Al Holcomb Talks Return of Josh Norman, Tampa Bay Prep + More

Carolina Panthers interim defensive coordinator Al Holcomb previews Tampa Bay.

Addition of CB Josh Norman

"He's come in and asking a lot of questions. Picking things up very quickly from a terminology standpoint, so pleased with that. Bringing that leadership presence has been big in the first 24 hours in terms of him being here and understanding what we're trying to get done."

How much Norman could play Sunday

"We'll see. We'll really see how the week goes and how he progresses in terms of how he feels physically. And coach was right when he talked about there's a difference between being in shape and then there's football shape, being in game shape. He's working towards that right now. I can't really say if he'll be activated or if he is activated how many snaps potentially he would play. He would probably be on a limited role, though."

How Norman helps the younger guys

"He's asking questions. He's vocal. I remember when Josh was a young player back in the day when he came in, he wasn't very vocal. He was just kind of listening to everyone else if you can believe that. The veteran presence and the leadership...the younger guys are seeing that which will hopefully bring that out of them."

How much Tampa's offense has changed since earlier in the year

"Really, not a whole lot. Conceptually, there still doing the same thing. Run game, mixing things up in terms of what they're trying to do to get it going. But the pass game has been consistent for the entire season."

How Keith Taylor responded from the Steelers game

"Really well. He got in the game last week and really didn't hear his name called at all. So to me, that was a direct reflection of the type of player he is and bouncing back and moving forward on to the next thing. Keith has been good. Keith has continued to grow each and every day with us. Learning as a younger player. Technique. Tools within the scheme to help himself out."

Who will play nickel this week

"We have a combination of guys that play that position for us, so it's really based on call. Just because of the different skill sets that go into playing that position. Some guys can blitz well. Some guys can cover well. You've seen Jeremy Chinn play in that role. You've seen Myles Hartsfield play in that role. You've seen T.J. Carrie in that role. You've seen Juston Burris over time in that role. You've seen Sam Franklin in that role. So, it's just a wide variety of matchups and matching up based on what the call is."

What went well vs Tampa the first time around

"I thought early on in the game we stopped the run, which I thought was critical. And then third down. I thought we did a nice job on third down limiting the opportunities for their offense. I thought we left some plays out there when you go back and watch the tape. We had some opportunities to make some big plays. Some dropped interceptions. Some missed tackles."

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