#1. Today was the annual Fan Fest event at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC. Rain and storms dominated the afternoon but gradually eased up shortly after the 7:00 pm start time for practice. It was announced that all 62,500 tickets allocated were sold. A nice sized crowd showed up in spite of the weather.
#2. Vet day off for RG Trai Turner and DT McCoy. CB Kevon Seymour was held out due to concern over his tight hamstring. DB Rashaan Gaulden also sat out with back soreness and tightness. LB Luke Kuechly and CB Donte Jackson were limited to doing just the individual drills and were held out of team drills. RB Elijah Holyfield gave up his #33 jersey to S Tre Boston and switched to #21 jersey. First team defensive reps were played by DB Ross Cockrell at S, DB Cole Luke at nickel CB and LB Jermaine Carter Jr. at MLB. First team offensive reps were played by OL Dennis Daley at RG. S Tre Boston got second team reps on defense.
#3. Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper made himself accessible to the fans as usual. He was seen in the 200 and 300 concourse areas talking with fans and also taking pictures. You can never tell this man is worth $11 billion dollars by the way he interacts with the fans. He really carries himself like the friendly next door neighbor.
#4. Carolina Panthers running backs coach, Jake Peetz, called out due to his wife going into labor. That allowed female coaching intern Jennifer King to coach the RBs for tonight. This marked the first time in Carolina Panthers franchise history that a woman has coached at this level.
#5. Here are some highlights and standout plays from the 11 on 11 team drills: QB Cam Newton hit WR DJ Moore in the middle of the field for a TD pass. Then, Newton did his traditional “Sunday Giveaway” routine of giving the football to a fan in the front row. Later on, Newton went deep and connected to a wide open WR Curtis Samuel down the middle of the defense. RB Holyfield took a run and bounced it to the outside that lead to a TD as he out ran several defenders. FB Alex Armah displayed his power running abilities with a few decent runs that had him dragging a couple of defenders. RB Christian McCaffrey had a very nice one hand grab from a pass by Newton. The defense’s best play was during goal line drills when S Eric Reid stuffed RB Cameron Artis-Payne for a loss on the play.
#6. The practice ended right at 9:00 pm. Players stayed around to sign autographs to fans who were able to make it to the front rows of the different sections. Once that ended the fireworks display began, which is always exciting to watch.
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