On the last day of what Ron Rivera called “the toughest stretch we’ll have in all of training camp” with five practices in a row, the last three of them in full pads, the Carolina Panthers had a fairly uneventful day of practice, with perhaps the biggest story coming from early on in the session when rookie running back Christian McCaffrey put a nice juke on linebacker Luke Kuechly in one-on-one pass drills and then followed it up by turning Shaq Thompson almost completely around on the next drill to get wide open. Obviously, these were terrific plays by the electric rookie, but as stated yesterday in the recap, the one-on-one matchups are extremely hard for the defensive players to “win”, as the player receiving the passes have the entire field to work with. It doesn’t diminish the fact that McCaffrey’s quick cuts are still puzzling the Panthers defenders.
As always, here are the storylines that dominated today’s Sunday practice:
Days Off
Multiple veterans were given the day off for simple rest, including linebacker Thomas Davis, offensive linemen Matt and Ryan Kalil, and running back Jonathan Stewart. These are planned days to keep the players healthy, so no need to worry about them. If worrying is your interest, then you can worry about rookie wide receiver Curtis Samuel, who missed his fourth straight practice with a nagging hamstring injury. When asked if Samuel would be back to full speed for Tuesday’s practice, coach Ron Rivera was a little cagey. “We hope to get all our guys back as soon as we can, we want to get those guys on the field working with their teammates, so we know exactly what we have with all of our players,” Rivera said, “We’ll see, I’m going to go along with whatever the trainers tell us with our guys, and who’s back on Tuesday, that’s who’ll practice.”
Also missing practice were cornerbacks Captain Munnerlyn (hamstring, expected to return Tuesday) and Corn Elder (patella stress fracture, out at least 4-6 weeks), defensive linemen Kyle Love and Toby Johnson, as well as offensive lineman Dan France. Zeek Bigger also left practice early with a stomach issue.
Cam’s Half Day
On a day with multiple veterans missing practice completely, quarterback Cam Newton took a half day, sitting out the last few rounds of team drills for what Rivera called “part of the process of him getting back to shape.” Newton watched from behind the rest of the day, not surprisingly talking trash the whole time, and when wide receiver Devin Funchess had a nice score on a pass from Derek Anderson, Newton couldn’t help but come off the sideline and celebrate. Before he gave up his quarterback post, Newton was up-and-down again, throwing an interception to Daryl Worley before going deep on three consecutive plays, connecting on the final throw to Brenton Bersin for a long score. While Newton, recovering from offseason shoulder surgery, still seems to be on a leash from the coaching staff, he still managed to get the biggest cheer of the day when he scrambled out of the pocket, slid for a first down and jumped to his feet for his signature first down celebration.
Andy Lee, MVP
Punter Andy Lee, who missed the last part of the 2016 season with a hamstring injury, looks back to full health as he was practicing his “rugby-style” kicks during the session today, hitting the coffin corner with ease, dropping directional punts inside the 8-yard line on the sidelines. Lee is a field position nightmare for opponents, averaging over 49 yards per punt last season before being placed on injured reserve in November. Lee is in a battle with Michael Palardy for the punting position, but Lee has an edge.
“Andy’s looking good. It’s good to have Andy out here kicking the ball.”
-Head Coach Ron Rivera
Left Tackle
With Matt Kalil getting a day off to rest, Amini Silatolu took almost all of the first-team reps at left tackle and at times looked like a player that had recently been transitioned to left tackle and was thrust into the starting role. He was beat at least twice by Mario Addison, and will need to work on his footwork going forward. However, he did show some promise, holding his own multiple times against Addison, especially on inside moves. It was the outside speed rush that Silatolu seemed to have trouble with, which makes sense considering he usually has two other offensive lineman surrounding him when playing guard. While many thought rookie Taylor Moton might have been able to play both sides of the line, sources say he will exclusively be asked to play right tackle.
We’ll be back on Tuesday after a Panthers day off, be sure to follow us on twitter at @RRiotReport for constant updates as they happen. Have questions or want us to focus on a specific player or matchup? Let us know in the comments!
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