Behind Enemy Lines is a weekly look at Tampa Bay’s NFC South foes every Tuesday. Let’s spy on the Bucs’ division rivals, shall we?

Atlanta Falcons 

• Atlanta got some needed safety depth after announcing the signing of J.J. Wilcox on Sunday. Wilcox tore his ACL last year on the first day of training camp and didn’t play after notching 233 tackles and six interceptions over his career with with the Cowboys, Steelers, Colts and Jets. Ricardo Allen and Keanu Neal are expected to start for the Falcons in 2020, but Wilcox could be in the rotation.

• The Falcons announced safety Chris Cooper has been placed on the COVID list, which is for players who have either tested positive for the coronavirus or are quarantined because of coming in contact with someone who has tested positive. The Falcons also show safety Jamal Carter and fullback Keith Smith on the list.

Dan Quinn and Bruce Arians – Photo by: Getty Images

• Like all NFL teams, the Falcons are making contingency plans if head coach Dan Quinn were to test positive for COVID during the 2020 season. The team said on their website if Quinn were to contract COVID-19 and wasn’t able to work, then assistant head coach and linebackers coach Jeff Ulbrich would take over, with senior defensive assistant Bob Sutton in a supporting role.

• Former Falcons running back Devonta Freeman is still looking for a new home and some thought that Tampa Bay might be a good fit. The Bucs ended up signing LeSean McCoy making Freeman unlikely to come to Tampa Bay. So what is taking so long for Freeman to find a home? He’s being pretty picky apparently.

“Picking the right spot where I can be really, really highly utilized and get a real good opportunity,” Freeman said. “The business part with the contracts, of course that’s always up there as well.”

Freeman was a guest on SiriusXM NFL Radio recently where he talked about the opportunity he is looking for.

Carolina Panthers 

• New head coach Matt Rhule comes from the college coaching ranks and his football team won’t look a lot different than it did at Baylor. At least when it comes to the age of his defense. The The Panthers average age on defense is primed to be 23.5 years old, making it the youngest defense in the NFL over the last 10 years according to ESPN.

The Panthers are in rebuild mode and Rhule spoke about that recently, knowing there will be some bumps and bruises along the way.

“Most of us learn from failure way more than success, right?” Rhule said. “We don’t even have preseason games, so we have to do it from practice. We just need time and experience. We just need to keep playing together.”

Russell Okung – Photo by: Getty Images

• The Panthers traded for a tackle this offseason hoping to shore up the position for a few years when they added former Charger Russell Okung. However Okung is reportedly considering retiring because of COVID concerns. Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reports that Okung, who dealt with blood clots in his lungs last year, could walk away from the game. Okung, like all players, had an opportunity to opt out of 2020 and receive $350,000 and have their contract roll into 2021. For now Okung remains undecided according to one of his advisors, J.I. Halsell.

“[Okung] hasn’t decided anything. He’s keeping his options open as we get further into camp and hopefully a season,” Halsell said.

• The NFL is requiring strict COVID test measures for players and their staff and with the frequent testing inevitably there will likely be some positive tests for most clubs. Keeping that number low and contained is the key to a 2020 season. So far six teams have not had a single reported case, including the Panthers. The Texans, Chargers, Cardinals, Patriots, and Seahawks are the other five teams to –  so far anyway – have no positive test results.

• On his third team in five years, cornerback Eli Apple thinks he has finally found a home, and is looking forward to his new role with the Panthers.

“I feel like I’ve seen so much, and I’ve been through a lot. More than the normal guy would,” Apple told the team’s official website. “I’ve been traded, I’ve been on teams that were really good and teams that were really bad, so I’ve seen it all. I’ve seen every side of the league.

“So I feel like there’s a lot of experience with that and now it’s just about going about my business and doing it at a high level.”

Apple was the 10th overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft by the Giants and spent part of 2018 and last year with the Saints.

New Orleans Saints

• Former Broncos wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders now calls New Orleans home after signing a free agent deal this offseason. While it is home, getting on the same page with his new team has been taking some getting used to.

Sanders spoke to Katherine Terrell of TheAthletic.com. recently.

“I think right now, they’re just trying to get a feel for me,” Sanders said. “Yeah, they can watch the tape from ’14 and see how they could use me, but I think right now, they just want me to grasp the playbook at a specific position before they start moving me around and making my head swim, because it’s a lot of information that I’ve got to get.”

Saints RB Alvin Kamara – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

• Running back Alvin Kamara wants a new contract with the Saints, but says he isn’t concerned with that right now. The Saints top back just wants to be healthy in 2020 after a subpar season last year.

“I injured myself early. Jacksonville week, I tore my knee basically,” Kamara told Saints reporter Luke Johnson. “That was something I was dealing with the whole season, had to miss some time, which I don’t like to do. Came back, tried to play as best I could, tried to manage it the best I could.

“I tried to put my best product out on the field. Sometimes it was enough, sometimes it wasn’t. I just didn’t want to let my team down. At times, there were situations where in my head I’m like I shouldn’t be out here. It’s just that urge in me to be like, ‘I need to be here to help my team’. What if I’m not in and there’s something I could’ve done?”

As far as a new deal – Kamara said that’s not his priority right now.

“I’m not concerned with contract talks at all,” Kamara said. “Me and my agent talked briefly about it, and I told him, ‘Don’t tell me anything about a contract until stuff is happening and there’s something I need to know.’ If I was my own agent, then I would have everything to tell you guys about a contract, but I’m not. I don’t talk [with the front office] about contracts, I don’t talk to coaches about contracts.”

Kamara is in the final year of his original rookie contract and could become a free agent next spring.