Kevin Avery

The last practice before heading up to Indianapolis was brief for the Panthers. With joint practices ahead on Thursday and Friday with the Colts, the players only wore helmets, jerseys, and shorts on this 80° morning in Spartanburg. LB Denzel Perryman, CB A.J. Bouye, WR Keith Kirkwood were in red jerseys riding bicycles as they missed practice. OL Dennis Daley was excused from his 2nd practice in a row to deal with a family-related issue. C Matt Paradis was back but in a green jersey. LT Cam Erving was also limited in practice as he recovers from a shoulder injury.

 

11 on 11 Situational Football

With practice only being 90 minutes long, the team periods focused solely on two-minute offense and time management situations. Here are the highlighted plays:

S Jeremy Chinn got an early INT on a pass from QB Sam Darnold, intended for TE Dan Arnold.

QB Will Grier threw a pass right into the hands of RB Spencer Brown, who bobbled it. Chinn was right there and almost had his 2nd pick of the day.

Darnold threw three consecutive passes to WRs D.J. Moore, Robby Anderson, and WR Terrace Marshall Jr. to set up a 45-yard field goal conversion by K Joey Slye to end the half.

Grier threw two consecutive passes to WR Brandon Zylstra. The first was a 45-yard bomb downfield. The 2nd was about 20 yards as he dragged both feet for the completion.

CB Stanley Thomas-Oliver made a huge pass deflection while covering WR Omar Bayless.

 

Rush Review

Overall it was good to see Coach Rhule put heavy emphasis on different types of critical game-time situations. Without pads on the offensive line struggled to block the defensive front seven. Had it been real-time, there would have been six to eight sacks easily. It’s going to be interesting to see how the joint practices will go with the Indianapolis Colts this coming Thursday and Friday.

With another pushed-back start time of 10:00 am, the Carolina Panthers felt the return of warmer temperatures in the low 80s. They continue to build upon the recent momentum lately as they perfect their own craft in the team schemes. This practice saw the return of WR Robby Anderson, who missed the last two practices with personal family matters back in Florida.

LT Cam Erving, LB Clay Johnston, and DT Caraun Reid joined CB A.J. Bouye and LB Denzel Perryman in the red jerseys for players who are not practicing. C Matt Paradis and OL Dennis Daley are not here due to approved absence for personal reasons.

 

7 on 7 drills

LB Jermaine Carter Jr. got an INT on the 1st play, a pass by QB Sam Darnold that CB Jaycee Horn tipped.

Darnold comes right back the very next play and throws a TD pass to TE Dan Arnold.

QB P.J. Walker threw a TD pass to TE Colin Thompson.

QB Will Grier threw a TD pass to WR C.J. Saunders.

S Sean Chandler continues to be the best safety not named Jeremy Chinn in camp so far. He has just added his 6th pass deflection to go along with two forced fumbles.

 

11 on 11 drills

1st team offensive line today

LT Taylor Moton LG Pat Elflein C Sam Tecklenburg RG John Miller RT Trent Scott

Darnold scrambled out of the pocket to hit WR D.J. Moore on a deep 30+ yard pass on the 1st play.

WR Robby Anderson made a great one-handed TD grab from a pass from Darnold.

WR C.J. Saunders caught the final play for a TD from Darnold.

Rush Review

WR David Moore was carted off the field during the 1st session of 11 on 11 drills but returned to practice shortly afterward.  The practice was only an hour and a half today, as it ended at 11:30 am. However, the energy and focus were good today as it seems the players get more comfortable with each other each day.

 

The Carolina Panthers returned to training camp in sunny Spartanburg SC this Sunday after having Saturday off following a rainy Fan Fest Friday night in Charlotte NC. The scheduled start time of 8:30am was pushed back to 9:30am. WR Robby Anderson was still excused from practice again to attend to a personal family issue. LB Denzel Perryman, CB A.J. Bouye, DB Myles Hartsfield, S Kenny Robinson, WR Keith Kirkwood and WR Krishawn Hogan all had on red jerseys which means they sat out practice. RG John Miller got a veteran day off.

 

1 on 1 drills (OL vs. DL)

Trent Scott vs. Brian Burns: Scott won

Cam Erving vs. Haason Reddick: Reddick won

Matt Paradis vs. Derrick Brown: Brown won

Dennis Daley vs. DaQuan Jones: Jones won

Pat Elflein vs. Morgan Fox: Elflein won

Deonte Brown vs. Daivyon Nixon: Brown won

Brady Christensen vs. Christian Miller: Miller won

Taylor Moton vs. Marquis Haynes: Haynes won

Greg Little vs. Yetur Gross-Matos: Gross-Matos won

 

11 on 11 (Goal To Go Drills)

LB Paddy Fisher forced RB Chuba Hubbard to fumble (fumbled twice) and also had two tackles for loss.

DT Brayvion Roy split a double team to get a tackle for loss on RB Rodney Smith on a 4th down play.

S Sean Chandler had a run stuff on the one yard line on RB Reggie Bonnafon.

QB Sam Darnold threw a TD pass to TE Ian Thomas who ran a very nice route to get open between two defenders.  Very next play Darnold threw another TD pass to TE Dan Arnold.

QB P.J. Walker threw a TD pass each to TE Tommy Tremble and TE Colin Thompson.

RB Christian McCaffrey scored two TD runs. The first was off an inside zone run. The second was an off tackle run.

RB Reggie Bonnafon scored a TD run on a toss sweep play in which he made two defenders miss him before getting in the end zone.

 

Rush Review

C Matt Paradis left practice early with some back tightness. Coach Rhule said it was pre-cautionary and nothing serious. Paradis was already given permission to be excused for tomorrow’s Monday practice for personal reasons. LG Pat Elflein slide over to C to replace Paradis while LT Matt Kaskey slide over to LG to cover for Elflein. LB Shaq Thompson was a full participant at practice today after being off for a week with a soft tissue injury. The entire coaching staff had to run 20 yard sprints after practice because K Joey Slye made the last FG attempt from 53 yards.  It is good to see both the offense and defense take turns executing consistently.