Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey had his career high for total yardage as he racked up 139 yards on Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons – 102 of those came through the air on 14 catches, almost all of them near the line of scrimmage, as he tied the franchise record for most catches in a single game. He spoke with media members on Monday about his involvement in the passing game, fellow pass catcher DJ Moore, his special guests for the Week 3 game against the Bengals and many other topics.

Below is a transcript of his conversation with us:

Did you see what Saquon Barkley did yesterday?

I didn’t, I haven’t checked out any of the other games yet – he’s a hell of a player, very versatile back. It’s been fun watching him throughout his career.

What does that say when two young backs are involved in the passing game like that?

I just think football is such a versatile game; I’m always trying to be the most complete back I can be, and a lot of times when you have teams that play so off [the line of scrimmage], a lot of times they forget about the backs – but you can have these little chunk plays where you dish it down to a back and get four or five, six/seven yards – those are big plays, those are extended run plays, so I think it’s definitely an important part of the game that a lot of time gets forgotten.

Is that how you view them, like as a rush or do you categorize them as touches?

If we’re moving the ball forward, that’s exactly how we look at it – whether it’s a handoff or a pass, we really just want to get positive yards.

How many teams looked at you as a slot receiver during the draft process?

I’m not sure; nobody ever told me that I was going to be a slot receiver, I think every team that I talked to told me I was going to be a running back.

Ron [Rivera] said they wanted to see your pass-catching skills when they worked you out, do you remember that?

For sure. I mean, I had more touches between the tackles than anybody in college, so I think a lot of that was wanting to see how I run routes and do certain things; I’m all for it, wherever I can get the ball in my hands and be most versatile, I’ll do it.

You now share the most receptions in a game franchise record with Steve Smith, what’s that like?

That’s an honor for me, he’s one of my favorite players, so that’s a huge honor.

DJ Moore got his first reception yesterday and first touchdown and Coach Rivera suggested that he might be ready for more, what have you seen in practice to suggest that he is ready for that?

Yeah, I mean he’s an obvious playmaker when he gets the ball in his hands – I think he’s definitely young and growing and I think that’s the beauty of it because he is so naturally special – once he really figures it out, it’s going to be really hard to cover him.

What do you prefer, running between the tackles or catching the football?

Whatever’s working, that’s what I prefer – whatever’s making us go.

Are there still parts of your route running that you’re still growing into? What are those?

I wouldn’t say there’s specific ones, but I think I’m always trying to work on every little detail there is and I think the biggest thing is recognizing coverages and how teams are playing certain routes and that’s when you can really play fast – I’m continuing to grow in that area, but I’m always trying to get better.

When you’re motioned out, does that help give you and Cam a tell as to what the defense is doing coverage-wise?

Yeah and I think a lot of it is film study beforehand – if we can motion and come back in and know what a certain team does, it can help us out a little bit; but most of it is film study and prep before as well as adjustments once you get in the game to see how teams are playing.

Can the checkdowns and that underneath game coexist with the deep shots and the vertical stretch?

Absolutely – I think we saw last game that those dumpdown passes were really working; getting six or seven yards a play, if you get that every time, that’s a first down and moving the chains. Eventually, teams will start having to play that and that’s when it all opens up and you see different things in the run game open up, so the more we can eliminate mistakes and penalties and little things like that, the more efficient we’re going to be – I saw a lot of fight in our guys and you hate losing, but it’s something we can learn from and get better.

Do you mostly see linebackers or safeties matching up with you?

It depends on the team and it depends on what personnel we’re in as well, a lot of guys will try to match us and if we’re in 11 [personnel], then they’ll go sub; if we’ve got two tight ends, they might go base. It depends on what kind of defense they’re playing and who they want guarding me.

What was your reaction yesterday when you saw the hit on Cam?

I didn’t see it at first because I was blocking and so I just kind of heard everybody going off; I turned around and saw Cam on the ground and Torrey sticking up for him and I figured out what happened after that, but I was pretty livid. You hate to see that, I just can’t get with that at all – I wish I had seen it a little earlier, though; but it is what it is, a part of the game; Cam’s tough – that guy’s one of the toughest guys I’ve ever played with, [he] takes hits like that and comes in the next play, that’s the definition of who he is – he’s a competitor, he’s tough, he’s fiery, he’s got an edge to him; we rally around that.

Can you talk about the special guests you’ve got coming in this week?

Yeah! We’ve got the Smoker family, for those of you who don’t know, it’s the family who went through a miracle-esque event over this last spring – Dan Smoker, Sr fell off a rock and was pretty much almost dead; basically, he fought so hard and came back and he’s with us now, he’s walking and doing great, so we were lucky enough to be there and try to help out and call the ambulance and everything – so they’re going to come out; they’re an Ohio family so they’re coming out to the Cincy game, so it’ll be great to see them.

 

How much do you still stay in touch with them?

I’ll keep in touch every once in a while, I try not to bug them too much; I’ll definitely stay in touch with Eli, the son, mostly.

How’s your dad’s season [as a high school football coach] starting?

It’s good, they’re undefeated so far, so they’re doing well; they’ve got a big one this weekend and they’re playing well; I’ve watched every game and it’s been really fun to watch. Just streaming it online, I get to watch my little brother play; it’s a blast. I get more nervous for their games than I do ours.

Did it hit you during the game that you were nearing 12/13/14 receptions?

Honestly, it moves so fast, you let the game go to you – and it’s really a next play mentality.

Is there one play you wish you had back yesterday?

There’s a lot that you look at and say ‘I could have maybe done this, maybe done that,’ but that’s every single game – I wouldn’t say there’s one play, but I really just like to work on everything. We just watched the tape, so I’m going to watch it a few more times before the day ends and see what we can do to work on this week. Really, we’re trying to turn the page and work on Cincinnati now.

What was the one target you didn’t catch – 14 catches on 15 targets?

It wasn’t to me – it’s when Cam threw it out of bounds on the throwaway.

So you prevented the intentional grounding?

**chuckling** I tried to, yeah. That should be a +15.

 

Josh Klein on Twitter
Josh Klein
Editor-In-Chief at The Riot Report
Josh Klein is Editor-In-Chief of The Riot Report. His favorite Panther of all time is Chad Cota and he once AIM chatted with Kevin Greene. Follow Josh on Twitter @joshkleinrules.