Buccaneers

Bucs rookie LB Nick Jackson jokes with his friend and Ravens DB Kyle Hamilton about how Hamilton was a first-round pick and Jackson is fighting for an NFL career after being an undrafted free agent.

“He’s like my brother,” Jackson said, via Fox Sports. “He’s been an unbelievable influence, and I really can’t thank him enough. We’ve grown up since we were 4, pretty much talked every day, dinners every night. He’s guided me through the process because he’s been through it. We make the joke that he was first round and I was a rookie minicamp invite, so we have both ends of the spectrum on it. It’s been an honor to lean on him.”

If Jackson makes the cut, his first NFL game would be in his hometown of Atlanta against the Falcons.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It’s unreal,” Jackson said. “I’m really just thankful, and going out there, I was just trying to play my heart out. You never know in football what play is your last play, so I’m trying to give it all for my teammates every single play.”

Panthers

Panthers HC Dave Canales said they have declared Austin Corbett their starting center after beating Cade Mays for the job. 

“We talked to Austin and we talked to Cade Mays; they both did a great job,” Canales said, via Darin Gannt of the team’s site. “Austin Corbett’s going to be our starting center. We decided to make that decision knowing that this week, going to Houston with the joint practice and then having the game, we felt like those reps just kind of solidifying who’s the starter going to be with Bryce Young, it’s a good time to kind of transition to where he’s getting more of those reps versus split.”

Canales mentioned that Corbett’s leadership set him apart from Mays. 

“I mean, it was a really close competition, and I think Corbett just kind of brings a level of leadership that just kind of edged him out, in my opinion,” Canales said. “So, again, competition brings out the best in both guys, and I was really proud of the way that they competed.”

Canales said that Mays will play “across the line,” and pointed out his experience at center and guard. 

“He’s going to be all across the line,” Canales said. “He’s our backup center for now, and he can play guard, so he’s a really valuable, really important piece of what we’re doing.”

Saints

Former Saints DT Khalen Saunders talked about the conversation he had with HC Kellen Moore when he informed him that he was being traded to the Jaguars.

“Man, it was, I wanna say like 7:30-something, we had just got done with the game against y’all,” Saunders said, via Saints Wire. “I got home, I was actually playing some Fortnite, and I got a call from coach Moore, and y’know I told the guys in the party like ‘hold on real quick’. Muted the mic and took the call, and he was like ‘Just wanna be the first one to tell you, the business of the game’ stuff like that, and he was like ‘so you’re being traded.’ Obviously, heart dropping, all of that, and I’m like ‘where to?’ And then he’s like ‘Jacksonville’, and I’m like ‘the one we just played today?’ But yeah, it was a surprise, I’m obviously really happy to be here, but yeah, it was almost instantaneous, the joy that came in, I’m like, wow, it’s fast-moving, but wouldn’t wanna be anywhere else.“

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