Panthers name team captains with only one returner from last season
The Carolina Panthers lost many of the team’s leaders over the course of the offseason — Luke Kuechly, Cam Newton, Greg Olsen.
This week the team elected their new captains with only one returner from the 2019 group — defensive tackle Kawann Short.
The other two defensive captains are linebackers Shaq Thompson and Tahir Whitehead. This is Thompson’s first time as a captain. Whitehead was one of the Raiders’ captains when he was with the team last year.
The offensive captains are quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, running back Christian McCaffrey and left tackle Russell Okung. Bridgewater was a captain in 2015 with the Vikings, and Okung was a captain for the Chargers in 2018.
McCaffrey, entering his fourth season in the league, has been named a team captain for the first time at the start of the season. He transitioned into the role beginning in Week 5 last year.
Three of the team’s 2020 captains — Whitehead, Okung and Bridgewater — were not on the team last year, which shows the immediate impact they have made on the revamped team.
“I had the team vote on the captains. Just went off what they said,” head coach Matt Rhule said Thursday. “I think I put a little more weight on the veteran players. I gave them like a vote and a half or two votes just because someone that has been here for three weeks, doesn’t maybe have a perspective of someone that’s been in the NFL for four, five, six years.”
Rhule said the team also voted on a leadership council.
Short is someone who tends to lead by example, but he said he’s ready to also speak for the team.
“It’s an honor man just to be able to be on the forefront of a bunch of tremendous guys that voted for me, younger guys, older guys, just everybody in the room. ... I’m a guy that comes in and tries to lead by example and now I got to step up and say a lot of encouraging words and bringing everybody along with me,” Short said. “I really appreciate those guys just allowing me to be a spokesman for this team.”
Injury update: Left guard Dennis Daley missed practice for a third consecutive day with a sprained ankle. He is increasingly unlikely to play Sunday. Michael Schofield would start in his place.
Rookie cornerback Stan Thomas-Oliver was limited at practice (hamstring).
No fans: The Panthers are preparing to play in their first game without fans in the stands Sunday when they host the Raiders. Rhule had the team’s sports psychologists talked to the players about creating their own energy out on the field and getting hyped up in way that works for each of them.
Rhule was very open about being disappointed in the energy the starters put forth in Friday’s scrimmage. The team has been practicing creating their own energy out on the field knowing that there won’t be fans to feed off of at Bank of America Stadium.
“Everybody knows I don’t lack the part of having energy, but I think it’s very important to distribute it to the team,” safety Tre Boston said. “Without having fans there to pump us up, it’s important that guys come together. Go back to high school, go back to Pop Warner when you’re really just pumping each other up as teammates and happy that each other are making plays, and you’re feeding off each other’s energy.
“And for me, I got to do it. It’s my job, and to get the guys going and guys been doing great in practice, you got to do it in practice first before you can do it in the game. So guys are running around and finding ways to distribute the energy, and I’m loving it, because I think it’s very important for Sunday’s game.”
The Panthers will be without fans in the stands for at least the first three games of the season — they play at the Buccaneers and at the Chargers in Weeks 2 and 3. The team hopes they will be able to host fans when they return for Week 4.
National anthem: The Panthers are having a meeting tomorrow to discuss what players want to do in relation to the national anthem prior to Sunday’s game against the Raiders. Boston stressed that it was important for everyone to feel comfortable and be informed about how everyone on the team feels. Whether or not they want to kneel, stand or doing anything else in protest of racial injustice and police brutality, McCaffrey says he thinks it’s important everyone is on the same page.
“I think the biggest thing is that we’re all on the same page and we’re all in it together. I think that’s why we’re having that meeting and I’m excited to hear from everybody,” McCaffrey said. “I know one thing that when we leave that meeting, we’re all going to be on the same page.“
