Buccaneers

The Buccaneers missed out on last year’s playoffs after leading the NFC South at one point. Tampa Bay QB Baker Mayfield said it was a frustrating experience, given they needed just one more win to solidify a postseason berth. 

“Frustrating knowing that we had so many opportunities to control our own destiny,” Mayfield said, via Rick Stroud of The Tampa Bay Times. “Just win one of those games and it would’ve been a different story. We wouldn’t have had to be cheering for the Saints at home on a Sunday instead of watching to see who we were going to play and getting ready for that.”

Mayfield said he made an effort to build closer relationships with teammates like WR Chris Godwin, OT Luke Goedeke, OT Tristan Wirfs, and RB Bucky Irving this offseason. 

“I get Chris (Godwin), Luke (Goedeke), Tristan (Wirfs), Bucky (Irving). They’re at the house, they come over. Hang out,” Mayfield said. “We’re in the living room. We order food. It’s fun. It’s kind of a s–t show now with the kiddos involved, but the more the merrier. You go through it together and you’ve got to enjoy it, the good, the bad and the pain.’”

Panthers

Panthers CB Will Lee III enters his rookie season after being a fourth-round pick. Carolina DC Ejiro Evero said Lee has been “really good” in training camp and is impressed by his confidence. 

“He’s been good. He’s been really good,” Evero said, via Kassidy Hill of the team’s site. “There’s obviously — he’s a rookie, and he’s fighting through a lot of things. He’s learning a new environment, he’s learning a new playbook, he’s learning new coaches, but he’s doing a heck of a job, and one thing that is just like, since the day he got here, that really stands out is the confidence. There’s been so many good plays, and there’s been some plays that obviously he’s going to learn and grow from, but his confidence never wavers. He’s very coachable. He’s optimistic. He’s confident about what he’s going to do, and we just know that the more he practices, especially going against our receivers and getting a lot of those game-type reps, he’s going to get better and better and better, and it’s only going to help our team.”

Evero mentioned that Lee “doesn’t flinch” after making errors against their receivers and is quick to make corrections. 

“Oh, he doesn’t flinch,” Evero said. “There’s been plays he’s given up to TMac or Legette in practice, and that’s what you’re looking for first and foremost because there’s never going to be a corner in the league that is never going to give up a play. So we’re looking for the no flinch, no blink, and that’s him. He’s right back to work; he takes the corrections, he takes the coaching points, and I’m loving it that he’s getting those experiences now when we have a little room for error.”

As for fifth-round S Zakee Wheatley, Evero said he’s doing well learning their system, which is a bit more difficult at the safety role. 

“He’s doing a tremendous job,” Evero said. “Very confident, very good athlete; he’s working through the playbook, and it’s a little bit more challenging at the safety spot, just the communication aspect of it, the checks and adjustments, the formation recognition and things like that. So, he’s got a lot on his plate and he’s trying to catch up to the veterans, but, the one thing that I really admire about this young man is that he gets out there and, regardless of if he doesn’t make the right call or doesn’t make the right play, the confidence doesn’t waiver, and, he continues to just battle.”

Panthers

The Panthers are challenging QB Bryce Young to manage the time between breaking the huddle and snapping the ball. Carolina OC Brad Idzik said they want Young to continue reading defenses before the snap, but to also make sure everyone in their offense is set. 

“It’s snap point timing,” Idzik said, via Kassidy Hill of the team’s site. “It’s making sure your guys are urgent to the line of scrimmage. Bryce is such a good processor pre-snap. He can start to read, what are the intentions of the defense. But he needs to get everybody set, so we’re threatening the defense that, ‘Hey, a legitimate stance by a wide receiver. O-line is in an athletic position.’ Not just standing up waiting for, ‘OK, when does the real true cadence start?'”

Idzik reiterated that Young needs to show urgency after breaking the huddle and getting to the line of scrimmage. 

“(Quarterbacks) need to be a legitimate threat the second they get to the line of scrimmage, so the defense starts showing their hands, so Bryce can work his magic in the pre-snap process of seeing ‘OK, what coverage do I think it is, where do I think they’re bringing pressure?'” Idzik said. “All that stuff is tied in, so him pushing the urgency of breaking the huddle and getting to the line of scrimmage is only going to help him kind of open up his book of being able to process pre-snap.”