Panthers defense takes shape as battles heat up. Day 2 observations from training camp
Donte Jackson lounged in one of the chairs near the back of the media tent, his legs crossed as he draped his right arm over the seat beside him.
He looked completely at-ease as he waited for his turn to speak to reporters, patiently watching his head coach, Matt Rhule, at the podium. When Rhule noticed him, Jackson flashed him a two-fingered wave.
The cornerback’s calm demeanor contrasted sharply with his attitude about 30 minutes earlier during the second day of Panthers training camp at Wofford College.
During 7-on-7 drills in the red zone, Carolina’s No. 1 offense tried to test Jackson on a fade route to the end zone to Robbie Anderson. The route never had a chance, as the corner stuck to the receiver and the pass sailed well out of bounds.
The second the ball landed, Jackson turned back to the receiver and trash-talked him, loudly letting him know that he’d strapped him up and shut him down.
“That’s all the love and competition man,” he said after practice. “It started Tuesday, before the conditioning test, it’s all just to bring out the best in the team and bring out the best in each other.”
The sticky coverage was one of many strong plays the fifth-year corner made Thursday, breaking on a number of passes.
A year ago, Jackson tied for the team lead in interceptions (two) and took the outright top spot in passes defended (10). He capitalized off that strong season and signed a three year, $35 million contract, an $11.7 million average salary that ranks No. 17 in the NFL among cornerbacks.
With that salary comes the responsibility of leading a Panthers secondary that gave up the fourth-fewest passing yards in the NFL but intercepted the seventh-fewest passes.
Carolina’s defense allowed the second-fewest yards last year but only ranked No. 15 in Football Outsiders’ DVOA and No. 21 in points allowed. Rhule has stressed the importance of that unit going from good to great.
Jackson knows where that improvement can come from.
“We talked about good to great … it takes catching the (interceptions) that come to you,” he said.
The knowledge of the impact takeaways can have contributed to Jackson’s frustration with his Thursday performance. On two occasions, would-be interceptions bounced off his hands and turned into incompletions.
The corner spent his offseason catching “more passes than receivers” in an effort to boost his interception totals. His single-season career high was four in 2018.
After Jaycee Horn’s season-ending injury, Jackson became the team’s unequivocal No. 1 corner. He has returned to that role in a thinned-out cornerbacks room after Horn went on the PUP list and Rashaan Melvin retired.
General manager Scott Fitterer will likely look into available cornerbacks to bring into workouts, Rhule said. Former Packer Kevin King is listed as the top unsigned player at the position in Gregg Rosenthal’s top free agent tracker.
Top receivers have different days
The recipient of Jackson’s outburst, Anderson, had a quiet Day 2 of camp with Baker Mayfield in at quarterback.
His partner, DJ Moore, had a loud one.
Through his three collegiate seasons at Maryland and four years in Carolina, the wide receiver hasn’t had a stable signal-caller throwing to him. Here’s a quick overview of his quarterback situation.
▪ 2015 Maryland: Perry Hills and Caleb Rowe both had over 150 passing attempts.
▪ 2016 Maryland: Perry Hills returned as a senior and took the majority of snaps.
▪ 2017 Maryland: Max Bortenschlager played 10 games.
▪ 2018 Panthers: Cam Newton started 14 games.
▪ 2019 Panthers: Kyle Allen started 12 games.
▪ 2020 Panthers: Teddy Bridgewater started 15 games.
▪ 2021 Panthers: Three different quarterbacks (Sam Darnold, Newton and P.J. Walker) started games.
Moore hasn’t had any level of consistency with his quarterbacks, something he wishes he had.
“That’s a special bond with the quarterback-receiver,” he said Tuesday. “In college (having a consistent quarterback) wasn’t my thing, in the NFL that’s higher than my pay grade now.”
He might have it with Mayfield, who looked much sharper than his first day. He and Moore had an instant connection, as the two combined on a trio of completions.
The first came on a deep slant where Moore wrested the ball away from CJ Henderson in the end zone. He tumbled to the ground, sitting there for a moment before throwing his hands up in the touchdown symbol.
He caught a second score on a quick slant, dunking the ball through the goal post in celebration.
The third play, Mayfield’s best throw of the midday practice, came when the quarterback rolled to the left and launched a near 30-yard pass down the left sideline. Moore, who wore a hoodie despite the sweltering heat, jumped up and snagged the pass, making the first-down signal as he got back up.
Ikem Ekwonu taking most snaps at left tackle
The No. 6 pick in the 2022 NFL draft spoke to the media Thursday and said he’d that for most of camp he has worked at left tackle, where he feels most comfortable.
He also said he’d be willing to swing to right tackle or even move inside if needed and noted that the last time he played guard in a game came in 2020.
“There’s competition in every room,” he said. “So everyone has to earn that right to be out there week one, myself included.”
Defensive starters taking shape
When the Panthers defensive line went through individual drills near the start of Thursday’s session, they lined up (from left to right) Brian Burns, Derrick Brown, Matt Ioannidis and Yetur Gross-Matos.
Later, when the full No. 1 defense lined up in 11-on-11 drills, those four remained out there. The unit seemed to be in its nickel personnel, and while the Panthers substituted frequently between their No. 1 and No. 2 groups, a starting 11 began to take shape.
▪ DL: Burns, Brown, Ioannidis and Gross-Matos.
▪ LB: Cory Littleton and Damien Wilson
▪ CB: Henderson and Jackson
▪ S: Jeremy Chinn and Xavier Woods
▪ Nickel defender: Myles Hartsfield
That personnel grouping didn’t stay constant throughout the practice, but it did reveal some aspects about how defensive coordinator Phil Snow views the team. Chinn paired with Woods, who signed a three-year $15 million contract in March.
Snow also chose to deploy a third safety, Hartsfield, as the 11th defender rather than a cornerback.
