Falcons

New Falcons president of football Matt Ryan rejoins the franchise with zero front office experience to lean on. Ryan points out that being a former franchise quarterback gave him the unique experience of communicating with the head coach and front office, which should serve him well. 

“When you are quarterback of an organization for a long time, the interactions that you have with the head coach and the meetings that you sit in in their office and talk about all the different things that are going on with the football team and decisions that need to be made or alterations in a plan or in a season of maybe changing directions, it’s different from other players,” Ryan said via PFT. “I feel really well-versed in those conversations. I feel like I’ve done it with a number of different guys that I have a lot of respect for and seen it from a lot of different angles. I think the same can be true on the front office side of it. The longer I was here, the more discussions that were had. It was never, ‘I was going to be a part of the decision,’ but I was asked for my opinion, and I was asked to interact with them. So, I think some of those things will inform what I’m doing now. I’ve got a lot to earn — there’s no doubt about that. But in preparing for this, I talked to a lot of people from around the league, who have moved on as players. And I’m able to multitask. I can listen to noise in the background and not panic and keep going. … I think some of those relationships that I have from around the league, whether it be execs or coaches, owners, GMs, etc., I’m going to lean on those. I feel like I’ve got really strong relationships both inside and outside the building that are going to help me in this role.”

Packers

Packers OT Zach Tom will have surgery as quickly as possible in hopes that he is able to return for training camp next season.

“It was probably one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make in my life. Obviously, you want to be out there in the playoffs because that’s when everything’s at stake,” Tom said, via Matt Schneidman of The Athletic. “I just don’t think I was in a position where I could go out there and help the team … I just want to get it out of the way, get it over with and move on.”

Panthers

Panthers RB Jonathon Brooks is recovering from his second torn ACL after appearing in just three games this season. Carolina GM Dan Morgan is pleased to see Brooks rehabbing at the team facility and feels he’s “looking great.” 

“First off, just seeing Jonathon around the facility every day, the way that he attacks his rehab, the way that he attacks the weight room, just always around the building with a smile on his face—he’s been through so much adversity and he’s overcoming it,” Morgan said, via PanthersWire. “He’s looking great, he’s running really well. I saw him running routes out there the other day, he looked great. So, yeah, he’s doing really good. I’m really proud of him and the way he’s attacked this rehab process. It’s not easy. He’s done great at it. We’ll see where he’s at. Again, we’ll take it week by week, month by month. But he’s headed in a good direction.”

As for dips in performance by second-year WR Xavier Legette and CB Trevin Wallace, Morgan said he’s still confident in both players and wants to be patient with them. 

“I feel good about them,” Morgan said. “I think we’re all so quick to judge these guys. They’re maybe not developing as quick as the outside wants, but I think you have to be patient with these guys. I think you gotta let ’em develop, I think you gotta let ’em grow. I think Trevin’s still 22 years old. Xavier, it took him ’til his senior year to really start developing and coming into his own at South Carolina. So, I think we take a patient approach with those guys, we let ’em develop and keep getting better.”