The last time the Carolina Panthers hosted a joint practice with another NFL team, wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin crumpled to the ground during team drills clutching his left knee. MRIs later revealed that the Panthers’ #1 wideout had torn his ACL and was lost for the season. Two years later, stepping on to the practice field in Nashville to hold two joint practices with the Tennessee Titans, the Panthers were not only hoping for a competitive practice in which they could continue to evaluate players fighting for their roles on the team against players wearing different jerseys, but more importantly, to head back to Charlotte with their roster intact. One day down on both counts.
While it was interesting to see the Panthers performances against fresh competition, once the novelty of practicing against players in another uniform and on a different field has worn off, the same storylines we have been watching in Spartanburg continued here in Nashville, with perhaps an additional smattering of trash talking from Cam Newton. With the offense on opposite fields from the defense, Newton could not interact with linebacker Thomas Davis or cornerback Captain Munnerlyn, instead forced to chatter at the fans (To a fan in a Carson Wentz jersey: “The best thing about that jersey is you got one of the numbers right.”) to Tennessee linebacker Kevin Dodd (“You need some electrolytes, brother!”) as he stalked the sidelines during ball movement drills. As always, here are the storylines we noticed:
Cam & Curtis Improving
#10 pic.twitter.com/AIvf1w4jor
— The Riot Report (@RRiotReport) August 16, 2017
Cam Newton continued his rehabilitation from shoulder surgery, again beginning his day with some light tossing before moving on to throwing to receivers during individual drills as he did during Friday, Sunday, and Tuesday practices. He did not, however, participate in live team drills against the Titans, limiting himself to cheerleader throughout the second half of practice. Head coach Ron Rivera said that the coaching staff will talk to Newton and see how he felt after throwing today before deciding to what extent the quarterback will participate during tomorrow’s session. Rivera also said that he has not made a decision as to whether Newton will play Saturday. Wide receiver Curtis Samuel had pads on for the first time during training camp, participating in individual drills, running routes and catching passes from the quarterbacks. Samuel, like Newton, did not participate in team drills but it is a good sign for his hamstring that he is able to participate during practice at all. Don’t expect to see either player in this Saturday’s preseason game.
McCaffrey Will Juke Your Linebackers
So this just happened. pic.twitter.com/pyaGLxzUoI
— The Riot Report (@RRiotReport) August 16, 2017
Rookie Christian McCaffrey seems to have at least one highlight-reel play per practice, and today’s session had multiple. The first was the above play, which has become his ersatz specialty thus far in training camp, in which he makes an opposing linebacker look silly during one-on-one coverage drills. Today his victim was Titans linebacker Wesley Woodyard, leaving him behind with a juke move before reaching out to pull in a slightly overthrown pass with one hand. He looked quite strong in team drills as well, getting to the corner on two outside runs before making perhaps his best play of the day in which he ran a mini-wheel route and was open twenty yards downfield. Whether he would have scored on the play wasn’t clear, but it certainly seemed heading that way when they blew the play dead.
Unfinished Offense
While Derek Anderson and the Panthers first team offense seemed to have no trouble moving the ball against the Titans and last year’s 30th ranked pass defense, they had trouble closing out their drives, twice settling for field goals when they were inside the red zone. Head coach Ron Rivera was unhappy with his team’s inability to finish, saying, “Credit to (the Titans), obviously, they did some nice things, but when we get a chance, we’ve got to give ourselves a better chance to get in the endzone.” Austin Duke, however, performed as if it was late July, reminding coaches and fans of the play he exhibited during OTAs and early in camp, making multiple plays, including a great block to spring McCaffrey followed by a diving grab across the middle to split double coverage. Duke will need to play like that on Saturday to move up the depth chart.
Safety Depth
With Kurt Coleman staying in Charlotte for personal reasons, first team safety reps were mostly taken by Colin Jones with Dezmen Southward and Damian Parms manning the back end of the second team. LJ McCray seems to have fallen all the way down the depth chart, which was surprising with the amount of praise Ron Rivera was giving him during the first week of camp. Just goes to show how quickly fates can change during training camp.
Other Notes
- Thomas Davis, fresh off a contract extension, had a pick six off Titans QB Marcus Mariota during the last period of practice.
- Backup left tackle Amini Silatolu continues to have trouble with speed rushers on the outside, allowing linebacker Erik Walden to speed past him on multiple plays. This has been something he’s been struggling with as he adjusts to playing on the outside.
- Joe Webb got some time at wideout, making a catch before heading back to quarterback to lead the third team offense. His first play back under center, he threw an interception, leading the Titans bench to yell out, “I see why you play receiver now, 14!”
- Both Cole Luke and Captain Munnerlyn got some looks on the outside with the second team. Currently, Teddy Williams gets the nod as the first backup on the outside.
- Defensive tackle Conor Wujciak had a “sack” during team drills today. With both Vernon Butler and Kyle Love on the shelf, there is an opporunity for a defensive tackle to step up in their absence.
- The Titans had a shaved ice truck for the players to enjoy a treat after practice was over.
Be sure to follow us on twitter at @RRiotReport for constant updates as they happen, including the fantastic food and music we’ll be enjoying here in Music City.
Previous Training Camp Reports:
- July 26, 2017
- July 27, 2017
- July 28, 2017
- July 29, 2017
- July 30, 2017
- August 1, 2017
- August 2, 2017
- August 3, 2017
- August 4, 2017
- August 6, 2017
- August 7, 2017
- August 8, 2017
- August 11, 2017
- August 12, 2017
- August 13, 2017
