Buccaneers
Buccaneers HC Todd Bowles highly praised OT Luke Goedeke and S Christian Izien following the conclusion of their season, saying both players took big jumps with their development this year.
“I really like where Luke Goedeke played – I like the way he came back this year and played,” said Bowles, via Scott Smith of the team’s site. “Even after he got hurt with the concussion, he came back and he made a lot of strides this season, as well. I thought Christian Izien before he got hurt made great strides and did a lot of things well. There [are] a few guys that made strides like that, but those two stand out.”
Panthers
Panthers QB Bryce Young has reinvented himself as potential first-overall draft bust, to franchise quarterback.
“That kid is getting up out of there. He turned into an NFL player now,” DE Jadeveon Clowney said, via The Athletic. “I’m happy for him. He looks like he’s having fun. They can go build around him. I think he’s the guy. He deserves that. He sat quiet those games when he sat down, didn’t open his mouth about anything, where he could have. He battled back and I think he won the locker room over with that as far as making guys believe in him and just seeing what the first overall pick looked like.”
Following his benching, Young said he learned how QB Andy Dalton took control of the huddle and said that he used that to improve himself as a quarterback.
“I value my coaches. I value my teammates. I value what they say,” Young said. “And when they’ve talked about, ‘When you’re doing X, Y, Z or you’re running around, you’re smiling, it makes us feel good. It makes us have confidence. It gives us that.’ That’s what resonates for me.”
Dalton believes HC Dave Canales made the right decision to allow Young to learn from the sidelines for a couple of weeks to regain confidence and also learn from someone who has ample experience in the league.
“I think he will look back and he’ll probably be happy he did with how it all played out — not necessarily knowing that it was gonna go back (to Young) and Bryce was going to do what he was doing,” Dalton said. “It’s a tough decision for a first-year head coach to make two games into the season. But I think for him it’s understanding the whole team and all the players that are involved in it. Sometimes it gives you a spark.”
Panthers RG Robert Hunt, who was previously with Miami, said that Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa benefited from sitting his first six games of his rookie year.
“He sat, he learned, he watched. That’s probably what should’ve happened here,” Hunt said. “You’ve got Andy Dalton, who’s done it a while and been a franchise quarterback. Let (Young) sit, let him watch, and then that situation (in 2023) probably wouldn’t even happen. That’s what he did (in 2024). He did it in a short time. That’s letting people know how fast he learns, and ever since then he turned it around.”
Panthers GM Dan Morgan said he always had faith in Young when former GM Scott Fitterer drafted him. He understood it may take some time for him to reach his potential, but he knew he would eventually get there.
“I always had the belief that Bryce was going to reach his potential. How that happened or when that came, I wasn’t sure. But I knew it was in there,” Morgan explained. “When he was benched, I thought that was an opportunity for him to kind of sit back and just take a deep breath after a long previous season and first tough couple games. I think it was a really good thing for him in the long run. And to his credit, he’s come out and he’s really turned the page on that. We all feel really good about him being our quarterback of the future.”
Saints
Saints DE Cameron Jordan spent some extra time soaking in the post-game scene after New Orleans’ home finale in Week 17. He acknowledged it was because he’s well aware it might have been his last game in the SuperDome.
“You never know what’s going to happen,” he said via John DeShazier of the team website. “As much as I feel like my play says I can play three, four more years – two, three, whatever it is – I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future. So I’m going to take care of the people that have always taken care of me.”
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