Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
According to PFF, Panthers CBs fell flat in their first game without Jaycee Horn this season.
Were this week’s Pro Football Focus grades as ugly as the game we got out of the Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints last night?
Let’s take a look at the best and worst marks for the Panthers in their 20-17 loss:
Saints WR Chris Olave will be a tough matchup for the Panthers, especially with CB Jaycee Horn sidelined. So, who has to step up on Monday night?
The Carolina Panthers fell into an unfortunate start to their 2023 season, tripping on a 24-10 loss to the Atlanta Falcons last Sunday. But this time, they’ll be looking to chalk up a win in their second divisional matchup.
So, for that to happen, here are four smaller matchups they’ll need to lock up against the New Orleans Saints on Monday night:
With Brady Christensen done for the season, Panthers HC Frank Reich named Cade Mays as the team’s starting LG for Week 2.
The Carolina Panthers have their new starting left guard.
Following this afternoon’s practice, just a few days ahead of their regular-season home opener against the New Orleans Saints, head coach Frank Reich named the next man up for Brady Christensen.
“Cade Mays will start at guard,” he told reporters. “And there may be some rotation there, maybe not. We’ll see how it goes.”
Christensen, the team’s starting left guard, sustained a biceps injury in last weekend’s 24-10 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. While he did finish out the contest, playing in all 77 offensive snaps, the 2021 third-round pick has already undergone surgery and will miss the remainder of the campaign.
Mays, a 2022 sixth-round selection, has worked his way back from a setback of his own. Initially the favorite to land the right guard spot—left vacant by a recovering Austin Corbett—the 24-year-old missed some time this summer due to a neck injury.
Rookie Chandler Zavala, in Mays’ absence, seized the right guard job.
If there is a rotation as Reich suggests, expect undrafted rookie Nash Jensen and/or veteran Justin McCray to potentially factor in.
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Eight players on the Panthers’ active roster donned new digits on Wednesday.
While we were busy putting much of our attention on Brian Burns and his fellow team captains, quite a few Carolina Panthers debuted some new digits on Wednesday.
Here are the uniform number updates for eight of the active roster’s players:
With Cade Mays still recovering from a neck injury, the Panthers will start rookie Chandler Zavala at RG in Friday’s preseason finale.
There may be a changing of the guard at the right guard competition for the Carolina Panthers.
Head coach Frank Reich, just a few days before the preseason finale against the Detroit Lions, spoke to reporters following Wednesday’s relatively light practice. He confirmed that rookie Chandler Zavala will, for the second straight exhibition outing, get the starting nod at right guard.
Zavala, who had been dealing with a hamstring injury for much of the summer, got the honors on the first-team unit in last week’s matchup with the New York Giants. According to Pro Football Focus, he allowed zero pressures on eight chances over a total of 21 offensive snaps.
But if you ask him, he could’ve been even better.
“I performed like . . . I was okay, like for not being in pads for eight months,” Zavala said of his debut on Sunday. “Just the second day in pads, I did okay. But I can do a lot better.”
With perceived favorite Cade Mays still recovering from a neck injury and still not in pads, the spot may be Zavala’s for the taking this week.
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Should Panthers fans be panicking about their offensive line’s flat preseason performances?
Yes, the Carolina Panthers are only two weeks into preseason play. So starters are not fully delving into offensive schemes and know that this is not make-or-break time for the upcoming season.
But with that being said, is what we have seen out of the potential Week 1 starting offensive line concerning? There is little question about that.
Just about everyone on the front not named Taylor Moton was, at the very least, somewhat of a liability against the talented defensive lines of the New York Jets and New York Giants.
Starting with the interior, both guard spots—manned by Brady Christensen on the left and either Cade Mays or Chandler Zavala on the right—were often beat during the pair of outings. And while, again, the offensive schemes aren’t in full swing, there isn’t much of a way to scheme being physically dominated by the likes of Quinnen Williams and Dexter Lawrence.
Austin Corbett, who’s on the road to recovery from an ACL tear, returning sooner rather than later would obviously help meld that interior. But it’s still rather troubling, especially given rookie quarterback Bryce Young’s particularly small and short stature, that the group is having difficulty meshing. Interior pressure is hard to deal with, and having big men in the face of Young down the middle is going to lead to some very unproductive offense.
Much has also been made of left tackle Ikem Ekwonu’s performances, and there is a good reason for that. While head coach Frank Reich has expressed confidence in the 2022 sixth overall pick, Ekwonu has seemingly regressed from his rookie campaign.
As opposed to the better part of his first pro season, he’s looked jumpy and a bit uncomfortable dealing with speed. The hits he has allowed on Young so far have been ugly, even if one of them was a ‘communication issue.’
Does all this mean Panther fans should wave the white flag on the season and their young offensive tackle? No, of course not.
This team is still growing together, and offensive lines take a while to gel when new players are thrown into them. Having Corbett back will help from a performance and leadership standpoint and Ekwonu still clearly has all the potential he had when he was selected last spring.
Putting your trust in offensive line coach James Campen and one of the best staffs in the league to fix this also seems like a wise bet. Truly, we will find out rather quickly in the regular season whether this offensive lines has been situated.
And if not, it could be a long and painful season for Carolina’s new franchise quarterback.
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The Panthers are expected to sit out 19 players in tonight’s preseason matchup with the Giants.
The Carolina Panthers’ search for Austin Corbett’s temporary replacement will go on without one, if not the top contender tonight.
As expected, offensive lineman Cade Mays is one of 19 players not in line to play for Carolina in Friday’s exhibition against the New York Giants. The second-year hog molly, who is dealing with a neck injury, started at right guard in last weekend’s preseason opener.
With Mays out, rookie Chandler Zavala will get the nod on the interior. The 2023 fourth-round pick, who missed part of the summer due to a hamstring tweak, has gotten a chunk of first-team reps this past week.
Here’s the team’s “inactive” list in its entirety:
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Panthers WR Terrace Marshall Jr. will not play in Friday’s preseason game against the Giants.
Terrace Marshall Jr.’s potential breakout season will be put on hold, again.
Head coach Frank Reich spoke with reporters late Wednesday morning, just a few days ahead of their second preseason contest of the summer. When asked about the status of Marshall Jr., who is currently dealing with a back injury, he said the team is still evaluating the situation.
“It’s pretty much like I said the other day,” Reich stated. “Sometimes with these things, you gotta let ’em settle down for two, three, four days. So, that’s what we’re in the process of doing.”
He then added that Marshall Jr. will not play in Friday’s matchup against the New York Giants.
The third-year wide receiver was carted away from Monday’s practice with what Reich later confirmed to be a tweak of his back. While Reich didn’t seem too concerned about the setback, the severity of the injury—obviously—remains unknown.
Reich went on to note that right guard Cade Mays, who recently sustained a neck injury, will also be held out of action.
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Panthers HC Frank Reich said a decision at right guard could be made within the next week.
Who is going to be Austin Corbett’s temporary replacement at right guard? Well, we may finally find out around this time next week.
Carolina Panthers head coach Frank Reich spoke to reporters following Monday’s practice. When asked about figuring out their starting offensive line, he offered a possible timeframe for a decision.
“That offense—you need that chemistry, you need to get going,” he said. “But at the same time, we need to figure out who those five guys are gonna be, and it is a competitive battle inside. We’ll just continue to work towards that final five. I think here, in the next week, it should come to—hopefully—a conclusion.”
Saturday’s showing in the preseason opener didn’t provide much hope for the entire unit—let alone the one spot. Carolina allowed eight quarterback hits and five sacks in the disappointing 27-0 loss to the New York Jets
Nonetheless, Reich believes that the performance shouldn’t take away from what his hog mollies have done over the entirety of the offseason.
“Obviously, just gettin’ more consistent,” he said of what he’s looking for in the ongoing competition. “I feel like there’s been so much positive—throughout the whole OTAs and throughout all of training camp. We feel like our O-line is a strength for us. As we’re working to build that chemistry and build who that starting five is—Saturday was not a good day for us as a team. It was not a good day upfront. But that doesn’t make me waver at all in my belief in our offensive line and who we are.”
Candidates for the job may include 2022 sixth-round pick Cade Mays, veterans Justin McCray and Deonte Brown and rookies Chandler Zavala and Nash Jensen.
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Are Terrace Marshall Jr. and Jonathan Mingo in a battle for the Panthers’ X receiver role? If they are, it could intensify during Saturday’s preseason opener.
On Saturday afternoon, the Carolina Panthers will kick off their preseason by locking up with their joint practice partners in the New York Jets. But there will be battles within that battle, as there always is during the summer.
So, let’s take a look at four of the most intriguing of them . . .
