The Carolina Panthers are slowly working their way to their 2021 campaign. Thursday they completed their eighth training camp practice. Here are some highlights from the media at Wofford College.
1. David Tepper was there – Team owner David Tepper made a rare appearance at practice Thursday. The last time the media saw Tepper was about sixty days ago at a charity event. He stated to reporters at that time, he would not be building a new arena alone and that the community will have to want it, as well. The team should have a new state-of-the-art practice facility by 2023.
2. Christian McCaffrey makes TD – Fans get use to great players doing extraordinary things. So when running back Christian McCaffrey excels, no one is surprised. Today, he showed once again what he is capable of doing by hitting the corner and leaving the defenders in the dust for a touchdown. McCaffrey missed most of 2020 with an assortment of injuries. Offensive coordinator Joe Brady says that there are no plans to lessen McCaffrey’s work load this season.
3. Donte Jackson makes key play – The Panthers revamped their cornerback room this offseason. One of the few hold-overs was Donte Jackson, who is coming off a career year despite having to play injured through most of the season.
During practice drills, Jackson deflected a deep ball thrown by quarterback Sam Darnold intended for wide receiver D.J. Moore. Jackson’s athleticism is uncanny, but it will take more than that to earn a new contract. He will have to improve several areas of his game. A couple of the areas are his coverage techniques and tackling skills. Jackson missed 38 attempts so far in 43 games.
4. Injury updates – The injury update is similar to Wednesday’s. Corner back A.J. Bouye continues to be in a red no-contact jersey and wide receiver Keith Kirkwood remains in concussion protocol due to a violent hit. Running back Darius Clark and linebacker Denzel Perryman also did not participate in today’s practice.
There is some good news. Linebacker Shaq Thompson is no longer in a green jersey. He is wearing a blue jersey now, which indicated he is getting closer to being 100%.
5. Clay Johnston gets middle linebacker snaps – The Panthers are missing two linebackers, so this gives one of their younger defenders, Clay Johnston an opportunity to shine at a position of need. He went undrafted out of Baylor University last season until Matt Rhule signed him. He played a limited number of snaps, 24, as a rookie. Today Johnston was able to take reps with the defensive 1st-team.
It is still up in the air what defensive coordinator Phil Snow’s linebacker situation will be on opening day. However, Perryman is the favorite to be the starter at Luke Kuechly’s former position.
6. Sam Darnold still improving – After a horrific performance on Monday, Sam Darnold had his best outing during Wednesday’s session. Today, Darnold was able to continue progressing, hooking up with tight end Dan Arnold, wide receiver Robby Anderson and running back Chuba Hubbard for touchdowns during team drill activities.
Darnald and Anderson were teammates on the New York Jets and their dynamics will be worth watching. There is a strong possibility that Anderson will turn into Darnold’s number one receiver, which could lead to more targets for him.
7. Another player injured – Today, unfortunately, a player was carted off the practice field. Defensive end Austin Larkin became the latest player bitten by the injury bug. He injured his left leg/knee and was seen by the trainers.
Tomorrow, there will be no morning training camp practice. The Panthers are having their annual Friday night Fan Fest at Bank of America Stadium starting at 5:30 p.m.
