Buccaneers

Buccaneers HC Todd Bowles says he isn’t concerned about his job security and that his only focus remains winning games.

“I don’t think I worry about it at all,” Bowles said. “It doesn’t creep into the locker room. Players play and coaches coach. I got more years behind me than I do ahead of me. I think we’re in a situation where we’re right back in it and our only focus is on winning a ball game.”

Falcons

The Falcons took DEs Jalon Walker and James Pearce Jr. in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft at picks No. 15 and 26. Pearce said he’s had a strong connection with Walker since they were drafted. 

“Knew this was home for us,” Pearce said, via Marc Raimondi of ESPN. “He got drafted a few spots ahead of me in the draft, but ever since we loaded up the jet and landed in Atlanta, that’s been my guy.”

Falcons HC Raheem Morris said he loves both players as if they were his children and is pleased with how they are developing. 

“I love both of those guys,” Morris said. “I don’t ever want to call these grown men my kids, but I love these guys like my children. These guys are awesome. They’re growing, they’re learning together. They’re giving us everything they have.”

Some teams flagged Pearce for maturity concerns during the pre-draft process, but Falcons DC Jeff Ulbrich said they had good “inside information” on his character that made them comfortable taking him. 

“We were fortunate that we had some real inside information regarding his character,” Ulbrich said. “We had some people that really had boots on the ground there at the school, and because of that, we felt with great confidence that we were getting the right person, not just the right football player.”

Panthers

Panthers owner David Tepper is encouraged by his team being 7-6 and tied for the lead in the NFC South, expressing confidence in HC Dave Canales, GM Dan Morgan, and executive vice president Brandt Tilis. 

“Listen, it’s pretty good,” Tepper said, via Joseph Person of The Athletic. “It’s all building process. Look, we’ll see where we go. We’ll see what happens. But we do think, as I said, Canales, Morgan, Tilis, and everybody here in the whole organization, I think we’re building something special in Carolina. And we’ve been building it outside in the community. We’re building it on the field. This is the total picture. And hopefully we can go on and we have that for many years here. And that’s what we hope for.”