Buccaneers

Bucs HC Todd Bowles said OLB YaYa Diaby has taken a step forward as a pass rusher and is beginning to finish opportunities instead of just getting close.

“He has been rushing good the last couple of weeks it just has not worked out for him,” Bowles said, via the team’s website. “He finished them yesterday. He has been our most pressure guy without getting the sacks … yesterday the sacks kind of came to fruition like we talked about last week and his growth is understanding what offensive linemen are trying to do to him and having counterattacks.”

Falcons

Falcons QB Michael Penix Jr. has made real strides over the past two weeks. He has six touchdowns and no interceptions in that span, and overall he has just one pick in his five starts since returning from a torn ACL. Penix came up big in Atlanta’s Week 7 upset over the 49ers, completing 25 of 34 passes. He did this without the benefit of a real offseason to learn new Falcons HC Kevin Stefanski‘s system, as he was rehabbing his injury. 

“I’ll tell you, he’s a very, very diligent person,” Stefanski said via Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer. “And even going back to the spring, where he’s not taking team reps, he’s doing everything in his power to learn the new system. He’s doing everything in his power to get his body right. And then we’re just following the lead of the medical team, and he does a little bit more here, a little more there. But all the while, working to get ready to play.

“Now, I didn’t know when he was going to get cleared. We didn’t know when that time was going to come. But he works like a crazy man to get his body right, to get his mind right.” 

Panthers

Panthers HC Dave Canales gave an injury update on LT Ikem Ekwonu after Week 7, but offered no timeline for the former first-round pick’s return to the practice field.

“Every week seems like good milestones, good progression,” Canales replied, via Panthers Wire. “I can’t tell you exactly how close that is, how far that is. But I know that he’s trending in the right direction, getting into some more individual drills where he can start to really load and anchor and do all those things. But it’s gotta get to a point where we feel really comfortable about sending somebody at him full speed. We’re not quite there yet. So, I can’t really tell you, specifically.”