Notes, Quotes From Around NFC South

If you have ever seen the Atlanta Falcons' Jerious Norwood get loose in space, it is quite a sight. He can scoot and he has moves uncommon for a 200-pound scat back.

The problem is actually seeing Norwood in pads, much less in space. He's hurt. Again.

The Falcons fifth-year running back is on the shelf with a hip injury. He is supposed to be the Lightning to Michael Turner's Thunder, but so far he is a spark here and a spark there. He played 10 games last season and it was hard to see his full value to the organization.

The Falcons' next best running back, besides Turner, is Jason Snelling, a smart, two-way back who is going to get opportunities again this season.
If I was the Falcons, I would be more worried about cornerback Dunta Robinson, who has a tight hamstring and is day-to-day. He is a big deal to this team.

Colin Peek, a tight end, suffered a strained knee on the first day of practice and is expected to miss one to two weeks.

CAROLINA PANTHERS

Scott Fowler of the Charlotte Observer had a long piece on quarterback Jimmy Clausen, which helped dispel the myth the kid is a brat. Clausen, the Panthers seem to feel, was undervalued and could be the real deal, a franchise quarterback.

So you wonder what the club really thinks of Matt Moore, who is also a young quarterback (he turns 26 next Monday). Moore, an undrafted free agent out of college, was the quarterback down the stretch of the 2009 season when the Panthers were 4-1. He is considered a game-manager rather than a game-changer.

Considering the club's grinding style on offense that should be enough, but maybe not.

The club grabbed Clausen in the 2010 draft. The NFL is a dollars and cents existence and Moore's future existence looks ok, but not great.

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS

Jimmy Graham looks more intriguing every day Jeremy Shockey does not practice. The veteran tight end bumped knees with a teammate in a workout, he said, and is still sidelined.

Meanwhile, here comes Graham, a rookie tight end who played basketball -- and some football -- at the University of Miami and can run and jump and look spectacular for a guy his size.

He has makeup, too. I was at the Miami-Virginia Tech game last season when Graham dropped a key pass that would have kick-started the Hurricanes in the big road game in Blacksburg. Graham never blamed the monsoon conditions. Said he should have made the grab. Graham sat against a wall in the interview room and answered every question about ruining a UM comeback.

That's makeup.

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS

Barrett Ruud, a leader of the Tampa defense the last several seasons, signed a meager contract early in the spring for a year and then watched the spigot open. Gerald McCoy, the team's first-round pick in 2010, signed a five-year, $63 million deal on Saturday. Donald Penn, a tackle, signed a six-year, $48 million deal.

Ruud is disappointed, according to the Tampa Tribune.

"Obviously, I'm very disappointed," Ruud told a Tribune reporter. "I'm not real happy about it. I'm very happy for Donald, very happy for Gerald (McCoy), very happy for all the guys who signed the last couple of years. But, definitely, it's pretty frustrating on my end.