Tag: Panthers 2020 training camp

Watch: Panthers RB Mike Davis proves he can hit from half court

Davis came with receipts.

The Panthers have waived running back Jordan Scarlett to make room for punter/kicker Kaare Vedvik.

One of the players who should see their opportunities grow as a result is veteran Mike Davis, who Matt Rhule has gone out of his way to heap praise on at training camp. Davis is currently competing with Reggie Bonnafon for the right to be Christian McCaffrey’s backup in Joe Brady’s offense. This won’t help him win that battle, but it’s pretty cool nontheless.

Saturday on Twitter, Davis claimed he hits a shot from half-court before every practice.

Davis came with receipts. Watch.

Exceptional form.

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Panthers Highlights: WR Curtis Samuel makes a circus catch at practice

Watch Samuel reel in a rare behind-the-head catch on a pass from Teddy Bridgewater at today’s practice.

Training camp MVP might be the most meaningless media non-award that goes around every year. We have to take what we can get in 2020 though, especially with no preseason games. So far the frontrunner for the Carolina Panthers appears to be wide receiver Curtis Samuel, who has drawn a lot of buzz for his work so far.

Watch Samuel reel in a rare behind-the-head catch on a pass from Teddy Bridgewater that was tipped by Corn Elder at today’s practice.

Shades of the highly-underrated Cole Beasley.

You may not remember because it was roughly 2,000 years ago, but Samuel was also a popular camp MVP pick last year. Unfortunately, the rapport he had going with Cam Newton on deep passes didn’t carry over into the regular season after Cam’s foot injury. Kyle Allen never got into a rhythm with Samuel, whose uncatchable ball rate was among the highest in the league.

And so we go into year four of waiting for the seemingly inevitable breakout season from No. 10. At least this time around Samuel will have an upgrade at offensive coordinator.

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Panthers DB Juston Burris on Jeremy Chinn: ‘He’s going to be great’

On Sunday, Panthers defensive back Juston Burris said Chinn is going to be great for this defense wherever they line him up.

The Carolina Panthers are kicking off the 2020 season with what looks like a brand new team. In the defensive backfield, the team lost two starters by releasing safety Eric Reid and losing cornerback James Bradberry to free agency, leading to an NFL draft class stacked with defensive players.

One pick that was highly praised by many was Jeremy Chinn—  the No. 64 overall selection at the end of the second round. Carolina traded up for Chinn, drawing praise from former franchise great Muhsin Muhammad, who called it a “helluva pick.”

On Sunday, Panthers defensive back Juston Burris said Chinn is going to be great for this defense wherever they line him up.

Burris (six-foot, 212 pounds) was signed by Carolina this offseason on a two-year deal worth $8 million coming off his best year in Cleveland. Over nine games, Burris recorded 32 combined tackles, adding two interceptions and a forced fumble.

Even after signing Burris and bringing back Tre Boston, the team still lacked depth in the secondary. So, Carolina picked four defensive backs in the draft beginning with Chinn, the Southern Illinois product who calls himself a positionless defender, or “just a threat,” per the official team website.

Chinn says the Panthers have been rotating him between safety, nickel, dime and the box. However, his most natural position may be strong safety. That means to earn his playing time, first Chinn might have to prove himself compared to Burris.

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Panthers Highlights: QB Will Grier connects with WR Pharoh Cooper on a deep pass

Perhaps the greatest attribute Will Grier brought with him from West Virginia is the touch on his deep passes.

Perhaps the greatest attribute Will Grier brought with him from West Virginia is the touch on his deep passes. Watch the Panthers’ second-year quarerback connect with wide receiver Pharoh Cooper on a long ball with Jeremy Chinn in coverage at practice on Sunday.

Chinn is going to take his lumps from time to time, as he has a steep learning curve coming from the level of competition he faced at Southern Illinois. However, his athleticism and ability to line up at several positions should earn him a long-term spot with this defense.

As for Grier, he will be battling P.J. Walker for the right to be the No. 2 quarterback on the depth chart behind Teddy Bridgewater over these next few weeks. If he doesn’t win that competition, he’ll be an excellent candidate for one of the four protected practice squad positions.

Meanwhile, Cooper has some more competition to deal with.

The team just signed former Saints receiver/returner Tommylee Lewis, who does many of the same things although not as well. Cooper has been primarily a special teams contirbutor in his career, having only caught 50 passes. The more he can offer on offense, the better.

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Panthers Highlights: D.J. Moore, Donte Jackson make plays at first ‘full-speed’ practice

First, D.J. Moore scored a touchdown against Donte Jackson on a pass from Teddy Bridgewater.

The Carolina Panthers moved one step closer to real football on Friday, participating in their first “full-speed” practice of training camp according to coach Matt Rhule, who says he was pleased with how things went.

Afterwards, the team shared a couple of highlights from the practice session on Twitter. First, D.J. Moore scored a touchdown against Donte Jackson on a pass from Teddy Bridgewater.

Jackson answered with this pass breakup on a ball intended for Robby Anderson, which may or may not have been pass interference.

Good cornerbacks tend to ride the line between pass interference and tight coverage, so we’ll give this round to Jackson, even if it appears he may have had his arm around Anderson a little bit before the ball got there.

We should be getting more clips from camp soon. The media will be allowed in to watch practice for the first time on Sunday.

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Panthers 2020 training camp: 6 things to watch when padded practices begin

Here are six things for fans to be on the lookout for as we move into the contact period.

The longest offseason in NFL history is almost over and real football is almost here. Starting on Monday, teams will move into the next phase of this unique training camp called the Contact Integration Period, which will allow a maximum of 14 padded practices from August 17 – September 6.

Those practices will be crucial for every team, but they are especially important for the Carolina Panthers, who are trying to integrate new coaches, playbooks and nearly a dozen starters total on a young roster. Here are six things for fans to be on the lookout for as we move into the contact period.

Teddy Bridgewater’s friendly takeover

Teddy Bridgewater
(Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

Teddy Bridgewater does not have much in common with Cam Newton, who is a different kind of athlete and competitor than Carolina’s new franchise quarterback. However, one characteristic they share is their charisma. Just as Newton is predictably winning over the locker room in New England, Bridgewater has become a popular leader for the Panthers. Winning the respect of his teammates is a good start. Now, Bridgewater has to show mastery of Joe Brady’s offense and he doesn’t have much time to do it.

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Panthers share new jersey numbers, clips from first training camp practice

Panthers share jersey numbers, clips from first training camp practice of 2020.

The Carolina Panthers held their first practice of the 2020 season today, going through a walk-through at Bank of America Stadium.

In related news, Carolina also released the jersey numbers for some of their new players.

CB Eli Apple: No. 41

The Panthers’ newest cornerback will be wearing No. 41, most recently used by former slot corner Captain Munnerlyn, who is a free agent after playing last season with the Bills. Apple is projected to start outside opposite Donte Jackson, but his spot is far from certain given his struggles in 2019.

LB Adarius Taylor: No. 47

This is Taylor’s second go-round in Carolina. He played 10 games for the Panthers in 2014, mostly on special teams. Taylor wore No. 57 that year and last season with the Browns. He’ll be No. 47 going forward.

P Joseph Charlton: No. 3

With Michael Palardy going on reserve for the year, South Carolina’s Joseph Charlton will be taking over at punter. Second-year quarterback Will Grier has switched to No. 7 for this season, opening up No. 3 for Charlton.

LB Kyahva Tezino: No. 46

Tezino was picked up off waivers from the Patriots last week. He’ll be competing with several other undrafted rookies for what could be the last linebacker spot on the roster.

The team also shared a short video on Twitter, showing a few clips of today’s practice.

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Panthers 2020 training camp: 20 Twitter accounts to follow this season

Panthers 2020 training camp: 20 Twitter accounts to follow this season.

The Carolina Panthers begin the next phase of training camp today, as the team will be permitted a walk-through practice with all 80 players, according to a report by Alaina Getzenberg at the Charlotte Observer. This means we’ll soon be getting real football-related training camp updates from beat reporters like her.

Since so much of this team and the media that covers it has changed this year, here’s a review of 20 Twitter accounts to follow, broken down by who they are and what they do.

Beat Reporters

First up, there’s the people who are on the ground every day doing classic sports journalism. Their access will be more limited this season due to the pandemic, but they are still the most-likely people on Twitter to break a real news story.

Alaina Getzenberg – Observer

Jonathan Alexander – Observer

Joe Person – The Athletic

Steve Reed – Associated Press

David Newton – ESPN

Panthers in-house media

Next, there’s the folks who are employed by the team and produce real-time reports and digital content both on Twitter and for the official website.

Bill Voth

Myles Simmons

Kristen Balboni

Will Bryan

Panthers analysts

Then, we have the Twitter members who provide the best analysis on the team, even if they’re not always physically on-site at games and practices.

John Ellis – One Panther Place

Billy Marshall – SB Nation

National reporters

For a bigger view of the league, here are some of the best reporters breaking national news around the NFL.

Adam Schefter – ESPN

Ian Rapoport – NFL Network

National analysts

Here are the top follows producing analysis on the whole league.

Steven Ruiz – FTW

Doug Farrar – Touchdown Wire

Mark Schofield – Touchdown Wire

Warren Sharp – Sharp Football

Jason Fitzgerald – Over the Cap

Fantasy Football

And finally, there’s the people who know what they’re talking about when it comes to fantasy football.

Evan Silva – Establish the Run

Matthew Berry – ESPN

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Panthers 2020 training camp: Five players waived, bringing roster to 80

The team has announced five cuts, bringing the number of players on the roster down to 80.

Panthers coach Matt Rhule won’t wait until August 16 to trim his roster down after all. The team has announced five cuts, bringing the number of players on the roster to 80.

RB Rodney Smith

Smith is the most surprising cut, if only because of the competition at his position. Releasing Mike Davis instead would have saved Carolina $3 million in cap space. Instead, they’ll move forward with the veteran as the No. 4 running back on the roster behind Christian McCaffrey, Reggie Bonnafon and Jordan Scarlett.

WR Damion Jeanpiere Jr.

Wide receivers will have a tough time making the team this year given all the free agents the Panthers picked up this offseason. Guys like Ishmael Hyman, Brandon Zylstra and the undrafted Omar Bayless can now breathe a little easier.

G Tyler Marz, C Fred Mauigoa

The loss of the preseason means Carolina’s offensive line needs experience above all else, so younger linemen will be at a disadvantage this month. Marz has only played six NFL games and Mauigoa was a college free agent. These cuts were good news for former Baylor center Sam Tecklenburg and former Auburn guard Mike Horton.

LB Jason Ferris

The Panthers also waived undrafted linebacker Jason Ferris with an injury designation. With Jordan Mack having opted-out, we’re down to three UDFA linebackers, with Chris Orr, David Reese and Sam Franklin all competing for what will likely be the last LB spot on the roster.

The Panthers also announced that OL Greg Little and Branden Bowen passed their physicals.

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