NFC Notes: Todd Bowles, Brian Burns, Buccaneers, Lions, Panthers

Buccaneers

• Buccaneers HC Todd Bowles said he’s not worried about the atmosphere generated by the Vikings’ home fans on Sunday: “Noise is noise. Baby noise, crowd noise, car noise. It’s loud, and I don’t worry about whether it’s terrifying or happy cheers or sad cheers. We play ball,” per Greg Auman. 

Lions

• Lions HC Dan Campbell said OT Taylor Decker suffered an ankle injury during Thursday’s game but was able to play through it: “Decker had a little bit of an ankle that he got early in the game and he played the whole game with it and finished out … Deck’s a tough S.O.B., man. To watch him battle out there was impressive,” per Dave Birkett. 

Panthers

Panthers CB Jaycee Horn is hopeful the organization can figure out OLB Brian Burns‘ contract situation ahead of Week 1, but they must be able to play without Burns if he’s unavailable. 

“He’s your brother so we want what’s best for him. So we side with him and hopefully everything works out and he’s out there Sunday,” Horn said, via Joesph Person of The Athletic. “And if not, the ball’s still going to be kicked off and we’ve still gotta play football.”

Horn is focused on continuing his productivity and staying healthy this season after missing four games in 2022. 

“I’m just gonna keep playing good ball, try to stay on the field,” Horn said. “I feel like I played good ball when I was out there. I’m gonna try to continue doing the same thing.”

As for media members labeling him as an injury-prone player, Horn said he’s not paying attention to the critics. 

“I don’t care to silence nobody. I’m confident in myself, confident in this team, my teammates,” Horn said. “The only thing that matters at the end of the day is what the coaches think, what my teammates think. We’re trying to put good tape out there, so that’s what I’m focused on.”

• Panthers HC Frank Reich said they approaching Week 1 as if RB Miles Sanders (groin) is completely recovered: “I think we’ll go into the game likes he’s 100%,” per Mike Kaye.  
• Carolina ruled WR DJ Chark (hamstring) from Sunday’s game, via Jonathan Jones.