Panthers minicamp: Competitive week ends with strong showing from new arrival
Thursday was a day for the Carolina Panthers’ defense.
After a back-and-forth Tuesday and an offensively driven Wednesday, the defense capped the offseason program — on the final day of mandatory minicamp — with a handful of noteworthy highlights.
While contact wasn’t encouraged, the competitive practice favored the defenders, as the unit collected would-be sacks, several pass breakups and an interception.
Free-agent addition leads charge in strong defensive showing
Linebacker Christian Rozeboom, who signed a one-year deal in March, made his presence felt early in team drills.
With the second-string defense facing the first-string offense, QB Bryce Young tried to fit a laser pass through the middle of traffic, and Rozeboom — who spent the past four years with the Los Angeles Rams — batted the ball in the air. As the ball floated in orbit, undrafted rookie Isaac Gifford dived in to attempt an interception. Unfortunately for the first-year DB, the ball ended up hitting the ground.
Later in practice, the middle of the field was tested again. And just like he had before, Rozeboom batted the ball into the air in the middle of an 11-on-11 rep. The splash plays set the tone for the defense, as the unit came off an offensive explosion on Wednesday.
“The nature of competition — that’s what it is — how do you respond to adversity?” head coach Dave Canales said after practice. “We got the gift of watching the Pacers and (the Thunder) playing, going back and forth, and you see the guys, you see the energy, all the way through it. And so I love seeing the response (from the defense).
“You’ve got to be that much sharper, you’ve got to be that much cleaner in your technique. That’s when you start to separate, the details, the fundamental execution, because the talent is so good with our group right now, that part can do go back and forth. So, I love the challenge of it.”
Not to be outdone by his fellow veteran defender, cornerback Mike Jackson got in on the highlight reel as well.
The Panthers’ No. 2 cornerback, who signed a two-year deal in March, made an impressive interception in the flat late in practice. With Young seemingly targeting running back Rico Dowdle near the line of scrimmage, Jackson read the play all the way and made an interception catch before running to the opposite end of the field for a “touchdown” celebration of sorts.
A chippy week concludes with another tussle
With the defense performing at a high level, the competitiveness flared up a bit in the second half of practice. That competitiveness ultimately led to some physical angst from a pair of depth players.
Backup QB Andy Dalton and rookie running back Trevor Etienne connected on a quick swing pass for a touchdown in red zone 11-on-11 drills. As Etienne ran free to his left, offensive tackle Brandon Walton and outside linebacker Thomas Incoom got into each other’s faces. At one point during the confrontation, Incoom swiped at Walton’s face mask.
Incoom (6-2, 265 pounds) and Walton (6-5, 300 lbs.) aren’t household names. They are both probably long shots for the roster. But at least for this week, they made their presences felt in team drills — though probably for the wrong reasons.
Eventually, after a pile of teammates from both sides met at the two sparring partners, the skirmish was squashed. Incoom made a nice would-be tackle for a loss on a team rep just a few minutes later.
Injury updates: McMillan, Horn continue to watch practice
The Panthers’ two drafted wideouts continued to watch practice Thursday.
Tetairoa McMillan, the team’s first-round pick, wore gym clothes for a second consecutive workout after banging his knee with a defender Tuesday. Sixth-round pick Jimmy Horn Jr. wore his practice uniform for the first time this week, but the playmaker — who is battling a hamstring injury — did not take part in team drills.
Defensive end Derrick Brown (knee) continued to be limited to individual work. He told reporters after practice that he hopes to take part in team drills by training camp with a load management schedule.
Wide receiver Adam Thielen and cornerback Jaycee Horn returned to work after receiving a veteran day off on Wednesday. Long snapper JJ Jansen and kicker Matthew Wright were allowed excused absences for undisclosed reasons.
Tight end Tommy Tremble (back) and outside linebacker Amare Barno (knee) were both absent as expected. Veteran safety Nick Scott arrived late to practice and watched the workout from the sideline. Wideout Brycen Tremaine missed the entirety of mandatory minicamp with an undisclosed injury.
Quick hits
▪ Tight end James Mitchell, who spent the past three years in Detroit, caught a couple of seam passes from Young on Thursday. Mitchell was the most experienced tight end on the field during minicamp, and he took advantage of his limited targets behind Ja’Tavion Sanders and rookie Mitchell Evans this week.
▪ There weren’t a whole lot of explosive plays by the offense Thursday, but undrafted QB Ethan Garbers did connect on a deep pass to wideout Dan Chisena for roughly 20 yards toward the end of team drills. Both players are competing to stick to the bottom of the depth chart.
▪ Third-round pick, pass rusher Princely Umanmielen, produced a would-be sack on third-string QB Jack Plummer in team drills. He got a nice speed-to-power rush on former Florida Gators teammate Michael Tarquin.
▪ The specialists didn’t have much to do with Jansen absent from the workout. Punter Sam Martin and kicker Ryan Fitzgerald left the field seemingly in record time.
▪ Canales went out of his way to praise his rookie class at the end of minicamp:
“I’m just proud of the rookie group as a whole. I think that this is one of the best rookie groups I’ve been around in terms of their attention to detail, their study habits, their body prep — they’re doing things that six-, seven-, eight-year veterans do, before and after practice. They’re curious — it’s a curious bunch. I try to encourage them. The best teams are the curious teams: ‘Let’s find out how good we can be. Let’s find out more about what we’re doing.’ And so, I’ve just been really impressed by this rookie group as a whole.”
▪ Make sure to follow Panthers beat writers Mike Kaye (@mike_e_kaye) and Alex Zietlow (@alexzietlow05) on “X”, formerly known as Twitter, throughout the summer for the latest updates.
This story was originally published June 12, 2025 at 3:16 PM.
