Saints start season running low on RBs

Atlanta Falcons: The club has ruled out guard Ben Garland (calf) and cornerbacks Isaiah Oliver (ankle) and Blidi Wreh-Wilson (shoulder) from playing in Thursday night's opener against the Philadelphia Eagles. Perhaps just as concerning is that long snapper Josh Harris (hip) is questionable, but practice squad snapper Jeff Overbaugh received plenty of work this week in case the Falcons need to activate him on game day. Meanwhile, quarterback Matt Ryan is looking forward to getting another chance versus the defending Super Bowl champions, who eliminated Atlanta earlier last postseason. "Once [the hype] settles, it comes down to us, our 11 on the field against their 11," Ryan said. "It's a good football team for sure and we are too, so it's going to be a good, fun game on Thursday."

Carolina Panthers: Quarterback Cam Newton is opening with a game at home for just the second time in his eight NFL seasons when the Panthers clash with the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday. Newton's only previous time opening a season at home was disappointing, as Carolina suffered a 12-7 loss to the Seattle Seahawks in 2013. Newton also is opening the season with the third offensive coordinator of his career in veteran Norv Turner. "All in all, the transition has been extremely smooth, and I'm excited about what's to come for this team," Newton said. "I'm extremely comfortable and extremely optimistic as far as Sunday and pretty much everybody firing on all cylinders. Hopefully we can be in midseason form."

New Orleans Saints: The team has just two running backs on the 53-man roster after releasing sixth-round pick Boston Scott on Wednesday. Alvin Kamara and recently signed Mike Gillislee will surely be kept busy in the opening portion of the season with Mark Ingram serving a four-game suspension. It is possible that New Orleans will add another running back prior to game day, or the Saints could promote either Jonathan Williams or Dwayne Washington from the practice squad. There is no uncertainty at quarterback, where Drew Brees is set to begin his 18th NFL season and 13th with the Saints. "I have not seen change," New Orleans coach Sean Payton said. "I would imagine if I was looking at a time lapse, a series of pictures, maybe there's certain things."

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Ryan Fitzpatrick is at the controls of the offense with usual starting quarterback Jameis Winston serving a three-game suspension. Fitzpatrick faces a tough task with the Buccaneers opening at New Orleans and following up with home games against the Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers. Tampa Bay coach Dirk Koetter expresses confidence in Fitzpatrick but also knows he'd prefer to have Winston on the field. "I'm not sure it's beneficial for any team to be missing their starting quarterback, but you know it is what it is," he said. "We knew about it. We prepared for it. And that's that. So, it doesn't really matter when it was, it happened and we're going to deal with it." The Bucs also hope to get left tackle Donovan Smith (knee), who hasn't missed a game in three NFL seasons, back against the Saints.