Posted by ESPN.com's Pat Yasinskas

A quick trip around the NFC South before heading off to the airport. I'll check in from New Orleans late this afternoon.

FALCONS

Coach Mike Smith said the team still isn't sure who will start at right tackle. Tyson Clabo got most of the work there in the preseason. But veteran Todd Weiner is progressing after knee surgery and could take Clabo's place.

PANTHERS

Defensive tackle Damione Lewis had some pretty strong words on what the Panthers should do about a possible contract extension for defensive end Julius Peppers.

He said the Panthers should "break their neck to keep him here."

SAINTS

The company that runs the Superdome is expecting a full staff -- and possibly more -- for Sunday's game between the Saints and Tampa Bay. Most of the employees who evacuated before Hurricane Gustav are expected to be back in New Orleans. Some additional workers are being brought in from other cities.

BUCCANEERS

It looks as if the Bucs will start Antonio Bryant at receiver opposite Joey Galloway. Bryant, who was out of the NFL last year, had an outstanding preseason. His emergence means former starter Ike Hilliard will be used as the No. 3 receiver.

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So much for Tampa Bay's attempt to add Willie Anderson. The veteran offensive tackle signed with the Ravens, according to Bengals.com.

The deal reportedly is for three years and worth $11 million. Anderson was supposed to visit the Bucs today, but problems catching a flight prevented that and he accepted Baltimore's offer in the meantime.

That leaves Tampa Bay with Donald Penn as the starting left tackle and Anthony Davis as the backup. Anderson, a former Pro Bowler, likely would have provided an instant challenge to Penn for the starting job.

Posted by ESPN.com's Pat Yasinskas

All of Atlanta will get a chance to see Matt Ryan's debut, after all.

The Falcons just announced they sold out Sunday's game against Detroit at the Georgia Dome. That had been in doubt when the Falcons had about 1,500 tickets available Wednesday, leaving the possibility of a television blackout.

But, at some point today, two Atlanta television stations and Comcast bought out the remaining tickets. Those tickets will be donated to The Metro Atlanta Chapter of the American Red Cross and The Boys and Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta.

Posted by ESPN.com's Pat Yasinskas

My former colleague Tom Sorensen reported today the Panthers have an offer on the table that would make Julius Peppers one of the league's top-paid defensive players.

That's very interesting and it can be interpreted to mean a lot of different things. My gut tells me that the Panthers must be very sure that what ever troubled Peppers last season is in the past if they're willing to make a big offer. I'm also thinking the Panthers would like to have this issue, which has been dragging on for about two years, resolved before the season gets too far along and Peppers contract becomes a distraction.

But you also wonder if it makes a lot of sense to invest a lot in Peppers before he proves he's put last year's disappointing 2.5-sack season behind him.  It might be wise for the Panthers to wait and see some production from Peppers.

It also might be wise for Peppers to wait. If he can go out and register double-digit sacks and be the player he used to be, he might be able to get a deal better than the current offer.

Posted by ESPN.com's Pat Yasinskas

Time to raise an eyebrow at the injury report the Bucs sent out a few minutes ago. It may not be a reason for concern at all, but the Bucs added the word "hand" to the injury description for quarterback Jeff Garcia.

He was listed as having participated in today's full practice. He was listed on the injury report Wednesday, but was listed only as having a calf injury. Garcia's been dealing with a well-documented calf injury for most of the preseason, but the hand issue is new.

Coach Jon Gruden, as is his custom, spoke before the injury report was released. Gruden never mentioned anything about Garcia's hand. Again, Garcia went through the full practice and this may be nothing, but it is a bit mysterious.

Posted by ESPN.com's Pat Yasinskas

As we've reported the last couple of days, the Bucs are in the mix for offensive tackle Willie Anderson. He was supposed to work out for the team and have a physical earlier today, but coach Jon Gruden said Anderson's flight to Tampa was delayed.

Gruden confirmed Tampa Bay's interest in the 33-year-old former Pro Bowler and said Anderson still is expected to visit the team. But Baltimore and San Diego also have interest in Anderson and indications are he wants to get something done by the weekend.

Posted by ESPN.com's Pat Yasinskas

Just a heads-up: I'll be part of the chat block extravaganza today at 1 p.m. ET. Now, on with the morning rounds:

PANTHERS

Quarterback Matt Moore reportedly will miss four to six weeks with his broken leg. As of this moment, the team is going with Jake Delhomme and Josh McCown on the active roster and Brett Basanez on the practice squad.

BUCCANEERS

Last year, the Bucs were one of the few teams to put any pressure on Drew Brees. They'll try to do it again Sunday in New Orleans.

SAINTS

After being brought along slowly in the preseason, tight end Jeremy Shockey wasn't listed on the injury report for Sunday.

FALCONS

Atlanta is looking at shifting defensive end Jamaal Anderson to defensive tackle on some downs to try to create more pressure up the middle.

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Bryant

After working out several kickers in recent days, Tampa Bay coach Jon Gruden again endorsed incumbent Matt Bryant, who had a rocky preseason.

"I'm very confident in him,'' Gruden said. "I'm not disappointed in his inability to make a few of those kicks. I'm more shocked than anything because I've seen him be dead-on for so long. I'm going to be very confident in him. Hopefully, a couple misses are good for you to know you're not perfect and you've got to maintain your stroke and you've got to be focused. I'm sure he'll be ready to go.''

And if a couple more misses aren't good for you and that leads to a couple more misses, then the Bucs might get back to those kickers they were working out.

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Like many coaches, New Orleans' Sean Payton can be a little bland when speaking to the media. But Payton was pretty blunt on a conference call with the Tampa Bay media Wednesday afternoon.

Payton, who hadn't been available to the media since the Saints evacuated New Orleans on Saturday, was asked about his decision to go with Martin Gramatica over sixth-round draft choice Taylor Mehlhaff as the kicker.

"I think there's a lot of confidence in this locker room with his abilities," Payton said. "He's kicked in big games and won games. I think our players understand we're going to try to keep the best 53 regardless of how we acquired them. He won the job."

There's not much need for translation here. Payton and the Saints clearly are in the win-now mode and they weren't going to gamble on a rookie kicker who might cost them some games.

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Much of the Atlanta area could miss the debut of quarterback Matt Ryan.

As of this afternoon, the Falcons had about 1,500 tickets unsold for Sunday's game with Detroit. The game has to be sold out 72 hours before kickoff for the television blackout to be lifted. The Falcons already are offering discounted tickets. This one's likely to go down to the wire. But, if the Falcons can drop the number of unsold tickets down to three digits, it's not uncommon in the NFL for a corporate sponsor to snatch up the remaining tickets.

Posted by ESPN.com's Pat Yasinskas

We reported Tuesday that the Bucs have some interest in veteran offensive tackle Willie Anderson. They still do.

According to a league source, Anderson is expected to visit with the Bucs on Thursday. But that could change quickly because there's plenty of interest in Anderson. Baltimore already has shown significant interest and San Diego is trying to get Anderson to come in for a visit. Several other teams have inquired about Anderson as well.

The Bucs are prepared to open the season with Donald Penn as their starting left tackle. But there's not a lot of depth after Penn. Anderson would provide instant depth and could slide quickly into a starting role if Penn struggles.

Posted by ESPN.com's Pat Yasinskas

Somebody's going to have to answer some questions on this one.

Carolina Panthers backup quarterback Matt Moore suffered a fractured left fibula in practice today. The team is saying Moore reinjured the same leg that was hurt in the preseason finale in Pittsburgh.

The fact that Moore was already back on the practice field obviously raises some medical questions. The fact the Panthers went through the entire offseason and preseason with Jake Delhomme (coming off elbow surgery), Moore and Brett Basanez as the only quarterbacks on the roster raises some questions about personnel decisions.

Those decisions already came to light last week when the Panthers suddenly decided they wanted an experienced backup for Delhomme and went out and traded for Josh McCown. They turned around and cut Basanez. After Moore's injury, they went out and signed Basanez to the practice squad.

This situation still might be in flux and the Panthers could be looking for another quarterback. In case you're wondering, Vinny Testaverde is retired and living in Tampa.

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Bennett

Although we saw plenty of Michael Bennett in the preseason, we might not see much of him Sunday in New Orleans.

Tampa Bay coach Jon Gruden said the Bucs may only activate presumed starter Earnest Graham and backup Warrick Dunn on Sunday. Although the first part of Gruden's response could apply to any position, it might be important to note this response came when he was asked specifically about the running backs.

"We're only allowed to dress so many guys on Sunday,'' Gruden said. "We're going to sit some guys down that I'm sure will be disappointed and maybe shocked themselves. Last I checked, we can only dress 46 men. We'll make some tough calls. We might not have three tailbacks up. It might not be feasible.''

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For the first time since the Saints evacuated New Orleans on Saturday night, coach Sean Payton spoke to the media this afternoon.

In a conference call with the Tampa Bay media, Payton said going to Indianapolis prior to Hurricane Gustav's arrival in Louisiana has worked out as well as possible for the Saints.

"There's no perfect time, obviously, to have a hurricane,'' Payton said. "But from a timing standpoint, it came where we were able to plan last week for a potential relocation on the weekend. We decided that if in fact we vacated and left that regardless of the path of the hurricane, we were going to stay in that city. In other words, we weren't going to get caught where we were flying and then on Tuesday turning around and flying back.''

The Saints will continue practicing at Lucas Oil Field through Friday. They're scheduled to return to New Orleans later in the day Friday and hold Saturday's walkthrough practice at the team facility.

Posted by ESPN.com's Pat Yasinskas

Galloway

Joey Galloway, silent and sidelined for almost the entire preseason, spoke after Wednesday's practice. Galloway, who's been bothered by a groin injury, said he hopes to play in Sunday's opener at New Orleans.

But he said that decision will be up to coach Jon Gruden.

"The zookeeper posts the times when the White Tiger gets to eat,'' Galloway said with a laugh.

That's the nickname Gruden hung on Galloway, joking that the receiver's presence on the practice field was as rare as a white tiger sighting.

Gruden is expected to give an update on the wide receiver this afternoon. But Galloway, who has a history of big games against the Saints, sounded like he expects to play.

"With me being unhealthy, I suggest they play man-to-man,'' Galloway said with a smile when asked if the Saints should use a man-to-man or zone defense.