Tag: Tommy Tremble

Panthers down 8 players at Wednesday’s practice

Vonn Bell and Tommy Tremble were among the eight players held out of practice for the Panthers on Wednesday.

The Carolina Panthers may have wiped their head-coaching position clean, but the same—unfortunately—cannot be said for their injury report.

Eight players were held out from Wednesday’s practice, the team’s first official session ahead of the Week 13 clash with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Among those absent from the field included tight ends Tommy Tremble (hip) and Hayden Hurst, who remains in concussion protocol.

Also sidelined was safety Vonn Bell, who exited Sunday’s loss to the Tennessee Titans with a shoulder injury. Bell had previously missed three games this season due to a quadriceps injury.

Here is the entire report from this afternoon:

Injury Wednesday Thursday Friday Game status
S Vonn Bell Shoulder DNP
OLB Marquis Haynes Sr. Back DNP
TE Hayden Hurst Concussion DNP
OT Taylor Moton Rest/knee DNP
WR Laviska Shenault Jr. Ankle DNP
WR Adam Thielen Rest DNP
TE Tommy Tremble Hip DNP
G Chandler Zavala Knee DNP
S Jeremy Chinn Quadriceps Limited
OLB Yetur Gross-Matos Hamstring Limited
CB Jaycee Horn Hamstring Limited
OLB DJ Johnson Elbow Limited
G Cade Mays Ankle Limited
CB CJ Henderson Concussion Full

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Best and worst PFF grades from Panthers’ Week 12 loss to Titans

Bryce Young still finished with one of the best offensive grades for the Panthers in Sunday’s loss to the Titans.

We usually put these things out much earlier in the day. But, uh, a few things kinda sorta happened this morning.

Anyway, here are the best and worst Pro Football Focus grades for the Carolina Panthers in their Week 12 loss to the Tennessee Titans.

Frank Reich on Hayden Hurst’s low snap count in Week 8: This is a meritocracy

Panthers HC Frank Reich on TE Hayden Hurst’s low snap count in Week 8: This is a meritocracy

Miles Sanders isn’t the only pricey free-agent signing the Carolina Panthers are having a tough time cashing in on.

Tight end Hayden Hurst, who inked a three-year, $21.7 million this past spring, may have just hit a low point in a low 2023 campaign. The Week 8 victory against the Houston Texans saw the former first-round pick tally zero receptions on two targets.

What may have been just as concerning was Hurst’s playing time. He saw a total of 22 offensive snaps, which accounted for a season-low 33-percent presence.

Tommy Tremble, on the other hand, got the lion’s share at the position. The 23-year-old, who scored his second touchdown in the last three weeks, was in on 36 snaps—a 54-percent mark.

On Monday, head coach Frank Reich was asked if that balance came as a result of the shift in play-calling duties.

“That’s just more rotation, more credit to Tommy,” he replied. “He’s playin’ good football. And we love Hayden. Hayden’s playin’ good football.

“Listen, this is the thing as a coach—we love all our players. And it’s earned every week. Just ’cause you’re named a starter at the beginning of the year, doesn’t mean that you’re guaranteed to get all the reps and get all the touches as it goes. This is a meritocracy. That’s the business that we live in and for all of us, we’re accountable for it day by day.”

Through seven games, Hurst has recorded just 14 receptions for 116 yards and a score.

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Top takeaways from Panthers’ snap counts in Week 8 win over Texans

The Panthers let their 2023 draft class cook in the Week 8 win over the Texans.

It took long enough, but the Carolina Panthers finally notched their first win of the season on Sunday. Oh, and they also might’ve finally given us a little glimpse into the future.

Here are the top takeaways from Week 8’s snap counts:

Thomas Brown talks about lack of production from Panthers TEs

OC Thomas Brown on lack of production from Panthers TEs: It’s not just about touches and catches

2023 really seemed like the year where the Carolina Panthers would finally see some numbers from the tight end position. Their new head coach was considered quite tight end-friendly, their new offensive coordinator was a tight ends coach under Sean McVay and they signed a solid pass catcher in Hayden Hurst.

But, uh, the stats still aren’t there.

Through four games, Panthers tight ends have combined for 104 yards and one touchdown on 13 receptions. So, that new offensive coordinator was asked about the lack of production on Thursday.

“Well, I think one thing when you talk about the tight end group is when you understand the position,” Thomas Brown said prior to this afternoon’s practice. “And having had a chance to coach that before I came here in L.A.—that’s a spot that kinda has a lot of involvement with the offense. I think when you talk about overall success, it’s not just about touches and catches. What they do in the run game and protection game is a big part of overall success.”

Carolina’s group of Hurst, Tommy Tremble, Ian Thomas and Giovanni Ricci has not been tasked with much from a receiving standpoint—having been targeted a total of 20 times thus far. They haven’t been particularly awesome in the run game or in the protection game either, as none currently have a top-20 grade from Pro Football Focus in run- or pass-blocking.

Regardless, there are 13 games to go and plenty to figure out—and it’s not just the tight ends who need to step it up.

“And I won’t just holler at that group and say there needs to be more production,” Brown added. “We need more production overall, from everybody. It’s not just that one group in particular.”

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4 position battles to watch in Panthers’ preseason game vs. Giants

Here are the four most interesting position battles inside Friday night’s preseason battle between the Panthers and Giants:

On Friday night, the preseason battles will continue—not only between the Carolina Panthers and the New York Giants, but between some Carolina Panthers and some other Carolina Panthers.

Let’s take a look at the four most intriguing position battles of the second exhibition of the summer:

Panthers’ pass catchers named team’s offensive x-factor for 2023 season

There’s not an elite player in the bunch, but the Panthers’ pass catchers may be the key to get their offense going in 2023.

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Who will be key in deciding the fate of the Carolina Panthers offense this season? Well, since they don’t have a clear No. 1 target in the passing game, it could be a whole committee.

CBS Sports writer Jared Dubin recently named each NFL team’s offensive x-factor for the upcoming 2023 campaign. For the Panthers, their success will likely hinge on what their rookie quarterback has to throw to:

In trading up to acquire the No. 1 overall pick that was used to select Bryce Young, the Panthers surrendered their No. 1 wide receiver, D.J. Moore. This offseason, they brought in Adam Thielen and D.J. Chark to complement incumbent wideouts Terrace Marshall and Laviska Shenault, and then they drafted Jonathan Mingo in the second round. At tight end, they signed Hayden Hurst to work with Ian Thomas and Tommy Tremble at tight end. With Frank Reich calling plays and a strong offensive line, the potential is there for Young to hit the ground running. That is, if the aforementioned group of players can be a league-average (or better) pass-catching group. But if the talent does not measure up and Young is left throwing into tight windows all the time, he’s likely to struggle.

Dubin offers a much more delightful outlook on Carolina’s weapons, who haven’t been the most heralded bunch amongst his contemporaries. Heck, wide receivers coach Shawn Jefferson even said back in May that they’re a group that’s “under construction.”

But—as a wise man may have said sometime earlier this offseason—it takes a village to get where Reich, Young and the Panthers want to be . . . and the members of that village are already hard at work.

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Panthers TE Tommy Tremble hints at coaching failures of Matt Rhule

In an interview with The Charlotte Observer, Panthers TE Tommy Tremble said he feels this is the first time that he and his teammates have actually been coached up.

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Who would’ve known that being a head coach in the NFL actually involves, well, coaching? Perhaps not the last guy who the Carolina Panthers had in that spot.

In a new interview with Mike Kaye of The Charlotte Observer, tight end Tommy Tremble lauded the team’s current coaching staff for their work thus far. But, as you’ll see below, you won’t be able to read between the lines without picking up on the thinly-veiled shots at the previous group.

The excerpt from Kaye reads:

“This is the first time that we’ve really been coached up, receiving-wise, other than us trying to figure it out on our own,” Tremble said in a phone interview with The Observer on Tuesday. “This is really the first opportunity we’ve had to excel in the receiving game, and have points, and (receive) teaching points on how to attack this kind of leverage, attack this kind of defense. . . . Before it was more, you run it, you run what’s on paper and you try to make it work, and if it didn’t work, you’d try to figure it out yourself.

“So, having that kind of backing, that kind of support — from all over the coaching staff to the players, themselves — I think it’s been a world of difference in what our accelerating (of) the receiving game has been.”

Geez.

Before Frank Reich and his crew stepped into the building, it was ruled (with a brief detour under Steve Wilks) by Matt Rhule. Rhule, of course, was fired through five weeks of the 2022 campaign after going 11-27 over an embarrassing three-year run.

Tremble’s comments, while interesting, really shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to those who have been paying attention. From owner David Tepper to franchise legends Cam Newton and Steve Smith Sr., Rhule hasn’t exactly received the greatest of reviews for his work in Carolina.

And neither, maybe as a byproduct, did Panthers tight ends in that time.

Between 2020 and 2022, the team’s tight ends churned out a combined 1,173 receiving yards and six touchdown grabs. By comparison, Kansas City’s Travis Kelce posted 1,338 yards and 12 scores in 2022 alone.

But now, with Reich and tight end coach John Lilly onboard, there’s a renewed sense of hope for Tremble and his position partners in 2023.

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Carolina Panthers 53-man roster projection: OTAs edition

As we enter June, let’s take a crack at projecting the Panthers’ initial 2023 53-man roster.

With one of the franchise’s most exciting offseasons in the books, the Carolina Panthers might be primed to contend this upcoming season. And although there still may be moves on the horizon, we can still sift through the 88-player program to make an opening-week projection.

So, here is our current set of predictions of how the team’s 53-man roster will look come Week 1.

(Side note: Players are listed in alphabetical order. So, no, this is not a depth chart projection.)