the team, mostly their understanding of where each other are likely to be when certain plays break down. 

“It’s almost like a spiritual experience,” Metchie said. “We know how to adjust for each other. If it’s something where I might be struggling, he knows how to adjust to put it where only I can get it. If he’s struggling and the pocket is collapsing, I know how to move to make it easier for him.”

Metchie also isn’t taking for granted being in the same place after having to learn two new offenses in the span of a few months when he was traded from the Eagles to the Jets. 

“Last season I learned a whole new offense Week 1, then I learned a whole new offense week 6 or whatever it was, when I went from the Eagles to the Jets, so I learned two offenses while still having to play fast and stuff like that… By the time training camp comes around, I can have put the learning of the offense to bed and just be able play it like last season. And every single day, like learning something new about the playbook.”