Panthers camp breakdown: Terrace Marshall makes plays but defense owns competitive workout
The Panthers’ defense suffocated the Carolina passing attack on Saturday during the team’s eighth practice of training camp. Defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero’s unit made life difficult on quarterback Bryce Young and the offense, scoring a handful of coverage sacks and forcing quite a few false starts from the offensive line.
While Young still looked accurate for the most part, the defense, along with a trio of drops from his receivers, forced the rookie quarterback into his worst completion ratio of camp. The one saving grace on offense was wideout Terrace Marshall, who made some impressive catches in both individual and team drills.
TRAINING CAMP PRACTICE RECAPS: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7
Panthers’ defense looks stellar on Saturday
After a really strong showing on Friday, the Panthers’ defense emphatically shook the Carolina offense throughout a hot and humid day at Wofford College.
While Young and the offense had a solid start to 11-on-11 work, with two quick completions to tight end Hayden Hurst and wideout Adam Thielen (for a touchdown) respectively, the success was short-lived.
Young seemingly had a miscommunication with wideout Laviska Shenault on the third passing play of the series, as he launched a ball several yards away from the receiver, who was the only weapon anywhere close to the ultimate landing spot.
From there, defensive tackle Shy Tuttle forced pressure up the middle, creating an awkward passing attempt for Young. The rookie quarterback targeted tight end Stephen Sullivan and the ball bounced off the playmaker’s hands over the middle. Sullivan’s drop was the first of four on the day for the first-team offense.
Young bounced back from the drop with a laser over the middle to Marshall, who snagged the ball despite excellent coverage from cornerback CJ Henderson.
After the first 11-on-11 series, Young had a couple of nice completions to Hurst and wideout Damiere Byrd during a 7-on-7 series. But a drop by running back Spencer Brown derailed the momentum.
The Panthers returned to 11-on-11 drills for a second time in the red zone, and that’s when the defense really stomped on the offense. On the first rep of the second series, edge rusher Brian Burns put pressure on Young, who threw a perfect back-of-the-end zone pass to rookie Jonathan Mingo, but the wide receiver dropped the ball. The defense followed up the third drop of practice with a coverage sack that would have been solidified by defensive tackle Derrick Brown.
The secondary then got in the act, as rookie safety Jammie Robinson blew up a pass from Young to wideout DJ Chark. The defense then scored another coverage sack. Running back Chuba Hubbard ended the sequence by dropping another pass from Young.
Young tried to bounce back with short completions to Hurst and Mingo, but pressure and strong coverage persisted. Young did, however, make an excellent throw to a leaping Marshall for a completion with linebacker Shaq Thompson in heavy pursuit of the quarterback.
Derrick Brown and the defense kept that success short-lived, again, as he forced a throwaway from Young, who was clearly frustrated with the stagnant performance of the offense. Young went back to Marshall for a third completion before ending practice with another coverage sack.
Young finished 7 of 15 with a touchdown in 11-on-11 drills. It was the first time his completion ratio dropped below 60% in a workout this summer. He has now completed 65 of 100 passes in 11-on-11 work for a completion percent of (you guessed it) 65%.
While the offense looked inefficient and sloppy, the defense deserves a ton of praise for its performance in Sparkle City during the second practice of another three-day stretch of workouts.
The shutdown plays were impressive, but a handful of forced false starts were the cherry on the cake of a tip-top day for the defense.
Marshall is starting to show up
Marshall has made several plays this week during practice. On Saturday, he had easily his best performance of the summer, catching three passes from Young in 11-on-11 work and making a few notable grabs in individual duty as well.
Marshall is a player who the Panthers desperately need to step up this season. At 6-foot-2, 200 pounds, Marshall has excellent speed and size, but he has failed to find consistency during his first two seasons in the NFL. If Marshall can put his traits to good use, the Panthers will have a plethora of weapons they can rely on around Young.
Marshall got off to a slow start in camp, but he has flashed throughout the week, and that’s a strong sign for the third-year receiver.
Injury update: Sanders leaves practice, draft pick debuts
Following practice, Panthers head coach Frank Reich said running back Miles Sanders tweaked something during the workout. While Sanders took part in individual drills, Hubbard and Raheem Blackshear took the bulk of the first-team reps during the workout with the top back sidelined.
Before practice, the Panthers activated fourth-round pick Chandler Zavala (hamstring) from the physically unable to perform (PUP) list. Zavala made his debut in pads on Saturday.
With Zavala off the PUP list, the Panthers have guard Austin Corbett (ACL) and defensive end Jalen Redmond (undisclosed) still under that designation.
Cornerback Rejzohn Wright (undisclosed) returned to practice after missing the past four sessions. Pass rusher Marquis Haynes (back) remained on the sideline.
UPDATE: Defensive end LaBryan Ray — who just signed with the team earlier in the week — was carted off the field on Saturday with a heat-related issue and taken into the facility for evaluation. He is expected to be fine, according to the team.
Quick hits
▪ The Panthers hosted a Levine Children’s Hospital guest for practice. Deeston Brown, 11, visited with players after practice and got autographs. Brown has medulloblastoma, a type of brain cancer. Young, Hurst and rookie running back Camerun Peoples were among the group of players who chatted and took pictures with Brown. Each player who visited with Brown took several minutes to connect with him.
▪ Safety Sam Franklin had a pass breakup in 11-on-11 work against Sullivan. The safety jumped in front of a route in the end zone and swatted the Matt Corral pass away from the tight end.
▪ It was a good day to be safety Josh Thomas. He had a pass breakup against wideout Josh Vann in 11-on-11 work early in practice. Later, he picked off quarterback Andy Dalton in red zone 7-on-7 work. Thomas is a long shot to make the team, but putting together strong days of practice will only help him.
▪ Safety Vonn Bell was given a “veteran’s day off” on Saturday. Right tackle Taylor Moton was given the same treatment on Friday. Bell took on a coaching role during the workout, as he traded his helmet for a bucket hat.
▪ For the second day in a row, Hubbard and tight end Tommy Tremble spent time after practice working with the JUGS machine. Hubbard, as previously mentioned, had a drop in 11-on-11 drills.
▪ New Panthers cornerback Mac McCain has inherited the No. 35 jersey that was previously worn by fellow cornerback Colby Richardson, who was waived Friday afternoon.
More training camp reading at charlotteobserver.com:
▪ He’s a huge Carolina Panthers fan and podcaster. He’s also an inspiration
▪ How Panthers lineman went from loading Amazon trucks to signing with hometown team
▪ ‘I need to be here’: Brian Burns on why he’s at Panthers training camp during contract talks
▪ Panthers’ CJ Henderson discusses Carolina’s decision to pass on his fifth-year option
▪ Exclusive: Hall of Fame GM Bill Polian on pros, cons of rookie Panthers QB Bryce Young
This story was originally published August 5, 2023 at 2:37 PM.
