Tag: PJ Walker

Raheem Morris excited to face PJ Walker in Sunday afternoon tilt

Morris was noticeably excited about the prospect of facing PJ Walker on Sunday and said that game planning against him would be ‘different’

Defensive coordinator Raheem Morris has been a steady hand for the Los Angeles Rams through five weeks of the 2022 season, and with a challenging matchup against the Carolina Panthers on the horizon, he is preparing for every possible scenario that may play out on Sunday. The Panthers will be starting Phillip “P.J.” Walker at quarterback against his unit in lieu of veteran Baker Mayfield, and Morris was asked about what he has seen on film that might impact his game plan for Sunday’s matchup.

In his response, he made it clear that Walker would be a formidable opponent and one that he is not taking lightly as the Rams seek to get their season back on track. Though he stopped short of saying that it would be harder to game plan against Walker, who has very little film available after starting only one game at the NFL level, Morris said that he is intrigued by what he might see from the promising backup on Sunday.

“It’s definitely a lot different,” Morris said. “It’s just different because you want to go get a feel for the player, the guys, you want to see him play, you want your guys to see him play, you want them to know what he can do. And he got in last week, so we’ve seen him get in last week, kind of a two-minute situation or a two-score game where he is trying to come back and he’s able to go out there and deliver some strikes as far as quick game. Get the ball out of his hand, he knows exactly where to go, all those type of things. You’re not playing against a rookie.

“You’re playing against the guy that’s been in this situation before. Probably not afraid of the moment, you’d have to ask them those things, but it definitely changes your approach on how you want to play. When they’re going and they’re building with [QB] Baker [Mayfield], you see things, you see the advancements, you see the stuff that he wants to do next. You can kind of get a feel for those things, but when you’re starting with PJ, you’re talking about going in there and having his start and what he does best and doing some of the things that he does really well.”

In addition to being Walker’s first start of the 2022 season, this matchup will also be Steve Wilks’ first game as the head coach of the Panthers after the team fired Matt Rhule. If Carolina were to win on Sunday, it could spell disaster for Los Angeles, who would fall to two games below .500 and would almost certainly serve as wind in the sails of the fledgling Panthers squad who are happy to play the underdog after a 1-4 start.

Morris and his defensive coaching staff will have their hands full and are likely to need a quarter or two to adjust to Walker’s abilities and any tendencies that Wilks shows.

6 things to know about Panthers vs. Rams

Sunday’s matchup between the Panthers and Rams could be a story of two completely different ground games.

So begins a new era in Carolina Panthers football.

The Matt Rhule regime went out with a whimper in a rough loss to the San Francisco 49ers last week. And now, interim head coach Steve Wilks takes the reins in the upcoming Week 6 clash against the defending Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams.

Here are six interesting facts you may or may not know about this particular matchup.

Panthers QB PJ Walker on possibly starting in Week 6: ‘It’s crazy’

PJ Walker was as good as gone from the Panthers roster just two months ago. Now, he could be starting against the reigning Super Bowl champions this Sunday.

Carolina Panthers quarterback PJ Walker was nearly former Carolina Panthers quarterback PJ Walker. And now, come this Sunday, he could be Carolina Panthers starting quarterback PJ Walker.

The third-year passer spoke with reporters following Wednesday’s practice—one in which he took all the first-team reps ahead of the Week 6 matchup against the Los Angeles Rams. And with Baker Mayfield nursing a high-ankle sprain, it could be the time to shine for Walker—who was the odd man out just two months ago.

“It’s crazy,” he said. “Over the summertime, I had a different perspective on this whole situation. And now, this situation coming up now. We’ll see what happens on Sunday. Haven’t anything been said, so we’ll just see what happens.”

If it happens for Walker, it’ll be the third start of his NFL career. His first two panned out quite well for the Panthers, as he guided them to wins over the Detroit Lions in 2020 and (with some help from Cam Newton) the Arizona Cardinals last season.

Obviously, the prospect of this third start probably wasn’t even a thought for the 27-year-old back in the summer.

Carolina essentially had the position set—with Mayfield, Sam Darnold and rookie Matt Corral in tow. So Walker, as the fourth in line, would’ve likely ended up on the practice squad or on the free agent market—and he knew it.

“Just the way the room was. How deep the room was at the time,” he said about his outlook during the summer. “Things happened. And for me, I just kept my head down, kept working. However it played out, it played out. And this is a week I could possibly be playing.”

Preseason injuries to Darnold and Corral gave Walker life as the team’s backup heading into Week 1. And now, that life could be extended under center opposite the defending Super Bowl champions this weekend.

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4 Panthers roster bubble players to watch in preseason finale vs. Bills

Which four Panthers can really make their respective cases for a 53-man roster spot tonight?

Although the main attraction for tonight’s preseason finale between the Carolina Panthers and Buffalo Bills is quarterback Baker Mayfield and his first-team offense, there will be smaller battles worth keeping an eye on in this one. And those smaller battles will help determine what this 53-man roster looks like come Week 1.

So, here are the four most intriguing Panthers to watch with exhibition play winding down and the roster bubble almost set to burst.

Panthers stock watch: Who’s up and who’s down after preseason loss to Patriots?

The most exciting Panthers rookie may not be the one you’re thinking about.

Friday night was a big one for this Carolina Panthers stock watch. With starters mostly down against the host New England Patriots, the team’s backups got a chance to prove their worth in the second preseason outing of the summer.

Here’s who thrived in their opportunities and who didn’t during the 20-10 loss.

Panthers to alternate between PJ Walker, Matt Corral vs. Patriots

Both Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold will be spectators tonight for the Panthers, who will go back and forth between PJ Walker and Matt Corral against the Patriots.

On Wednesday, Carolina Panthers head coach Matt Rhule said he and his staff have a “really good plan” in place at the quarterback position. On Friday, that “really good plan” will see, well, an intriguing approach in the team’s second preseason game.

As announced just hours before kickoff against the New England Patriots, backups PJ Walker and Matt Corral will share the outing under center—with Walker getting the first and third quarters and Corral getting the second and fourth. Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold, who received the vast majority of reps in joint practices earlier this week, will not play.

Rhule explained, per reporter Darin Gantt, the thinking behind the move.

“It’s two things; we want to see them both with the same groups, as best we can, so they both have the same set of receivers, and there’s a consistency there,” Rhule said. “And then we see them with the third group, so there’s some consistency there.

“Then the second part, and this was coach McAdoo’s idea, and his perspective, as a backup quarterback, you have to be ready to go in the game at a moment’s notice, and you have to be able to excel and play well without having much of a chance to warm up. This is our way of simulating that for them, where they have to warm up and get cooled down and go in there and be hot; that’s how I see it.”

This, obviously, means Friday night will serve as a showcase for the rookie and the third-year veteran—with the latter likely being the odd man out by the time the 53-man roster is formed. And whether they’re showcasing him for themselves or another team that’s potentially in the market for a passer, Walker is getting himself a fine opportunity here.

As for Corral, he’ll try to bounce back from a rude welcoming on Saturday—when he completed just one of his nine attempts in the 23-21 win over the Washington Commanders.

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P.J. Walker to start at QB for the Panthers against New England

The Carolina Panthers are starting P.J. Walker at quarterback in their second preseason game.

Carolina Panthers head coach Matt Rhule has decided to start P.J. Walker at quarterback in the team’s second preseason game, against the New England Patriots.

The decision comes as Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold are competing for the starting spot in Carolina. Mayfield got the start in the team’s first preseason game, last weekend against the Washington Commanders.

The move also coincides with recent reporting that the Panthers are “expected” to name Mayfield the starter for Carolina’s Week 1 contest against his former team, the Cleveland Browns:

Walker appeared in five games last season for the Panthers, making one start. In limited action, he completed 36 of 66 passes for 362 yards and a touchdown, along with three interceptions.

The decision to start Walker could be an opportunity to showcase him for a potential trade. With Mayfield, Darnold and third-round pick Matt Corral also on the roster, Carolina likely faces a numbers game at the quarterback position.

Walker and Corral will alternate quarters on Friday night against the Patriots:

Panthers snap counts: Audition time for PJ Walker?

What did Saturday’s snap counts from the Panthers tell us about PJ Walker, Ikem Ekwonu and the team’s search for edge help?

The Carolina Panthers went in to FedEx Field for their first bit of preseason action on Saturday afternoon and came out with a win. But who came out with some personal wins of their own?

Perhaps the team’s snap counts can give us an idea.

Here are the snap count standouts from the 23-21 win over the Washington Commanders.

Panthers plan to carry three QBs into 2022 season

Matt Rhule said the Panthers’ plan, after acquiring Baker Mayfield, has always been to carry three QBs on their initial 53-man roster.

The Carolina Panthers may not have officially decided who’ll be their starting quarterback to begin the regular season. But they may know how many of them they’ll be heading into the opener with.

Following Monday’s training camp outing, head coach Matt Rhule was asked if he plans on carrying both Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold on the initial 53-man roster—depending, of course, on who wins the competition. He said that’s always been the case.

“Yeah, I mean, unless something happens to one of them. If one of them gets banged up,” he told ESPN’s David Newton. “I think when we traded for Baker—and we had already drafted Matt [Corral] and we have PJ [Walker], who we really like—we knew, ‘Hey, this would be a year we’ll probably carry three quarterbacks. So that’s been the plan all along. It’s the plan as I sit here now.”

Now, who’s the third man?

Carolina’s new quarterback order will probably see Corral as the third-stringer. Between he and Walker, the 2022 third-round pick is much more likely to be claimed off waivers in a potential move to the practice squad—where the odd guy out would presumably be sent.

Additionally, if the Panthers so chose, Walker wouldn’t count even a dime towards the cap in 2022 on a release. The backup signed a one-year, $875,000 pact with the team this offseason.

Rhule also gave a little insight to an event that’s a bit more near than Week 1—their first preseason tilt. He thinks they could play all four men against the Washington Commanders on Saturday.

“I think we’ll probably play maybe three, maybe four,” he said. “I mean, if we play Sam and Baker, we’re playing them both. So, ya know, we won’t play one or the other. We would play them both. Then I really want Matt and PJ to get in there. They’re not getting a ton of these reps. But late in the game, those guys deserve a chance to play.”

Those reps, obviously, have gone to Mayfield and Darnold.

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Winners and losers from Panthers’ trade for QB Baker Mayfield

The winners and losers of Wednesday’s Baker Mayfield trade go even beyond the Panthers organization itself.

On Wednesday, the Carolina Panthers and Cleveland Browns finally came together on a deal for quarterback Baker Mayfield. And, just like most deals, it’ll cause a ripple effect on its related parties.

So, here’s who will be facing some change—both positive and negative—as a result of the trade.