NFL Notes: Lamar Jackson, Buccaneers, Cardinals

Lamar Jackson

Louisville QB Lamar Jackson plans to take more snaps from under center this year in an attempt to get him more ready for the NFL game.

“[Louisville HC Bobby Petrino] wants to make me NFL ready, a better player,” Jackson said, via Matt Hayes of Bleacher Report of the decision. “I want to make our team better. We’re on the same page.”

An NFL scout mentioned that this actually paid off for Dak Prescott a few years ago and helped him get drafted in the fourth round.

“You have a guy (Prescott) who went from probably not getting drafted, to the Cowboys taking a chance on him in the fourth round because there was tape of him playing the position how it’s played here,” the NFL scout said “At the end of the day, your tape is your resume.”

A separate NFL scout explained that Jackson is currently a “great unknown” but proving he can handle playing under center will go a long way towards aiding his pro career.

“[Jackson] has to get ready to play at the next level, and not many guys will make that happen better than [Petrino],” the scout said. “He’s this great unknown right now. He’s full of potential but extremely raw in the nuances of playing the position in our league. Those little things make a difference between playing 10 years and crapping out after four.

“If he shows he can play the position under center, and continue to play at a high level, that’s going to alleviate a lot of anxiety with a lot of teams.”

Buccaneers

• Buccaneers veteran CB Brent Grimes said in an interview with SI.com that he considered retiring during the offseason and joining the NBA’s developmental league.
• Grimes’ wife, Miko, said he told Buccaneers DC Mike Smith that he “f—– up” with the Falcons by not playing or paying her husband: “I told Mike Smith, ‘This is an opportunity for you to right your wrongs from Atlanta. You f—– up, Mike Smith! You didn’t play him; you didn’t pay him!’”

Cardinals

Cardinals HC Bruce Arians mentioned that plan to keep RB David Johnson heavily involved in their offense moving forward, but also “make sure we take care of him.”

“I think [his usage is] just right. I’d like to get it up a little bit more in receiving yards,” Arians told Pro Football Talk. “Early in the season he had a chance to have big game and he ran the wrong route a couple of times. I kept telling him all year about that. I said, ‘You would have had your 1,000 and 1,000 [rushing and receiving yards] if you’d have busted those ones in September. … I think 30 touches is not too much for him when you’re talking about 10 receptions, 20 carries. And that’s not 20 times up the middle where he’s gonna get busted up. We’re going to make sure we take care of him.”