Panthers’ training camp schedule: Key dates to keep an eye on
Typically around this time of year, Panthers’ players, coaches and staff would be gathered in Spartanburg for the start of another year of training camp. But this season things look very different. Everyone is instead reporting to the team’s facility at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte and players won’t fully take the field until midway through August.
As COVID-19 continues to spread throughout the country, the NFL is adapting the schedule to safely conduct the season. The question remains if it will be enough to curtail the spread around the league and make a safe enough environment to play in.
The NFL has eliminated all preseason games and players must test negative for COVID-19 three times before entering the facility. For example, veterans will be tested July 28, July 29 and then again July 31. If all three are negative, they will be allowed to come in for physicals Aug. 1 and 2. Players will then be tested every day. If, after those first two weeks, the positive test rate is below 5% for all of the team personnel, testing will move to every other day.
The Panthers currently have 90 players on their roster. They are required to cut that down to 80 by Aug. 16 and practice as split squads until the 10 players are cut. One group mainly will consist of rookies and any quarterbacks or injured players and the second group will mostly have veteran players that reported July 28.
Carolina is preparing a variety of contingency plans based on how things progress. Matt Rhule even joked in June that he would be willing to watch practice from a computer and yell from his office if he needed to.
The potential for fans in the stands will depend on each team’s local and state regulations, but the team has already announced there will be reduced capacity at Bank of America Stadium and PSL owners were given the choice to opt out of the season with no repercussions.
All of the dates are subject to change, but here is what the schedule looks like for now. Rookies, injured players and quarterbacks are on a slightly earlier schedule due to reporting in advance of the rest of the team.
July 21: Rookies report to training camp at Bank of America Stadium
July 23: Injured players and quarterbacks report to training camp
July 28: Veterans report to training camp
Aug. 1-2: Veterans who have tested negative for COVID-19 on July 28, 29 and 31 come in to practice facility to have physicals, get equipment
Aug. 3-11: Acclimation period. 60 minutes in the weight room and 60 minutes of on-field conditioning for practice
Aug. 12-16: Gradual ramp-up period
Aug. 16: Cut to 80 players
Aug. 17-Sept. 6: Contact integration period. 14 padded practices allowed
Sept. 5: Rosters reduced to 53 players
Sept. 13: Week 1 regular season game vs. Raiders
This story was originally published July 3, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
