Jackson’s toe injury brought him to tears. Panthers CBs now have reason to be all smiles
Donte Jackson’s toe has been discussed far more than perhaps any appendage should.
While the cornerback played in 14 games last season, the turf toe injury suffered in Week 3 vs. the Los Angeles Chargers last season lingered, and forced him to come out of games early and play sparingly.
During those games, Jackson shared he would oftentimes go to the locker room and cry out of frustration he wasn’t on the field.
“When you’re a competitor, you want to be out there to help your team, it’s definitely frustrating,” Jackson said. “There’s nothing really that you can do about it. I’m just staying on top of it. I made a point this year that whether it’s hurting or not — it hasn’t been — but I’m still staying on top of it, still getting treatment on it every day, and still just being proactive.”
Jackson said he’d often feel healthy during the week leading up to the game, but a simple movement could force him off the field.
Jackson’s preventative approach has included receiving special foot soles and working with Adidas on getting new cleats to wear during the season.
The fourth-year player is part of a cornerback room that has been reshaped through free agency and the draft. Veterans A.J. Bouye and Rashaan Melvin were added to the roster and the Panthers drafted Jaycee Horn from South Carolina eighth overall, in addition to drafting corner Keith Taylor in the fifth round.
Jackson has been starting opposite Bouye on the outside with the first-team defense in practice and the expectations for what he can do this upcoming season are high.
“We think Donte’s a tremendous player, and he’s a great competitor,” Panthers coach Matt Rhule said. “I think the thing with Donte is he brings tremendous energy to the practice field and to the meeting rooms. He’s a guy that the players like, he’s a great cover corner, and he will be physical. He will tackle. I think he’s got a well-rounded game.
“He’s one of our best players, so we’re looking forward to having him.”
Entering the final year of his rookie deal, Jackson is a candidate for a contract extension. General manager Scott Fitterer mentioned this week that the team is talking to a couple of players about new contracts, Jackson said Friday he was not interested in discussing the status of his contract publicly, instead wanting to focus on helping the team try to reach “elite status.”
Here’s what you need to know from Friday’s practice.
Notes from Panthers practice
▪ Linebacker Denzel Perryman shared after practice that he has made the decision not to receive the COVID-19 vaccine and that he is not planning to get it in the future.
“I know people that got the vaccination, I know people that still caught COVID, so to me it’s like, what’s the point?” Perryman said. “But that’s just me. Nothing against it, but I ain’t doing it.”
Perryman said he understands the difference in protocols that unvaccinated players face, but it’s not changing his mindset. The linebacker said that Rhule does not pressure players to get vaccinated, as the coach has said multiple times, but does say, “Hey, if you get vaccinated you won’t have to wear the mask.”
As of July 26, 92% of players on the Panthers’ roster were at least partially vaccinated, meaning they had at least one shot, according to a league source.
League-wide as of Thursday, 87.9% of players had received at least one shot, while 19 total clubs have more than 90% players vaccinated, per the NFL’s Vice President of Communications Brian McCaffrthy. Seven teams have more than 95% vaccinated.
As of Friday, quarterback Sam Darnold is considered fully vaccinated.
▪ Robby Anderson returned to practice Friday after missing Thursday due to an illness.
▪ After picking off Darnold yesterday, Jeremy Chinn almost had another interception Friday.
In other Chinn-related news, Perryman revealed that Chinn has been given the nickname, “Baby LeBron”
“He’s just a physical freak, man,” Jackson said of Chinn. “He works and he takes care of his body and he’s out there just trying to do things that nobody else has seen before.”
▪ Kicker Joey Slye made a few long field goals at the end of the team period and did not appear to miss any. The team has not brought in any competition for him in training camp.
▪ Quarterback Will Grier looked accurate throwing into a net, a drill in which the perfectly thrown pass falls into one of three pockets, with the other quarterbacks.
One of the position battles in training camp is the backup quarterback spot. Rhule has not committed to keeping three quarterbacks on the roster again this year, but the unknowns related to COVID-19 and the perk of having more bodies available is a factor in that.
“Right now, I could see us keeping three and I could see us going down to two,” Rhule said. “(It) just really kind of to me depends upon where we are later in the year.”
▪ Taylor Moton was again taking snaps at left tackle, but Rhule said that the real test when it comes to many position battles would not come until the full pads are put on.
▪ Ian Thomas had a couple of solid catches during practice but also dropped a pass. It’s been a mixed bag for the fourth-year tight end through the first three days of camp.
▪ Darnold looked good overall, airing it out more than he had in the two previous practices. Holding onto the football has been a past issue for the quarterback, who dropped the ball when rolling out, but quickly recovered and picked it up.
Play of the day
While Chinn didn’t have an interception Friday, another young defender did during team drills. Darnold threw a deep pass to DJ Moore and despite appearing to first get beat on the coverage, Horn got in front of the pass and jumped slightly off the ground to come down with the pick.
“It was a heck of a play,” Rhule said. “You draft guys with 33-inch arms, you expect them to go up and get the ball. And he did.”
Quote of the day
“The toe feels great! Can we not open up old wounds, please?”
— Donte Jackson on the media asking several questions about the health of his toe.
Panthers Transactions
Saturday’s schedule
Training Camp: Back Together Saturday — 7-9 p.m. at Gibbs Stadium, Wofford College.
This story was originally published July 30, 2021 at 2:09 PM.
