NFC Notes: Michael Thomas, Tristan Wirfs, Buccaneers, Panthers, Saints

Buccaneers

Buccaneers LT Tristan Wirfs noted that he questions himself every single day as he makes the transition from a strong right tackle, to a franchise left tackle. 

“Every day,” Wirfs said, via Greg Auman. “I have very high expectations of myself. I don’t want to let anybody else down, so it’s just doing my best to keep those thoughts positive, to kind of just take every day as an opportunity to get better. I think about that all day, every day.”

“I’ve had thousands of reps on the right side, and I’m going in as a newborn baby on the left,” Wirfs added. “It’s all different. It’s so similar. You’re doing the same stuff, but it’s all flipped.”

Buccaneers OL coach Joe Gilbert thinks that Wirfs is doing a great job making the transition. 

“He’s had an unbelievable attitude with it,” offensive line coach Joe Gilbert said of Wirfs. “Every day, he looks better and better, more comfortable. Obviously, that’s going to be a process, but I think so far, it’s coming along very well.”

Panthers

Panthers LG Brady Christensen said he’s fully recovered from the broken ankle he suffered in the season finale.

“For sure. The staff has done great for me, they have a good program for me, and I stuck with it. It’s progressed fast, it healed up quickly, and it’s going great,” Christensen said, via Darin Gannt of the team’s official site. “I had an appointment about a month ago; the doctor said it’s healed up, you’re good, you’ve just got to get the strength and mobility back. So once he said that, and I had confidence that it was healthy, I could really progress it quickly.”

Panthers OL coach James Campen thinks Christensen developed over the course of last season after playing in all 17 games. 

“Man, he got better and better with each experience,” Campen said. “With the different sizes of defenders, when you get to start all 17 games, you see all variations of heights and weights, and that helps a guy inside that’s converted from outside to inside. The distance is closed on them. You go from 90 percent of the time blocking an edge guy in space, and now everything’s right there. He did a really good job of getting better every game, and he’s out working now, and he looks good and is progressing really well.”

Christensen is excited for RG Austin Corbett (ACL) to return, which will help their pre-snap adjustments.  

“It’s huge. You’ve got to play as one, and you’ve got to know what all five are doing, so that helps a ton,” Christensen said. “I’d say the pre-snap talk, the communication, knowing exactly what you’re doing. And you can mess with people; you don’t have to call exactly what you’re doing, and you can mess with the defense a little bit. And really switch it up, and get the defense guessing. That’s the biggest part.”

Saints

Saints’ new QB Derek Carr said he’s already establishing a connection with WR Michael Thomas. 

“If he went out there and ran certain routes right now, I’d know exactly what he was going to do and I’d put it on him,” Carr said, via ProFootballTalk. “It’s just cool to have him in the building. Everyone was excited to see him. Everybody loves him here, they love his work ethic, they love his competitiveness, his leadership, the way he practices, the way he prepares.”

Carr called Thomas a hard worker and thinks the injuries he’s sustained are related to his high motor on the field. 

“He’s such a worker, that’s probably why injuries happen, when you play that way and work that hard,” Carr said. “You don’t ask a guy like that to tone down.”

Saints HC Dennis Allen said their “expectation” is for Thomas to be recovered from his toe injury in time for training camp. 

“That’s our hope and our expectation,” Thomas said, via ProFootballTalk. “I wish I had the crystal ball to say exactly what he’ll be ready to do. All our energy is focused on getting him ready to go in training camp. We’re excited about it. Mike’s an important piece on our offense. When he’s playing at the level he’s capable of playing at, we’re a much better offense.”