Falcons

According toAlbert Breer of Sports Illustrated, Falcons’ owner Arthur Blank has brought in consulting firm Sportology to do a deep evaluation of the organization and whether changes are needed.

Breer writes that Sportology will examine the Falcons’ “overall health” and the team’s internal operations.

He adds people in the building are bracing for some sort of serious shakeup. Both GM Terry Fontenot and HC Raheem Morris are believed to be on the hot seat to some degree.

Panthers first-round WR Tetairoa McMillan had just five receptions over three games before recording six receptions for 73 yards and a touchdown in Carolina’s big 23-20 win over the Buccaneers to take control of the NFC South. McMillan said he’s just tried to “trust in the process” and still feels like he has a lot of room to improve.

“Obviously, the last couple of weeks were slow. But I trust in the process, I trust in the game plan,” McMillan said, via Joseph Person of The Athletic. “It just so happened to be where I was a little bit more involved, and I’m super grateful for it. And I’m not going to sit here and act like I had a good game, because I didn’t. I just got to take advantage of the opportunities that come my way.”

Carolina has also gotten solid production from fellow rookies like fourth-round S Lathan Ransom , second-round OLB Nic Scourton, undrafted K Ryan Fitzgerald and fifth-round TE Mitchell Evans . Panthers HC Dave Canales expressed belief in their young players and feels they “looked fast ” in Week 16.

“It’s why we play these guys. It’s why we believe in them and we live through the bumps along the road with having young players out there,” Canales said. “But at this time of year, they’re young, they’re strong. We had a bye week to get our legs back and they looked that way. They looked fast. We had an aggressive style of play, so I’m really proud of those young guys coming through.”

The Panthers have now won each of their last three games by a margin of just three points. McMillan has noticed that they “thrive” late in games.

“Obviously, it’s good that we finish games and we’re good at the end of the game as far as finishing drives and scoring points. It’s a little too close for comfort sometimes,” McMillan said. “But for some reason, that’s where we thrive, and that’s kind of the area that we excel at. I feel like we just got to do a better job at starting faster.”

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