Quick Hits: Latest on Brian Burns, Glimpse at Atlanta + More

Carolina Panthers head coach Frank Reich met with the media ahead of Wednesday's practice.

What it means for players to vote Burns for team captain despite the contract situation

"I think it just shows the respect that he has in the locker room. The player and the leader. He is a great player. But make no mistake about it, he's a great leader."

Falcons offensive line

"As far as penalties go, this is one of the fewest penalized teams in the league. That's just evidence of a disciplined team. Good coaching. So hats off to them. Their philosophy is make the opponent beat you. That's a good philosophy. We don't want to play scared. There's going to be some penalties in the game, so it's always that fine line. We want to be aggressive, we want to push it as much as we can but we want to play smart and disciplined."

How Brian Burns is not being a distraction

"He's been in the building. He's in there lifting weights. He's in meetings. He's just not been a distraction. He's missed a couple practices, so he's been a complete pro."

If they can use Laviska Shenault to prepare for Cordarrelle Patterson

"Cordarrelle is a weapon, right? It's fun to be able to go up against him. How he has continually reinvented himself [is impressive]. Do we have a little bit of a similar vision for Laviska? Yeah, but I mean, visions have to work themselves out. Sometimes it works out just like you expect it to and other times it takes twists and turns that you never expected. We may use Laviska some to imitate Cordarrelle, but honestly, we've got to get Laviska ready to be Laviska."

When he rules Brian Burns out

"Sunday. Fair question. I understand it. But my mind's really not even going there. It's really not. Like, my mind is going to today's practice. We'll deal with each day as it comes."

Atlanta's revamped defense

"They've added a lot of pieces to that defensive front that you would think is going to make an impact. Last year, when you looked at their team statistically, where they were weak was they ranked 31st as far as effecting the quarterback. To their credit, they've addressed it."

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