NFC Notes: Leonard Fournette, Buccaneers, Falcons, Panthers

Buccaneers

Buccaneers trainer Jordan Bush says that the reports about RB Leonard Fournette showing up in poor shape this offseason have been blown out of proportion.

“Honestly, he did return to us a little bit bigger than we wanted,” Bush said, via Greg Auman of The Athletic. “He was also in the sauna every day, getting extra cardio every single day. We called it ‘fat camp,’ just to mess around with him, but he was doing that type of stuff every single day. We could see the weight coming off.”

“The thing about Lenny, he gains weight fast,” Bush added. “He’s a big human in general. Leonard has a big frame. He’s not a small guy by any means. His legs are huge, not in a bad way. Learning his body and how he works, we understand what it takes, if he needed to lose five pounds, what he needs to do. It’s triple-digit [temperatures] every day out here.”

Falcons

Falcons quarterbacks coach Dave Ragone says there won’t be any limitations on what they ask their quarterbacks to do this season, whether it’s veteran Marcus Mariota or third-round rookie Desmond Ridder behind center. 

“There are no limitations on the quarterbacks and what we are going to ask them to do,” Ragone said, via D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We’re going to try to grow with them and evolve with what we think makes the most sense. We’ll get the feedback from them and more importantly, when you watch the film, seeing where they are most comfortable. Obviously, that’s what we’ll do.”

Panthers

Panthers GM Scott Fitterer plans to be aggressive at finding the team’s quarterback position and noted that he plans on continuing taking swings until they find their guy.

“It’s the most important position on the team,” Fitterer said, via Panthers Wire. “You can’t throw enough at it until you find the guy. I came from Seattle, where we took chances. We took Charlie Whitehurst. We took Matt Flynn and paid him big money. And it keeps going until you find the guy that can be your answer long term.”

Fitterer isn’t looking to simply find a stop-gap at the position, but also intends to be smart in his pursuit.

“We’re not looking, like I said earlier, to just put a bandaid on this,” he added. “We wanna fix this. There’s only so many players out there that can do this. So until we find that guy, we will take chances. I don’t think we’re throwing picks away or wasting picks. I think we’re trying to be as smart as we can about it, yet still taking chances to fix the position.”