NFC Notes: Mike Evans, Raheem Morris Press Conference, Panthers

Buccaneers

Buccaneers WR Mike Evans became the second receiver ever to eclipse 1,000 yards for 11 consecutive seasons to match Jerry Rice. GM Jason Licht was eager for Evans to reach the mark, so much that it was a topic of conversation around the dinner table with his family throughout the week. 

“We talk about Mike at the dinner table,” Licht said, via Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated. “All week long, even when we went out to dinner last night, it was like, Is Mike going to get his 1,000 yards? You have to make sure he gets his 1,000 yards. I could go on and on. We would do anything for Mike.”

Licht reflected on his message two years ago after Tom Brady‘s final year as quarterback when indicating their scouting deparment needed to identify more under-the-radar players.

“It was, We have to make this work, and we did,” Licht said. “I’m very proud of the way the plan worked. We were going to have to rely on young players, low salaries, to get us through the cap hell that we put ourselves into—intentionally—to try to win another one. The last two years, draft picks have come through in a big way. I’m proud of my scouts, proud of the personnel department, of the way that we were able to find these players, proud of the coaching staff with going along with it, playing the young players. It took total teamwork on the front office’s behalf with coaches, cap people, scouts to get through it, and it worked.”

Falcons

The Falcons are tied for the second-longest playoff drought behind the Jets and it was recognized by HC Raheem Morris during a recent press conference.

“Disappointed for our organization, for us, for our fan base, for all of us,” Morris said Monday, via D. Orlando Ledbetter of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “The work has to start today. 2025 starts for us today. The process has already begun. Obviously, the things we have to do myself, (general manager) Terry (Fontenot), (president) Greg Beadles, all of us involved. Getting together and figuring how to be where we want to be. Find a way to get there.”

“We have to go out and find ways to get better,” Morris continued. “We have to continue that growth mindset that we started this year, and weren’t able to finish. We came up short, and it’s disappointing for all of us. We have to find ways to mitigate that lull that we had in the middle of the season. We have to continue to get better throughout the season. So, that we can maintain excellent play across the board for all of our guys, in order for us to go out there and finish and find ways to get into this tournament (the playoffs).”

Morris was also willing to take part of the blame for the team’s issues given his late-season blunders when it came to clock management.

“We didn’t do a good enough job and it starts with me,” Morris admitted. “We have to find ways to win games. Find ways to be more consistent. We have to find ways to win those very winnable games that we had on our schedule, that we had a chance to win. … It starts with me. We have to evaluate all of our coaches. We have to evaluate all of our players. We have to evaluate everything that we do from a whole program standpoint.”

Likely the most notable change for the team will be the transition from QB Kirk Cousins to Michael Penix, who will get a full offseason under his belt as the starter before heading into next season.

“There will never been anything that’s the same in the National Football League, whether it’s players, whether it’s coaches, whatever the case may be,” Morris said. “That’s just how it is. It’s definitely what we talked about when we first got here. We talked about getting a quarterback in that (group) was what we wanted to do (over) the long-term. Michael Penix in these last three games has definitely shown us that. That’s definitely a positive. Pairing him up with Drake London. Pairing him up with Bijan Robinson and watching (that trio) get a chance to start fresh and do some things will really be positive.”

“Kirk left today and gave me a hug,” Morris said mentioning Cousins. “He said he’ll talk to me soon, and we’ll make some of those decisions with him because obviously because of his contract status and all of the things he’s talking about, right? So, you just never know, and I think that’s the part of the process that we’ll go through right now with him.”

Another situation that needs to be settled is the team’s kicking situation, with Morris hoping that K Younghoe Koo can make a positive return from his hip injury.

“There (will) always … be changes,” Morris noted. “We missed entirely too many kicks this year,” Morris said. “(That’s) the brutal, honest truth. We have to find ways to make those kicks. That certainly plays into not winning the amount of games you want to win.”

Panthers

Panthers’ veteran WR Adam Thielen doesn’t think any of their players stopped trying despite the team’s 5-12 result this season, which he feels was a testament to HC Dave Canales’ leadership. 

“It’s a testament to [Canales’s] leadership, his ability to lead when things aren’t going well,” Thielen said, via Albert Breer of SI. “It’s easy to be a good leader when things are going well, when you’re winning games, when you’re in contention. When things aren’t going your way, it shows your leadership ability. His shined through the tough times and showed who he was. He proved he wasn’t all talk. He was going to be about action. He was going to be a guy that was going to bring energy, positivity every single day. He was going to get it fixed.”

Thielen could see the progress they were making despite suffering losses. 

“It wasn’t happening in the results,” Thielen said. “We were really focused on the process. It was really cool to see because I’ve been on a lot of teams and when things aren’t going well, it’s not easy. I just didn’t feel a panic. There wasn’t a lot of talking going on. It was just a bunch of guys that wanted to figure it out and find a way to get wins and find a way to get this thing turned around and really just trusting it. Just trusting the process and not getting overly worked up about results is always a tough thing to do. But it’s the right thing to do.”

Thielen added there is “a lot of confidence” in the building going into 2025. 

“It’s momentum toward next year,” Thielen said. “I think there’s a lot of confidence. The process is starting to pay off. As an athlete, as a competitor, that’s all you want to see. You want to see the hard work, the dedication, the focus of the team, you want to see those things pay off. Once you start to feel that, you know that it’s going in the right direction. We got a long ways to go. … But I know there’s a lot of competitors in this locker room that want to get it changed as fast as possible. We have the right people in this building to be able to do it.”