Buccaneers

Buccaneers HC Todd Bowles still has good things to say about the receiver group, even without WR Mike Evans, who moved on to San Francisco this offseason.

“They’re talented,” Bowles said, via Pro Football Talk. “We know they’ve got a lot of talent right there. Any time you lose a player like that, or any player that was legendary on their team, different guys got to come in and step up. That’s the nature of sports, and I’m sure we have some guys in that room that will.”

“Jalen’s tough. His mental toughness is unbelievable,” Bowles continued. “His competitiveness, the way he attacks the ball, the way he fights for every route and wants to get open and be that guy, that gives you a lot of confidence. Chris has been great. He’s in great shape, he’s healthy, he’s working out, he’s tough, and he’s very smart. He looks good.”

Falcons

Falcons HC Kevin Stefanski praised UDFA RB Cash Jones‘ intelligence as someone who is able to play receiver and running back.

“This is a very, very smart football player,” Stefanski said, via Josh Kendall of The Athletic. “Obviously, Georgia fans know the type of player he is and the plays that he’s made in the course of his career. … The intelligence part of this is you can’t just have a guy go from running back to wide receiver or vice-versa if they’re not intelligent.”

Atlanta ST coordinator Craig Aukerman thinks he can use Jones’ intelligence on special teams as well.

“He’s a smart and instinctual football player,” Aukerman said. “That’s what we saw on film at Georgia.”

Panthers

Panthers HC Dave Canales is expecting defensive tackles Lee Hunter and Cam Jackson to step up, given the injury to Tershawn Wharton, with Lee needing to make a big impact after being selected in the second round.

“To get big, young bodies into the program’s always a good thing, with (Georgia offensive tackle) Monroe (Freeling) and Lee right off the bat with the first two picks — quality players who we expect to be in the mix to compete to help our team,” Canales said, via The Athletic. “Philosophically speaking, it was like, best available? Absolutely. And then when these big, physical, violent players come along, we were really excited to be able to add those guys. And now in a different way Lee, Cam Jackson, these guys that we brought into our program, are gonna really need to step up for the guys in different roles.”