I caught over 100 punts in camp, that's not an excuse anymore

[Ohio]

BTW, all of you whiners need to get over the OC spending what appears to be a little high on Edwards at the moment because overall it looks like we have gotten more than our moneys worth from other picks like Hardy and E. Moore (among others).

We'll see if we even keep E.Moore. Last year Jay Leman tore up the preseason only to be released

[Mother Grabber]

Leman tore it up against 3rd stringers.

[Wither]

Leman tore it up against 3rd stringers.

E. Moore tore it up against about the same caliber players, right? (Seriously, I don't remember who he was up against.)

[Ohio]

Leman tore it up against 3rd stringers.

So did E. Moore. He played the entire 4th Qtr.

[Davidson Deac II]

Why has Dwayne Jarrett never gotten the benefit of the doubt Edwards getting?

Jarrett did get the benefit of the doubt from me for his first two years.

[Mother Grabber]

So we should probably reserve our excitement until we see him against starters.

[Wither]

So we should probably reserve our excitement until we see him against starters.

Exactly my point. If it comes to 4 DE's, I don't see E. Moore being kept at all and I don't see the need to keep more than 4 DE's at this point with the amount of talent that has reared its head.

[Davidson Deac II]

Well, I sincerely hope I'm wrong, and that he will get better, but I'm sure as hell not filled with confidence right now. Plus, we have guys on the roster that have actually done this before and can reasonably be trusted to at least secure the ball.

Most rookies who return punts in the NFL did it in college and high school as well. Edwards did not. I see at least a possibility he will get better at it.

I know its different, but I played Baseball. At first, I had a real hard time judging flyballs. But it was something I did get better at, and I think that Edwards could get better with time. Or he could lose confidence and never get better. I think they should keep trying him at punt returner though.

[unicar15]

I still say they should just let him focus on playing WR and let guys like Munnerlynn and Witherspoon battle it out for punt returns. I just don't see how they can possibly trust AE to return punts in a real game this year.

Agreed...I don't get why we try to change KR/PR after last year with Munnerlyn. I seem to remember in his limited opportunities he had some pretty nice returns.

[Mother Grabber]

Let him focus on one thing, at least. I'll bet if he spent 8hrs/day working on PR, he wouldn't be muffing them by now.

[CRA]

that's nice of Edwards to take responsiblity but I think Carolina needs to be looking for a return man for 2010 not named Edwards.

that first punt was gift for Edwards to make a play and gain confidence as the right side was wide open. The kid ain't gonna go from horrible to NFL ready in 2 additional preseason games.

Panthers imo are gonna need to pick someone up that gets cut to handle returns. Edwards, Captain, and Moore aren't NFL return men imo......at least not NFL caliber for the 2010 season.

[gmonet]

Edwards muffs a punt or two = forum explodes.

Munnerlyn and Moore both cough it up = forum ignores.

That's been my point Dockery! You gotta have a certain insanity to be the guy who stands there, fodder for the steam roller...and night games prolly have a certain finesse' to it as well. I know one thing fer certain...Munnerlyn got to the point last season, where he'd simply let the dice fall where they might, and they usually came up craps, putting us at the 2 yard line.

[monstercat]

Munnerlyn has done more good than bad as a punt returner, and he has done it in real games. As for Moore, yeah he fumbled after taking a big hit, which can happen to even the most seasoned punt returner, so I can kind of live with that in the preseason even though I'm not happy about it. I can even excuse AE for muffing his the fair catch on his second attempt, because there was a guy in his face, at least. When AE let that first punt hit the ground though, that was inexcusable for a punt returner, because he didn't even attempt to make the catch, which is his #1 priority. You just cannot let that ball hit the ground...period.

[Davidson Deac II]

Munnerlyn has done more good than bad as a punt returner, and he has done it in real games. As for Moore, yeah he fumbled after taking a big hit, which can happen to even the most seasoned punt returner, so I can kind of live with that in the preseason even though I'm not happy about it. I can even excuse AE for muffing his the fair catch on his second attempt, because there was a guy in his face, at least. When AE let that first punt hit the ground though, that was inexcusable for a punt returner, because he didn't even attempt to make the catch, which is his #1 priority. You just cannot let that ball hit the ground...period.

Unless of course the ball is sailing over your head because the punter kicked the crap out of it and there is no way you can get to it (and no way it can hit one of your blockers by mistake) or its going into the end zone.

There is actually quite a bit that goes into catching a punt, which is why I didn't expect AE to get it down right away. Fwiw, I was pleasantly surprised that he didn't muff one in the baltimore game considering it was a wet field at times.