NFC Notes: Lions, Panthers, Vikings

Lions

Lions QB Matthew Stafford mentioned that he’s interested to see who emerges from the team’s tight end battle this summer between Luke Willson, Levine Toilolo and Michael Roberts.

“You know, I think we’ve got a lot of talented guys in that room, honestly,” Stafford said, via DetroitLions.com.  “I think it’s going to be a fun spring and into summer to see kind of how that shakes out. They’re all working extremely hard. You know, really all of them learning a system that’s still somewhat new to them.”

• The Lions have hired Justin Licker as a scouting assistant. (Justin Rogers)

Panthers

• Panthers HC Ron Rivera said he thinks the team’s backup quarterback for this team will come from the group currently on the roster, which consists of Garrett Gilbert, Taylor Heinicke and rookie Kyle Allen. (Max Henson)
• Panthers WR Curtis Samuel (ankle) got a little bit of work in during Tuesday’s OTA practice.
• Regarding Samuel’s return, Rivera said: “That was good to see. We increased some of his team reps early on and then shut him down. Hopefully tomorrow we can increase a little more or do the same thing.” (Max Henson)

Vikings

• Andrew Krammer reports that Vikings LB Anthony Barr ended his absence and returned to the team on Tuesday for voluntary workouts.
• Ben Goessling mentions that this doesn’t necessarily mean that a long-term extension is close between the Vikings and Barr, but he wouldn’t be surprised if team spoke to Barr’s agent in the past week about getting him to return before discussing an extension.