Panthers training camp observations

[Jeremy Igo]

A good write up from the Panthers new beat writer.

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Here are some more observations from Carolina's first open practice of this unique training camp.

— It did not feel like Aug. 16 in Charlotte. At 8:35, it was 67 degrees with overcast skies. Ideal conditions for football practice, but unusual for the middle of summer.

— Defensive end Efe Obada was the first player on the field. He got in some work on the individual sled at about 8:15 before going back inside the Atrium Health Dome.

— Practice began inside the Dome before players ventured outside for a special teams period. They went back inside for another period or two before getting back on the grass for the remainder of practice.

— Instead of traditional red jerseys, quarterbacks sported green jerseys. As a speculative reason why: Certain coaches may feel like the red color has a negative connotation while green does not.

— Speaking of jersey color, the first-team defensive players had on black jerseys instead of white like the rest of the unit.

— Tight end Ian Thomas made a few nice catches on crossing routes and deep routes from quarterback Teddy Bridgewater.

— It was against air, but Bridgewater showed developing chemistry with wide receivers like Robby Anderson and DJ Moore on timing routes. Bridgewater was routinely firing off accurate passes even before the wideouts were coming out of their breaks.

— Christian McCaffrey was in midseason form during one-on-one drills with running backs and linebackers. Predictably, he was impossible to cover on choice routes, providing an easy target for Bridgewater out of the backfield.

— Safety Juston Burris, who signed with the Panthers as a free agent in March, made a nice pass breakup against tight end Colin Thompson during the one-on-one period.

— During the early part of team drills, Cooper made his deep diving catch from Grier. Cooper broke away from his defender close to the line of scrimmage and made the grab just as he crossed the goal line. It was easily the top catch of the day.

— First-round pick defensive tackle Derrick Brown made his presence felt during 11-on-11 drills by deflecting a Bridgewater pass at the line of scrimmage. Even without pads, Brown and veteran defensive tackle Kawann Short are imposing figures in the middle of the line.

— Wide receiver Curtis Samuel caught a short pass on the left side, then made a few moves to display how effective he is in space. The play was a glimpse of the variety of ways he might be used in offensive coordinator Joe Brady's scheme this season.

— Players have mentioned this a bit during their media sessions, but it was noticeable how much the club was rotating between players for 11-on-11 drills. That's not entirely a surprise, especially under a new coaching staff, since coaches need to evaluate strengths and weaknesses in a short time. Plus, they need to know who will be able to contribute without the benefit of preseason games.

 

https://www.panthers.com/news/2020-training-camp-observations-media-get-first-look

[Jeremy Igo]

and from the Observer

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HIGHLIGHTS

- The Panthers’ wide receivers, particularly D.J. Moore, Curtis Samuel, Cooper and Omar Bayless, made some tough catches against the young cornerbacks. Samuel had a couple nice grabs, including a diving catch and a competitive catch over rookie Troy Pride Jr. during one-on-one drills.

- Safety Juston Burris had a near pick of Bridgewater in the red zone during a small portion of team drills that took place in the team’s practice bubble.

- Quarterback P.J. Walker threw a touchdown pass to Bayless, who shined throughout practice. Linebacker Andre Smith was in coverage. Bayless, an undrafted free agent from Arkansas State, is definitely a player to watch over the next couple of weeks.

- Keep an eye and ear out for T.J. Green. The safety was very involved in Sunday’s practice.

LOWLIGHTS

- The Panthers’ cornerbacks in one-on-one drills. The wide receivers often got separation from the cornerbacks — sometimes deep — and there were few pass breakups. Rookie Stantley-Thomas Olivers struggled in coverage.

- During the portion of the team’s practice in the bubble, Bridgewater and the offense had two staight incompletions in third-down situations after a play when defensive end Brian Burns would have made a tackle for loss on running back Christian McCaffrey. Rhule had the offense do 10 push-ups afterwards.

OTHER NOTES

- Loud music was played throughout all portions of practice, mostly hip hop, but some other hits as well, including “Jump Around” by House of Pain. Rhule or an assistant would stop the music to move to a different phase of practice or to go over something. Rhule said he usually plays music during two practice periods a day, typically in the team setting so there is some form of distraction, similar to a game.

Just a general note and feel from practice: Things move fast. There was very little down time and a lot of noise throughout. The team uses a loud alarm to note when everyone should go to a different portion of practice.

“(Practice is) just kind of the way, when I was a player at Penn State under Joe Paterno and then worked for Tom Coughlin, the practice that we’re doing is just kind of how I was raised in football. This just really just kind of seems natural to me,” Rhule said. “We just want to move efficiently from drill to drill and and have great energy, work really hard and get out of there. We don’t want to be on the field longer than we have to, but we’re going to make sure that while we’re out there, we put great reps on tape.”

- It was a cool, breezy morning. The heat certainly wasn’t an issue with the temperature in upper 60’s. The team started out practice in the training bubble and then went back in there for one more period, but the usage was not weather-related.

- Rhule has been impressed with veteran Mike Davis in camp. “He’s a pro,” Rhule said Friday. “He’s done it at a high level. He works. He’s done a lot of good things in this league. He’s doing a lot of good things for us.”

- Samuel, who is entering his fourth year with the Panthers and the final year of his rookie deal, looked impressive in one-on-one drills. On one play he collided with Green and both fell to the ground. Samuel quickly got up, ran a few more yards and caught a diving pass.

Carolina Panthers wide receiver Curtis Samuel (10) stretches out for a reception during Carolina Panthers Training Camp at the team’s training facility on Sunday, August 16, 2020. David T. Foster III [email protected]

- Rhule’s son, Bryant, was at practice. He even got in a bit of throwing with the quarterbacks when they broke up into individual drills.

- McCaffrey spent some time with linebackers Tahir Whitehead and Shaq Thompson working one-on-one in pass coverage. McCaffrey was showing Whitehead how he moves, while Whitehead was showing him how he would correspondingly respond. It’s interesting to see the veterans working together on the details.

- Instead of wearing red jerseys, all three Panthers quarterbacks wore dark green practice jerseys. Almost Baylor green. Rhule explained that he has always preferred not to have the quarterbacks in red jerseys.

“To me, red denotes injured in my brain. My quarterbacks have always either worn orange or green,” Rhule said. “Red to me just means, I’m an injured player. We want our quarterbacks to stay healthy, so, put them in green.”

Carolina Panthers quarterback Teddy Bridgewater (5) passes downfield during Carolina Panthers Training Camp at the team’s training facility on Sunday, August 16, 2020. David T. Foster III [email protected]

Members of the first-team defense wore black jerseys.

- Offensive coordinator Joe Brady was one of the few coaches wearing a visor as opposed to a face mask at practice. Rhule had previously mentioned that some coaches were doing that so players could see their expressions.

MONDAY’S SCHEDULE

Panthers practice Monday is scheduled to begin at 8:45. It will be the team’s first day in pads.

 

 

[stbugs]

Mike Davis? Why do we continue to throw money away? He’s like the new Torrey Smith. Smith got $6 or $7M for 17 catches and Davis already has $3M for 2 yards. Do we really need a good pro who won’t get carries for $3M again? Scarlett and Bonnafon can’t handle the backup spot? If CMC gets hurt, :knocks on wood:, we are done, done done. I hate to see ya continually throwing so much money at guys who do nothing.

[LinvilleGorge]

Someone doesn't consider House of Pain "Jump Around" as hip hop?

[jfra78]

 

[Greatman77]

Can I just say how nice it is to actually be discussing what the Panthers are doing, currently, on a football field?

[ellis]

Matt Rhule is an animal. 

 

[thefuzz]

It was against air, but Bridgewater showed developing chemistry with wide receivers like Robby Anderson and DJ Moore on timing routes. Bridgewater was routinely firing off accurate passes even before the wideouts were coming out of their breaks.

 

Love the sound of that.

[t96]

58 minutes ago, ellis said:

Matt Rhule is an animal. 

 

I don't remember Ron doing this type of stuff much at all. He was pretty involved and hands on with LBers I think but not other position groups. Anyone care to correct me?

[t96]

Just now, thefuzz said:

It was against air, but Bridgewater showed developing chemistry with wide receivers like Robby Anderson and DJ Moore on timing routes. Bridgewater was routinely firing off accurate passes even before the wideouts were coming out of their breaks.

 

Love the sound of that.

I love Cam and his strengths overall when he was healthy made him a top 3 QB, but accuracy and timing was never his strongest suit. There's a lot to be seen from Teddy and I'm still not convinced he can be more than a bridge QB for us, but man it'll be nice seeing some more consistency in this regard. Especially after Allen/Grier last year too.

[thefuzz]

2 minutes ago, t96 said:

I love Cam and his strengths overall when he was healthy made him a top 3 QB, but accuracy and timing was never his strongest suit. There's a lot to be seen from Teddy and I'm still not convinced he can be more than a bridge QB for us, but man it'll be nice seeing some more consistency in this regard. Especially after Allen/Grier last year too.

Cam's game was so much fun to watch, and at the very same time so frustrating to watch.

With our specific weapons now, CMC, Anderson, Samuel and DJ....being on time and in the right place is crucial, and highly beneficial.  Those guys are great in space.  I didn't want Teddy on this team, but he's here now, so may as well try to enjoy it.  He does have some special guys around him right now.

P.S. Teddy I'm so sorry for what this O Line is going to do to you.

[LinvilleGorge]

4 minutes ago, thefuzz said:

P.S. Teddy I'm so sorry for what this O Line is going to do to you.

This. I think a big part of Kyle Allen's demise after a strong start last year was getting shell shocked by the heating he was taking.

[thefuzz]

23 minutes ago, LinvilleGorge said:

This. I think a big part of Kyle Allen's demise after a strong start last year was getting shell shocked by the heating he was taking.

It's almost like we can't build a TEAM.

We get good WR's...we have no offensive line.  Young fast defensive line...no secondary.

And don't get me started on depth this season.

[NCBlu]

Panthers may have 3 new starters on the OL. Not ideal but who knows how they play together. I hope they can give the QB just enough time to get some rhythm going.