Panthers camp observations: Matt Rhule thinks this rookie may start on defense
Before Tuesday morning’s practice began, Donte Jackson joined his fellow defensive backs and asked them a question.
“Y’all ain’t got no juice?” he asked them out loud. “Y’all tired?”
The other defensive backs responded that were ready to go. And in Tuesday’s scrimmage, Jackson and his teammates showed how prepared they were.
The defense forced one turnover and blocked a field goal.
After every turnover or big play, the defensive backs celebrated, as if letting the offense know that it was going to be a tough day.
While the offenses certainly had their moments, there were not many touchdowns or field goals in Tuesday’s scrimmage. The two teams were split with the offensive starters and defensive backups on one team, and the defensive starters and offensive backups on another to create balance.
Here were some other observations:
Veteran’s day off
Panthers linebacker Tahir Whitehead did not practice Tuesday because he was given a “veteran’s day off,” Rhule said. Whitehead, who is entering his ninth year as a pro and previously played with the Detroit Lions and Oakland Raiders, will start at middle linebacker this season.
“Tahir got a veteran’s day from me, because he’s been playing so many reps, he’s on Year 9,” Rhule said. “And he’s at the time of camp where guys start to get bumps and bruises, so I just decided to give him a day to recover and I really wanted to see (Jordan) Kunaszyk and Andre Smith and some of those guys, I wanted to see them play.”
Injuries
▪ Panthers center Tyler Larsen is dealing with a calf strain and did not practice.
▪ Rookie wide receiver Omar Bayless remains out. He is planning to have an arthroscopic knee procedure soon to understand the scope of an old injury. He’ll be out for at least a few weeks.
▪ Wide receiver Tommylee Lewis was out with hamstring injury.
▪ Defensive end Marquis Haynes, who left Monday’s practice early, is in concussion protocol.
▪ Wide receiver Seth Roberts is also in concussion protocol. And receiver Keith Kirkwood is out for several weeks with a broken clavical.
Moves
There were no new transactions Tuesday.
Top play
After quarterback Teddy Bridgewater threw a touchdown to Chrisitan McCaffrey on the first drive of the scrimmage, the offense lined up to go for a two-point conversion.
Bridgewater tried to fit a pass up the middle, but it was picked off by rookie cornerback Troy Pride Jr., who has played well over the last three practices. After making the interception, Pride ran to the opposite side of the field with his teammates, Tre Boston, Donte Jackson and Sam Franklin. They all huddled in a group and acted like they were posing for a picture.
Highlights
▪ Bridgewater started the first drive 6-of-9 for 30 yards and a touchdown. While he missed his only shot deep, he and the offense methodically moved downfield.
▪ Backup quarterback P.J. Walker also had a nice first drive, connecting on his first three throws.
▪ Donte Jackson laid out and blocked a Joey Slye field-goal attempt. The ball was recovered by Pride, before he fumbled it.
▪ D.J. Moore was solid in Tuesday’s scrimmage. He made some tough catches in coverage.
▪ On Bridgwater’s first drive, safety Juston Burris broke up what would have been a long touchdown pass to wide receiver Robby Anderson.
▪ Kawann Short, who missed most of the 2019 season with a shoulder injury, got pressure on Bridgewater often, nearly bring him down for a sack twice before Bridgewater threw the ball away.
Lowlights
▪ Joey Slye had arguably his worst practice of camp. He was 1 of 5 on field-goal attempts, including the blocked kick. All of his misses were wide right.
▪ While Bridgewater started the scrimmage with a touchdown drive, he threw a number of incomplete passes on the second and third drives. Some, he threw away, to avoid being sacked.
▪ The running game behind Christian McCaffrey never really got going. That, along with Bridgewater’s incomplete passes, made the offense grow stagnant at times.
Other notes
▪ At the end of practice, Bridgewater’s team, which included D.J. Moore and Christian McCaffrey, had to do pushups, while Grier and Walker’s team, along with Jackson and Shaq Thompson did not.
▪ Artificial crowd noise was played again at Tuesday’s practice to simulate what it may sound like at away games. It sounded fairly real, but was no where near as loud.
▪ New Panthers’ punter/kicker Kaare Vedvik took every punt in Tuesday’s scrimmage. Rookie punter Joe Charlton did not take any. He was, however, the holder for Slye on field-goal attempts.
▪ When asked about rookie Jeremy Chinn, Rhule said Chinn would play a lot for the Panthers this season, “whether it’s at safety or the big nickel.”
“If we went out there and played today he would probably be starting for us,” Rhule said.
Wednesday’s Schedule
Practice is scheduled for 7 p.m. It will be broadcast across North and South Carolina on the Panthers’ Television Network.
