Rivera on WFNZ

[csx]

Did anyone catch the beginning of this just about 30 minutes ago? I heard the end and his comments about how he spent more time with the offense last year and now he is focusing on the defense. He also mentioned how Newton is better at everything when asked how he looks different from last camp. He mentioned footwork, accuracy and decision making specifically.

Anything else? I caught something at the end about 6 players he must have discussed earlier in the interview.

If this is mentioned elsewhere feel free to ridicule and/or delete this.

[dbulls874]

What stood out to me is that he mentioned Thomas Davis has been sitting out because of his calf. It was only mentioned in passing, so maybe he misspoke. I had not heard anything about Davis' calf (maybe I've been getting updates from different sources as everyone else, but I doubt it), so that surprised me. Also worth mentioning, TD said on Twitter (either his account or quoted by someone else) that his knee is 100 percent fine(!!!)(emphasis his). Has anyone else heard that this is a calf problem for TD? Even the Panthers official site says it's his knee, not that they're a great source but I'd expect them to be disinclined to drum up concerns about his knee if none exist.

[Sawyerballer]

Rivera responded to a question about the newspaper ad that Kalil took out for a couple minutes in the beginning of the interview. That's about all you missed.

[boney]

What stood out to me is that he mentioned Thomas Davis has been sitting out because of his calf. It was only mentioned in passing, so maybe he misspoke. I had not heard anything about Davis' calf (maybe I've been getting updates from different sources as everyone else, but I doubt it), so that surprised me. Also worth mentioning, TD said on Twitter (either his account or quoted by someone else) that his knee is 100 percent fine(!!!)(emphasis his). Has anyone else heard that this is a calf problem for TD? Even the Panthers official site says it's his knee, not that they're a great source but I'd expect them to be disinclined to drum up concerns about his knee if none exist.

I didn't catch the Rivera interview but TD was on the show earlier (as were probably 10 other Panthers, if you guys didn't catch it you should definitely check out www.wfnz.com and listen to the interviews from the Mac Attack...they did an awesome job this morning) and he said that him being held out of practice has absolutely NOTHING to do with his knee, it was entirely calf related and the knee is fine.

[dbulls874]

I didn't catch the Rivera interview but TD was on the show earlier (as were probably 10 other Panthers, if you guys didn't catch it you should definitely check out www.wfnz.com and listen to the interviews from the Mac Attack...they did an awesome job this morning) and he said that him being held out of practice has absolutely NOTHING to do with his knee, it was entirely calf related and the knee is fine.

That's awesome to hear, thanks for clarifying.

[SCP]

I didn't catch the Rivera interview but TD was on the show earlier (as were probably 10 other Panthers, if you guys didn't catch it you should definitely check out www.wfnz.com and listen to the interviews from the Mac Attack...they did an awesome job this morning) and he said that him being held out of practice has absolutely NOTHING to do with his knee, it was entirely calf related and the knee is fine.

I assume you are T Bone?

What does Mac post under on this board?

[boney]

I assume you are T Bone?

What does Mac post under on this board?

Hahah I'm not. Boney is my last name (unfortunately).

[rayzor]

they've got it uploaded now... http://charlotte.cbs...-at-everything/

just an early thought in my listening to it when he was asked about kalil's prediction mac(?) said he wasn't in favor of the statement just because he thinks they should just be concentrating on getting into the playoffs because even that would be a huge success for that team. rivera came back saying that it would but he said that one thing that has frustrated him is coaches saying they just want to win a division. he specifically pointed out college coaches saying they just want to win the pac10 (mainly because he's spent most his life out there so that's his point of reference. he said why not shoot for the national championship because if you do that you've won your division. he went on to talk about coaches and players who say "hey, we just want to get into the playoffs" but he said your goal and the ultimate aim should be the superbowl and if all you did was get into the playoffs at least you've accomplished something. he said what you want is 53 guys in that lockerroom who say that is their goal and what they're eyes are on from the very beginning. if that isn't where their head is, then replace them with guys who is there. he also said that they don't need to just think it, they need to say it and say it publicly just like kalil did.

the reason i'm drawing attention to this is for those people who get their panties in a wad whenever a player makes a bold statement like that. i am so glad that we don't have a coach anymore who thinks along those lines because then that team is always going to be held back the way it was under fox for most of his time here...and that's the second thing i wanted to point out, just how different the culture is with rivera. fox would have never allowed one of his players to do what kalil did. also, he is one of those coaches who always set the bar too low. his goal, and what became the goal of the players on the team because i heard them say the very same thing, was to just win 3 out of 4 games. now some may say, "if you do win 3 out of 4 games then you've won 12 games and that's pretty good and it's probably guaranteed a playoff spot, to which i would say, sure, but why not just shoot for undefeated or winning the lombardi. more than likely with either prediction you are probably going to be hitting it short. i'm just of the persuasion that the higher your goal or expectations are for yourself, the better you are going to do even if you fall short.

screw this managing expectations crap. screw trying to be reasonable and rational. screw trying to be "realistic". this team is going all the way and is going to be one of the best in the league for years to come. if the players and coaches are going to say it, then who am i to disagree with them?

[Chaos]

He basically said he's sick of the wine and cheese crowd and wants Charlotte to take the stadium back.

I'm paraphrasing, he didn't say that at all, but he did say that some of the rookies from small schools have said the crowds at training camp are as big if not bigger than what they would see at one of their college games. He said that proves that if you get the right product on the field, the fans will come out. That the region wants to support and embrace this team, and his team has to keep improving the product to keep fans from selling their tickets and sit in the seats themselves and cheer on the Panthers.

I really like coach.

[panther4life]

Good Interview,l 15 minutes long so hard for full recap but heres what I got.

-Getting better and better after each practice.

-Finished strong last year winning 4 of last 6.

-Set your goal high as possible (superbowl) don't sell yourself short

-when he read Kalil's statement he went wild(in excitement) "it was awesome"

-win one game at a time(treat each game like its for the lombardi)

-A couple plays away from being 10-6 vs 6-10 last year.

-3 games away from playoffs last year

-good is good, but being great hurts, so we have to push ourselves and hurt to be great

-most important and biggest thing on D is getting everyone back healthy.

-Beason building a great relationship with Kuechly and Anderson

-Hopefully we can keep Davis back as well to, cuz you need 4-5 linebackers for a season

-Ron Edwards is a space eater

-Charles Johnson was slowed by injuries in 2nd half of season and it hurt our pass rush

- Called Beason the leader, Thomas Davis the heart and soul and Rod Edwards the middle of our defense.

-Sean Mcdermott had a tough time because of lack of continuity of defensive players hurt by injury

-Scoring system at training camp, has offense ahead right now

-Leadership has been huge with congrats after big plays and constructive criticism after mistakes

-Players have to step up in crunch time for us to be great, need a tackle get it, need a pick get it, etc.

-Thinks the stadium atmosphere will be much improved and its the teams responsibility to give fans a reason to show up.

-Chud has our offense where we want

-Injuries killed our defense last year but looking promising now

-Says Cam will be better at everything

-tremendous to watch, every day last year he did something to make you saw wow but it was on just thing. Now everything he does makes you say wow, he's improved every aspect of his game.

-Never been around a guy that wants it as much as Cam and wants to be the best.

-says cam can't be a mopey head, said coaches correct every time they see it.