Falcons

Falcons DB Kaden Elliss was anticipating QB Michael Penix, Jr. making a multitude of mistakes during training camp due to him being a young player, but he was surprised at how efficient he was.

“I didn’t get him once all training camp, and he just didn’t do ill-advised things, but he still let his arm talent show every single day,” Elliss said, via ESPN. “And there’s a lot of guys with amazing arm talent that may be on a couch, that aren’t starting in the NFL, that can make every throw … but who can’t blend letting their arm talent shine while also playing smart, and Penix does both in such an amazing way.”

Penix has earned the full trust of HC Raheem Morris already.

“I feel great with Mike in every game,” Morris said. “I think these games are huge. It’s fun to watch, it’s fun to be a part of. It’s fun to watch these guys grow and develop, and I’ve got the utmost confidence in Mike.”

Penix had a miserable week three against the Panthers. He rebounded from that down performance by leading his team to a win against the Commanders.

“That is the telltale sign for quarterbacks: how you respond,” Morris said. “It doesn’t go your way, it’s not absolutely what you want it to look like in the game, and you have to respond and play better — and obviously, you’ve got to play better around him — but how do you respond? And I loved his practice response. I loved his verbal response to his team. I loved his response in the game, and I loved his response of knowing it’s a process and I love how he reacted to the criticism. I love how he reacted to everything.”

Panthers

Panthers HC Dave Canales said RB Rico Dowdle has earned the right to become more involved in the offense.

“And he will,” Canales said, via NY Times. “We’ll find a way to do that. How we do that specifically, I don’t wanna really share those details of it. But certainly the world knows (with) the recognition he’s getting.”

Panthers RB Chuba Hubbard recognized how dynamic a runner Dowdle can be and isn’t surprised by his output.

“To be honest, none of this really surprised me,” Hubbard said. “Rico’s a great player, an amazing player. He’s shown it throughout camp, every time he’s been here. He works hard. The opportunity came, he made the most of it.”

Dowdle admitted that it was hard to get into a rhythm, splitting time, but he said the blocking up front should help mitigate that issue.

“I said that last year. I will say it’s a little bit hard to get into it. Because running back rep-wise, you get into that rhythm with the flow of the game,” Dowdle said. “But the way I think we’ll do it, I don’t think it’ll be hard to get into a rhythm at all, especially the way those guys are blocking up front.”

• Panthers HC Dave Canales was optimistic about G Damien Lewis being able to return from a shoulder injury this week. (Joe Person)
• Canales also said he expects to continue to use the two running backs in tandem and complimented some key plays from RB Chuba Hubbard in his return. (Mike Kaye)

Saints

• Saints WR Chris Olave on the report by Dianna Russini of the Athletic that he and the team are working toward an extension: “We’ve been having conversations since like the beginning of the year.” (Katherine Terrell)
• Saints HC Kellen Moore on Sunday’s loss: “Another tough battle for us. A game not without opportunities. They ran the ball better than us, they created more turnovers … they played better than us, coached better than us.” (Mike Triplett)
• Moore said QB Spencer Rattler will continue starting, and isn’t too worried about his turnovers in Week 7 because of Chicago’s aggressive defense. (Nick Underhill)
• When asked if they need to see second-round QB Tyler Shough at some point, Moore said it’s a week-to-week thing. (Underhill)

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