UPDATED: Kelvin Benjamin, Greg Olsen, Luke Kuechly, Jonathan Stewart, Michael Oher, Ryan Kalil, Thomas Davis Interviews

[t96]

Not sure everyone saw the other thread but here's the write ups.

 

Kelvin Benjamin:

 

KB spent time with family, worked on staying in shape ready to get back to OTAs and start up where he left off.

 

What he wants to improve: getting body back to tip top shape, working on coming out of his breaks on curl and comeback routes and working on footwork. Getting timing down with Cam, catching the ball. Does he feel like a veteran? "yeaahhnahhh"

 

Overall happy with what he did last year? Very proud of camp and first part of season then mentally "got tired" well into the season, wants that to change. Felt "wall" around 7th or 8th game, clear difference coming from college. The more you play the better you get.

 

Thoughts on addition of Ted Ginn: Great addition to team, but can't jump the gun, haven't started yet.

 

Who should the Panthers draft: "I ain't no GM (laughing) I don't know man."

 

Looking forward to the most? "first game but gotta go through OTAs, camp, get back out there with the team and get to work and see what we've got."

 

Spent offseason in Orlando, down there working out. Him and Cam didn't get to link up until now.

[t96]

Olsen on now:

 

On Ted Ginn: Great having him back. Was a big part of our offense in 2013, speed on field is huge threat both on offense and in return game. Putting him with Ted Ginn makes it all the better.

 

On FA Additions: Haven't really met them all yet but excited to work with them and thinks WR group will continue to improve and be dynamic and reliable in passing game.

 

3 peat? Right now 32 teams saying same thing - will win division, that's the foremost goal and the foremost expectation across the board and that's no different here. Focusing on this year not these 2. Putting team in position to win championships here by getting prepared physically and mentally.

 

Healthy Cam: Not always better by just addition, different story this year with Cam healthy and continuity. KB not playing catch up as a rookie. Has a 1000 yard season under his belt and will improve. Every guy can improve, year 1 or year 10.

 

Any need offensively? Feels good about guys in the meeting room, will add rookies soon as well and feels confident in the group, young guys will improve.

 

On extension and Dickson contract: Extremely grateful to stay with Panthers and to stay a part of team that wants him, with guys like Cam, TD, Kalil, guys like that. To see growth over the past year and to be here to finish career (lot of years left of good ball) makes him very proud.

 

On Jimmy Graham: Never expect highest paid player at position to get traded but landed with great opportunity, can't really speak to thoughts of front offices, glad we don't have to play him twice.

 

Feels we have legitimate chance to win Super Bowl, but a way to go and a lot of work to do, premature to start throwing things out at this point. Lot of steps that go into putting yourself into position to win championships. Cam at Auburn will have no negative impact, he can handle his business and we'll be fine.

[t96]

Luke up now:

 

On finishing degree: 2 weeks left, taking it online with professor at BC, gets assignments on week to week basis and knocking it out. Marketing degree, 2 more assignments then all finished. Won't commence, will stay with team. Top priority to finish up since he got out, his parents will be happy and it'll be behind him.

 

Approach season the same way, looks at what he wants to improve on. Got a great group of guys back here. Like first day of school, get to see all your buddies again. Had a chance to talk to most of all new additions, all great guys. Culture is great and most guys on team look forward to coming in. Pretty much all out of town guys are back.

 

On Tillman: "Charles, one thing he brings without question is experience, has made a lot of plays. One big thing he's been with Rivera and Coach Wilks. Good dude who's willing to come in here and work so we'll see what happens."

 

On front 7: It's the best to have continuity with the 4 guys who inside and an older guy at every position to make his job a lot easier, fun being around these guys and he likes the guys "hopefully they like me", glad they're all back.

 

Improvement focus: Still pass rushing, and usage of hands, hand were either outside or not where they needed to be. If you can't play with your hands you can't play, so work on it when we start our practices, and wants to get in habit in OTAs so head start for when he gets to camp. Hand movement in getting off of blockers, etc.

 

5th year option: "I hope so, I want to be here. I don't really control that, my agent (does)."

 

Try to get to know new guys and talk to them and hangout to develop chemistry and communication in locker room. Excited about group of guys on defense, excited to meet them all and what they're all about.

 

Not worried about long term deal, "that stuff will take care of itself. I'm just here to run around and play football."

 

Hardy distraction gone won't have an impact, our ends will come back strong this year and looking forward to get  back out there with everyone.

 

[t96]

Stewart on now:

 

First time doing podium interview since draft day... "I was at home on draft day so this is my first time doing this (laughs)."

 

On DeAngelo: "Gonna be weird, my locker buddy is gone for 7 years. Obviously different but part of business." In the process of "hitting" him. Already been texting each other. It's a production business and you go into it looking at somebody will have to be gone. When things like that happen there's really no format to dealing with it.

 

Message in team meeting: "Time to get better, pretty much."

 

Knowing your #1 back does that change preparation? "Not at all, always ready to be put in the game."

 

Just wants to win games doesn't care much whether he gets a lot of carries or not, whatever the plan is, getting a boatload or minimum whatever it is "that's what I'd be down for."

 

Anything specifically want to strengthen: "Overall mechanics and functional movement, sometimes stray away from when it comes to training. Been doing yoga, stretching, different types of workout."

 

Excited to be "feature back?" It's a different situation so going into this offseason I'm just taking it that way.

 

On Gurley: "Anything to make the team better, then for sure. Used to sharing the backfield so when it comes to that then whatever the team wants that what we get."

 

On o-line moves: "It's great to get some good vets in here that's done it for a while and that's been proven, get some of those young guys something to look at and get better, so it's great."

 

On left tackle needing to be shored up: "That's out of my pay grade."

 

On Chip Kelly: "He has his way of doing things that's for sure. Hasn't hurt him before so he knows what he wants to get done."

 

[t96]

Michael Oher:

 

On transition: "Been back and forth rehabbing, everything's going great. The teammates have embraced me, great guys, great character guys, who love working. Lotta guys here in the offseason working out. Great organization, great to be back with John Matsko. Excited for time here and for fresh start.

 

On toe injury: "It affected me quite a bit. Something I've been dealing with for years. Finally get it fixed and relieve some pain. In stance was thinking about that rather than guy going against. I'll be a better player. It just happened over time and last season it just flared up worse than it ever has, had to get it worked on. Definitely improving and will be 100%. A little bit of both bone spurs, cartilage damage."

 

On Matsko: "Working on the fundamentals of the game. I'm a big fundamentals and technique guy. I had Matsko for the first two years and his assistant taught the same thing on fundamentals. Type of guy who'll do the same thing over and over and over until you get it down. Just knowing right from wrong was one of the problems last couple years. I study the game a lot and getting back to those fundamentals and doing things the right way."

 

"Take the time this offseason to take a look in the mirror and see what I have to fix. You can always do more and you just gotta look in the mirror at the end of the day. Football is not (the only) one of the reasons I'm here. I'm glad to be back in a good organization, good coaching, coach Matsko putting you in the right positions, knowing you'll be prepared for Sunday."

 

On DG's comments: "It means a lot the way that they've embraced me and it definitely makes me buckle down and just never disappoint anybody, working 10 times harder than I ever have and focusing on me and being the best player that I can be. Still chasing greatness, I want to be great. Feel I still have time and ability and the attitude, don't want to let these guys down. Never heard anything bad about this organization, anybody that I've met, they treat people the right way. Excited to be a part of it."

 

On fit in Tennessee: "I'm the kind of guy that want things to be run the right way, just being on top of things. I'm just glad to be in a good organization with guys who do things the right way. I'm trying to put that behind me and move forward."

 

Walked in with a playbook: "I ran a lot of it my first few years with Baltimore, so familiar with it and a lot of the same things at the end of the day, not gonna be too hard."

 

On Cam's mobility and adapting: "Cam, he's a specimen, he looks great (healthy), I'm excited to play with him and I was talking to Jordan Gross about it and (Cam) saved him from a lot of sacks.

 

On Gross: "Watch him on film and talk to him a couple of times a year. He called me, told me about the area and the offense, the guys.Another exciting thing to talk to those guys and I knew they wanted me here. It means a lot to just know that they really wanted me here in Charlotte on the Panthers, and when somebody wants you that's a good thing and the fans are great."

 

On movie: "Been asked about it a couple of time, just simple things. Once everyone gets to know me they'll start making fun of me (laughs)."

 

On left side: "I feel like I'm quicker and stronger on the left side and that's my natural position. Excited to prove that. Every year you gotta prove yourself in the NFL. Last year means nothing, chasing greatness, want to better myself and looking to have a great year."

 

[OnlyPantherFaninMaine]

Pie this man.

[t96]

Ryan Kalil up:

 

"It's Ryan not Matt Kalil. People get that confused a lot."

 

On line additions:  "I think it's early, I have a lot of faith in the guys upstairs and the guys they brought on. I'm excited to work with them, all the guys we brought in are great guys, and that's all you can ask for. Seen a lot of film on Michael because of Baltimore's schemes. Very confident in how he plays and that's a big thing since that's something we harp on a lot on this room. Usually players don't have a lot of conversations about the moves that they make so I usually find out about the same time you guys do or maybe a little bit after. Excited to have him I think Michael played very well when coach was coaching him in Baltimore"

 

On LT being biggest need ?: "I think having a veteran guy come is a good thing, we had some injuries and guys came in at the end but I thought from a long term standpoint we made some huge strides on our growth and we have a lot of continuity and I'm excited about the experience these guys got... so yeah I'm excited. It's early so we'll see."

 

How good will this team be: "I think continuity is a big deal and brought some familiar guys back so excited about that, just helps when you don't have to start at square one, but having the same guys, having the same coordinators, being in the same system those are all positive things, helps you not go in baby steps so to speak. That is nice (not to have Cam in boot). Lots of guys showed up today so that's a positive sign for trying to build a good team."

Is line ready for rookie: "Selfish, I'd love for us to draft as many o-linemen as we can better odds for getting a better starting unit, but some guys can do it some guy can't so I don't know, I haven't paid a lot of attention to the guys that are out there this year but whoever they bring in if they draft a guy in the 1st round I feel they'd want him to come in and play right away."

 

Changes in routine?: "No, same usual routine, carrying 1 year olds around and things, so no change."

[Darth Biscuit]

Interesting that Gross called Oher...  

[DaveThePanther2008]

Great write ups.   Thanks for the recap.  Really believe Oher is going to rebound in a big way and spend the end of his career as a Panther.   I truly believe the change of atmosphere is going to be a huge difference for him and us.

[uncfan888]

thanks for doing all of this. I missed all of the interviews

[UpstatePanther]

my gawd Thomas96. your fingers must be stiff as hell after typing all that. seems like you kept up pretty well, regardless of how you recorded. its pretty much word for word. 

 

i am impressed. pie for each post!

[TheRed]

Thank you kind sir.

[t96]

Thomas Davis (from earlier):

 

"Feels good to be back, got a really big group of guys really big attendance, exciting to see everybody again after the layoff. It's very important because we have a good group of guys from last year and guys we've added so we can go into the season and gel, it starts today."

 

On offseason: "I've really been doing a lot of traveling, a lot has come since winning the award, the organization has gotten a lot of recognition, and with the season ready to start back up not gonna be able to do as much of it.

 

Who to draft: "Best player available when we select. Don't really think we can go wrong with this draft whether it be on offense or defense, get somebody who can help the team.

 

On Tillman: "When you think about adding a guy like Charles Tillman and what he's done in this league, he's had to deal with injuries the past 2 years but we know what type of player Tillman is. We want to help him get these 4 INT to make him the first player to get 40 and 40. I pay close attention to that so I'm excited to have Peanut here and the veteran leadership he brings in the secondary. I feel like he's that piece to bring us over the top. I did I wish he would've listened to me and came here and played the whole season last year, but getting to know him the last 2 years and his character I know he's gonna be huge for this team. I'm excited to learn (the peanut punch) and there's something that has to be said about that skill that he has and we gonna learn it."

 

Feeling about this year since you're close to the end: "says who? I'm excited, I'm more excited about this season than I have been in a long time, had a lot of young players step up and get that needed repetition and excited about the young guys getting better than the additions we made. I can definitely tell you that we won't have that long losing streak like we had last year and I'm looking forward to starting this three peat thing."

 

On core: "It's always good when you can resign your own because you have guys who have been in your system and they know what to expect, and it's a lot different than it was the year before and we lost a lot of guys and we're walking around here feeling bad about what happened and losing Smitty, LaFell, Cap, the list goes on, but just to know that we have our guys back and we're gonna compete for the same goal that we were striving for last year to win the Super Bowl and with the additions we've made, the sky's the limit for us."

 

On Panthers' position: "I think we're in a really good place, I think with the fact that we were able to win back to back years I definitely feel that we're a better team now than we were last year at this time, but that is on paper and it's all about us going out and applying ourselves and that first step starts today with the number of guys coming in working together going through the meeting process and working towards that deal."

 

On age: "I think it really boils down to the person. You can only feel as bad as you allow yourself to feel. If you come in and you put the work in on a day to day basis then you can keep up with the younger guys and it's all about the work you're willing to put in and if you look at Peanut he's a truly hard worker and a guy who wants to succeed, and that's how I am I want to succeed and be successful and we both understand that in order to do that you have to put the work in."

 

On retirement: "Man until my body tells me I can't play no more and it ain't talking to me right now so I'm just gonna keep going."

 

On Hardy: "Tough to replace a guy that had the production that Hardy had over the last few years but when you look at the growth of Ealy, Addison, Horton they got better each and every week and we expect them to start off stronger and continue to build off of success and time to grow up and realize that they're expected to do a lot more than last year, so if we get that from these guys it's gonna be pretty easy. Last year didn't know what to expect until after Lions game we realized we weren't gonna have him and expected him to come back and that didn't happen and for us it's all about sticking to process staying together as a group and competing on the field and the way we finished we were able to do that.

 

On contract: "As long as they want me here. It's a work in progress. I'm letting him (agent) do the job, not something that I'm really focused on. I know that at some point it'll be addressed and it'll get taken care of and it won't be an issue but right now it's all about coming in and putting the work in. Hoping deal gets done this offseason, situation where given the cap number, if we get something done it gives us an opportunity to make the team better, and I'm all for whatever I can do to make the team better and to get to the ultimate goal of winning the Super Bowl." 

 

Specific needs of defense: "Do we have a need? Just boils down to what the organization feels we need but to me I feel like we're pretty good on defense, but in the long run with adding Peanut, we're gonna have to replace some of the older guys pretty soon so we'll see what happens. 

[Mr. Scot]

Interesting that Gross called Oher...

So did Newton.