Buccaneers

Bucs CB coach Rashad Johnson talked about CB Benjamin Morrison headed into year two. and said that now that he’s fully-healthy he expects him to take a big step forward.

“Ben is elite with his skill set, with what he has,” Johnson said, via the team’s website. “He’s a long body, he’s twitchy, can play man-to-man. We kind of thought that things may be how they were his first year, understanding the significance of the injury, how it was an ongoing thing. So we kind of knew that first year was going to be some ups and downs, some lower-extremity things that we were going to have to deal with. But he’s healthy, he looks great out there now working in the offseason program, but also the individual drills. I’m getting a chance to work with him and he’s taking those next steps mentally in the room and those different things he wanted to learn as the season [progressed].”

Johnson said that Morrison will be on the field and without restrictions next year and he’s excited to see what he can do.

“It’s kind of – I wouldn’t say ‘redshirt season’ – but it was kind of an opportunity to learn, to get some bumps and bruises but also take some steps,” Johnson said of Morrison’s rookie year. “He made some plays in games, he got a chance to get that wetness behind his ears gone. So now he’s ready and confident to step into that role and compete in whatever magnitude we asking him to compete in.”

Johnson added that fellow second-year CB Jacob Parrish, who won the slot role, is positioned to not only play nickel but also outside in certain packages.

“It’s an interesting challenge, but Jacob’s skill set is elite,” Johnson said. “He’s a guy that can play inside, he’s a guy that can play outside. Number one would be just his mental capacity. This defense isn’t like, ‘Hey, open up a book and it’s A-B-C-D.’ It’s got some complexities to it, and this guy can manage those complexities, he can play inside, he can play outside, he’s very versatile. He’s very talkative in the [meeting] room and out on the field. He just loves the game.”

Falcons

The Falcons decided to move on from Kirk Cousins this offseason, enabling him to sign with the Raiders. Atlanta QB Michael Penix said Las Vegas is inheriting a great mentor for rookie QB Fernando Mendoza, commenting that Cousins was great at helping him prepare for each game. 

“[Mendoza is] going to get a great guy. Before the football player, you look at Kirk as a man, as a husband, as a father, he’s always been great and the way that he does anything is how he does everything,” Penix said, via Marc Raimondi of ESPN. “So, it’s like the person that he was for me, just helping me make sure I was locked in each and every day, make sure I understood some of the reads and some of the things that you would get in the league.”

As for Penix’s recovery from a torn ACL, he said that he’s following the guidance of their trainers. 

“I’m doing whatever my trainers are telling me right now,” Penix said. “I’m focusing on the process.”

Panthers

Panthers DT Derrick Brown has noticed that those who were against QB Bryce Young when he was benched are taking a while to admit they were wrong about the former No. 1 overall pick.

“He’s our guy,” Brown said, via NFL.com. “We ride with [No.] 9 all the way through. That’s one of those things that people don’t want to admit how good he’s becoming because they’re going to have to go back and admit how wrong they were. As we all know, people don’t like doing that.”

“He took the benching and, man, he just came into work every single day and killed it,” Brown added. “He didn’t care. He went right back to doing what he does. To him, it was about playing football. I’m going to be honest, I know everybody’s got an opinion about him, but I would never want to be a quarterback in the NFL. It might be the worst job to have. It’s the highest-paying, but it is the worst job to have in the NFL. I salute Bryce every single day, just dealing with all the outside noise and then still being able to come in there and be efficient in the work.”