Buccaneers

• Buccaneers HC Todd Bowles on DT Vita Vea‘s contract situation: “It’s not concerning. We’ve been through it before. It’s part of the business….I cannot tell you that. I cannot speak for him.” (Auman)

Falcons

• Falcons HC Kevin Stefanski on LB James Pearce Jr.: “I’m not going to get into specifics about conversations with any players but he understands what is expected of him.” (Kendall)
• Stefanski says that QB Michael Penix Jr. has not been cleared for 11-on-11 yet: “He’s exactly where he needs to be. We will just continue to lean on medical and Mike.” (Kendall)

Panthers

Panthers CB Michael Jackson is entering the final year of a two-year, $10.5 million contract. When asked if he feels like he should be paid like the best cornerbacks in the league, Jackson said it doesn’t matter how much he makes and is focused on playing at a high level.

“To be honest, I’m not really even thinking about it,” Jackson said, via Alex Zietlow of The Charlotte Observer. “Third-and-3, first game, it’s all coming regardless. No matter if I’m getting paid league minimum, or $100 million per year. So for me, it’s just about focusing on this. The time when I’ve focused on, ‘Dang, I should get this,’ and, ‘This guy getting that,’ I never played well. So for me, it’s kind of like, go play football.”

Jackson said he approaches every season as if it’s a contract year and thinks that being a former practice-squad player helped build his tenacity.

“Everybody puts an emphasis on a contract year, like, ‘Oh, I gotta go ball,’” Jackson said. “For me, every year is a contract year. Every year you gotta push your chips to the middle of the table and go all in. Because otherwise, in my mind, I don’t have the beauty of, ‘OK, I can chill this year and then come back next year.’ I’ve been on practice squad. That’s just the practice squad lifestyle.”

Tom Brady made headlines this spring for saying practice squad players are happy just to be on a team. Jackson thinks Brady’s words were unfair criticism.

“For you to sit there and say, ‘Well, all practice squad guys, they don’t want the pressure.’ Nah,” Jackson said. “You’re giving us a bad name when you weren’t us. That’s like me saying that winning a Super Bowl doesn’t change your life. I can’t say that; I’ve never won a Super Bowl! So that struck a nerve.”

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