NFC South Notes; Buccaneers, Falcons, Panthers

Buccaneers

Buccaneers DE William Gholston says there’s “no excuse” for his “awful, crappy” play from last year.

“I just played (crappy), completely. That’s just being real,” Gholston said, via Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times. “There’s no excuse for it. It was awful, crappy. If I said it once, I said it a million times: It was a (crappy) year. I openly admit to it.”

Gholston admitted that it’s impossible to not think about your struggles during a disappointing season.

“It’s something you can’t not think about,” Gholston said. “When you play football, you can see and feel it. It’s not a good image to have in your head.”

According to Gholston, this could be attributed to him showing up overweight and out of shape last year.

“Biggest I was, I was in the 3(00)s, for sure. It got to the 3(00)s and it was all bad weight,” Gholston said. “I dropped down coming into camp, but I came in out of shape last year … I didn’t want to be bad big, too much body fat.”

• Greg Auman reports that Buccaneers S Maurice Fleming has a torn labrum in his left shoulder and will be out 5-6 months.
• The Buccaneers placed him on injured reserve Monday after clearing waivers. (NFLTR)

Falcons

• D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution said during a recent appearance on ESPN Charlotte’s “The Wake Up Call“ OC Steve Sarkisian‘s job is on the line a “great deal” this season, via TheFalcoholic.com.
• Should the team struggle offensively, Ledbetter says a “change will have to be in order,” especially after the team used a first-round pick on WR Calvin Ridley.
• According to Ledbetter, the Falcons brought in QBs coach Greg Knapp in part to help with offensive game planning and making in-game adjustments.
• Vaughn McClure believes veteran G Andy Levitre could be a notable roster cut for the Falcons this summer.

Panthers

Panthers backup QB Taylor Heinicke says he was excited to hear that he was claimed off of waivers earlier this offseason and will be reunited with Norv and Scott Turner.

“It was a pretty hectic weekend, but I knew Norv and Scott were here so I was really excited to come up here – both being close to home and already knowing the offense pretty well from my time in Minnesota,” Heinicke said. “It’s been enjoyable so far.”

Carolina has kept three quarterbacks on their active roster dating back to 2014, which means Heinicke will have to beat out either Garrett Gilbert or rookie Kyle Allen for a job this summer.

“Hopefully, but you never know. Hopefully I play well in the preseason,” Heinicke said. “Garrett is doing a great job. Kyle is doing a great job. Cam is coaching us up.

“I love it here. It’s probably my favorite locker room that I’ve been in. Everyone is getting along, having a good time, helping each other out. It’s a real family atmosphere.”

• Neil Stratton reports that the Panthers have hired Texans assistant director of college scouting Mike Martin as an area scout. Martin will cover the southwest for Carolina.